Bible Diary

Daily Reading

Friday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
411

FIRST READING

NA 2:1, 3; 3:1-3, 6-7

See, upon the mountains there advances
the bearer of good news,
announcing peace!
Celebrate your feasts, O Judah,
fulfill your vows!
For nevermore shall you be invaded
by the scoundrel; he is completely destroyed.
The LORD will restore the vine of Jacob,
the pride of Israel,
Though ravagers have ravaged them
and ruined the tendrils.

Woe to the bloody city, all lies,
full of plunder, whose looting never stops!
The crack of the whip, the rumbling sounds of wheels;
horses a-gallop, chariots bounding,
Cavalry charging, the flame of the sword, the flash of the spear,
the many slain, the heaping corpses,
the endless bodies to stumble upon!
I will cast filth upon you,
disgrace you and put you to shame;
Till everyone who sees you runs from you, saying,
“Nineveh is destroyed; who can pity her?
Where can one find any to console her?”

PSALM

DT 32:35CD-36AB, 39ABCD, 41

Response: It is I who deal death and give life.

Close at hand is the day of their disaster,
and their doom is rushing upon them!
Surely, the LORD shall do justice for his people;
on his servants he shall have pity.

“Learn then that I, I alone, am God,
and there is no god besides me.
It is I who bring both death and life,
I who inflict wounds and heal them.”

I will sharpen my flashing sword,
and my hand shall lay hold of my quiver,
“With vengeance I will repay my foes
and requite those who hate me.”

GOSPEL

MT 16:24-28

Jesus said to his disciples,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory,
and then he will repay each according to his conduct.
Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here
who will not taste death
until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”

Daily Reflection

Pride blinds, and so it is not uncommon for those who trust solely in their own power, possessions and capabilities to fail to see the bigger picture. That is why the first criterion for discipleship, according to Jesus in today’s Gospel, is to renounce oneself!

Jesus goes on, “Anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it”. While this challenge of Jesus may sound rather intimidating for some, those who take it up are, in reality, demonstrating absolute belief in the resurrection and eternal life. It is only those who do not believe in life after their earthly existence who naively hold onto the things of this world for their security!

In the first reading, the prophet Nahum strongly, yet poetically, speaks of how Assyria, after plundering Israel and polluting it with immorality and witchcraft, was so blinded with success that she failed to see her impending destruction by other emerging powers!

Pride is being blind, deaf and dumb to all else but self!