Churches of the Day

Tuesday of the Twenty-Ninth Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle 2

 FIRST READING

A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Ephesians         2:12-22
Christ is the peace between us, and has made the two into one.

Do not forget, I say, that you had no Christ and were excluded from membership of Israel, aliens with no part in the covenants with their Promise; you were immersed in this world, without hope and without God.

But now in Christ Jesus, you that used to be so far apart from us have been brought very close, by the blood of Christ. For he is the peace between us, and has made the two into one and broken down the barrier which used to keep them apart, actually destroying in his own person the hostility caused by the rules and decrees of the Law. This was to create one single New Man in himself out of the two of them and by restoring peace through the cross, to unite them both in a single Body and reconcile them with God;
In his own person he killed the hostility.
Later he came to bring the good news of peace, peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near at hand. Through him, both of us have in the one Spirit our way to come to the Father.

So you are no longer aliens or foreign visitors: you are citizens like all the saints, and part of God's household. You are part of a building that has the apostles and prophets for its foundations, and Christ Jesus himself for its main cornerstone.

As every structure is aligned on him, all grow into one holy temple in the Lord;
and you too, in him, are being built into a house where God lives, in the Spirit.

The Word of the Lord.            Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm         Ps 84: 9-14.R/v 9
Response                              The Lord speaks peace to his people.

1. I will hear what the Lord God has to say, a voice that speaks of peace.
His help is near for those who fear him and his glory will dwell in our land.      Response

2. Mercy and faithfulness have met; justice and peace have embraced.
Faithfulness shall spring from the earth and justice look down from heaven.    Response

3. The Lord will make us prosper and our earth shall yield its fruit.
Justice shall march before him and peace shall follow his steps.                          Response

Gospel  Acclamation       Lk 8: 15
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are those who with a noble and generous heart,
take the word of God to themselves and yield a harvest
through their perseverance.
Alleluia !

or                                         Lk 21: 36
Alleluia, alleluia!
Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength
to stand with confidence before the Son of Man.
Alleluia !

GOSPEL     

The Lord be with you               And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to Luke 12:35-38         Glory to you, O Lord
Happy those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes.

Jesus said to his disciples:
'See that you are dressed for action and have your lamps lit.
Be like men waiting for their master to return from the wedding feast,
ready to open the door as soon as he comes and knocks.

Happy those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes.
I tell you solemnly, he will put on an apron, sit them down at table and wait on them.


It may be in the second watch he comes, or in the third,
but happy those servants if he finds them ready.

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

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Gospel Reflection       Tuesday       Twenty Ninth Week in Ordinary Time      Luke 12:35-38

There is a striking image in today’s gospel reading of a person of authority putting on an apron, inviting his servants to sit at table and then serving them. Such a reversal of roles would have been unthinkable in the culture of Jesus. For a person of authority to take on the task of a servant would have been considered shameful. It represented an enormous loss of face and prestige. Yet, Jesus’ highly unconventional image here reminds us of the last supper scene in the gospel of John, where Jesus wraps a towel around his waist and gets down on his knees to wash the feet of his disciples. We are presently reading from the gospel of Luke and later in Luke’s gospel, in the setting of the last supper, Jesus says of himself, ‘I am among you as one who serves’ (Lk 22:27) rather than as one who sits at table. Jesus, now risen Lord, wants to serve us today.

However, today’s gospel reading suggests that we need to have a certain attitude of heart if we are to experience the Lord as our servant. We are to be ‘dressed for action’, with our lamps lit, waiting for the Lord to come and knock. We are to be attentive to the Lord, to his daily coming and his daily call. We are to be faithful in our attentiveness to the Lord, through all the watches of the night. Such a faithful alertness to the Lord’s presence and call will open us up to receive the Lord’s self-emptying service.

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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.  and used with the permission of the publishers.  http://dltbooks.com/
The Scripture Reflection is made available with our thanks from his book Reflections on the Weekday Readings : The Word is near to you, on your lips and in your heart by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications, c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/



 

 

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

FIRST READING                     

A reading from the book of Exodus      22:20-26
If you are harsh with the widow or orphan; my anger will flare against you.

The Lord said to Moses, Tell the sons of Israel this,
"You must not molest the stranger or oppress him, for you lived as strangers in the land of Egypt.
You must not be harsh with the widow, or with the orphan; if you are harsh with them, they will surely cry out to me, and be sure I shall hear their cry; my anger will flare and I shall kill you with the sword, your own wives will be widows, your own children orphans.

"If you lend money to any of my people, to any poor man among you, you must not play the usurer with him: you must not demand interest from him.

"If you take another's cloak as a pledge, you must give it back to him before sunset. It is all the covering he has; it is the cloak he wraps his body in; what else would he sleep in? If he cries to me, I will listen, for I am full of pity.

The Word of the Lord.            Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm          Ps 17;2-4. 47. 51. R/v  2
Response                                 I love you, Lord, my strength.

1. I love you, Lord, my strength, my rock, my fortress, my saviour.
My God is the rock where I take refuge; my shield, my mighty help, my stronghold.
The Lord is worthy of all praise: when I call I am saved from my foes.                    Response

2. Long life to the Lord, my rock! Praised be the God who saves me.
He has given great victories to his king and shown his love for his anointed.          Response

SECOND READING           

A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Thessalonians     1:5-10
You broke with idolatry and became servants of God; you are now waiting for his Son.

You observed the sort of life we lived when we were with you, which was for your instruction, and you were led to become imitators of us, and of the Lord; and it was with the joy of the Holy Spirit that you took to the gospel, in spite of the great opposition all round you. This has made you the great example to all believers in Macedonia and Achaia since it was from you that the word of the Lord started to spread - and not only throughout Macedonia and Achaia, for the news of your faith in God has spread everywhere.

We do not need to tell other people about it: other people tell us how we started the work among you, how you broke with idolatry when you were converted to God and became servants of the real, living God; and how you are now waiting for Jesus, his Son, whom he raised from the dead, to come from heaven to save us from the retribution which is coming.

The Word of the Lord.            Thanks be to God.

Gospel Acclamation          Acts 16: 14
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord, to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!

or                                              Jn 14: 23
Alleluia, alleluia!
If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL   

The Lord be with you              And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew   22:34-40        Glory to you, O Lord
'You must love the Lord your God and your neighbour as yourself.

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees they got together and,
to disconcert him, one of them put a question,
'Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?'
Jesus said, 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.

The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also.'

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/

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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.