Today, October 3
Feast of the Day
No feast of the day
Saint of the Day
Readings of the Day
Book of Job 42,1-3.5-6.12-17.
Job answered the LORD and said: I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be hindered. I have dealt with great things that I do not understand; things too wonderful for me, which I cannot know. I had heard of you by word of mouth, but now my eye has seen you. Therefore I disown what I have said, and repent in dust and ashes. Thus the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his earlier ones. For he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses. And he had seven sons and three daughters, of whom he called the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. In all the land no other women were as beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brethren. After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; and he saw his children, his grandchildren, and even his great-grandchildren. Then Job died, old and full of years.
Psalms 119(118),66.71.75.91.125.130.
Teach me wisdom and knowledge, for in your commands I trust. It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn your statutes. I know, O LORD, that your ordinances are just, and in your faithfulness you have afflicted me. According to your ordinances they still stand firm: all things serve you. I am your servant; give me discernment that I may know your decrees. The revelation of your words sheds light, giving understanding to the simple.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 10,17-24.
The seventy-two disciples returned rejoicing and said to Jesus, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name." Jesus said, "I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky. Behold, I have given you the power 'to tread upon serpents' and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven." At that very moment he rejoiced (in) the holy Spirit and said, "I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him." Turning to the disciples in private he said, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it."
Daily Reflection
My brothers, if faith reveals God’s presence to us everywhere, hope leads us to do everything we do with the sole aim of pleasing the good God, sustained by the joyful thought of an eternal reward. Since this virtue so greatly alleviates our afflictions, let us consider together wherein lies this beautiful and precious virtue of hope. If, my brothers, we have the blessing of knowing through faith that there is a God—our Creator, our Savior, and our supreme Good—who created us solely to know, love, serve, and possess Him, then hope teaches us that, however unworthy we may be of this happiness, we can hope for it through the merits of Jesus Christ. To make our actions worthy of reward, my brothers, three things are required: faith, which allows us to see God present in them; hope, which moves us to perform them with the sole aim of pleasing Him; and love, which binds us to Him as our supreme Good. Yes, my brothers, we shall never know the degree of glory that each action will earn us in heaven if we perform it purely for the sake of the good God; not even the saints in heaven comprehend it. (…) But, you might ask, what does the word "hope" mean? It means this, my brothers: it is to yearn for something that will make us happy in the life to come; it is to ardently desire deliverance from the ills of this life and to desire the possession of every good capable of fully satisfying us. (…) I say that our hope must be universal—that is to say, we must turn to the good God in all circumstances that may befall us.