Friday of the Twenty-sixth week in Ordinary Time

Saint Luke 10:13-16

by Daily Gospel | Source: Daily Gospel

Book of Baruch 1:15-22.

"Justice is with the LORD, our God; and we today are flushed with shame, we men of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem,

that we, with our kings and rulers and priests and prophets, and with our fathers,

have sinned in the LORD'S sight

and disobeyed him. We have neither heeded the voice of the LORD, our God, nor followed the precepts which the LORD set before us.

From the time the LORD led our fathers out of the land of Egypt until the present day, we have been disobedient to the LORD, our God, and only too ready to disregard his voice.

And the evils and the curse which the LORD enjoined upon Moses, his servant, at the time he led our fathers forth from the land of Egypt to give us the land flowing with milk and honey, cling to us even today.

For we did not heed the voice of the LORD, our God, in all the words of the prophets whom he sent us,

but each one of us went off after the devices of our own wicked hearts, served other gods, and did evil in the sight of the LORD, our God.

Psalms 79(78):1-2.3-5.8.9.

A psalm of Asaph. O God, the nations have invaded your heritage; they have defiled your holy temple, have laid Jerusalem in ruins.

They have left the corpses of your servants as food for the birds of the heavens, the flesh of your faithful for the beasts of the earth.

They have spilled their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and no one is left to bury them.

We have become the reproach of our neighbors, the scorn and derision of those around us.

How long, LORD? Will you be angry forever? Will your rage keep burning like fire?

Do not hold past iniquities against us; may your compassion come quickly, for we have been brought very low.

Help us, God our savior, for the glory of your name. Deliver us, pardon our sins for your name's sake.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 10:13-16.

Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.

And as for you, Capernaum, 'Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld.'"

Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me."

Commentary of the day

Saint Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hippo (North Africa) and Doctor of the Church

Discourses on the Psalms, Ps 50[49], §23

"Whoever listens to you listens to me"

Someone, having listened to the verse: «Offer to God a sacrifice of praise» (Ps 50[49].14), said to himself: «I will go to church every day when I get up and sing a morning hymn; then an evening hymn at the end of the day and then, in my own home, a third and fourth hymn. This is how I will make a sacrifice of praise every day and offer it to my God.» It is good to do this if you do it in truth, but beware of placing your confidence in what you do and fear lest, while your tongue is speaking eloquently before God, your life may be speaking badly... Take care you don't live evilly while speaking well.

Why is this so? Because God says to the sinner: «Why do you recite my commandments and profess my covenant with your mouth, [you who cast my words behind you]?» (v.16-17). You see how anxiously we have to speak to you... But as for you, my brothers, you are safe: if you hear good things being spoken then it is God you hear, no matter whose mouth is speaking to you. Yet God has not wanted to leave those who are speaking to you without warning them, lest they rest peacefully in their disordered lives thinking they are speaking about what is good, saying to themselves: «God will not allow us to be lost, those of us through whom he has wanted to speak such good things to his people». So, you who speak, whoever you may be, listen to what you are saying; you who wish to be heard, listen first of all to yourselves... God grant that I may be the first to listen, God grant that I may listen and hear even more than everyone else «what God proclaims, for he speaks peace to his people» (Ps 85[84],9).

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