Bible Diary

Daily Reading

Saturday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
388

FIRST READING

IS 6:1-8

In the year King Uzziah died,
I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne,
with the train of his garment filling the temple.
Seraphim were stationed above; each of them had six wings:
with two they veiled their faces,
with two they veiled their feet,
and with two they hovered aloft.

They cried one to the other,
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts!
All the earth is filled with his glory!”
At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook
and the house was filled with smoke.

Then I said, “Woe is me, I am doomed!
For I am a man of unclean lips,
living among a people of unclean lips;
yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me,
holding an ember that he had taken with tongs from the altar.

He touched my mouth with it and said,
“See, now that this has touched your lips,
your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
“Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?”
“Here I am,” I said; “send me!”

PSALM

PS 93:1AB, 1CD-2, 5

Response: The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.

The LORD is king, in splendor robed;
robed is the LORD and girt about with strength.

And he has made the world firm,
not to be moved.
Your throne stands firm from of old;
from everlasting you are, O LORD.

Your decrees are worthy of trust indeed:
holiness befits your house,
O LORD, for length of days.

GOSPEL

MT 10:24-33

Jesus said to his Apostles:
“No disciple is above his teacher,
no slave above his master.
It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher,
for the slave that he become like his master.
If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul,
how much more those of his household!

“Therefore do not be afraid of them.
Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.
What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light;
what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.
And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul;
rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy
both soul and body in Gehenna.
Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin?
Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.
Even all the hairs of your head are counted.
So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Everyone who acknowledges me before others
I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.
But whoever denies me before others,
I will deny before my heavenly Father.”

Daily Reflection

The readings today now shift to focus on a vocation or calling.

In the first reading, Isaiah has a vision in which he has an overwhelming experience of the glory, majesty and holiness of God. There, in the presence of the awe-inspiring, infinite God he realizes his own finiteness and unworthiness. It is only after being purified, that he volunteers to be God’s messenger.

The calling of Isaiah is paralleled, in the Gospel, with the twelve apostles receiving clarity about their own mission. Jesus does not camouflage the physical dangers involved in the mission, but assures the disciples that He will stand by them and let no harm come to their spirit. By sharing Jesus’ mission, we share in the redemption of the world!

The question many ask is, ‘How will I know if or when I am called?’ Like most people in Scripture, whenever one is called, there is a sense of restlessness; when the call is answered, this restlessness is replaced by a deep sense of peace and joy within!