Daily Readings for September 9, 2017

1ST READING

The Gospel truths and promises are the true Christian anchor. They ground us in our discipleship and remind us of who we are in relation to God. St. Paul encourages the Colossians to root themselves well in the Gospel. They live in a very pagan world that will pounce at any opportunity to win them back to paganism. The same is true today in that the Western world around us is virtually moving into a post-Christian phase that welcomes back the pagan idols of yesteryears.

Colossians 1:21-23

21 Brothers and sisters: You once were alienated and hostile in mind because of evil deeds 22 God has now reconciled in his fleshly Body of Christ through his death, to present you holy, without blemish, and irreproachable before him, 23 provided that you persevere in the faith, firmly grounded, stable, and not shifting from the hope of the Gospel that you heard, which has been preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, am a minister.

P S A L M

Psalm 54:3-4, 6, 8

R: God himself is my help.

1 [3] O God, by your name save me, and by your might defend my cause. 2 [4] O God, hear my prayer; hearken to the words of my mouth. (R) 4 [6] Behold, God is my helper; the Lord sustains my life. 6 [8] Freely will I offer you sacrifice; I will praise your name, O Lord, for its goodness. (R)

GOSPEL

Legalism, relying upon the Law for the sake of the Law and forgetting that it is in the service of the human person, will not do us well in the long term. This does not mean that we can pick and choose what laws we want to follow and ignore, but that we have to use our conscience on how to apply the Law in any given situation. This is why we need to develop our virtues, so that our consciences will be well-formed and, thus, capable of making wise judgments.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord; no one comes to the Father except through me.

Luke 6:1-5

1 While Jesus was going through a field of grain on a sabbath, his disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. 2 Some Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” 3 Jesus said to them in reply, “Have you not read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry? 4 How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering, which only the priests could lawfully eat, ate of it, and shared it with his companions.” 5 Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”