Friday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time
October 13, 2023
First Reading: Joel 1:13-15; 2:1-2
1:13 Gird on sackcloth and lament, O priests, wail, O ministers of the altar. Go in, pass the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God! Because cereal offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God. 14 Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the LORD your God; and cry to the LORD. 15 Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes. 2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming, it is near, 2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations.
1 I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will tell of all thy wonderful deeds. 2 I will be glad and exult in thee, I will sing praise to thy name, O Most High. 5 Thou hast rebuked the nations, thou hast destroyed the wicked; thou hast blotted out their name for ever and ever. 7 But the LORD sits enthroned for ever, he has established his throne for judgment; 8 and he judges the world with righteousness, he judges the peoples with equity. 15 The nations have sunk in the pit which they made; in the net which they hid has their own foot been caught.
15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Be-el’zebul, the prince of demons”; 16 while others, to test him, sought from him a sign from heaven. 17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. 18 And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Be-el’zebul. 19 And if I cast out demons by Be-el’zebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. 20 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace; 22 but when one stronger than he assails him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoil. 23 He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. 24 When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places seeking rest; and finding none he says, `I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when he comes he finds it swept and put in order. 26 Then he goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”
Reflection of the Day: “Keep your heart in peace and let nothing trouble you, not even your faults. You must humble yourself and amend them peacefully, without being discouraged or cast down, for God’s dwelling is in peace.” — St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
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