DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

MONDAY OF THE THIRTY-SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

MEMORIAL OF SAINT FRANCES XAVIER CABRINI, VIRGIN

FIRST READING

WISDOM 1:1-7

1 Love righteousness, you rulers of the earth, think of the Lord with uprightness, and seek him with sincerity of heart; 2 because he is found by those who do not put him to the test, and manifests himself to those who do not distrust him. 3 For perverse thoughts separate men from God, and when his power is tested, it convicts the foolish; 4 because wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul, nor dwell in a body enslaved to sin. 5 For a holy and disciplined spirit will flee from deceit, and will rise and depart from foolish thoughts, and will be ashamed at the approach of unrighteousness. 6 For wisdom is a kindly spirit and will not free a blasphemer from the guilt of his words; because God is witness of his inmost feelings, and a true observer of his heart, and a hearer of his tongue. 7 Because the Spirit of the Lord has filled the world, and that which holds all things together knows what is said;

The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM

PSALMS 138(139):1-10

Response: Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.

O LORD, thou hast searched me and known me!
Thou knowest when I sit down and when I rise up;
thou discernest my thoughts from afar.
Thou searchest out my path and my lying down,
and art acquainted with all my ways.

R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.

Even before a word is on my tongue,
lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
Thou dost beset me behind and before,
and layest thy hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high, I cannot attain it.

R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.

Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?
Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
If I ascend to heaven, thou art there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, thou art there!

R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.

If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there thy hand shall lead me,
and thy right hand shall hold me.

R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
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GOSPEL

Lord Jesus increase our faith

LUKE 17:1-6

1 And he said to his disciples, "Temptations to sin are sure to come; but woe to him by whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung round his neck and he were cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. 3 Take heed to yourselves; if your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him; 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, and says, `I repent,' you must forgive him." 5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" 6 And the Lord said,"If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this sycamine tree, `Be rooted up, and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you."

The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION

DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS

To increase faith is to strengthen it by the Holy Spirit, by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD)

"They ask, 'Add faith to us.' They do not ask simply for faith, for perhaps you might imagine them to be without faith. They rather ask Christ for an addition to their faith and to be strengthened in faith. Faith partly depends on us and partly is the gift of the divine grace. The beginning of faith depends on us and our maintaining confidence and faith in God with all our power. The confirmation and strength necessary for this comes from the divine grace. For that reason, since all things are possible with God, the Lord says that all things are possible for him who believes (Mark 9:23). The power that comes to us through faith is of God. Knowing this, blessed Paul also says in the first epistle to the Corinthians, 'For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit, and to another faith in the same Spirit' (1 Corinthians 12:8). You see that he has placed faith also in the catalogue of spiritual graces. The disciples requested that they might receive this from the Savior, contributing also what was of themselves. By the descent upon them of the Holy Spirit, he granted it to them after the fulfillment of the dispensation. Before the resurrection, their faith was so feeble that they were liable even to the charge of being 'little of faith'."

(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILIES 113-16)
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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.