Thursday of 25th week of Ordinary Time, Year 2

FIRST READING

A reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes        1:2-11
There is nothing new under the sun.

Vanity of vanities, the Preacher says. Vanity of vanities. All is vanity! For all his toil, his toil under the sun, what does man gain by it?

A generation goes, a generation comes, yet the earth stands firm for ever. The sun rises, the sun sets; then to its place it speeds and there it rises. Southward goes the wind, then turns to the north; it turns and turns again; back then to its circling goes the wind. Into the sea all the rivers go, and yet the sea is never filled, and still to their goal the rivers go. All things are wearisome. No man can say that eyes have not had enough of seeing, ears their fill of hearing. What was will be again; what has been done will be done again; and there is nothing new under the sun. Take anything of which it may be said, 'Look now, this is new'. Already, long before our time, it existed. Only no memory remains of earlier times, just as in times to come next year itself will not be remembered.

The Word of the Lord

Responsorial Psalm         Ps 89
Response                            O Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to the next.

1. You turn men back into dust
and say: 'Go back, sons of men:
To your eyes a thousand years
are like yesterday, come and gone,
no more than a watch in the night.           Response

2. You sweep men away like a dream,
like grass which springs up in the morning.
In the morning it springs up and flowers:
by evening it withers and fades.                Response

3. Make us know the shortness of our life
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Lord, relent! Is your anger for ever?
Show pity to your servants.                        Response

4. In the morning, fill us with your love;
we shall exult and rejoice all our days.
Let the favour of the Lord be upon us:
give success to the work of our hands     Response

Gospel  Acclamation     Ps 118: 18
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open my eyes, O Lord, that I am consider
the wonders of your law.
Alleluia !

or                                   Jn 14: 6
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says the Lord;
no one can come to the Father except through me .
Alleluia !

GOSPEL

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 9:7-9
I beheaded him. So who is this I hear such reports about?'

Herod the tetrarch had heard about all that was going on; and he was puzzled,
because some people were saying that John had risen from the dead,
others that Elijah had reappeared,
still others that one of the ancient prophets had come back to life.

But Herod said, 'John? I beheaded him.
So who is this I hear such reports about?'
And he was anxious to see Jesus.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Gospel Reflection        Thursday, Twenty Fifth Week in Ordinary Time      Luke 9:7-9

The author of the Book of Ecclesiastes, from which our first reading is taken, seems to have a rather jaundiced view of life. He looks out upon the natural world and, rather than being inspired by its wonder, he says of it, in the words of our reading, ‘all things are wearisome’. All he sees in nature, and in life generally, is tiresome repetition, ‘there is nothing new under the sun’. In the gospel reading, Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great, seems to look upon the life-giving ministry of Jesus and his disciples with somewhat jaundiced eyes. The reading says that Herod was puzzled by Jesus and was anxious to see him. That could suggest that there was a certain openness in Herod to Jesus. However, a few chapters later in this gospel of Luke, the Pharisees come to Jesus and warn him, ‘Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you’, and, of course, Herod had already killed John the Baptist. Both readings invite us to reflect on how we see the world, how we see other people, how we see ourselves. Like the author of Ecclesiastes, are we prone to seeing wearisome monotony where, in reality, there is wonderful diversity; like Herod, are we prone to seeing a threat when, in reality, this is a moment of opportunity through which the Lord is calling out to us. How we see the world shapes who we are, how we behave, how we relate to others. We need to keep refining the eyes of our minds and hearts, so that we see the world with the Lord’s eyes, eyes that are attuned to the signs of life and creativity all around us.

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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.  http://dltbooks.com/The Gospel reflection comes from WEEKDAY REFLECTIONS 2019-20: The Word of God is Living and Active by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications  c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop

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26th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Scripture Theme
God gives us the gift of repentance. In the parable of the two sons, Jesus holds up the example of the public sinners in his time being converted while the establishment figures refuse to listen to his message. Ezekiel reminds us that repentance is always possible, for the Lord remembers his mercy.

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FIRST READING

A reading from the book of Ezekiel          18:25-28
When the sinner renounces sin, he shall certainly live.

The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows: You object, "What the Lord does is unjust".
Listen, you House of Israel: is what I do unjust? Is it not what you do that is unjust?
When the upright man renounces his integrity to commit sin and dies because of this,he dies because of the evil that he himself has committed.
When the sinner renounces sin to become law-abiding and honest,
he deserves to live. He has chosen to renounce all his previous sins; he shall certainly live; he shall not die.

The Word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm           Ps 24
Response                               Remember your mercy, Lord.

1. Lord, make me know your ways.
Lord, teach me your paths.
Make me walk in your truth, and teach me:
for you are God my saviour.                Response

2. Remember your mercy, Lord,
and the love you have shown from of old.
Do not remember the sins of my youth.
In your love remember me,
because of your goodness, O Lord.    Response

3. The Lord is good and upright.
He shows the path to those who stray,
he guides the humble in the right path;
he teaches his way to the poor.           Response

SECOND READING           

A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Philippians     2:1-11
In your minds you must be the same as Christ Jesus.

If our life in Christ means anything to you, if love can persuade at all, or the Spirit that we have in common, or any tenderness and sympathy, then be united in your convictions and united in your love, with a common purpose and a common mind. That is the one thing which would make me completely happy. There must be no competition among you, no conceit; but everybody is to be self-effacing. Always consider the other person to be better than yourself, So that nobody thinks of his own interests first but everybody thinks of other s people's interests instead. In your minds you must be the same as Christ Jesus:

His state was divine,
yet he did not cling
to his equality with God but emptied himself
to assume the condition of a slave,
and became as men are;
and being as all men are,
he was humbler yet,
even to accepting death,
death on a cross.
But God raised him high
and gave him the name
which is above all other names
so that all beings
in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld,
should bend the knee at the name of Jesus
and that every tongue should acclaim Jesus Christ as Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

The Word of the Lord.

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Alternative shorter
SECOND READING

A reading from the letter to the Philippians      2:1-5
In your minds you must be the same as Christ Jesus.

If our life in Christ means anything to you, if love can persuade at all, or the Spirit that we have in common, or any tenderness and sympathy, then be united in your convictions and united in your love, with a common purpose and a common mind. That is the one thing which would make me completely happy. There must be no competition among you, no conceit; but everybody is to be self-effacing. Always consider the other person to be better than yourself, So that nobody thinks of his own interests first but everybody thinks of other s people's interests instead. In your minds you must be the same as Christ Jesus.

The Word of the Lord.
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Gospel Acclamation        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!

or                                            Jn 10: 27
Alleluia, alleluia!
The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice, says the Lord,
I know them and they follow me.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL

 A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew      21:28-32
Afterwards he thought better of it and went, tax collectors and prostitutes are making their way into the kingdom of God before you.

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: 'What is your opinion?
A man had two sons. He went and said to the first, "My boy, you go and work in the vineyard today".
He answered, "I will not go", but afterwards thought better of it and went.
The man then went and said the same thing to the second who answered, "Certainly, sir", but did not go.
Which of the two did the father's will?' 'The first' they said.
Jesus said to them,
'I tell you solemnly, tax collectors and prostitutes are making their way into the kingdom of God before you.
For John came to you, a pattern of true righteousness, but you did not believe him, and yet the tax collectors and prostitutes did.
Even after seeing that, you refused to think better of it and believe in him.

The Gospel of the Lord.




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.