Churches of the Day

Saturday of the Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle 1

The night of the Exodus from Egypt was a day of judgement for the Egyptians and freedom for God's chosen people.
Jesus' second coming will be another day of Judgement - for the whole world.

Optional Memorial of St Albert the Great, Dominican theologian, bishop and doctor of the Church, Patron of Scientists d 1280
c/f short history of today’s saint can be found below today’s Readings and Reflection.     

FIRST READING               

A reading from the book of Wisdom         18:14-16; 19:6-9
The Red Sea became an unimpeded way , and they skipped like lambs,

When peaceful silence lay over all, and night had run the half of her swift course, down from the heavens, from the royal throne, leapt your all-powerful Word; into the heart of a doomed land the stern warrior leapt. Carrying your unambiguous command like a sharp sword, he stood, and filled the universe with death; he touched the sky, yet trod the earth. For, to keep your children from all harm, the whole creation, obedient to your commands, was once more, and newly fashioned in its nature.
Overshadowing the camp there was the cloud, where water had been, dry land was seen to rise, the Red Sea became an unimpeded way, the tempestuous flood a green plain; sheltered by your hand, the whole nation passed across, gazing at these amazing miracles.
They were like horses at pasture, they skipped like lambs, singing your praises, Lord, their deliverer.

The Word of the Lord.           Thanks be to God.


Responsorial Psalm         Ps 104: 2-3. 36-37.42-43. Rv 5
Response                               Remember the wonders the Lord has done.
Or                                            Alleluia!

l. O sing to the Lord, sing his praise; tell all his wonderful works!
Be proud of his holy name, let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice.                        Response

2. He struck all the first-born in their land, the finest flower of their sons.
He led out Israel with silver and gold. In his tribes were none who fell behind.     Response

3. For he remembered his holy word, which he gave to Abraham his servant.
So he brought out his people with joy, his chosen ones with shouts of rejoicing.    Response

Gospel  Acclamation       Jms 1:21
Alleluia, alleluia!
Accept and submit to the word, which has been planted in you and can save your souls.
Alleluia!

Or                                          2 Thess 2: 14 
Alleluia, alleluia!
Through the Good News God called us to share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL                         

The Lord be with you.                      And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke     18:1-8              Glory to you, O Lord.
God will see justice done to his chosen who cry to him.

Jesus told them a parable about the need to pray continually and never lose heart.
'There was a judge in a certain town' he said 'who had neither fear of God nor respect for man.
In the same town there was a widow who kept on coming to him and saying, "I want justice from you against my enemy!"
For a long time he refused, but at last he said to himself, "Maybe I have neither fear of God nor respect for man, but since she keeps pestering me I must give this widow her just rights, or she will persist in coming and worry me to death." '

And the Lord said
'You notice what the unjust judge has to say?
Now will not God see justice done to his chosen who cry to him day and night
even when he delays to help them?
I promise you, he will see justice done to them, and done speedily.
But when the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on earth?'

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


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Gospel Reflection     Saturday,       Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time         Luke 18:1-8

The figure of the persistent widow in the parable of today’s gospel reading is a wonderful portrayal of the refusal to get discouraged, even when everything goes against you and you come up against the worst instincts of other people. The widow encountered a judge who had no respect for God or other people, and yet she kept coming to him until she got the justice that she was obviously entitled to. Jesus paints this picture of a persevering widow who refuses to get discouraged because it captures the kind of faith that he is looking for from his disciples. Having spoken the parable, Jesus asks the question,
‘When the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on earth?’

Jesus is asking, when he comes back at the end of time, will be find a faith that has the same quality of dogged perseverance displayed by the widow in the parable. Jesus is calling for a faith that endures, that refuses to give up, even when all the supports for faith seem to be taken away. These have been difficult times for people of faith. We have all experienced the temptation to discouragement. Yet, Jesus is saying in today’s gospel reading that to be a believer is to be a persistent believer. The supreme example of a persistent believer was Jesus himself. In spite of the evil he encountered in various forms, he remained faithful to the end, even as he hung on the cross. The widow is a Jesus figure. Like her, we are all called to have something of Jesus’ persevering faith.

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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 Reflections on the Weekday Readings : Your word is a lamp for my feet and light for my path by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications , c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/

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Saint of the day: Nov 14; St Albert the Great - Universal Doctor of the Church
Albert was born in Lauingen (Germany) in 1200; The "Universal Doctor" was a Dominican friar and teacher  in Paris and in Cologne where St Thomas Aquinas studied under him. Briefly bishop of Regensburg, he resigned to return to teaching and writing. Noted for the outstanding breadth of his learning in the natural sciences, Jewish and Arabic studies, and Greek philosophy, all of which he brought to the service of his theology.

St Albert was one of the earliest members of the Dominican order, founded in 1216. He played a large part in the intellectual developments of the thirteenth century. He was declared by Pope Pius XII in 1941 to be patron of all those who devote themselves to the natural sciences.

Patrick Duffy tells his story here.

A Swabian German
Albert was born into a wealthy and powerful military family in 1206 at Lauingen on the Danube in the Swabia region of south Germany. At 14, he went to study at Padua in Italy, already a centre noted for scientific knowledge. After two years there he joined the Dominicans against the wishes of his family. After teaching at Hildesheim, Ratisbon  (Regensburg) and Cologne Albert went to Paris, where he obtained his master's degree in 1248. He was appointed director of the Dominican house of studies in Cologne where he had Thomas Aquinas as his student for four years. He became provincial of the Dominicans in Germany for three years 1254-57, and attended the Dominican General Chapter in Paris in 1256.

Universal Doctor
Albert is celebrated for the wide range of his interests. He was as well versed in the physical sciences - botany, biology, astronomy, physiology, mineralogy - as well as in philosophy, theology and Scripture, so much so that his contemporaries called him the "Universal doctor". He is noted especially for his efforts to integrate Aristotelian and Arabic science and philosophy with Christian theology at a time when the systems of Plato and Augustine were in favour. He even went to Rome to defend his ideas.

Papal Advisor, Bishop of Regensburg
Albert became personal theologian to Pope Alexander IV (1245-61) who appointed him bishop of Regensburg, where spiritual and temporal affairs were in turmoil at that time. After two years, a new pope, Urban IV (1261-4) accepted his resignation and he resumed his teaching in Cologne. He attended the Second Council of Lyons (1274) and played an active role in seeking reunion with the Greek Church. In 1277 he went to Paris to defend St Thomas Aquinas against attacks on him from the bishop of Paris and other theologians.

Alzheimer's disease (?) and death
The following year, aged 77, Albert's memory failed him, his strong mind gradually became clouded.  Many of his symptoms resemble Alzheimer's disease. Many sufferers from that disease have come to look on him as their patron.

His body, weakened by vigils, austerities, and manifold labours, he sank under the weight of years.  He died among his Dominican brethren in Cologne and was buried in St. Andreas' Church there, which Cardinal Frings gave into the care the Dominicans in 1947.

Influence
Albert was beatified in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV. Pope Pius XI canonised him in 1931 and declared him doctor of the Church. Ten years later Pius XII proclaimed him patron of students of the natural sciences

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Memorable Wisdom Saying for Today

In prosperity a man often destroys the good he has done;
amidst difficulties he often repairs what he long since did in the way of wickedness.

~St Albert the great ~

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Thirty Third Sunday in  Ordinary Time, Cycle C
World Day of the Poor
Marking the end of the 'Jubilee Year of Mercy', the late Pope Francis wrote "the worthiest way to prepare for next Sunday's celebration of our Lord, King of the Universe would be to identify with His little ones, the poor
and who will judges us on our works of mercy to them." 

FIRST READING

A reading from the Book of Malachi        3:19-20
For you the sun of righteousness will shine out.

The day is coming now, burning like a furnace;
and all the arrogant and the evil-doers will be like stubble.
The day that is coming is going to burn them up, says the Lord,
leaving them neither root nor stalk.
But for you who fear my name,
the sun of righteousness will shine out with healing in its rays.

The Word of the Lord          Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm       Ps 95:5-9 R/v 9
Response                           The Lord comes to rule the peoples with fairness.

1. Sing psalms to the Lord with the harp with the sound of music.
    With trumpets and the sound of the horn acclaim the King, the Lord.      Response

2. Let the sea and all within it, thunder; the world, and all its peoples.
    Let the rivers clap their hands and the hills ring out their joy
    at the presence of the Lord.                                                                                 Response

3. For the Lord comes, he comes to rule the earth.
    He will rule the world with justice  and the peoples with fairness.             Response

SECOND READING    

A reading from the second letter of St Paul to the Thessalonians       3:7-12
Do not let anyone have any food if he refused to do any work.

You know how you are supposed to imitate us: now we were not idle when we were with you,
nor did we ever have our meals at anyone's table without paying for them;
no, we worked night and day, slaving and straining, so as not to be a burden on any of you.
This was not because we had no right to be, but in order to make ourselves an example for you to follow.

We gave you a rule when we were with you:' not to let anyone have any food if he refused to do any work'. Now we hear that there are some of you who are living in idleness, doing no work themselves but interfering with everyone else's.
In the Lord Jesus Christ, we order and call on people of this kind to go on quietly working and earning the food that they eat.

The Word of the Lord           Thanks be to God.

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


Or                                          Lk 21: 28
Alleluia, alleluia!
Stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand'.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL

The Lord be with you                And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to Luke    21:5-19         Glory to you O lord
Your endurance will win you your lives.

When some were talking about the Temple, remarking how it was adorned with fine stonework and votive offerings, Jesus said,
'All these things you are staring at now-the time will come when not a single stone will be left on another:
everything will be destroyed'.
And they put to him this question: 'Master,' they said 'when will this happen, then, and what sign will there be that this is about to take place?' 'Take care not to be deceived,' he said 'because many will come using my name and saying,
"I am he" and, "The time is near at hand". Refuse to join them.
And when you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened,
for this is something that must happen but the end is not so soon.'
Then he said to them,
'Nation will fight against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes and plagues and famines here and there; there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.

'But before all this happens, men will seize you and persecute you; they will hand you over to the synagogues and to imprisonment, and bring you before kings and governors because of my name - and that will be your opportunity to bear witness.

Keep this carefully in mind: you are not to prepare your defence, because I myself shall give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict.
You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relations and friends; and some of you will be put to death.
You will be hated by all men on account of my name, but not a hair of your head will be lost.'

Your endurance will win you your lives.'

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.