DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION

SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

MONDAY - MEMORIAL OF SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL, PRIEST

FIRST READING

ZECHARIAH 8:1-8 OR (1 CORINTHIANS 1:26-31)

1 And the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, 2 "Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. 3 Thus says the LORD: I will return to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts, the holy mountain. 4 Thus says the LORD of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand for very age. 5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. 6 Thus says the LORD of hosts: If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvelous in my sight, says the LORD of hosts? 7 Thus says the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country; 8 and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be my people and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness."

The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM

PSALMS 101(102):16-21, 29, 22-23 OR (PSALMS 112:1-9)

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 dwell secure;
their posterity shall be established before thee.
That men may declare in Zion the name of the LORD,
and in Jerusalem his praise,
when peoples gather together,
and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.

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

Jesus perceived the thought of their hearts

LUKE 9:46-50 OR (MATTHEW 9:35-38)

46 And an argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. 47 But when Jesus perceived the thought of their hearts, he took a child and put him by his side, 48 and said to them, "Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me; for he who is least among you all is the one who is great." 49 John answered, "Master, we saw a man casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he does not follow with us." 50 But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him; for he that is not against you is for you."

The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION

DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS

Jesus, the Physician of souls, amputates vainglory, by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD)

"The passion and lust of pride attacked some of the holy apostles. The mere argument about who of them was the greatest is the mark of an ambitious person, eager to stand at the head of the rest. Christ, who did not sleep, knows how to deliver. He saw this thought in the disciple's mind, springing up, in the words of Scripture (Hebrews 12:15), like some bitter plant. He saw the weeds, the work of the wicked sower. Before it grew up tall, struck its root down deep, grew strong, and took possession of the heart, he tears up the evil by the very root...
"In what way does the Physician of souls amputate pride's passion? How does he deliver the beloved disciple from being the prey of the enemy and from a thing hateful to God and man? "He took a child," it says, "and set it by him." He made the event a means of benefiting both the holy apostles themselves and us their successors. This illness, as a rule, preys upon all those who are in any respect superior to other people".

(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 54.2)
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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.