Friday of 24th week in Ordinary Time, Year 1

FIRST READING
A reading from the first letter of St Paul to Timothy         6:2-12
Theme: As a man dedicated to God, you must aim to be saintly and religious, filled with faith and love.

[caption id="attachment_85307" align="alignright" width="251"]     Following in the footsteps of Jesus[/caption]

This is what you are to teach the brothers to believe and persuade them to do. Anyone who teaches anything different, and does not keep to the sound teaching which is that of our Lord Jesus Christ, the doctrine which is in accordance with true religion, is simply ignorant and must be full of self-conceit - with a craze for questioning everything and arguing about words. All that can come of this is jealousy, contention, abuse and wicked mistrust of one another; and unending disputes by people who are neither rational nor informed and imagine that religion is a way of making a profit.

Religion, of course, does bring large profits, but only to those who are content with what they have. We brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it; but as long as we have food and clothing, let us be content with that. People who long to be rich are a prey to temptation; they get trapped into all sorts of foolish and dangerous ambitions which eventually plunge them into ruin and destruction. 'The love of money is the root of all evils' and there are some who, pursuing it, have wandered away from the faith, and so given their souls any number of fatal wounds.

But, as a man dedicated to God, you must avoid all that. You must aim to be saintly and religious, filled with faith and love, patient and gentle. Fight the good fight of the faith and win for yourself the eternal life to which you were called when you made your profession and spoke up for the truth in front of many witnesses.

The Word of the Lord.               Thanks be to God.


Responsorial Psalm            Ps  48
Response                                How happy are the poor in spirit; theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

1. Why should I fear in evil days
the malice of the foes who surround me,
men who trust in their wealth,
and boast of the vastness of their riches?   Response

2. For no man can buy his own ransom,
or pay a price to God for his life.
The ransom of his soul is beyond him.
He cannot buy life without end,
nor avoid coming to the grave.                      Response

3. Then do not fear when a man grows rich,
when the glory of his house increases.
He takes nothing with him when he dies,
his glory does not follow him below.            Response

4. Though he flattered himself while he lived:
'Men will praise me for doing well for myself,'
yet he will go to join his fathers,
who will never see the light any more.         Response

Gospel  Acclamation            Ps 94: 8
Alleluia, alleluia!
Harden not your hearts today but listen to the voice of the Lord.
Alleluia!

Or                                                 Mt 11: 25
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom to mere children .
Alleluia!

GOSPEL

The Lord be with you.          And with your spirit
A reading from the Gospel according to Luke       8:1-3              Glory to you, O Lord.
Theme: With Jesus went several women who provided for him out of their own resources.

Jesus made his way through towns and villages preaching, and proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom of God. With him went the Twelve, as well as certain women who had been cured of evil spirits and ailments: Mary surnamed the Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, Joanna the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, Susanna, and several others who provided for them out of their own resources.

The Gospel of the Lord.             Glory to you, O Lord.



Gospel Reflection     Friday,       Twenty Fourth Week in Ordinary Time        Luke 8:1-3

There is a lot of human wisdom in today’s first reading, from the first letter of Saint Paul to Timothy. He quotes an obvious truth, ‘we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it’. On that basis, he warns Timothy and his community against longing to be rich. Paul recognizes that the excessive love of money can be the root of a lot of evils and declares, in particular, that those who set their hearts on wealth tend to wander away from the faith. It is a message that is very much in keeping with Pope Francis’s call on us to live simply.

In the gospel reading, we hear of a group of women who had not set their hearts on their wealth. These women weren’t poor; they had material resources. One of them was the wife of the chief steward of Herod, the tetrarch of Galilee. Even though they seem to have been better off than many of their contemporaries, they were not attached to their resources, their wealth. The gospel reading says that they provided for Jesus and his disciples out of their resources. Jesus and his disciples were poor and they depended on the generosity of people like these women to continue with their work. All of these woman had experienced the healing power of Jesus in their lives, and this was their way of expressing their gratitude to him.

Today’s readings remind us that it is not what we possess that matters so much, but what we do with what we possess. Like the women, we have all been blessed and graced by the Lord in various ways. Like them, we are called to use our resources, including our material resources, in grateful service of the Lord and his people.

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The scripture readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and used with the permission of the publishers.

The Gospel reflection is available with our thanks from Reflections on the Weekday Readings 2020-2021:  You have the Words of Eternal life by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications  c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/

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25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Theme: The followers of Jesus must also share in his Passion. The very way of life of the Christian will be seen as a reproach to others and therefore to be opposed. The Christian will also be accused for not conforming to the world’s values and standards. In all this we must look to Jesus, the model of the suffering servant.

FIRST READING

A reading from the Book of Wisdom             2:12.17-20
Theme: Let us condemn him to a shameful death.

The godless say to themselves,
'Let us lie in wait for the virtuous man,  since he annoys us and opposes our way of life,
reproaches us for our breaches of the law
and accuses us of playing false to our upbringing.
Let us see if what he says is true,
let us observe what kind of end he himself will have.
If the virtuous man is God's son,
God will take his part and rescue him from the clutches of his enemies:
Let us test him with cruelty and with torture,
and thus explore this gentleness of his
and put his endurance to the proof.
Let us condemn him to a shameful death
since he will be looked after - we have his word for it.'

The Word of the Lord              Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm          Ps 53:3-6. 8
Response                              The Lord upholds my life.

1. O God, save me by your name;
by your power, uphold my cause.
O God, hear my prayer;
listen to the words of my mouth.          Response

2. For proud men have risen against me,
ruthless men seek my life.
They have no regard for God.                 Response

3. But I have God for my help.
The Lord upholds my life.
I will sacrifice to you with willing heart
and praise your name for it is good.   Response

SECOND READING    

A reading from the letter of St James       3:16 - 4:3
Theme: Peacemakers, when they work for peace, sow the seeds which will bear fruit in holiness.

Wherever you find jealousy and ambition, you find disharmony, and wicked things of every kind being done; whereas the wisdom that comes down from above is essentially something pure; it also makes for peace, and is kindly and considerate; it is full of compassion and shows itself by doing good; nor is there any trace of partiality or hypocrisy in it. Peacemakers, when they work for peace, sow the seeds which will bear fruit in holiness.

Where do these wars and battles between yourselves first start? Isn't it precisely in the desires fighting inside your own selves? You want something and you haven't got it; so you are prepared to kill. You have an ambition that you cannot satisfy; so you fight to get your way by force.

Why you don't have what you want is because you don't pray for it; when you do pray and don't get it, it is because you have not prayed properly, you have prayed for something to indulge your own desires.

The Word of the Lord            Thanks be to God.

Gospel  Acclamation       Jn 8:12
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the light of the world, says the Lord,
anyone who follows me will have the light of life.
Alleluia!

Or                                         2 Thes 2: 14
Alleluia, alleluia!
Through the Good News that we brought he called you to this
so that you should share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL                          

The Lord be with you.       And with your spirit
A reading from the Gospel according to Mark          9: 30-37       Glory to you, O Lord
Theme: 'The Son of Man will be delivered.
If anyone wants to be first, he must make himself last of all and servant of all.'

After leaving the mountain Jesus and his disciples made their way through Galilee; and he did not want anyone to know, because he was instructing his disciples; he was telling them, 'The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men; they will put him to death; and three days after he has been put to death he will rise again.' But they did not understand what he said and were afraid to ask him.

They came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house he asked them,
'What were you arguing about on the road?' They said nothing because they had been arguing which of them was the greatest. So he sat down, called the Twelve to him and said, 'If anyone wants to be first, he must make himself last of all and servant of all.' He then took a little child, set him in front of them, put his arms round him, and said to them,
'Anyone who welcomes one of these little children in my name, welcomes me;
and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.

The Gospel of the Lord          Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.



For homily resources for this Sunday's Gospel click here:  https://www.catholicireland.net/sunday-homily/______________________________

Taken from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, published and copyright 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House Inc, and used by permission of the publishers.