DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION

22 May, 2024 - Wednesday

arrow_back CALENDAR arrow_forward

DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION

MAY 22, 2024

WEDNESDAY OF THE SEVENTH WEEK OF EASTER

(OPTIONAL MEMORIAL OF SAINT RITA OF CASCIA, RELIGIOUS)

FIRST READING

JAMES 4:13-17 OR (PHILIPPIANS 4:4-9)
 
13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and get gain"; 14 whereas you do not know about tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall do this or that." 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 Whoever knows what is right to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
 
The Word of the Lord
_

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

PSALMS 48(49):2-3, 6-11 OR (PSALMS 1:1-4, 6)
 
Response: Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!
 
Hear this, all peoples!
Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
both low and high,
rich and poor together!
 
R. Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!
 
Why should I fear in times of trouble,
when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me,
men who trust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
 
R. Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!
 
Truly no man can ransom himself,
or give to God the price of his life,
for the ransom of his life is costly,
and can never suffice,
that he should continue to live on for ever,
and never see the Pit.
 
R. Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!
 
Yea, he shall see that even the wise die,
the fool and the stupid alike must perish
and leave their wealth to others.
 
R. Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!
_

GOSPEL

Any one who does a mighty work in my name

MARK 9:38-40 OR (LUKE 6:27-38)

38 John said to him, "Teacher, we saw a man casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he was not following us." 39 But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him; for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon after to speak evil of me. 40 For he that is not against us is for us.

The Gospel of the Lord
_

REFLECTION

A DAILY QUOTE FOR THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS

Encouraging good works done in Christ, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"We ought not be disturbed because some who do not belong or do not yet belong to this temple, that is, among whom God does not or does not yet dwell, perform some works of power, as happened to the one who cast out devils in the name of Christ (Mark 9:38, Luke 9:49). Although he was not a follower of Christ, Christ ordered that he be allowed to continue because it gave a valuable testimony of his name to many... The centurion Cornelius also saw the angel that was sent to him to say that his prayers had been heard and his alms accepted (Acts 10:3-4), even before he was incorporated into this temple by regeneration."

(excerpt from LETTER 187, TO DARDANUS 36)
_

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.

arrow_back CALENDAR arrow_forward