Wednesday, September 28, 2011 (Weekday)

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
The poor stretch out the hand, but God receives what is offered.
-- St. Peter Chrysologus


READINGS FOR TODAY
First Reading: Nehemiah 2:1-8
(Nehemiah Goes to Jerusalem)
1 One day four months later, when Emperor Artaxerxes was dining, I took the wine to him. He had never seen me look sad before, 
2 so he asked, “Why are you looking so sad? You aren't sick, so it must be that you're unhappy.”I was startled
3 and answered, “May Your Majesty live forever! How can I keep from looking sad when the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”

4 The emperor asked, “What is it that you want?” I prayed to the God of Heaven, 
5 and then I said to the emperor, “If Your Majesty is pleased with me and is willing to grant my request, let me go to the land of Judah, to the city where my ancestors are buried, so that I can rebuild the city.”
6 The emperor, with the empress sitting at his side, approved my request. He asked me how long I would be gone and when I would return, and I told him.
7 Then I asked him to grant me the favor of giving me letters to the governors of West-of-Euphrates Province,  instructing them to let me travel to Judah. 
8 I asked also for a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal forests, instructing him to supply me with timber for the gates of the fort that guards the Temple, for the city walls, and for the house I was to live in. The emperor gave me all I asked for, because God was with me.
Psalms: Psalm 137:1-6
(A Lament of Israelites in Exile)
1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat down; there we wept when we remembered Zion.
2 On the willows near by we hung up our harps.
3 Those who captured us told us to sing; they told us to entertain them: “Sing us a song about Zion.”
4 How can we sing a song to the Lord in a foreign land?
5 May I never be able to play the harp again if I forget you, Jerusalem!
6 May I never be able to sing again if I do not remember you, if I do not think of you as my greatest joy!
Gospel: Luke 9:57-62
(The Would-Be Followers of Jesus)
57 As they went on their way, a man said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58 Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lie down and rest.”
59 He said to another man, “Follow me.” But that man said, “Sir, first let me go back and bury my father.”
60 Jesus answered, “Let the dead bury their own dead. You go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.”Someone else said, “I will follow you, sir; but first let me go and say good-bye to my family.”
62 Jesus said to him, “Anyone who starts to plow and then keeps looking back is of no use for the Kingdom of God.”