DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION

Saturday of the Twenty-second week in Ordinary Time (September 7)

"The Son of man is lord of the Sabbath"

GOSPEL

Luke 6:1-5

1 On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grain fields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, "Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?" 3 And Jesus answered, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?" 5 And he said to them, "The Son of man is lord of the Sabbath."

The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION

Daily Quote from the early church fathers: Withered hands - withered minds, by Athanasius of Alexandria (295-373 AD)

"In the synagogue of the Jews was a man who had a withered hand. If he was withered in his hand, the ones who stood by were withered in their minds. And they were not looking at the crippled man nor were they expecting the miraculous deed of the one who was about to work. But before doing the work, the Savior ploughed up their minds with words. For knowing the evil of the mind and its bitter depth, he first softened them up in advance with words so as to tame the wildness of their understanding, asking: 'Is it permitted to do good on the sabbath or to do evil; to save a life or to destroy one?' For if he had said to them, 'Is it permitted to work?' immediately they would have said, 'You are speaking contrary to the law.'
"Then he told them what was intended by the law, for he spoke as the One who established the laws concerning the sabbath, adding, 'except this: that which will be done for the sake of a life.' Again if a person falls into a hole on a sabbath, Jews are permitted to pull the person out (Matthew 12:11). This not only applies to a person, but also an ox or a donkey. In this way the law agrees that things relating to preservation may be done, hence Jews prepare meals on the sabbath. Then he asked them about a point on which they could hardly disagree: 'Is it permitted to do good? (Matthew 3:4, Luke 6:9) But they did not even so much as say, 'Yes,' because by then they were not in a good temper."

(excerpt from HOMILIES 28)
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FIRST READING

Colossians 1:21-23

21 And you, who once were estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him, 23 provided that you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which has been preached to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM

PSALM 53(54):3-4, 6, 8

Response: God himself is my help.

O God, by your name save me,
and by your might defend my cause.
O God, hear my prayer;
hearken to the words of my mouth.

R. God himself is my help.

Behold, God is my helper;
the Lord sustains my life.
Freely will I offer you sacrifice;
I will praise your name, O LORD, for its goodness.

R. God himself is my help.
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