DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
FEBRUARY 4, 2024
FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
FIRST READING
JOB 7:1-4, 6-7
1 "Has not man a hard service upon earth, and are not his days like the days of a hireling? 2 Like a slave who longs for the shadow, and like a hireling who looks for his wages, 3 so I am allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery are apportioned to me. 4 When I lie down I say, `When shall I arise?' But the night is long, and I am full of tossing till the dawn. 6 My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and come to their end without hope. 7 "Remember that my life is a breath; my eye will never again see good.
The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALMS 147:1-6
Response: Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
Or
R. Alleluia.
Praise the LORD!
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
for he is gracious, and a song of praise is seemly.
The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
Or
R. Alleluia.
He heals the brokenhearted,
and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of the stars,
he gives to all of them their names.
R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
Or
R. Alleluia.
Great is our LORD, and abundant in power;
his understanding is beyond measure.
The LORD lifts up the downtrodden,
he casts the wicked to the ground.
R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
Or
R. Alleluia.
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SECOND READING
1 CORINTHIANS 9:16-19, 22-23
16 For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission. 18 What then is my reward? Just this: that in my preaching I may make the gospel free of charge, not making full use of my right in the gospel. 19 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
The Word of the Lord
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GOSPEL
Jesus healed many who were sick
MARK 1:29-39
29 And immediately he left the synagogue, and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 Now Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever, and immediately they told him of her. 31 And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her; and she served them. 32 That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. 33 And the whole city was gathered together about the door. 34 And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. 35 And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed. 36 And Simon and those who were with him pursued him, 37 and they found him and said to him, "Every one is searching for you." 38 And he said to them, "Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also; for that is why I came out." 39 And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.
The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
The habit of prayer, by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD)
"Jesus prayed and did not pray in vain, since he received what he asked for in prayer when he might have done so without prayer. If so, who among us would neglect to pray? Mark says that 'in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed' (Mark 1:35). And Luke says, 'He was praying in a certain place, and when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray,"' (Luke 11:1) and elsewhere, 'And all night he continued in prayer to God' (Luke 6:12). And John records his prayer, saying, 'When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you"' (John 17:1). The same Evangelist writes that the Lord said that he knew 'you hear me always' (John 11:42). All this shows that the one who prays always is always heard."
(excerpt from ON PRAYER 13.1)
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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.