DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
AUGUST 16, 2023
WEDNESDAY OF THE NINETEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
(OPTIONAL MEMORIAL OF SAINT STEPHEN OF HUNGARY)
FIRST READING
DEUTERONOMY 34:1-12 OR (DEUTERONOMY 6:3-9)
34 1 Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the Lord showed him the whole land from Gilead to Dan, 2 all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea, 3 the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. 4 Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.” 5 And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said. 6 He buried him[a] in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. 7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone. 8 The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over. 9 Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the Lord had commanded Moses. 10 Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, 11 who did all those signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. 12 For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALMS 65(66):1-3, 5, 8, 16-17 OR (PSALMS 112:1-9)
Response: Blessed be God who filled my soul with fire!
Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth;
sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise!
Say to God, “How terrible are thy deeds!
So great is thy power that thy enemies cringe before thee.
R. Blessed be God who filled my soul with fire!
Come and see what God has done:
he is terrible in his deeds among men.
Bless our God, O peoples,
let the sound of his praise be heard.
R. Blessed be God who filled my soul with fire!
Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for me.
I cried aloud to him,
and he was extolled with my tongue.
R. Blessed be God who filled my soul with fire!
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GOSPEL
If your brother sins against you
MATTHEW 18:15-20 OR (MATTHEW 25:14-30 / MATTHEW 25:14-23)
15 "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
If someone has done you injury, by Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD)
"If someone has done you injury and you have suffered, what should be done? You have heard the answer already in today's scripture: 'If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.' If you fail to do so, you are worse than he is. He has done someone harm, and by doing harm he has stricken himself with a grievous wound. Will you then completely disregard your brother's wound? Will you simply watch him stumble and fall down? Will you disregard his predicament? If so, you are worse in your silence than he in his abuse. Therefore, when any one sins against us, let us take great care, but not merely for ourselves. For it is a glorious thing to forget injuries. Just set aside your own injury, but do not neglect your brother's wound. Therefore 'go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone,' intent upon his amendment but sparing his sense of shame. For it might happen that through defensiveness he will begin to justify his sin, and so you will have inadvertently nudged him still closer toward the very behavior you desire to amend. Therefore 'tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother,' because he might have been lost, had you not spoken with him. "
(excerpt from Sermon 82.7)
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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.