Bible Diary

Daily Reading

Saturday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
382

FIRST READING

AM 9:11-15

Thus says the LORD:
On that day I will raise up
the fallen hut of David;
I will wall up its breaches,
raise up its ruins,
and rebuild it as in the days of old,
That they may conquer what is left of Edom
and all the nations that shall bear my name,
say I, the LORD, who will do this.
Yes, days are coming,
says the LORD,
When the plowman shall overtake the reaper,
and the vintager, him who sows the seed;
The juice of grapes shall drip down the mountains,
and all the hills shall run with it.
I will bring about the restoration of my people Israel;
they shall rebuild and inhabit their ruined cities,
Plant vineyards and drink the wine,
set out gardens and eat the fruits.
I will plant them upon their own ground;
never again shall they be plucked
From the land I have given them,
say I, the LORD, your God.

PSALM

PS 85:9AB AND 10, 11-12, 13-14

Response: The Lord speaks of peace to his people.

I will hear what God proclaims;
the LORD–for he proclaims peace to his people.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.

Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.

The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.

GOSPEL

MT 9:14-17

The disciples of John approached Jesus and said,
"Why do we and the Pharisees fast much,
but your disciples do not fast?"
Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them?
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast.
No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth,
for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse.
People do not put new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined.
Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved."

Daily Reflection

The words of prophecy from Amos in today’s first reading are a pleasant surprise as they are no longer words of doom, but of hope. They look beyond the coming darkness to the period of restoration that God would bring about for the people of Israel. However, it is important that the people first acknowledge their failings, repent and seek to amend their relationship with God.

Amos’ prophecy offers comforting evidence that our God does not punish or hold grudges, but He desires us to change so that we may experience His divine providence. After all, why would our Maker seek to destroy His most prized creation?

In the Gospel, Jesus provides vivid illustrations of God’s magnanimous love bursting at its seams through the example of new wine bursting old wineskins, and an unshrunken cloth tearing an old cloak that it is sewn onto.

God is generous with His love. Am I?