DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION

Thursday of the Seventh week in Ordinary Time (February 28)

"If your hand or eye causes you to sin"

GOSPEL

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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FIRST READING

Sirach 5:1-8

1 Do not set your heart on your wealth, nor say, "I have enough." 2 Do not follow your inclination and strength, walking according to the desires of your heart. 3 Do not say, "Who will have power over me?" for the Lord will surely punish you. 4 Do not say, "I sinned, and what happened to me?" for the Lord is slow to anger. 5 Do not be so confident of atonement that you add sin to sin. 6 Do not say, "His mercy is great, he will forgive the multitude of my sins," for both mercy and wrath are with him, and his anger rests on sinners. 7 Do not delay to turn to the Lord, nor postpone it from day to day; for suddenly the wrath of the Lord will go forth, and at the time of punishment you will perish. 8 Do not depend on dishonest wealth, for it will not benefit you in the day of calamity.
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM

PSALM 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6

Response: Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.

R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.

R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.

R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
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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.