DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION

AUGUST 4, 2020

TUESDAY - ST. JOHN MARY VIANNEY, PRIEST - MEMORIAL

FIRST READING

JEREMIAH 30:1-2, 12-15, 18-22 (ALTERNATE READING: EZEKIEL 3:17-21)

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you. 12 "For thus says the LORD: Your hurt is incurable, and your wound is grievous. 13 There is none to uphold your cause, no medicine for your wound, no healing for you. 14 All your lovers have forgotten you; they care nothing for you; for I have dealt you the blow of an enemy, the punishment of a merciless foe, because your guilt is great, because your sins are flagrant. 15 Why do you cry out over your hurt? Your pain is incurable. Because your guilt is great, because your sins are flagrant, I have done these things to you. 18 "Thus says the LORD: Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob, and have compassion on his dwellings; the city shall be rebuilt upon its mound, and the palace shall stand where it used to be. 19 Out of them shall come songs of thanksgiving, and the voices of those who make merry. I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will make them honored, and they shall not be small. 20 Their children shall be as they were of old, and their congregation shall be established before me; and I will punish all who oppress them. 21 Their prince shall be one of themselves, their ruler shall come forth from their midst; I will make him draw near, and he shall approach me, for who would dare of himself to approach me? says the LORD. 22 And you shall be my people, and I will be your God."

The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM

PSALMS 101 (102):16-18, 19-21, 29, 22-23

Response: The Lord will build up Zion again, and appear in all his glory.

The nations will fear the name of the LORD,
and all the kings of the earth thy glory.
For the LORD will build up Zion,
he will appear in his glory;
he will regard the prayer of the destitute,
and will not despise their supplication.

R. The Lord will build up Zion again, and appear in all his glory.

Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
so that a people yet unborn may praise the LORD: that he looked down from his holy height,
from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,
to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die;

R. The Lord will build up Zion again, and appear in all his glory.

The children of thy servants shall continue:
and their seed shall be directed for ever.
That they may declare the name of the Lord in Zion:
and his praise in Jerusalem;
When the people assemble together,
and kings, to serve the Lord.

R. The Lord will build up Zion again, and appear in all his glory.
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GOSPEL

"It is what comes out of the mouth that defiles"

MATTHEW 15:1-2, 10-14 (ALTERNATE READING: MATTHEW 9:35--10:1)

1 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat." 10 Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, "Listen and understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles." 12 Then the disciples approached and said to him, "Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?" 13 He answered, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit."

The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION

DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS

Keeping one's own heart with all watchfulness, by Origen of Alexandria, 185-254 A.D.

"These things are what 'defiles the person' when they come out from the heart and, after they have gone out from it, go through the mouth. Thus if they did not occur outside of the heart but were held by the person somewhere around the heart, not being allowed to be spoken through the mouth, they would very quickly disappear and the person would not be defiled any longer. Therefore the source and beginning of every sin is 'evil reasonings.' For if these reasonings did not prevail, there would be neither murders nor acts of adultery nor any other of such things. Because of this each one ought to keep one's own heart with all watchfulness.

(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 11.14–15)
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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.