Catholic Daily Mass Readings for Today I Wednesday October 4 2023

Daily Mass Readings for Wednesday, 4 October 2023

First Reading: Nehemiah 2: 1-8

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 137: 1-2, 3, 4-5, 6

Alleluia: Philippians 3: 8-9

Gospel: Luke 9: 57-62



Wednesday, 4 October 2023

First Reading

Nehemiah 2: 1-8


In the month Nisan of the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes,

when the wine was in my charge,

I took some and offered it to the king.

As I had never before been sad in his presence,

the king asked me, "Why do you look sad?

If you are not sick, you must be sad at heart."

Though I was seized with great fear, I answered the king:

"May the king live forever!

How could I not look sad

when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins,

and its gates have been eaten out by fire?"

The king asked me, "What is it, then, that you wish?"

I prayed to the God of heaven and then answered the king:

"If it please the king,

and if your servant is deserving of your favor,

send me to Judah, to the city of my ancestors' graves,

to rebuild it."

Then the king, and the queen seated beside him,

asked me how long my journey would take

and when I would return.

I set a date that was acceptable to him,

and the king agreed that I might go.

I asked the king further: "If it please the king,

let letters be given to me for the governors

of West-of-Euphrates,

that they may afford me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah;

also a letter for Asaph, the keeper of the royal park,

that he may give me wood for timbering the gates

of the temple-citadel and for the city wall

and the house that I shall occupy."

The king granted my requests,

for the favoring hand of my God was upon me.


Responsorial Psalm

Ps 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6


Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!


By the streams of Babylon

we sat and wept

when we remembered Zion.

On the aspens of that land

we hung up our harps.


Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!


Though there our captors asked of us

the lyrics of our songs,

And our despoilers urged us to be joyous:

"Sing for us the songs of Zion!"


Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!


How could we sing a song of the LORD

in a foreign land?

If I forget you, Jerusalem,

may my right hand be forgotten!


Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!


May my tongue cleave to my palate

if I remember you not,

If I place not Jerusalem

ahead of my joy.


Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!


Alleluia

Phil 3:8-9


Alleluia, alleluia.


I consider all things so much rubbish

that I may gain Christ and be found in him.


Alleluia, alleluia.


Gospel

Lk 9:57-62


As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding

on their journey, someone said to him,

"I will follow you wherever you go."

Jesus answered him,

"Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,

but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head."

And to another he said, "Follow me."

But he replied, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father."

But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead.

But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God."

And another said, "I will follow you, Lord,

but first let me say farewell to my family at home."

Jesus answered him, "No one who sets a hand to the plow

and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God."


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