Bible Diary

Daily Reading

Friday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
447

FIRST READING

1 COR 15:12-20

Brothers and sisters:
If Christ is preached as raised from the dead,
how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead?
If there is no resurrection of the dead,
then neither has Christ been raised.
And if Christ has not been raised, then empty too is our preaching;
empty, too, your faith.
Then we are also false witnesses to God,
because we testified against God that he raised Christ,
whom he did not raise if in fact the dead are not raised.
For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised,
and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain;
you are still in your sins.
Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
If for this life only we have hoped in Christ,
we are the most pitiable people of all.

But now Christ has been raised from the dead,
the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

PSALM

PS 17:1BCD, 6-7, 8B AND 15

Response: Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

Hear, O LORD, a just suit;
attend to my outcry;
hearken to my prayer from lips without deceit.

I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me; hear my word.
Show your wondrous mercies,
O savior of those who flee
from their foes to refuge at your right hand.

Hide me in the shadow of your wings,
But I in justice shall behold your face;
on waking, I shall be content in your presence.

GOSPEL

LK 8:1-3

Jesus journeyed from one town and village to another,
preaching and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God.
Accompanying him were the Twelve
and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities,
Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,
Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza,
Susanna, and many others
who provided for them out of their resources.

Daily Reflection

Paul is forceful in today’s first reading as he responds to some Corinthians who question the belief in the resurrection. He emphatically tells them that without Christ’s resurrection we are all dead to our sins!

In one Bible translation, today’s Gospel passage from Luke is titled: ‘The women accompanying Jesus’. Surprisingly, in this passage, the twelve men Jesus called are simply referred to as apostles, but the women followers are actually named. Perhaps, this is Luke’s way of telling us that every person who was touched by Jesus – by His words and by the power that came from Him – couldn’t help but follow Him, contributing in their own little way to the mission of spreading the Good News. The apostles may have been a motley crew when they first followed Jesus, but eventually became zealous preachers of the Good News and martyrs for their witness!

If I haven’t yet shared in the mission of Jesus, then perhaps I have still to hear the ‘Good News’!