DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION

FEBRUARY 18, 2022

FRIDAY OF THE SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

FIRST READING

JAMES 2:14-24, 26

14 What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. 18 But some one will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe and shudder. 20 Do you want to be shown, you shallow man, that faith apart from works is barren? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works, 23 and the scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness"; and he was called the friend of God. 24 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead.

The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM

PSALMS 111(112):1-6

Response: Blessed the man who greatly delights in the Lord's commands.

Praise the LORD!
Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
who greatly delights in his commandments!
His descendants will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.

R. Blessed the man who greatly delights in the Lord's commands.

Wealth and riches are in his house;
and his righteousness endures for ever.
Light rises in the darkness for the upright;
the LORD is gracious, merciful, and righteous.

R. Blessed the man who greatly delights in the Lord's commands.

It is well with the man who deals generously and lends,
who conducts his affairs with justice.
For the righteous will never be moved;
he will be remembered for ever.

R. Blessed the man who greatly delights in the Lord's commands.
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GOSPEL

Whoever whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it

MARK 8:34--9:1

34 And he called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? 37 For what can a man give in return for his life? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." 1 And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power."

The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION

DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS

Would you follow Christ?, by Caesarius of Arles, 470-542 A.D.

"When the Lord tells us in the Gospel that anyone who wants to be his follower must renounce himself, the injunction seems harsh; we think he is imposing a burden on us (Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23). But an order is no burden when it is given by one who helps in carrying it out. To what place are we to follow Christ if not where he has already gone? We know that he has risen and ascended into heaven; there, then, we must follow him. There is no cause for despair - by ourselves we can do nothing, but we have Christ's promise...
"One who claims to abide in Christ ought to walk as he walked. Would you follow Christ? Then be humble as he was humble. Do not scorn his lowliness if you want to reach his exaltation. Human sin made the road rough. Christ's resurrection leveled it. By passing over it himself, he transformed the narrowest of tracks into a royal highway. Two feet are needed to run along this highway; they are humility and charity. Everyone wants to get to the top - well, the first step to take is humility. Why take strides that are too big for you - do you want to fall instead of going up? Begin with the first step, humility, and you will already be climbing."

(excerpt from SERMONS 159, 1.4–6)
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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.