Daily Bible Reading

Source: Vaticannews.va

READING OF THE DAY

A reading from the First Letter of St. Paul to Corinthians
15:1-11

I am reminding you, brothers and sisters,
of the Gospel I preached to you,
which you indeed received and in which you also stand.
Through it you are also being saved,
if you hold fast to the word I preached to you,
unless you believed in vain.
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he was buried;
that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once,
most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
After that he appeared to James,
then to all the Apostles.
Last of all, as to one born abnormally,
he appeared to me.
For I am the least of the Apostles,
not fit to be called an Apostle,
because I persecuted the Church of God.
But by the grace of God I am what I am,
and his grace to me has not been ineffective.
Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them;
not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me.
Therefore, whether it be I or they,
so we preach and so you believed. 

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Luke
7:36-50

A certain Pharisee invited Jesus to dine with him,
and he entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table.
Now there was a sinful woman in the city
who learned that he was at table in the house of the Pharisee.
Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment,
she stood behind him at his feet weeping
and began to bathe his feet with her tears.
Then she wiped them with her hair,
kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment.
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself,
“If this man were a prophet,
he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him,
that she is a sinner.”
Jesus said to him in reply,
“Simon, I have something to say to you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
“Two people were in debt to a certain creditor;
one owed five hundred days’ wages and the other owed fifty.
Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both.
Which of them will love him more?”
Simon said in reply,
“The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven.”
He said to him, “You have judged rightly.”
Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon,
“Do you see this woman?
When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet,
but she has bathed them with her tears
and wiped them with her hair.
You did not give me a kiss,
but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered.
You did not anoint my head with oil,
but she anointed my feet with ointment.
So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven;
hence, she has shown great love.
But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.”
He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
The others at table said to themselves,
“Who is this who even forgives sins?”
But he said to the woman,
“Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

THE WORDS OF THE POPES

Jesus was used to accepting invitations to eat, and not only from “publicans”, but also from the “pharisees”, who were His bitterest adversaries. For example, we read in Luke: “One of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him, and He went into the Pharisee’s house, and took His place at table” (Lk 7:36). (…) During this meal, an event took place that sheds yet more light on Jesus’ behaviour towards poor humanity, made up of so many “sinners” whom the so-called “righteous” despise and condemn. Now, a woman known in the city as a sinner was among those present; weeping, she kissed Jesus’ feet and anointed them with perfumed oil. A conversation then ensued between Jesus and the host, during which Jesus established an essential link between the forgiveness of sins and the love inspired by faith: “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much”. Then He says to her: “Your sins are forgiven … Your faith has saved you; go in peace”. (…) Jesus acted in the spirit of a great love for humanity, based on the profound solidarity He felt for those whom God had created in His own image and likeness. What does this solidarity consist of? It is the manifestation of the love that has its source in God Himself. The Son of God came into the world to reveal this love. (John Paul II, Catechesis of 10 February 1988)