DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION

30 June, 2023 - Friday

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DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION

JUNE 30, 2023

FRIDAY OF THE TWELFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

(OPTIONAL MEMORIAL OF THE FIRST HOLY MARTYRS OF THE HOLY ROMAN CHURCH)

FIRST READING

GENESIS 17:1, 9-10, 15-22 OR (ROMANS 8:31-39)
 
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. 9 And God said to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 15 And God said to Abraham, "As for Sar'ai your wife, you shall not call her name Sar'ai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her; I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall come from her." 17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, "Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?" 18 And Abraham said to God, "O that Ish'mael might live in thy sight!" 19 God said, "No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 As for Ish'mael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him and make him fruitful and multiply him exceedingly; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this season next year." 22 When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.

The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM

PSALMS 127(128):1-5 OR (PSALMS 124:2-5, 7-8)

Response: See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.

Blessed is every one who fears the LORD,
who walks in his ways!
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;
you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. 

R. See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.

Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots
around your table.

R. See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.

Lo, thus shall the man be blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion!
May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life!

R. See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.
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GOSPEL

Lord, you can make me clean

MATTHEW 8:1-4 OR (MATTHEW 24:4-13)

1 When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him; 2 and behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." 3 And he stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, "I will; be clean." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus said to him, "See that you say nothing to any one; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to the people."

The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION

DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS

The authority to heal and make clean belongs to Christ, by John Chrysostom (347-407 AD)

"With great fervor before Jesus' knees, the leper pleaded with him (Mark 1:40) with sincere faith. He discerned who Jesus was. He did not state conditionally, 'If you request it of God' or 'If you pray for me.' Rather, he said simply, 'If you will, you can make me clean.' He did not pray, 'Lord, cleanse me.' Rather, he leaves everything to the Lord and makes his own recovery depend entirely on him. Thus he testified that all authority belongs to him. One might ask, 'What if the leper had been mistaken in this assumption?' If he had been mistaken, wouldn't it have been fitting for the Lord to reprove him and set him straight? But did he do this? No. Quite to the contrary, Jesus established and confirmed exactly what he had said."

(excerpt from THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 25.1)
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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.

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