DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION

FEBRUARY 17, 2024

SATURDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY

FIRST READING

ISAIAH 58:9-14

9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am. "If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, 10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. 11 And the LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. 12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in. 13 "If you turn back your foot from the sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; 14 then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

The Word of the Lord
_

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

PSALMS 86:1-6

Response: Teach me thy way, O Lord, that I may walk in thy truth.

Incline thy ear, O LORD, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
Preserve my life, for I am godly;
save thy servant who trusts in thee.
Thou art my God.

R. Teach me thy way, O Lord, that I may walk in thy truth.

Be gracious to me, O LORD,
for to thee do I cry all the day.
Gladden the soul of thy servant,
for to thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul.

R. Teach me thy way, O Lord, that I may walk in thy truth.

For thou, O LORD, art good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call on thee.
Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer;
hearken to my cry of supplication.

R. Teach me thy way, O Lord, that I may walk in thy truth.
_

GOSPEL

Jesus Calls Sinners to Follow Him

LUKE 5:27-32

27 After this he went out, and saw a tax collector, named Levi, sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, "Follow me." 28 And he left everything, and rose and followed him. 29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house; and there was a large company of tax collectors and others sitting at table with them. 30 And the Pharisees and their scribes murmured against his disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" 31 And Jesus answered them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

The Gospel of the Lord
_

REFLECTION

DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS

Our All-powerful Physician, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 AD

"Our wound is serious, but the Physician is all-powerful. Does it seem to you so small a mercy that, while you were living in evil and sinning, he did not take away your life, but brought you to belief and forgave your sins? What I suffer is serious, but I trust the Almighty. I would despair of my mortal wound if I had not found so great a Physician."

(excerpt from Sermon 352, 3)
_

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.