FIRST READING                   

A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Romans      6:12-18
Consider yourselves dead and brought back to life in Jesus

You must not let sin reign in your mortal bodies or command your obedience to bodily passions, why you must not let any part of your body turn into an unholy weapon fighting on the side of sin; you should, instead, offer yourselves to God, and consider yourselves dead men brought back to life; you should make every part of your body into a weapon fighting on the side of God; and then sin will no longer dominate your life, since you are living by grace and not by law.

Does the fact that we are living by grace and not by law mean that we are free to sin? Of course not. You know that if you agree to serve and obey a master you become his slaves. You cannot be slaves of sin that leads to death and at the same time slaves of obedience that leads to righteousness. You were once slaves of sin, but thank God you submitted without reservation to the creed you were taught. You may have been freed from the slavery of sin, but only to become 'slaves' of righteousness.

The Word of the Lord

Responsorial Psalm       Ps 123
Response                           Our help is in the name of the Lord.

1. 'If the Lord had not been on our side,'
this is Israel's song.
'If the Lord had not been on our side
when men rose against us,
then would they have swallowed us alive
when their anger was kindled.               Response

2. 'Then would the waters have engulfed us,
the torrent gone over us;
over our head would have swept
the raging waters.'
Blessed be the Lord who did not give us
a prey to their teeth!                                Response

3. Our life, like a bird, has escaped
from the snare of the fowler.
Indeed the snare has been broken
and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.                Response

Gospel  Acclamation         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!

Or                                            Mt 24: 42-44
Alleluia, alleluia!
Stay awake and stand ready, because you do not know the hour when the Son of Man is coming.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL                                     

 A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke     12:39-48
When people has had a great deal given to them, a great deal will be demanded of them.

Jesus said to his disciples: You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what hour the burglar would come, he would not have let anyone break through the wall of his house. You too must stand ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.'

Peter said, 'Lord, do you mean this parable for us, or for everyone?' The Lord replied, 'What sort of steward, then, is faithful and wise enough for the master to place him over his household to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? Happy that servant if his master's arrival finds him at this employment. I tell you truly, he will place him over everything he owns. But as for the servant who says to himself, "My master is taking his time coming", and sets about beating the menservants and the maids, and eating and drinking and getting drunk, his master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the unfaithful.

The servant who knows what his master wants, but has not even started to carry out those wishes, will receive very many strokes of the lash. The one who did not know, but deserves to be beaten for what he has done, will receive fewer strokes. When a man has had a great deal given him, a great deal will be demanded of him; when a man has had a great deal given him on trust, even more will be expected of him.

The Gospel of the Lord.
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Gospel Reflection      Wednesday,       Twenty Ninth Week in Ordinary Time        Luke 12:39-48

As well as the group of Beatitudes that are well known to us, there are single beatitudes scattered throughout the gospels. One such beatitude is to be found in today’s gospel reading. Jesus declares, ‘happy that servant if his master’s arrival finds him at his employment’. This is the ‘faithful and wise’ servant who provides for the needs of the members of the household while the master of the household is away from the house. The master/slave relationship is not one that we are comfortable with today. Yet, it was an integral part of the world in which Jesus lived. In sharing his vision for human life, Jesus regularly drew on the day-to-day experience of the people amongst whom he was moving. Although the social world presupposed by Jesus’ image may be foreign to most of us, the message it embodies retains its validity for disciples of every age. We all seek to be the Lord’s faithful and wise servants. He needs such servants, people he can trust to provide for the needs of all the members of his household, all who have been created in God’s image and likeness and whom the risen Lord desires to draw to himself. We are all servants of one Lord, which means that none of us can set ourselves up as lord of others. Rather, our task is to care faithfully and wisely for the needs of those alongside us. We are called to embody the Lord’s concern for the members of the family of God. If we are faithful to that calling, we too will be embraced by the Lord’s beatitude in today’s gospel reading.

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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 comes from WEEKDAY REFLECTIONS 2018-19: To know the love of Christ by Martin Hogan published by  The Messenger c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/
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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.

FIRST READING

A reading from the Book of Ecclesiasticus         35:12-14. 16-19
The humble person's prayer pierces the clouds.

The Lord is a judge
who is no respecter of personages.
He shows no respect of personages to the detriment of a poor man,
he listens to the plea of the injured party.
He does not ignore the orphan's supplication,
nor the widow's as she pours out her story.

The man who with his whole heart serves God will be accepted,
his petitions will carry to the clouds.
The humble man's prayer pierces the clouds,
until it arrives he is inconsolable,
nor will he desist until the Most High takes notice of him,
acquits the virtuous and delivers judgement.
And the Lord will not be slow,  nor will he be dilatory on their behalf.

Responsorial Psalm       Ps 32
Response                            This poor man called; the Lord heard him.

1. I will bless the Lord at all times,
his praise always on my lips;
in the Lord my soul shall make its boast.
The humble shall hear and be glad.                         Response 

2. The Lord turns his face against the wicked
to destroy their remembrance from the earth.
The just call and the Lord hears
and rescues them in all their distress.                     Response 

3. The Lord is close to the broken-hearted;
those whose spirit is crushed he will save.
The Lord ransoms the souls of his servants.
Those who hide in him shall not be condemned.  Response

SECOND READING

A reading from the second letter of St Paul to Timothy  4:6-8. 16-18
All there is to come now is the crown of righteousness reserved for me

My life is already being poured away as a libation, and the time has come for me to be gone. I have fought the good fight to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I have kept the faith; all there is to come now is the crown of righteousness reserved for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that Day; and not only to me but to all those who have longed for his Appearing.

The first time I had to present my defence, there was not a single witness to support me. Every one of them deserted me - may they not be held accountable for it. But the Lord stood by me and gave me power, so that through me the whole message might be proclaimed for all the pagans to hear; and so I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from all evil attempts on me, and bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

The Word of the Lord

Gospel  Acclamation        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!

Or                                            2 Cor 5: 19
Alleluia, alleluia!
God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself,
and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled.
Alleluia

GOSPEL                       

A reading from the Gospel according Luke       18:9-14
The publican, I tell you, went home again at rights with God; the Pharisee did not.

Jesus spoke the following parable to some people who prided themselves on being virtuous and despised everyone else,

'Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood there and said this prayer to himself, "I thank you, God, that I am not grasping, unjust, adulterous like the rest of mankind, and particularly that I am not like this tax collector here. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes on all I get."

The tax collector stood some distance away, not daring even to raise his eyes to heaven; but he beat his breast and said, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner".
This man, I tell you, went home again at rights with God; the other did not. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the man who humbles himself will be exalted.'

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.