DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
JANUARY 22, 2024
MONDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE LEGAL PROTECTION OF UNBORN CHILDREN
FIRST READING
2 SAMUEL 5:1-7, 10
1 Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron, and said, "Behold, we are your bone and flesh. 2 In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you that led out and brought in Israel; and the LORD said to you, `You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel.'" 3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel. 4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. 5 At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months; and at Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years. 6 And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jeb'usites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, "You will not come in here, but the blind and the lame will ward you off" -- thinking, "David cannot come in here." 7 Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David. 10 And David became greater and greater, for the LORD, the God of hosts, was with him.
The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALMS 89:20-22, 25-26 OR (PSALMS 37:3-6, 30-31)
Response: My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him.
Of old thou didst speak in a vision
to thy faithful one, and say:
“I have set the crown upon one who is mighty,
I have exalted one chosen from the people.
R. My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him.
I have found David, my servant;
with my holy oil I have anointed him;
so that my hand shall ever abide with him,
my arm also shall strengthen him.
R. My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him.
My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him,
and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
I will set his hand on the sea
and his right hand on the rivers.
R. My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him.
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GOSPEL
Jesus frees us from Satan's power
MARK 3:22-30 OR (JOHN 15:9-17)
22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebul, and by the prince of demons he casts out the demons." 23 And he called them to him, and said to them in parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man; then indeed he may plunder his house. 28 "Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin" 30 for they had said, "He has an unclean spirit."
The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
The cross of Christ as victory, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"It is not difficult, therefore, to see how the devil was conquered when he, who was slain by him, rose again. But there is something greater and more profound of comprehension: to see how the devil was conquered precisely when he was thought to be conquering, namely, when Christ was crucified. For at that moment the blood of him who had no sin at all, was shed for the remission of our sins (Matthew 26:28, 1 John 3:5). The devil deservedly held those whom he had bound by sin to the condition of death. So it happened that One who was guilty of no sin freed them justly from this condemnation (Hebrews 2:14). The strong man was conquered by this paradoxical justice and bound by this chain, that his vessels [booty] might be taken away. Those vessels which had been vessels of wrath were turned into vessels of mercy (Romans 9:22-23)."
(excerpt ON THE TRINITY 13.15.19)
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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.