DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
FEBRUARY 10, 2024
SATURDAY OF THE FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
MEMORIAL OF SAINT SCHOLASTICA, VIRGIN
FIRST READING
1 KINGS 12:26-32; 13:33-34
12 26 And Jerobo'am said in his heart, "Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David; 27 if this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehobo'am king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehobo'am king of Judah." 28 So the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, "You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt." 29 And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. 30 And this thing became a sin, for the people went to the one at Bethel and to the other as far as Dan. 31 He also made houses on high places, and appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites. 32 And Jerobo'am appointed a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices upon the altar; so he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made. 13 33 After this thing Jerobo'am did not turn from his evil way, but made priests for the high places again from among all the people; any who would, he consecrated to be priests of the high places. 34 And this thing became sin to the house of Jerobo'am, so as to cut it off and to destroy it from the face of the earth.
The Word of the Lord
_
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALMS 105(106):6-7, 19-22
Response: Remember us, O Lord, as thou favor thy people.
Both we and our fathers have sinned;
we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.
Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,
did not consider thy wonderful works;
they did not remember the abundance of thy steadfast love,
but rebelled against the Most High
at the Red Sea.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as thou favor thy people.
They made a calf in Horeb
and worshiped a molten image.
They exchanged the glory of God
for the image of an ox that eats grass.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as thou favor thy people.
They forgot God, their Savior,
who had done great things in Egypt,
wondrous works in the land of Ham,
and terrible things by the Red Sea.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as thou favor thy people.
_
GOSPEL
Jesus alone can satisfy our hunger for God
MARK 8:1-10
1 In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him, and said to them, 2 "I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days, and have nothing to eat; 3 and if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come a long way." 4 And his disciples answered him, "How can one feed these men with bread here in the desert?" 5 And he asked them, "How many loaves have you?" They said, "Seven."6 And he commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground; and he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. 7 And they had a few small fish; and having blessed them, he commanded that these also should be set before them. 8 And they ate, and were satisfied; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 9 And there were about four thousand people.10 And he sent them away; and immediately he got into the boat with his disciples, and went to the district of Dalmanutha.
The Gospel of the Lord
_
REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
Breaking the bread of God's Word, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"In expounding to you the Holy Scriptures, I as it were break bread for you. If you hunger to receive it, your heart will sing out with the fullness of praise (Psalm 138:1). If you are thus made rich in your banquet, be not meager in good works and deeds. What I am distributing to you is not my own. What you eat, I eat; what you live upon, I live upon. We have in heaven a common store-house - from it comes the Word of God."
(excerpt from SERMONS ON NEW TESTAMENT LESSONS 45.1)
_
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.