Liturgical Readings for : Monday, 20th November, 2023
Monday of the Thirty Third Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1
FIRST READING
A reading from the first book of Maccabees 1:10-15. 41-43. 54-57. 62-64
It was a dreadful wrath that visited Israel.
There grew a sinful offshoot, Antiochus Epiphanes, son of King Antiochus; once a hostage in Rome, he became king in the one hundred and thirty-seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks. It was then that there emerged from Israel a set of renegades who led many people astray. ‘Come,‘ they said ‘let us reach an understanding with the pagans surrounding us, for since we separated ourselves from them many misfortunes have overtaken us.’ This proposal proved acceptable, and a number of the people eagerly approached the king, who authorised them to practise the pagan observances. So they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem, such as the pagans have, disguised their circumcision, and abandoned the holy covenant, submitting to the heathen rule as willing slaves of impiety.
Then the king issued a proclamation to his whole kingdom that all were to become a single people, each renouncing his particular customs. All the pagans conformed to the king’s decree, and many Israelites chose to accept his religion, sacrificing to idols and profaning the sabbath. On the fifteenth day of Chislev in the year one hundred and forty-five the king erected the abomination of desolation above the altar; and altars were built in the surrounding towns of Judah and incense offered at the doors of houses and in the streets. Any books of the Law that came to light were torn up and burned. Whenever anyone was discovered possessing a copy of the covenant or practising the Law, the king’s decree sentenced him to death.
Yet there were many in Israel who stood firm and found the courage to refuse unclean food. They chose death rather than contamination by such fare or profanation of the holy covenant, and they were executed. It was a dreadful wrath that visited Israel.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 118
Response Give me life, O Lord, and I will do your will.
1. I am seized with indignation at the wicked who forsake your law.
Though the nets of the wicked ensnared me I remembered your law. Response
2. Redeem me from man’s oppression and I will keep your precepts.
Those who harm me unjustly draw near: they are far from your law. Response
3. Salvation is far from the wicked who are heedless of your statutes.
I look at the faithless with disgust; they ignore your promise. Response
Gospel Acclamation Jn 8: 12
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the light of the world, says the Lord, anyone who follows me will have the light of life.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 18:35-43 Glory to you, O Lord.
What do you want me to do for you?’ – let me see again.
As Jesus drew near to Jericho there was a blind man sitting at the side of the road begging. When he heard the crowd going past he asked what it was all about, and they told him that Jesus the Nazarene was passing by. So he called out, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.’ The people in front scolded him and told him to keep quiet, but he shouted all the louder,
‘Son of David, have pity on me.’
Jesus stopped and ordered them to bring the man to him, and when he came up, asked him,
‘What do you want me to do for you?’
Sir,’ he replied ‘let me see again.’
Jesus said to him,
‘Receive your sight. Your faith has saved you.’
And instantly his sight returned and he followed him praising God, and all the people who saw it gave praise to God for what had happened.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Monday, Thirty Third Week in Ordinary Time Luke 18:35-43
There is a tremendous tenacity about the blind beggar in today’s gospel reading. He was determined to make contact with Jesus and even when people gave out to him and told him to be quiet he shouted all the louder in the direction of Jesus. He had a purity of intention. His heart was fixed on the Lord even in the face of hostility and opposition. He exemplifies one of the beatitudes, ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, they shall see God’. Because of his purity of heart, his focused intention, he came to see Jesus through whom God was visiting his people.
Having been healed of his blindness and having come to see Jesus, the gospel reading says that he followed Jesus. He kept his eyes on Jesus, like a faithful disciple, praising God as he did so. He is one of those minor characters in the gospel story that we can easily find ourselves identifying with. Like him, we come before the Lord as beggars, reaching out to him in our blindness. The blind beggar encourages us to seek the Lord with the same tenacity and purity of intention that he had. He inspires us to keep our focus on the Lord even when the pressure on us to do otherwise is great. He shows us that, if we do so, the Lord will respond to us with great generosity. Having experienced the Lord’s generosity, we respond to being graced as the blind beggar did, by following the Lord more fully.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
