Liturgical Readings for : Friday, 13th September, 2024
Friday of the Twenty -Third Week of Ordinary Time, Year 2
Memorial of St John Chrysostom, bishop and doctor of the Church
FIRST READING
A reading from the first letter of St Paul to the Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-27
I made myself all things to all men in order to save some at any cost.
I do not boast of preaching the gospel, since it is a duty which has been laid on me; I should be punished if I did not preach it! If I had chosen this work myself, I might have been paid for it, but as I have not, it is a responsibility which has been put into my hands. Do you know what my reward is? It is this in my preaching, to be able to offer the Good News free, and not insist on the rights which the gospel gives me.
So though I am not a slave of any man I have made myself the slave of everyone so as to win as many as I could. For the weak I made myself weak. I made myself all things to all men in order to save some at any cost; and I still do this, for the sake of the gospel, to have a share in its blessings.
All the runners at the stadium are trying to win, but only one of them gets the prize. You must run in the same way, meaning to win. All the fighters at the games go into strict training; they do this just to win a wreath that will wither away, but we do it for a wreath that will never wither. That is how I run, intent on winning; that is how I fight, not beating the air. I treat my body hard and make it obey me, for, having been an announcer myself, I should not want to be disqualified
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 83
Response How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, God of hosts.
1. My soul is longing and yearning, is yearning for the courts of the Lord.
My heart and my soul ring out their joy to God, the living God. Response
2. The sparrow herself finds a home and the swallow a nest for her brood;
she lays her young by your altars, Lord of hosts, my king and my God. Response
3. They are happy, who dwell in your house, for ever singing your praise.
They are happy, whose strength is in you, in whose hearts are the roads to Zion. Response
4. For the Lord God is a rampart, a shield; he will give us his favour and glory.
The Lord will not refuse any good to those who walk without blame. Response
Gospel Acclamation Ps 147: 12. 15
Alleluia, Alleluia!
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem! He sends out his word to the earth.
Alleluia !
Or Jn 17: 17
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Your word is truth, O Lord, consecrate us in the truth .
Alleluia !
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the Gospel according to Luke 6:39-42
‘Can one blind man guide another?
Jesus told a parable to the disciples,
‘Can one blind man guide another? Surely both will fall into a pit?
The disciple is not superior to his teacher;
the fully trained disciple will always be like his teacher.
Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the plank in your own?
How can you say to your brother,
“Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye”,
when you cannot see the plank in your own?
Hypocrite! Take the plank out of your own eye first,
and then you will see clearly enough to take out the splinter that is in your brother’s eye.
The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Friday, Twenty Third Week in Ordinary Time Luke 6:39-42
We often use the expression ‘the blind leading the blind’, which is inspired by today’s gospel reading. Jesus uses the humorous image of someone with a plank in their eye trying to take out a splinter from someone else’s eye. We all know the difference between a plank and a splinter, one is large and heavy and the other is tiny and light. Jesus is suggesting that someone with a significant failing can end up trying to correct someone with a very small failing. It is a case of a completely blind person trying to heal or lead someone who is only partially blind. We are all flawed in some way and, as a result, we do not see clearly. We don’t see others clearly, and we don’t even see ourselves clearly.
Given our blindness, Jesus declares that we should be slow to start trying to put others right. Rather, he says, we need to attend to putting ourselves right first. ‘Take the plank out of your own eye first’. He is suggesting that we have enough to be getting on with there. We are all a work in progress. The Lord has begun a good work in all our lives, but he has yet to bring that work to completion. Putting ourselves right is really about allowing the Lord to work on us, giving him the space to complete his good work in our lives. It is only the Lord who can make us the person God is calling us to become. As the gospel reading suggests, we can be blind to our failings, but we can also be blind to the good work that the Lord is doing within us and through us. Our daily calling is to allow the Lord to get on with his good work in our lives.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
