Daily Readings for September 9, 2018

1st READING 

Here Isaiah envisions a new springtime of the Spirit where daily conflict is transformed into peace and harmony between all of creation. It will be a time of great healing — healing of the sick and of the land that has fallen into waste. This vision gives hope to a people who are exiled in Assyria, an experience that worsens when they are exiled to Babylon in the future.

Isaiah 35:4-7

4 Thus says the Lord: Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God — he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you. 5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; 6 then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the dumb will sing. Streams will burst forth in the desert, and rivers in the steppe. 7 The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground, springs of water.

P S A L M

Psalm 146:7, 8-9, 9-10

R: Praise the Lord, my soul!

7 The God of Jacob keeps faith forever, secures justice for the oppressed, and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets captives free. (R) 8 The Lord gives sight to the blind. The Lord raises up those that were bowed down; the Lord loves the just. 9 The Lord protects strangers. (R) The fatherless and the widow the Lord sustains, but the way of the wicked he thwarts. 10 The Lord shall reign forever; your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia. (R)

2nd READING

James affirms in today’s reading that humans share in the same dignity. We all have friendships that focus on the importance given to us by another. It’s different with God — He sees us all as His beloved people and loves us with a redeeming love.

James 2:1-5

1 My brothers and sisters, show no partiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. 2 For if a man with gold rings and fine clothes comes into your assembly, and a poor person in shabby clothes also comes in, 3 and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here, please,” while you say to the poor one, “Stand there,” or “Sit at my feet,” 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil designs? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Did not God choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him? 

GOSPEL

Jesus heals many people during His ministry. These healings signal the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom into our world, and the displacing of the world of sin. As disciples of Jesus, our challenge is to avoid getting caught in the concerns of the passing kingdom of this world.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

Jesus proclaimed the Gospel of the Kingdom and cured every disease among the people.

Mark 7:31-37

31 Again Jesus left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. 32 And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; 34 then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” —that is, “Be opened!” 35 And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. 36 He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. 37 They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”