DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
SEPTEMBER 15, 2026
TUESDAY - MEMORIAL OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS
FIRST READING
1 CORINTHIANS 12:12-14, 27-31 OR (HEBREWS 5:7-9)
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body Jews or Greeks, slaves or free and all were made to drink of one Spirit. 14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, then healers, helpers, administrators, speakers in various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts.
The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALMS 100:1-5 OR (PSALMS 31:2-6, 15-16, 20)
Response: We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the lands!
Serve the LORD with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
R. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
Know that the LORD is God!
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
R. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him, bless his name!
R. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures for ever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
R. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
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GOSPEL
Standing by the cross of Jesus
JOHN 19:25-27 OR (LUKE 2:33-35 / LUKE 7:11-17)
25 But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Mag'dalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" 27 Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
Mary stood at the cross with her Son Jesus, by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397 A.D.
"Mary, the mother of the Lord, stood by her Son's cross. No one has taught me this but the holy Evangelist John. Others have related how the earth was shaken at the Lord's passion, the sky was covered with darkness, the sun withdrew itself (Matthew 27:45) and how the thief was, after a faithful confession, received into paradise (Luke 23:43). John tells us what the others have not told, how the Lord while fixed on the cross called to his mother. He thought it was more important that, victorious over his sufferings, Jesus gave her the offices of piety than that he gave her a heavenly kingdom. For if it is the mark of religion to grant pardon to the thief, it is a mark of much greater piety that a mother is honored with such affection by her Son. 'Behold,' he says, 'your son.' ...'Behold your mother.' Christ testified from the cross and divided the offices of piety between the mother and the disciple..."
"Nor was Mary below what was becoming the mother of Christ. When the apostles fled, she stood at the cross and with pious eyes beheld her Son's wounds. For she did not look to the death of her offspring but to the salvation of the world. Or perhaps, because that 'royal hall' [Mary as bearer of the divine King] knew that the redemption of the world would be through the death of her Son, she thought that by her death she also might add something to that universal gift. But Jesus did not need a helper for the redemption of all, who saved all without a helper. This is why he says, 'I am counted among those who go down to the pit. I am like those who have no help' (Psalm 88:4-5). He received indeed the affection of his mother but sought not anothers help. Imitate her, holy mothers, who in her only dearly beloved Son set forth so great an example of maternal virtue. For neither have you sweeter children, nor did the Virgin seek the consolation of being able to bear another son."
(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 49)
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Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.