DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
MAY 23, 2024
THURSDAY OF THE SEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
FIRST READING
JAMES 5:1-6
1 Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries. 2 Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten, 3 your gold and silver have corroded, and that corrosion will be a testimony against you; it will devour your flesh like a fire. You have stored up treasure for the last days. 4 Behold, the wages you withheld from the workers who harvested your fields are crying aloud; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on earth in luxury and pleasure; you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned; you have murdered the righteous one; he offers you no resistance.
The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALMS 48(49): 14-20
Response: Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!
the end of those who are pleased with their portion.
Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
Death shall be their shepherd;
straight to the grave they descend.
Sheol shall be their home.
But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me.
when the glory of his house increases.
his glory will not go down after him.
and though a man gets praise when he does well for himself,
he will go to the generation of his fathers,
who will never more see the light.
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GOSPEL
If your hand or eye causes you to sin
MARK 9:41-50
For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ, will by no means lose his reward. "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung round his neck and he were thrown into the sea. And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. For every one will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another."
The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
Why not skip over such passages, by John Chrysostom (347-407 AD)
"This is no trivial subject of inquiry that we propose, but rather it concerns things most urgent, and about which many inquire: namely, whether hell fire has any end. For that it has no end Christ indeed declared when he said, 'Their fire shall not be quenched, and their worm shall not die' (Isaiah 66:24). Yes, I know a chill comes over you on hearing these things. But what am I to do? For this is God's own command... Ordained as we have been to the ministry of the word, we must cause our hearers discomfort when it is necessary for them to hear. We do this not arbitrarily but under command."
(excerpt from the HOMILIES ON FIRST CORINTHIANS 9.1)
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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.