DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
JULY 5, 2025
SATURDAY OF THE THIRTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
(OPTIONAL MEMORIAL OF SAINT ANTHONY MARY ZACCARIA, PRIEST / SAINT ELIZABETH OF PORTUGAL)
FIRST READING
GENESIS 27:1-5, 15-29 OR (2 TIMOTHY 1:13-14; 2:1-3 / 1 JOHN 3:14-18)
1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son, and said to him, "My son"; and he answered, "Here I am." 2 He said, "Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. 3 Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and hunt game for me, 4 and prepare for me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat; that I may bless you before I die." 5 Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, 15 Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her older son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son; 16 and the skins of the kids she put upon his hands and upon the smooth part of his neck; 17 and she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. 18 So he went in to his father, and said, "My father"; and he said, "Here I am; who are you, my son?" 19 Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your first-born. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, that you may bless me." 20 But Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?" He answered, "Because the LORD your God granted me success." 21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not." 22 So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau." 23 And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hands; so he blessed him. 24 He said, "Are you really my son Esau?" He answered, "I am." 25 Then he said, "Bring it to me, that I may eat of my son's game and bless you." So he brought it to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, "Come near and kiss me, my son." 27 So he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him, and said, "See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed! 28 May God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine.29 Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be every one who curses you, and blessed be every one who blesses you!"
The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALMS 134(135):1-6 OR (PSALMS 1:1-4, 6 / PSALMS 112:1-9)
Response: Praise the Lord for the Lord is good!
Or
R. Alleluia.
Praise the LORD!
Praise the name of the LORD,
give praise, O servants of the LORD,
you that stand in the house of the LORD,
in the courts of the house of our God!
R. Praise the Lord for the Lord is good!
Or
R. Alleluia.
Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good;
sing to his name, for he is gracious!
For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel as his own possession.
R. Praise the Lord for the Lord is good!
Or
R. Alleluia.
For I know that the LORD is great,
and that our LORD is above all gods.
Whatever the LORD pleases he does,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all deeps.
R. Praise the Lord for the Lord is good!
Or
R. Alleluia.
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GOSPEL
"The day will come when they will fast"
MATTHEW 9:14-17 OR (MARK 10:13-16 / MATTHEW 25:31-46 / MATTHEW 25:31-40)
14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" 15 And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 And no one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; if it is, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved."
The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
No need to fast in the presence of the Bridegroom, by Hilary of Poitiers (315-367 AD)
"The Pharisees and John's disciples were fasting, and the apostles were not. But Jesus answered them in a spiritual way and indicated to John's disciples that he was a bridegroom. John taught that all hope in life lay in Christ. While he was still preaching, however, his disciples could not be received by the Lord. Up until the time of John, the law and the prophets prevailed, and unless the law came to an end, none of them would subscribe to faith in the gospel. The fact that he said there was no need for his disciples to fast as long as the bridegroom is with them illustrates the joy of his presence and the sacrament of the holy food, which no one need be without while he is present, that is, bearing Christ in the light of the mind. But once he is gone, Jesus says that they will fast, for all those who do not believe that Christ has risen will not have the food of life. By faith in the resurrection, the sacrament of the heavenly bread is received. Whoever is without Christ will be forsaken, fasting from the food of life."
(excerpt from the commentary ON MATTHEW 9.3)
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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.