DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
NOVEMBER 15, 2023
WEDNESDAY OF THE THIRTY-SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
FIRST READING
WISDOM 6:1-11
1 Listen therefore, O kings, and understand; learn, O judges of the ends of the earth. 2 Give ear, you that rule over multitudes, and boast of many nations. 3 For your dominion was given you from the Lord, and your sovereignty from the Most High, who will search out your works and inquire into your plans. 4 Because as servants of his kingdom you did not rule rightly, nor keep the law, nor walk according to the purpose of God, 5 he will come upon you terribly and swiftly, because severe judgment falls on those in high places. 6 For the lowliest man may be pardoned in mercy, but mighty men will be mightily tested. 7 For the Lord of all will not stand in awe of any one, nor show deference to greatness; because he himself made both small and great, and he takes thought for all alike. 8 But a strict inquiry is in store for the mighty. 9 To you then, O monarchs, my words are directed, that you may learn wisdom and not transgress. 10 For they will be made holy who observe holy things in holiness, and those who have been taught them will find a defense. 11 Therefore set your desire on my words; long for them, and you will be instructed.
The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALMS 81(82):3-4, 6-7
Response: Rise up, O God, bring judgment to the earth.
"Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
R. Rise up, O God, bring judgment to the earth.
I say, “You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you;
nevertheless, you shall die like men,
and fall like any prince.”
R. Rise up, O God, bring judgment to the earth.
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GOSPEL
He fell at Jesus' feet giving thanks
LUKE 17:11-19
11 On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." 14 When he saw them he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17 Then said Jesus, "Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" 19 And he said to him, "Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well."
The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
Cleansing of the ten lepers, by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD)
"Why did [Jesus] not say, 'I will, be cleansed,' as he did in the case of another leper (Luke 5:13), instead of commanding them to show themselves to the priests? It was because the law gave directions to this effect to those who were delivered from leprosy (Leviticus 14:2). It commanded them to show themselves to the priests and to offer a sacrifice for their cleansing. He commanded them to go as being already healed so that they might bear witness to the priests, the rulers of the Jews and always envious of his glory. They testified that wonderfully and beyond their hope, they had been delivered from their misfortune by Christ's willing that they should be healed. He did not heal them first but sent them to the priests, because the priests knew the marks of leprosy and of its healing."
(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.