DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
OCTOBER 24, 2023
TUESDAY OF THE TWENTY-NINTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
(OPTIONAL MEMORIAL OF SAINT ANTHONY MARY CLARET, BISHOP)
FIRST READING
ROMANS 5:12, 15, 17-21 OR (ISAIAH 52:7-10)
12 Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned 15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 17 If, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. 18 Then as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man's act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men. 19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous. 20 Law came in, to increase the trespass; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALMS 39(40):7-10, 17 OR (PSALMS 96:1-3, 7-8, 10)
Response: Here I am, Lord; I come to do thy will.
Sacrifice and offering thou dost not desire;
but thou hast given me an open ear.
Burnt offering and sin offering
thou hast not required.
Then I said, “Lo, I come;"
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do thy will.
"In the roll of the book it is written of me;
I delight to do thy will, O my God;
thy law is within my heart.”
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do thy will.
I have told the glad news of deliverance
in the great congregation;
lo, I have not restrained my lips,
as thou knowest, O LORD.
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do thy will.
But may all who seek thee
rejoice and be glad in thee;
may those who love thy salvation
say continually, “Great is the LORD!”
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do thy will.
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GOSPEL
"When the Master knocks - open at once"
LUKE 12:35-38 OR (MARK 1:14-20)
35 "Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the marriage feast, so that they may open to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes; truly, I say to you, he will gird himself and have them sit at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those servants!"
The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
The true meaning of 'loins girded and lamps burning', by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD)
"The girding of our loins (Luke 12:25) signifies the readiness of the mind to work hard in every thing praiseworthy. Those who apply themselves to bodily labors and are engaged in strenuous toil have their loins girded. The lamp apparently represents the wakefulness of the mind and intellectual cheerfulness. We say that the human mind is awake when it repels any tendency to slumber off into that carelessness that often is the means of bringing it into subjection to every kind of wickedness. When sunk in stupor, the heavenly light within the mind is liable to be endangered, or even already is in danger from a violent and impetuous blast of wind. Christ commands us to be awake. To this, his disciple also arouses us by saying, 'Be awake. Be watchful' (1 Peter 5:8). Further on, the very wise Paul also says, 'Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead: and Christ shall give you light' (Ephesians 5:14)."
(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 92)
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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.