Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection September 11, 2024

11th September 2024 (Wednesday)

Psalter: Week 3

Reading of the Day

First Reading: 1 Corinthians 7:25-31

Brethren: Now concerning the virgins, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. I think that in view of the present distress it is good for a person to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.

Psalm 45:11-12, 14-15, 16-17 (R. 11a)

R/. Listen, O daughter; pay heed and give ear

Gospel Acclamation

V/. Alleluia

R/. Alleluia

V/. Rejoice and leap for joy, says the Lord, for behold, your reward is great in heaven.

R/. Alleluia.

Gospel : Luke 6:20-26

At that time: Jesus lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.”

Daily Gospel Reflection

Wednesday – Twenty-Third Week of Ordinary Time

Guidelines: We will be blessed if we follow the beatitudes. We will be cursed if we go against them. This blessedness demands a singular focus and undivided heart toward God

1. Today’s word of God invites us to be kingdom-oriented and heaven-directed and not world-engrossed and earth-bound. In the first reading from 1 Corinthians, St Paul exhorts them to be singularly focused on the life to come, whether it is the virgins unmarried or the married. Each one, according to their state of life and duties must conduct themselves not to be too much entangled with worldly affairs.

2. In the gospel, again it is a call to be kingdom-oriented. We must strive to live by the values of the kingdom and thus obtain it. It means following the beatitudes. These are the norms of the kingdom of God. Thereby one becomes blessed. But it does not exempt one from affliction or persecution. But they will surely receive the heavenly reward if they persevere in their fidelity.

3. The ways of the blessed are a sharp contrast to the ways of the world. The former are marked by poverty, hunger, mourning, and persecution, all for God’s sake and His kingdom. These are something despicable and undesirable according to the world. Instead, the ways of the world are marked by riches, fullness, and a great reputation.

4. But their fate and result will be reversed in the sight and judgment of God. The poor for God will be made rich with the possession of God’s kingdom itself. The hungry will be satisfied. The weeping shall be gladdened and the hated, excluded, calumniated, and persecuted will be rewarded beyond measure.

5. On the other hand, those who are totally immersed in the needless anxieties of the world will have an ignominious fate and judgment by God. Desolation, hunger, mourning, and disgrace will be their end result. Their riches will not save them from desolation. They are truly cursed.

Practice: Let us not be easily deceived by the apparent and temporary pleasures and gratifications of the world. Let us assess everything and live according to the parameters of the kingdom