Today, September 7
Feast of the Day
No feast of the day
Saint of the Day
Readings of the Day
First Letter to the Corinthians 5,1-8.
Brothers and sisters : It is widely reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of a kind not found even among pagans – a man living with his father's wife. And you are inflated with pride. Should you not rather have been sorrowful? The one who did this deed should be expelled from your midst. I, for my part, although absent in body but present in spirit, have already, as if present, pronounced judgment on the one who has committed this deed, in the name of (our) Lord Jesus: when you have gathered together and I am with you in spirit with the power of the Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord. Your boasting is not appropriate. Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all the dough? Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough, inasmuch as you are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Psalms 5,5-6.7.12.
For you, O God, delight not in wickedness; No evil man remains with you; The arrogant may not stand in your sight. You hate all evildoers. You destroy all who speak falsehood; the bloodthirsty and the deceitful the LORD abhors. But let all who take refuge in you Be glad and exult forever. Protect them, that you may be the joy Of those who love your name.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 6,6-11.
On a certain sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely to see if he would cure on the sabbath so that they might discover a reason to accuse him. But he realized their intentions and said to the man with the withered hand, "Come up and stand before us." And he rose and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?" Looking around at them all, he then said to him, "Stretch out your hand." He did so and his hand was restored. But they became enraged and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.
Daily Reflection
The same hand that Adam stretched out to pluck the fruit of the forbidden tree was filled by the Lord with the sap of good deeds so that, dried up by sin, it might be healed by its good deeds. On this occasion Christ took to task those enemies of his who, by their false interpretations, violated the commands of the Law. They considered that people should even set aside good deeds on the Sabbath day, whereas the Law was foreshadowing in the present the outlines of the future when, without any doubt at all, it will be evil that will no longer be working, not good... You heard, then, the Lord's words: “Stretch out your hand.” Here is the cure for us all. And as for you who believe your hands are clean, beware lest avarice and sacrilege paralyse it. Keep on stretching it out: stretch it out towards the poor man who is begging you; stretch it out to assist a neighbor, to bring help to a widow, to rescue from injustice someone you see to be subjected to undeserved humiliation; stretch it out towards God for your sins. This is how our hands are stretched out; this is how they heal.