Churches of the Day

Friday of the Twenty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2

FIRST READING

A reading from the first letter of St Paul to Corinthians              15:12-20
If Christ has not been raised then your believing it is useless.

If Christ raised from the dead is what has been preached, how can some of you be saying that there is no resurrection of the dead?
If there is no resurrection of the dead, Christ himself cannot have been raised, and if Christ has not been raised then our preaching is useless and your believing it is useless; indeed, we are shown up as witnesses who have committed perjury before God, because we swore in evidence before God that he had raised Christ to life.

For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, you are still in your sins. And what is more serious, all who have died in Christ have perished. If our hope in Christ has been for this life only, we are the most unfortunate of all people.

But Christ has in fact been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep.

The Word of the Lord            Thanks be to God

Responsorial Psalm          Ps 16: 1 6-8.15. R/v 15
Response                                I shall be filled, when I awake,
with the sight of your glory, O Lord.

1. Lord, hear a cause that is just, pay heed to my cry.
Turn your ear to my prayer: no deceit is on my lips.                                                Response

2. I am here and I call, you will hear me, a God. Turn your ear to me; hear my words.
Display your great love, you whose right hand saves
your friends from those who rebel against them.                                                      Response

3. Hide me in the shadow of your wings. As for me, in my justice I shall see your face
and be filled when I awake, with the sight of your glory.                                        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
With Jesus went several women who provided for them 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            Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

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

Today’s gospel reading presents us with a picture of Jesus and the twelve disciples travelling in the company of certain women who provided for Jesus and the twelve out of their own resources. They were clearly women of means, who had resources that they could place at the disposal of Jesus and his closest associates. He, in turn, must have been grateful to have been supported and provided for in this way. In his life of service of others he had no opportunity to provide for himself in a material way and he was dependent on the generosity and hospitality of others. This group of women played a key role in giving Jesus the freedom to do God’s work by supporting him materially and financially.

The gospel reading calls on us to imitate the women by using our material resources to further the work of God and the coming of God’s kingdom. These women can inspire us to use what we have been given to serve the Lord and his people. The Lord needed the service of these women and he still needs the service of women and men of faith today.

___________________________

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/

_________________________________________

 

The Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A
World Day of Prayer for Migrants and Refugees

FIRST READING
A reading from the book of Isaiah            55:6-9
My thoughts are not your thoughts.

Seek the Lord while he is still to be found,
call to him while he is still near.
Let the wicked man abandon his way,
the evil man his thoughts.

Let him turn back to the Lord who will take pity on him,
to our God who is rich in forgiving;
for my thoughts are not your thoughts,
my ways not your ways - it is the Lord who speaks.
Yes, the heavens are as high above earth
as my ways are above your ways, my thoughts above your thoughts.

The Word of the Lord.           Thanks be to God

Responsorial Psalm         Ps 144:2-3.8-9. 17-18. Rv 18
Response                               The Lord is close to all who call him.

1. I will bless you day after day and praise your name for ever.
The Lord is great, highly to be praised, his greatness cannot be measured.       Response

2. The Lord is kind and full of compassion, slow to anger, abounding in love.
How good is the Lord to all, compassionate to all his creatures.                           Response

3. The Lord is just in all his ways and loving in all his deeds.
He is close to all who call him, who call on him from their hearts.                        Response

SECOND READING
A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Philippians 1:20-24.27
Life to me is Christ.

Christ will be glorified in my body, whether by my life or by my death.
Life to me, of course, is Christ, but then death would bring me something more; but then again, if living in this body means doing work which is having good results- I do not know what I should choose. I am caught in this dilemma: I want to be gone and be with Christ, which would be very much the better, but for me to stay alive in this body is a more urgent need for your sake.

Avoid anything in your everyday lives that would be unworthy of the gospel of Christ.

The Word of the Lord.                  Thanks be to God

Gospel Acclamation               Lk 19: 38
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessings on the King who comes, in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heavens!
Alleluia!

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

GOSPEL

The Lord be with you                   And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew 20:1-16       Glory to you, O Lord
Why be envious because I am generous?

Jesus said to his disciples:
The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner going out at daybreak to hire workers for his vineyard. He made an agreement with the workers for one denarius a day, and sent them to his vineyard. Going out at about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place and said to them,
"You go to my vineyard too and I will give you a fair wage". So they went.
At about the sixth hour and again at about the ninth hour, he went out and did the same. Then at about the eleventh hour he went out and found more men standing round, and he said to them,
"Why have you been standing here idle all day?"
"Because no one has hired us" they answered. He said to them, "You go into my vineyard too".

In the evening, the owner of the vineyard said to his bailiff,
"Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last arrivals and ending with the first".
So those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came forward and received one denarius each. When the first came, they expected to get more, but they too received one denarius each. They took it, but grumbled at the landowner. "The men who came last" they said "have done only one hour, and you have treated them the same as us, though we have done a heavy day's work in all the heat."

He answered one of them and said,
"My friend, I am not being unjust to you; did we not agree on one denarius? Take your earnings and go. I choose to pay the last comer as much as I pay you. Have I no right to do what I like with my own? Why be envious because I am generous?"

Thus the last will be first, and the first, last.'

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 by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House Inc, and used by permission of the publishers.