DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
OCTOBER 21, 2023
SATURDAY OF THE TWENTY-EIGHTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
FIRST READING
ROMANS 4:13, 16-18
13 The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that they should inherit the world, did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations" in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations; as he had been told, "So shall your descendants be."
The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALMS 104(105):6-9, 42-43
Response: The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
O offspring of Abraham his servant,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He is the LORD our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
He is mindful of his covenant for ever,
of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
the covenant which he made with Abraham,
his sworn promise to Isaac.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
For he remembered his holy promise,
and Abraham his servant.
So he led forth his people with joy,
his chosen ones with singing.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
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GOSPEL
The Holy Spirit will teach you what to say
LUKE 12:8-12
8 "And I tell you, every one who acknowledges me before men, the Son of man also will acknowledge before the angels of God; 9 but he who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. 10 And every one who speaks a word against the Son of man will be forgiven; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious how or what you are to answer or what you are to say; 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."
The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
The Holy Spirit will inspire martyrs and teach believers, by Cyril of Jerusalem, 430-543 A.D.
"You must also know that the Holy Spirit empowers the martyrs to bear witness... A person cannot testify as a martyr for Christ's sake except through the Holy Spirit. If 'no man can say "Jesus is Lord" except in the Holy Spirit' (1 Corinthians 12:3), will any man give his life for Jesus' sake except through the Holy Spirit?"
(excerpt from CATECHETICAL LECTURES 16.21)
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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.