DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
OCTOBER 10, 2023
TUESDAY OF THE TWENTY-SEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
FIRST READING
JONAH 3:1-10
1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 "Arise, go to Nin'eveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you." 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nin'eveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nin'eveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth. 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he cried, "Yet forty days, and Nin'eveh shall be overthrown!" 5 And the people of Nin'eveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. 6 Then tidings reached the king of Nin'eveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he made proclamation and published through Nin'eveh, "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, or drink water, 8 but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them cry mightily to God; yea, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence which is in his hands. 9Who knows, God may yet repent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we perish not?" 10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God repented of the evil which he had said he would do to them; and he did not do it.
The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALMS 129(130):1-4, 7-8
Response: If thou, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?
Out of the depths I cry to thee, O LORD!
LORD, hear my voice!
Let thy ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplications!
R. If thou, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?
If thou, O LORD, shouldst mark iniquities,
LORD, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with thee,
that thou mayest be feared.
R. If thou, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?
O Israel, hope in the LORD!
For with the LORD there is steadfast love,
and with him is plenteous redemption.
And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.
R. If thou, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?
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GOSPEL
You are anxious
LUKE 10:38-42
38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a village; and a woman named Martha received him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving; and she went to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." 41 But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; 42 one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her."
The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
The Body of Christ needs hearers and doers of the Word, by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397 A.D.
"Virtue does not have a single form. In the example of Martha and Mary, there is added the busy devotion of the one and the pious attention of the other to the Word of God, which, if it agrees with faith, is preferred even to the very works, as it is written: 'Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.' So let us also strive to have what no one can take away from us, so that not careless but diligent hearing may be granted to us. For even the seeds of the heavenly Word itself are likely to be taken away if they are sowed by the wayside (Luke 8:5,12). Let the desire for wisdom lead you as it did Mary. It is a greater and more perfect work. Do not let service divert the knowledge of the heavenly Word... Nor is Martha rebuked in her good serving, but Mary is preferred because she has chosen the better part for herself, for Jesus abounds with many blessings and bestows many gifts. And therefore the wiser chooses what she perceives as foremost."
(excerpt from EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 7.83-86)
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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.