◀ All Reading Plans / Book of Common Prayer / Ps. 103; Ps. 148; Gen. 17:1–12a 15–16; Col. 2:6–12; John 16:23b–30 (New Catholic Bible)

Prev Day

January 1, 2021

Next Day

Use the calendar to view readings from this devotional.

January 2021
Su	Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
31

Return to today's reading

Book of Common Prayer

Daily Old and New Testament readings based on the Book of Common Prayer.

Duration: 861 days

Psalm 103

Psalm 103^[a]

Praise of God’s Providence

¹Of David.

Bless the Lord, O my soul;^[b]
    my entire being, bless his holy name.
²Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and do not forget all his benefits.
³He forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases.^[c]
⁴He redeems^[d] your life from the pit
    and crowns you with kindness and mercy.
⁵He satisfies your years with good things
    and renews your youth like an eagle’s.^[e]
⁶The Lord performs acts of righteousness
    and administers justice for all who are oppressed.
⁷^[f]He made known his ways^[g] to Moses,
    his wondrous deeds to the people of Israel.
⁸^[h]The Lord is merciful and gracious,
    slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
⁹He will not always rebuke,
    nor will he remain angry forever.
¹⁰He does not treat us as our sins deserve
    or repay us according to our offenses.
¹¹As high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his kindness toward those who fear him.^[i]
¹²As far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.^[j]
¹³^[k]As a father has compassion for his children,
    so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.
¹⁴For he knows how we were formed;
    he remembers that we are only dust.^[l]
¹⁵The days of mortal man are like grass;
    he flourishes like a flower of the field.
¹⁶The wind sweeps over him, and he is gone,
    and his place never sees him again.
¹⁷But from everlasting to everlasting
    the kindness^[m] of the Lord is with those who fear him,
    and his righteousness with their children’s children,
¹⁸with those who keep his covenant
    and diligently observe his commandments.^[n]
¹⁹The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
    and his kingdom rules over all.^[o]
²⁰^[p]Bless the Lord, O you his angels,^[q]
    you mighty in strength who do his bidding,
    who obey his spoken word.
²¹Bless the Lord, O you his hosts,
    his ministers who do his will.
²²Bless the Lord, all his works,
    everywhere in his domain.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.^[r]

Footnotes

Psalm 103:1 In its literary construction and sublime concepts, this psalm is one of the most pure and joyous of the Psalter. Healed of a grave sickness that he considers to have been caused by sin, the psalmist regards this cure doubled by God’s pardon as a privileged experience of the love of the Lord. By this favor, God has shown his love for the psalmist in concrete fashion, thus powerfully confirming for him the revelation he made of this love to Israel through the Exodus and to Moses in the meeting on Sinai.
God’s love is boundless for the righteous and magnanimous for sinners, disconcerting for the ephemeral creatures that we are and long-suffering to the point of extending to the far-off descendants of his faithful ones. Such is the love of the infinite God whose name is holy, whose throne is in heaven, and whose reign is eternal. He is the Father who will reveal Jesus and whose ineffable goodness Paul will proclaim (see 1 Cor 2:9). We can thus understand how right the psalmist is in calling upon heaven itself to celebrate such a God.
The signal corporal and spiritual cure obtained by the psalmist constitutes only a pale figure of the Resurrection that definitively snatches Jesus from corporal death and the sinful world and shows him his Father’s love with incomparable force. By sharing in the Resurrection of Christ through the sacraments, Christians discover that “God is love” in an experience derived from that of Christ and far superior to that of the psalmist. In all truth, every Christian can recite this psalm to praise the God who is love.
Psalm 103:1 Soul: see note on Ps 6:4. Name: see note on Ps 5:12.
Psalm 103:3 Following the Old Testament understanding, the psalmist considers sufferings as the punishment for sin (see Ps 41:5; Ex 15:26).
Psalm 103:4 Redeems: i.e., “delivers.” Pit: i.e., the grave (see note on Ps 30:2).
Psalm 103:5 Like an eagle’s: because of its acknowledged long span of life, which at times reaches one hundred years, the eagle was regarded as a symbol of perennial youth and vigor (see Isa 40:31). It was thought that when an eagle became old and its eyes grew dim, it flew toward the sun, so that the film was burned away from its eyes and its plumage was renewed by the sun’s scorching rays.
Psalm 103:7 God made known his ways to Moses on Mount Sinai, telling him that his attitude toward human beings and his great works find their inspiration in his loving kindness. Passing mysteriously before Moses, God cried out: “The Lord, the Lord, a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and fidelity, who shows mercy to thousands. He forgives iniquity and transgression and sin, but will by no means forgive the iniquity of the fathers, visiting it upon their sons and their sons’ sons, to the third and fourth generation” (Ex 34:6f).
Psalm 103:7 His ways: see note on Ps 25:10.
Psalm 103:8 God pardons sinners who repent, a truth often affirmed (see Pss 86:15; 145:8; Ex 34:6; Neh 9:17; Isa 57:16; Jer 3:12; Joel 2:13; Jon 4:2). Kindness: see note on Ps 6:5.
Psalm 103:11 Kindness: see note on 6:5. Those who fear him: see note on Ps 15:2-5.
Psalm 103:12 God places a huge gulf between his faithful and their sins, extending, as it were, from one end of the earth to the other (see Isa 1:18; 43:25; Jer 31:34; 50:20; Mic 7:18f).
Psalm 103:13 What an amazing condescension on the part of God’s love. Although he is well aware that we are fragile and ephemeral creatures who, like grass or flowers, are carried off by the slightest breeze, God keeps in his love the whole lives of his servants. He presents a just account of their merits and blesses their descendants who are faithful to his covenant.
Psalm 103:14 The Lord has compassion on those “who fear him” (v. 13) because he knows their frailty, that they are but dust (see Gen 2:7; 3:19; Job 4:19; Eccl 3:20; 12:7).
Psalm 103:17 Kindness: see note on Ps 6:5.
Psalm 103:18 Keeping the covenant entails obeying the Lord’s commandments (see Ex 20:6; Deut 7:9), i.e., doing the will of God (see Mt 6:9-15).
Psalm 103:19 His kingdom rules over all: see Pss 22:29; 145:11-13. The Book of Obadiah concludes with this cry of triumphant eschatology (v. 21: “and dominion will belong to the Lord”).
Psalm 103:20 The psalmist calls upon all creatures to join him in praising the heavenly King who rules all things with love (see note on Ps 9:2).
Psalm 103:20 The angels are God’s messengers (see Ps 91:11).
Psalm 103:22 Bless the Lord, O my soul: this last line was probably added by the redactors of the Psalter to show that God’s word is efficacious by itself and needs no intermediary.

Psalm 148

Psalm 148^[a]

Song of the Universe

¹^[b]Alleluia.

Praise the Lord from the heavens;
    offer praise to him in the heights!
²Praise him, all his angels;
    offer praise to him, all his hosts!^[c]
³Praise him, sun and moon;
    offer praise to him, all you shining stars!
⁴Praise him, you highest heavens,^[d]
    and you waters above the heavens.
⁵Let them praise the name^[e] of the Lord,
    for it was at his command that they were created.
⁶He established them in place forever and ever;
    he issued a law that will never pass away.^[f]
⁷^[g]Praise the Lord from the earth,
    you sea monsters and ocean depths,
⁸fire and hail, snow and clouds,
    storm winds that carry out his word,^[h]
⁹all mountains and hills,
    all fruit trees and cedars,
¹⁰wild animals and all cattle,
    creeping creatures and flying birds,^[i]
¹¹kings of the earth and all nations,
    princes and all rulers on the earth,
¹²young men and women,
    the elderly, as well as children.^[j]
¹³^[k]Let them all praise the name of the Lord,
    for his name alone is exalted;
    his majesty is above the earth and the heavens.^[l]
¹⁴He has raised high a horn^[m] for his people,
    to the glory of all his saints,
    for the people of Israel who are close to him.
Alleluia.

Footnotes

Psalm 148:1 The exiles have returned home, the temple has been rebuilt, and its precincts have been restored. God has reestablished the people he loves. What a testament to his glory (vv. 13-14). Joy invades all hearts and expands to worldwide dimensions. The whole universe and all earthly creatures are invited to praise the Lord, the Creator and Redeemer. This theme also permeates the next two psalms, forming the conclusion and the synthesis of the Psalter.
We can pray this psalm to exhort all creation, both animate and inanimate, to praise the Triune God not only as the Creator but also as the Savior and Sanctifier. For although all creation is presently subject to vanity, it hopes to be freed from corruption so as to enter into the freedom of God’s children, when God will transform the universe with a new heaven and a new earth (see Rom 8:19-22; Rev 21:1-5). May the angels and saints of heaven do likewise.
Psalm 148:1 The psalmist calls upon all creatures in the heavens to praise the Lord because of his creative and redeeming acts.
Psalm 148:2 See Ps 103:20f; Job 38:7.
Psalm 148:4 See Gen 1:6f; 1 Ki 8:27; 2 Cor 12:2; Eph 4:10. Highest heavens: literally, “the heavens of the heavens,” i.e., the space above the “expanse,” which separated the “waters above” from the “waters below” (see Ps 104:3, 13; Gen 1:6f).
Psalm 148:5 Name: see note on Ps 5:12.
Psalm 148:6 See Jer 31:35f.
Psalm 148:7 The psalmist now calls upon all creatures on earth to praise the Lord: sea creatures, depths, the powers of nature, mountains and hills, fruit trees and the cedars, animals and birds, and finally all human beings, including the powerful as well as the young and old.
Psalm 148:8 Carry out his word: i.e., “do his bidding” (see Ps 147:15).
Psalm 148:10 See Gen 1:21, 24f; Isa 43:20.
Psalm 148:12 See Jer 31:13.
Psalm 148:13 The psalmist gives the reasons behind the praise: God is the exalted Ruler, who is not subject to the limitations of the earth or the heavens, and he has unique concern for his people, i.e., those devoted to him, his saints.
Psalm 148:13 See Pss 108:5; 113:2-4.
Psalm 148:14 Horn: i.e., the Lord’s anointed (see note on Ps 18:3; see also Ps 2:2); it may also refer to the strength and power of God’s people (see Ps 92:11; 1 Sam 2:1; Jer 48:25; Lam 2:17). Saints: see notes on Pss 4:3; 34:10.

Genesis 17:1-12

Chapter 17

The Covenant and Its Sign.^[a] ¹When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty.^[b] Walk before me and be blameless. ²I will establish my covenant between me and you and I will multiply you greatly.”

³Abram immediately fell down upon his face. God said to him, ⁴“On my part, behold, my covenant with you: you will be the father of many nations. ⁵You will no longer be called Abram, but Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations.^[c] ⁶I will make you very, very fruitful. I will make nations come from you, and you shall give birth to kings. ⁷I will establish my covenant with you for all generations. It will be an eternal covenant. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ⁸I will give you and your descendants after you this land where you are now an alien. All of the land of Canaan shall be your eternal possession. I will be your God.”

⁹God said to Abraham, “On your part, you must observe my covenant, you and your descendants after you, for all time. ¹⁰This is my covenant that you must observe, a covenant between me and your descendants after you: every male among you must be circumcised. ¹¹You shall circumcise the flesh of the male member. This shall be the sign of the covenant between me and you. ¹²Whenever baby boys are eight days old, they will be circumcised, whether they are your own children or the children of those whom you bought and who are foreigners and not of your bloodline.

Footnotes

Genesis 17:1 Chapter 17 is simply the Priestly version of the story that has been already told in chapter 15 (the covenant) and will be told in the first half of chapter 18 (the promise of Isaac). Along with the Priestly version of the promises the present chapter gives a more developed idea of the covenant. As will become clear from subsequent biblical revelation, God’s promises to human beings contain an unqualified and unmerited part and a conditional part; the absolute aspect is seen in the covenant with Abraham, the conditional part in the covenant at Sinai, which will involve bilateral commitments (Ex 19–24).
The point that is special to this chapter is the theme of circumcision as a constitutive sign of entrance into the covenant. This practice was widespread among various eastern peoples as an initiation into adulthood or marriage and was regarded as a sacrificial act. Since the reason for the existence of the people of Israel and therefore of their religion was to prepare for the future descendants who are the recipients of the promises (see 18:19), it is understandable that the people’s consecration to God should be celebrated with a sign that is connected with generation; thus it was appropriate for them to make this custom their own. But it is a sign that entails a mission. When Israel becomes content to practice the rite while forgetting its meaning, the Prophets will remind it of the demand for fidelity: the rite is valueless without the disposition of the heart (Jer 4:4; Ezek 44:7). Paul goes further and teaches that this external religious mark is now obsolete, for we are saved henceforth by Jesus Christ; in him we receive the baptism that brings us into the new covenant; circumcision was only a prefiguration of baptism (Gal 5:6; Phil 3:3; Col 2:11-12).
Genesis 17:1 God Almighty: in Hebrew, El-Shaddai, an ancient divine name from the period of the patriarchs (see Ex 6:3), retained chiefly in the Priestly tradition. The literal meaning is probably “The God of the Mountain,” referring to the widespread idea that the dwelling of the divinity was on the high mountains. In the Septuagint El-Shaddai is usually translated by the Greek word, pantokrator, “ruler of all,” while the Latin translations preferred omnipotens, “almighty,” which seems less valid.
Genesis 17:5 In the Semitic vision of things, when one person changes the name of another, the former is asserting power over the latter and guiding his destiny. Here “Abraham” is explained by assonance with ab hamôn, “father of a multitude,” or ab rab hamôn, “father of a great multitude.”

Genesis 17:15-16

¹⁵God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai, your wife, she will no longer be called Sarai, but rather Sarah. ¹⁶I will bless her and I will give you and her a son. I will bless her so that she shall become the mother of nations; kings of peoples shall descend from her.”

Colossians 2:6-12

Instruction about Errors That Are Circulating

Walk in Christ.^[a] ⁶Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to walk in him. ⁷Be rooted and built up in him, and remain established in the faith as you were taught, overflowing with thanksgiving. ⁸Make sure that no one leads you astray with an empty and deceitful philosophy that depends on human tradition^[b] and worldly principles, and not on Christ.

God Has Given You Life in Christ. ⁹For it is in him that the entire fullness of deity dwells in bodily form,^[c] ¹⁰and you share this fullness in him who is the head of every ruler and power. ¹¹In him also you were circumcised, not with a physical circumcision but with a spiritual stripping away of the old nature with the circumcision of Christ.

¹²When you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God who raised him from the dead.

John 16:23-30

²³“On that day,
you will not ask me anything further.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
if you ask the Father for anything in my name,
he will give it to you.
²⁴Until now, in my name,
you have not asked for anything.
Ask and you will receive,
so that your joy may be complete.
²⁵“I have used figures of speech
to explain these things to you.
The hour is coming
when I will no longer use figures,
but I will tell you about the Father in plain words.
²⁶When that day comes,
you will make requests in my name.
I do not say
that I will entreat the Father on your behalf.
²⁷For the Father himself loves you
because you have loved me
and have come to believe
that I came from God.
²⁸I came from the Father
and have come into the world.
Now I am leaving the world
and returning to the Father.”

²⁹“At last you are speaking plainly,” his disciples said, “and not using figures of speech. ³⁰Now we realize that you know everything and do not need to have anyone question you. Because of this, we believe that you came from God.”

New Catholic Bible (NCB)

Prev Day

Top

Next Day

Use the calendar to view readings from this devotional.

Log in to read this devotional and:

Book of Common Prayer

Psalm 103[a]

Praise of God’s Providence

Footnotes

Psalm 148[a]

Song of the Universe

Footnotes

Chapter 17

Footnotes

Instruction about Errors That Are Circulating

Footnotes

Psalm 103^[a]

Psalm 148^[a]