DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
SEPTEMBER 23, 2023
SATURDAY - MEMORIAL OF SAINT PIUS OF PIETRELCINA, PRIEST
FIRST READING
1 TIMOTHY 6:13-16 OR (GALATIANS 2:19-20 / JEREMIAH 9:22-23)
The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALMS 99(100):1-5 OR (PSALMS 128:1-5 / PSALMS 15:1-2, 5, 7-8, 11)
Response: Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the lands!
Serve the LORD with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
Know that the LORD is God!
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him, bless his name!
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures for ever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
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GOSPEL
He who has ears to hear, let him hear
LUKE 8:4-15 OR (MATTHEW 16:24-27 / MATTHEW 11:25-30)
4 And when a great crowd came together and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: 5 "A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it. 8 And some fell into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold." As he said this, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." 9 And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, 10 he said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. 11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved. 13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root, they believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. 14 And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. 15 And as for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience."
The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
The Devil snatches good seed off the path, by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD)
"The seed is the Word of God. Those on the way are they who have heard. Afterwards, the devil comes and takes away the Word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved. We see in a moment that the hardness of the ground causes the seed on the pathways to be snatched away. A pathway always is hard and untilled, because it is exposed to every one's feet. It does not admit any seed into it, but it lies rather upon the surface, ready for any birds that will to snatch it away. All whose minds are hard and unyielding, and so to speak, pressed together, do not receive the divine seed. The divine and sacred admonition does not find an entrance into them. They do not accept the words that would produce in them the fear of God and by means of which they could bring forth as fruits the glories of virtue. They have made themselves a beaten and trampled pathway for unclean demons, yes, for Satan himself, such as never can bear holy fruit. Let those who are awake, whose heart is sterile and unfruitful, open your mind, receive the sacred seed, be like productive and well-tilled soil, bring forth to God the fruits that will raise you to an incorruptible life."
(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 41)
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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.