Liturgical Readings for : Wednesday, 31st July, 2024
Wednesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle 2
Memorial of St Ignatius of Loyola, priest
FIRST READING
A reading from the book of the Prophet Jeremiah 15:10. 16-21
Why is my suffering continual? If you come back, I will take you back into my service.
Woe is me, my mother, for you have borne me to be a man of strife and of dissension for all the land.
I neither lend nor borrow, yet all of them curse me.
When your words came, I devoured them: your word was my delight
and the joy of my heart; for I was called by your name, Lord, God of Hosts.
I never took pleasure in sitting in scoffers’ company; with your hand on me
I held myself aloof, since you had filled me with indignation.
Why is my suffering continual, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?
Do you mean to be for me a deceptive stream with inconstant waters?
To which the Lord replied,
‘If you come back, I will take you back into my service;
and if you utter noble, not despicable, thoughts, you shall be as my own mouth.
They will come back to you, but you must not go back to them. I will make you a bronze wall fortified
against this people.
They will fight against you but they will not overcome you, because I am with you to save you and to deliver you –
it is the Lord who speaks.
I mean to deliver you from the hands of the wicked and redeem you from the clutches of the violent.’
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 58
Response O God, you have been a refuge in the day of my distress.
1. Rescue me, God, from my foes; protect me from those who attack me.
O rescue me from those who do evil and save me from blood-thirsty men. Response
2. See, they lie in wait for my life; powerful men band together against me.
For no offence, no sin of mine, Lord, for no guilt of mine they rush to take their stand. Response
3. O my Strength, it is you to whom I turn, for you, O God, are my stronghold,
the God who shows me love. Response
4. As for me, I will sing of your strength and each morning acclaim your love
for you have been my stronghold, a refuge in the day of my distress. Response
5. O my Strength, it is you to whom I turn, for you, O God, are my stronghold,
the God who shows me love. Response
Gospel Acclamation Ps 118: 105
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is a lamp for my steps and a light for my path.
Alleluia!
Or Jn 15: 15
Alleluia, alleluia!
I call you friends, says the Lord, because I have made known to you
everything I have learnt from my Father.
Alleluia
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 13:44-46 Glory to you, O Lord
He sells everything he owns and buys the field.
Jesus said to the crowds:
‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it again, goes off happy, sells everything he owns and buys the field.’
‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.’
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
*******************
Gospel Reflection Wednesday Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time Matthew 13:44-46
Farmers working away on their land or in a local bog have often stumbled upon some great treasure. Looking for treasure was the furthest thing from their mind. They were just going about their daily work. However, out of the blue, they hit upon something which turned out to be a very precious object. Many of the treasures in our national museum were found in that way. This is the kind of situation we find in the first parable that Jesus speaks. Probably a day labourer working in someone’s field finds an unexpected treasure and in his joy he sells everything he owns to buy the field with its treasure. Jesus is saying that we can sometimes stumble upon the treasure of the kingdom of heaven in this way.
We are going about our daily lives, without thinking of the Lord at all, and, suddenly, we have a sense of the Lord’s presence. The Lord touches our lives out of the blue in a way that leaves us feeling we have been blessed with a great treasure. The Lord can break through to us even when we are not looking for him. The second parable is a little different. The rich merchant was looking for a particular treasure, a pearl of great value. Eventually, after much searching he found it and he sells all he owns to buy it. The one who searched eventually found. Through this parable the Lord is saying to us that if we keep seeking him we will find him. As Jesus says elsewhere in the gospels, ‘Seek and you will find’. We need to keep seeking the Lord, but the first parable reminds us that the Lord is always seeking us and, sometimes, he will find us, touch our lives, at a time when he is far from our mind and heart. There is always a greater search going on than our search of the Lord and that is the Lord’s search of us.
________________________________
The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
