DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
NOVEMBER 16, 2023
THURSDAY OF THE THIRTY-SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
FIRST READING
WISDOM 7:22--8:1
7 22 for wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me. For in her there is a spirit that is intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, mobile, clear, unpolluted, distinct, invulnerable, loving the good, keen, irresistible, 23 beneficent, humane, steadfast, sure, free from anxiety, all-powerful, overseeing all, and penetrating through all spirits that are intelligent and pure and most subtle. 24 For wisdom is more mobile than any motion; because of her pureness she pervades and penetrates all things. 25 For she is a breath of the power of God, and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty; therefore nothing defiled gains entrance into her. 26 For she is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness. 27 Though she is but one, she can do all things, and while remaining in herself, she renews all things; in every generation she passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God, and prophets; 28 for God loves nothing so much as the man who lives with wisdom. 29 For she is more beautiful than the sun, and excels every constellation of the stars. Compared with the light she is found to be superior, 30 for it is succeeded by the night, but against wisdom evil does not prevail. 8 1 She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and she orders all things well.
The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALMS 118(119):89-91, 130, 135, 175
Response: Thy word is for ever, O Lord.
For ever, O LORD, thy word
is firmly fixed in the heavens.
R. Thy word is for ever, O Lord.
Thy faithfulness endures to all generations;
thou hast established the earth, and it stands fast.
R. Thy word is for ever, O Lord.
By thy appointment they stand this day;
for all things are thy servants.
R. Thy word is for ever, O Lord.
The unfolding of thy words gives light;
it imparts understanding to the simple.
R. Thy word is for ever, O Lord.
Make thy face shine upon thy servant,
and teach me thy statutes.
R. Thy word is for ever, O Lord.
Let me live, that I may praise thee,
and let thy ordinances help me.
R. Thy word is for ever, O Lord.
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GOSPEL
The coming of Christ's kingdom
LUKE 17:20-25
20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, he answered them, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; 21 nor will they say, `Behold, here it is!' or `There!' for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you." 22 And he said to the disciples, "The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, `Behold, there!' or `Behold, here!' Do not go, do not follow them. 24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of man be in his day. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
Don't pursue human glory, by John Cassian (360-435 AD)
"If the devil has been driven out and sin no longer reigns, then the kingdom of God is established in us. As it is written in the Gospel, 'The kingdom of God does not come with observation, nor will they say, 'Lo here,' or 'Lo, there.' Truly I say to you that the kingdom of God is within you' (Luke 17:20-21). The only thing that can be 'within us' is knowledge or ignorance of the truth and the affection for righteousness or sin by which we prepare our hearts to be a kingdom of Christ or the devil. St. Paul described the nature of this kingdom in this way: 'For the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit' (Romans 14:17). If the kingdom of God is within us and is righteousness, peace and joy, then someone that remains in these is surely within the kingdom of God. Someone that remains in unrighteousness, conflict and the melancholy that kills the life of the spirit is already a citizen of the devil's kingdom, of hell and of death. These are the signs whether it is God's kingdom or the devil's."
(excerpt from CONFERENCE 1.13.5)
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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.