Today, September 18
Feast of the Day
No feast of the day
Saint of the Day
Readings of the Day
First Letter to the Corinthians 15,12-20.
Brothers and sisters : If Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then empty (too) is our preaching; empty, too, your faith. Then we are also false witnesses to God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Psalms 17(16),1.6-7.8b.15.
Hear, O LORD, a just suit; attend to my outcry; hearken to my prayer from lips without deceit. I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me; hear my word. Show your wondrous mercies, O savior of those who flee from their foes Hide me in the shadow of your wings. I in justice shall behold your face; on waking I shall be content in your presence.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 8,1-3.
Jesus journeyed from one town and village to another, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. Accompanying him were the Twelve and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their resources.
Daily Reflection
Sometimes when meditating she began to see her interior deformities and to be so displeased with herself that with anxiety she would wonder how she could ever be pleasing to God, who would see so many stains in her, for where she saw only one stain the penetrating eyes of the divinity would see an infinite number. She was reassured about this by the divine reply: "Love makes pleasing." By this she understood that if on earth human love has such power that sometimes it makes the deformed pleasing, for love's sake, to those who love them, and even at times so pleasing that the lovers, through the power of love, want to resemble their loved ones, how then be distrustful of God, who is Love itself? Cannot he, through the power of love, make pleasing those whom he loves? Another time, when she was downcast at the memory of her former sins to such an extent that she desired only to hide herself completely, the Lord deigned to incline with such gracious condescension toward her that the whole court of heaven seemed to be trying to restrain him as if in astonishment. The Lord responded thus: "Nothing can restrain me from following her when she so powerfully attracts my heart by the cords of her humility."