Liturgical Readings for : Saturday, 7th September, 2024
Saturday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle 2
FIRST READING
A reading from the first letter of St Paul to the Corinthians 4:6-15
We go without food and drink and clothes.
Take Apollos and myself as an example remember the maxim: ‘Keep to what is written‘; it is not for you, so full of your own importance, to go taking sides for one man against another.
In any case, brother, has anybody given you some special right? What do you have that was not given to you? And if it was given, how can you boast as though it were not? Is it that you have everything you want – that you are rich already, in possession of your kingdom, with us left outside?
Indeed I wish you were really kings, and we could be kings with you!
But instead, it seems to me, God has put us apostles at the end of his parade, with the men sentenced to death;
it is true – we have been put on show in front of the whole universe, angels as well as men. Here we are, fools for the sake of Christ, while you are the learned men in Christ; we have no power, but you are influential; you are celebrities, we are nobodies.
To this day, we go without food and drink and clothes; we are beaten and have no homes; we work for our living with our own hands. When we are cursed, we answer with a blessing; when we are hounded, we put up with it; we are insulted and we answer politely. We are treated as the offal of the world, still to this day, the scum of the earth.
I am saying all this not just to make you ashamed but to bring you, as my dearest children, to your senses. You might have thousands of guardians in Christ, but not more than one father and it was I who begot you in Christ Jesus by preaching the Good News.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 144
Response The Lord is close to all who call him.
1. The Lord is just in all his ways and loving in all his deeds.
He is close to all who call him, who call on him from their hearts. Response
2. He grants the desires of those who fear him, he hears their cry and he saves them.
The Lord protects all who love him; but the wicked he will utterly destroy. Response
3. Let me speak the praise of the Lord, let all mankind bless his holy name for ever,
for ages unending. Response
Gospel Acclamation Ps 26: 11
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Instruct me, in your way; on an even path lead me .
Alleluia !
or Jn 14: 6
Alleluia, Alleluia!
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says the Lord;
no one can come to the Father except through me .
Alleluia !
GOSPEL
A reading from the Gospel according to Luke 6:1-5
Why are you doing something that is forbidden on the sabbath day.
One sabbath Jesus happened to be taking a walk through the cornfields, and his disciples were picking ears of corn, rubbing them in their hands and eating them. Some of the Pharisees said,
‘Why are you doing something that is forbidden on the sabbath day?’
Jesus answered them,
‘So you have not read what David did when he and his followers were hungry how he went into the house of God, took the loaves of offering and ate them and gave them to his followers, loaves which only the priests are allowed to eat?’
And he said to them, ‘The Son of Man is master of the sabbath.’
The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Saturday, Twenty Second Week in Ordinary Time Luke 6:1-5
In today’s first reading, Saint Paul asks a question that is worth reflecting upon. ‘What do you have that was not given to you?’ Paul is reminding the members of the church in Corinth that so much in life is gift. We might work for something but even the ability to work is itself a gift. The people who matter most to us in life are a gift. We probably didn’t go looking for them; they came to us. We have just begun the Season of Creation in the church, which goes from 1st of September to the 4th of October, the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi. It is a good time to recall how the natural world is a gift that has been given to us. Nature is a wonderful gift that can bring us healing and that can help to renew our spirits.
In the gospel reading, Jesus’ disciples were treating the ears of corn in the cornfield through which they walked as a gift. The Pharisees accused them of breaking God’s Law, but Jesus defended their actions. They were hungry and the taking of a few ears of corn to satisfy their hunger was perfectly acceptable. It might be the equivalent of us picking and eating the black berries that are appearing in various hedgerows at the moment. Jesus would want us to appreciate the ways that God is always gracing us and bestowing gifts on us. The appropriate response to the experience of being gifted is gratitude. A spirit of thanksgiving to God is to characterize the Lord’s followers. As Saint Paul says in another of his letters, ‘Give thanks in all circumstances’. He doesn’t say ‘for all circumstances’ but ‘in all circumstances’. No matter how difficult life may be for us, there is always something for which we can give thanks.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd
