DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION

OCTOBER 11, 2023

WEDNESDAY OF THE TWENTY-SEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

(OPTIONAL MEMORIAL OF SAINT JOHN XXIII, POPE)

FIRST READING

JONAH 4:1-11 OR (EZEKIEL 34:11-16)

1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the LORD and said, "I pray thee, LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love 3 Therefore now, O LORD, take my life from me, I beseech thee, for it is better for me to die than to live." 4 And the LORD said, "Do you do well to be angry?" 5 Then Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. 6 And the LORD God appointed a plant, and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm which attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a sultry east wind, and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah so that he was faint; and he asked that he might die, and said, "It is better for me to die than to live." 9 But God said to Jonah, "Do you do well to be angry for the plant?" And he said, "I do well to be angry, angry enough to die." 10 And the LORD said, "You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night, and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nin'eveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?"

The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM

PSALMS 85(86):3-6, 9-10 OR (PSALMS 23:1-6)

Response: Lord, thou are merciful and gracious.

Be gracious to me, O LORD,
for to thee do I cry all the day.
Gladden the soul of thy servant,
for to thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul.

R. Lord, thou are merciful and gracious.

For thou, O LORD, art good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call on thee.
Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer;
hearken to my cry of supplication.

R. Lord, thou are merciful and gracious.

All the nations thou hast made shall come
and bow down before thee, O LORD,
and shall glorify thy name.
For thou art great and doest wondrous things,
thou alone art God.

R. Lord, thou are merciful and gracious.
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GOSPEL

Lord, teach us to pray

LUKE 11:1-4 OR (JOHN 21:15-17)

1 He was praying in a certain place, and when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." 2 And he said to them, "When you pray, say: "Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread; 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive every one who is indebted to us; and lead us not into temptation."

The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION

DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS

The privilege and responsibility of calling God Father, by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD)

"For the Savior said, 'When you pray, say, 'Our Father.' And another of the holy Evangelists adds, 'who art in heaven' (Matthew 6:9)... He gives his own glory to us. He raises slaves to the dignity of freedom. He crowns the human condition with such honor as surpasses the power of nature. He brings to pass what was spoken of old by the voice of the psalmist: 'I said, you are gods, and all of you children of the Most High' (Psalm 82:6). He rescues us from the measure of slavery, giving us by his grace what we did not possess by nature, and permits us to call God 'Father,' as being admitted to the rank of sons. We received this, together with all our other privileges, from him. One of these privileges is the dignity of freedom, a gift peculiarly befitting those who have been called to be sons. He commands us, therefore, to take boldness and say in our prayers, 'Our Father.'"

(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 71)
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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.