DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION

Thursday of the Thirtieth week in Ordinary Time (October 31)

"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"

GOSPEL

Luke 13:31-35

31 At that very hour some Pharisees came, and said to him, "Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you." 32 And he said to them, "Go and tell that fox, `Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. 33 Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.' 34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! 35 Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, `Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!'"

The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION

Daily Quote from the early church fathers: Jesus foreshadows his triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD)

"'And I tell you,' he says, 'you will not see me until you say, Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.' What does this mean? The Lord withdrew from Jerusalem and left as unworthy of his presence those who said, 'Get away from here.' And after he had walked about Judea and saved many and performed miracles which no words can adequately describe, he returned again to Jerusalem. It was then that he sat upon a colt of a donkey, while vast multitudes and young children, holding up branches of palm trees, went before him, praising him and saying, 'Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord' (Matthew 21:9). Having left them, therefore, as being unworthy, he says that when the time of his passion has arrived, he will then barely be seen by them. Then again he went up to Jerusalem and entered amidst praises, and at that very time endured his saving passion in our behalf, that by suffering he might save and renew to in-corruption the inhabitants of the earth. God the Father has saved us by Christ."

(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 100)
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FIRST READING

Romans 8:31-39

31 What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies; 34 who is to condemn? Is it Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us? 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, "For thy sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM

PSALM 108(109):21-22, 26-27, 30-31

Response: Save me, O Lord, in your mercy.

Do you, O GOD, my Lord, deal kindly with me for your name's sake;
in your generous mercy rescue me;
For I am wretched and poor,
and my heart is pierced within me.

R. Save me, O Lord, in your mercy.

Help me, O LORD, my God;
save me, in your mercy,
And let them know that this is your hand;
that you, O LORD, have done this.

R. Save me, O Lord, in your mercy.

I will speak my thanks earnestly to the LORD,
and in the midst of the throng I will praise him,
For he stood at the right hand of the poor man,
to save him from those who would condemn his soul.

R. Save me, O Lord, in your mercy.
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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.