Liturgical Readings for : Thursday, 30th May, 2024
Thursday of the Eight Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2
FIRST READING
A reading from the first letter of St Peter 2:2-5. 9-12
You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a people set apart to sing the praises of him who called you.
You are new born, and, like babies, you should be hungry for nothing but milk – the spiritual honesty which will help you to grow up to salvation – now that you have tasted the goodness of the Lord. He is the living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him; set yourselves close to him so that you too, the holy priesthood that offers the spiritual sacrifices which Jesus Christ has made acceptable to God, may be living stones making a spiritual house.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people set apart to sing the praises of God who called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people at all and now you are the People of God; once you were outside the mercy and now you have been given mercy.
I urge you, my dear people, while you are visitors and pilgrims to keep yourselves free from the selfish passions that attack the soul. Always behave honourably among pagans so that they can see your good works for themselves and, when the day of reckoning comes, give thanks to God for the things which now make them denounce you as criminals.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps99
Response: Come before the Lord, singing for joy.
1. Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing for ,joy. Response
2. Know that he, the Lord, is God. He made us, we belong to him,
we are his people, the sheep of his flock. Response
3. Go within his gates, giving thanks. Enter his courts with songs of praise.
Give thanks to him and bless his name. Response
4. Indeed, how good is the Lord, eternal his merciful love.
He is faithful from age to age. Response
Gospel Acclamation 1 Jn 2: 5
Alleluia, alleluia!
My soul is waiting for the Lord, I count on his word.
Alleluia!
or Mk 10: 45
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 Gospel according to Mark 10: 46-52 Glory to you, O Lord
Master, let me see again
As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus (that is, the son of Timaeus), a blind beggar, was sitting at the side of the road. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout and to say,
‘Son of David, Jesus, have pity on me.’
And many of them scolded him and told him to keep quiet, but he only shouted all the louder,
”Son of David, Jesus, have pity on me.’‘
Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him here.’
So they called the blind man. ‘Courage,’ they said ‘get up; he is calling you.’
So throwing off his cloak, he jumped up and went to Jesus.
Then Jesus spoke, ‘What do you want me to do for you?‘
‘Rabbuni,’ the blind man said to him ‘Master, let me see again.‘
Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has saved you.’
And immediately his sight returned and he followed him along the road.
The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ
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Reflection Thursday, Eighth Week in Ordinary Time Mark 10:46-52
I have always admired the tenacity of the blind man of Jericho in today’s gospel reading. Hearing that Jesus was passing by, he cried out, ‘Son of David, Jesus, have pity on me’. When some of the crowd around Jesus gave out to him and told him to be quiet, he only shouted out his prayer all the louder. He was determined to make contact with Jesus and would not succumb to the pressure of others to hold his tongue. He strikes me as a good model for us today.
It is not always easy to bear witness to our faith in Jesus in today’s world. Like the blind man by the roadside in today’s gospel reading, we can feel a certain pressure to keep quiet, to become invisible with regard to our faith in the Lord. Yet, this tenacious man encourages us to keep the Lord in view, regardless of the pressure to do otherwise. In the gospel reading, Jesus’ response to the man was very different to the crowd’s response to him. They wanted to silence him. In contrast, Jesus asked the very people who were trying to silence the man to call him over. In the midst of the hostility towards him, the Lord called him. In a similar way, the Lord keeps calling out to us even in those contexts that are not supportive of our relationship with him. If we try to respond to the Lord’s call as generously as Bartimaeus did, the Lord will be as generous with us as he was with him.
The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd
