DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
DECEMBER 7, 2023
THURSDAY - MEMORIAL OF SAINT AMBROSE, BISHOP AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH
FIRST READING
ISAIAH 26:1-6 OR (EPHESIANS 3:8-12)
1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: "We have a strong city; he sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks. 2 Open the gates, that the righteous nation which keeps faith may enter in. 3 You keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. 4 Trust in the LORD for ever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock. 5 For he has brought low the inhabitants of the height, the lofty city. He lays it low, lays it low to the ground, casts it to the dust. 6 The foot tramples it, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy."
The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALMS 117(118):1, 8-9, 19-21, 25-27 OR (PSALMS 89:2-5, 21-22, 25, 27)
Response: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Or
R. Alleluia.
O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his steadfast love endures for ever!
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to put confidence in man.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to put confidence in princes.
R. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Or
R. Alleluia.
Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the LORD.
This is the gate of the LORD;
the righteous shall enter through it.
I thank thee that thou hast answered me
and hast become my salvation.
R. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Or
R. Alleluia.
Save us, we beseech thee, O LORD!
O LORD, we beseech thee, give us success!
Blessed be he who enters in the name of the LORD!
We bless you from the house of the LORD.
The LORD is God,
and he has given us light.
Bind the festal procession with branches,
up to the horns of the altar!
R. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Or
R. Alleluia.
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GOSPEL
Who shall enter the kingdom of heaven?
MATTHEW 7:21, 24-27 OR (JOHN 10:11-16)
21 "Not every one who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 24 Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; 25 and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; 27 and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it."
The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
Turn your vision to the Savior, by Verecundus (died 552 AD)
"When Hezekiah, the king of Judah and son of Ahaz, was gravely ill and had learned of his coming death by the prophecy of Isaiah, he turned his face to the wall and wept bitterly (2 Kings 20:1-3). Immediately the Lord in his mercy not only averted the destruction of imminent death but also added fifteen years to the man's life. Then, at last, Hezekiah sang this song (Isaiah 38:10-20). Hezekiah, a holy man who reigned at that time over all of Israel, displayed the Lord's form: clearly he had every movement of body, soul and mind in subjection to himself, and he accepted the consequences of his infirmity and weakness. He knew without doubt through the prophetic message that the end of his life was approaching. For the longer we seem to live, the more indubitably is our future death foreknown to us. And if we turn our face to the wall when struck by the fear of death, that is, if we direct the vision of our hearts to the Savior, who is here represented by the wall because he is elsewhere called 'a wall,' we will be saved, inasmuch as he saves the faithful who dwell within him from a great many attacks. 'In the city of our strength,' says Isaiah, 'is the Savior established as a wall and a fortress' (Isaiah 26:1). Behold, the Savior is said to be a wall."
(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON THE CANTICLE OF EZEKIEL 5.1-2)
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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.