Liturgical Readings for : Thursday, 16th November, 2023
Thursday of the Thirty -Second Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1 of the basilica
Optional Memorial of Ss Margaret of Scotland and Gertrude, virgin
FIRST READING
A reading from the book of Wisdom 7:22-8:1
Wisdom is a reflection of the eternal light, untarnished mirror of God’s active power.
Within Wisdom is a spirit intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, active, incisive, unsullied,
lucid, invulnerable, benevolent, sharp, irresistible, beneficent, loving to man, steadfast, dependable, unperturbed,
almighty, all-surveying, penetrating all intelligent, pure and most subtle spirits;
for Wisdom is quicker to move than any motion; she is so pure, she pervades and permeates all things.
‘When we quit trying to put God in our box of beliefs and just believe in Him, He will give us wisdom, and give it freely.’ ‘
She is a breath of the power of God, pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty;
hence nothing impure can find a way into her.
She is a reflection of the eternal light, untarnished mirror of God’s active power,
image of his goodness.
Although alone, she can do all; herself unchanging, she makes all things new.
In each generation she passes into holy souls, she makes them friends of God and prophets; for God loves only the man who lives with Wisdom.
She is indeed more splendid than the sun, she outshines all the constellations;
compared with light, she takes first place, for light must yield to night, but over
Wisdom evil can never triumph.
She deploys her strength from one end of the earth to the other, ordering all things for good.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 118: 89-990. 130. 135.175. Rv. 89
Response Your word, O Lord, stands for ever.
1. Your word, O Lord, for ever stands firm in the heavens:
your truth lasts from age to age, like the earth you created. Response
2. By your decree it endures to this day; for all things serve you.
The unfolding of your word gives light and teaches the simple. Response
3. Let your face shine on your servant and teach me your decrees.
Give life to my soul that I may praise you. Let your decrees give me help. Response
Gospel Acclamation 1 Pt 1:25
Alleluia, alleluia!
The word of the Lord remains for ever: What is this word?
It is the Good News that has been brought to you.
Alleluia!
Or 1 Jn 15: 15
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the vine, you are the branches.
Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty, says the Lord.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 17:20-25 Glory to you, O Lord.
The kingdom of God is among you
Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was to come,
Jesus gave them this answer,
‘The coming of the kingdom of God does not admit of observation and there will be no one to say, “Look here! Look there!” For, you must know, the kingdom of God is among you.’
He said to the disciples,
‘A time will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man and will not see it. They will say to you, “Look there!” or, “Look here!” Make no move; do not set off in pursuit; for as the lightning flashing from one part of heaven lights up the other, so will be the Son of Man when his day comes.
But first he must suffer grievously and be rejected by this generation.’
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Thursday Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time Luke 17:20-25
The teaching Jesus gives in the gospels is often in response to the questions that people ask, as is shown by today’s gospel reading. The Pharisees ask Jesus when the kingdom of God was to come. They want to know when God will come in power to claim his people and, indeed, the earth, as his own. The reply of Jesus might have given his questioners food for thought, ‘the kingdom of God is among you’. Jesus is saying to them, ‘Don’t just look to the future, look to the present’. We can all be tempted either to live in the past or to live in the future. Jesus calls on us to pay attention to the present, and, especially, to the signs of God’s’ powerful activity in the present. God was powerfully working through Jesus, if only the Pharisees had eyes to see. God’s will was being done, God’s kingdom was coming, in and through all that Jesus was saying and doing.
The same Jesus, now risen Lord, is working among us today, through his Spirit, the Holy Spirit. Whenever the Holy Spirit moves people to share in Jesus’ work in some way, there the kingdom of God is among us. The first reading says that Wisdom ‘passes into holy souls, and makes them friends of God’. We can substitute ‘the Lord’ or ‘the Spirit’ for ‘Wisdom’. The Spirit of the Lord is always at work within us and among us, moving us to make the Lord’s work a reality in our own time and place. That is true even of the times in which we live that can be so discouraging to people of faith. Jesus’ words remain true, ‘the kingdom of God is among you’. We need the eyes to see the ways God’s kingdom is among us and, also, the openness to the Lord’s Spirit prompting us to make the presence of God’s kingdom even more of a reality among us.
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The scripture readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd
