DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION

NOVEMBER 30, 2023

THURSDAY - FEAST OF SAINT ANDREW, APOSTLE

FIRST READING

ROMANS 10:9-18

9 If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved. 11 The scripture says, "No one who believes in him will be put to shame." 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and bestows his riches upon all who call upon him. 13 For, "every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved." 14 But how are men to call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? 15 And how can men preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news!" 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel; for Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?" 17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ. 18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have; for "Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world."

The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM

PSALMS 18(19):8-11

Response: The judgments of the Lord are true, and all of them are just.
Or
R. Thy words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is sure,
making wise the simple.

R. The judgments of the Lord are true, and all of them are just.
Or
R. Thy words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

The precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is pure,
enlightening the eyes.

R. The judgments of the Lord are true, and all of them are just.
Or
R. Thy words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

The fear of the LORD is clean,
enduring for ever;
the ordinances of the LORD are true,
and righteous altogether.

R. The judgments of the Lord are true, and all of them are just.
Or
R. Thy words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.

R. The judgments of the Lord are true, and all of them are just.
Or
R. Thy words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
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GOSPEL

I will make you fishers of people

MATTHEW 4:18-22 OR (MATTHEW 15:29-37)

18 As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION

DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS

Jesus chooses them for what they can become, by an anonymous early author from the Greek church

"'Before he says or does anything, he calls the apostles so nothing may be concealed from them as to Christ's words or works and they may later say in confidence: 'For we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard' (Acts 4:20). He sees them not bodily but spiritually, regarding not their appearance but their hearts. And he chooses them not as apostles but because they could become apostles. Just as an artist who sees precious, and not rough-hewn, stones chooses them - not because of what they are but because of what they can become. Like the sensitive artist who does not spurn the unshaped good - so too the Lord, upon seeing them, does not choose their works but their hearts."

(excerpt from INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 7, the Greek fathers)
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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.