Liturgical Readings for : Tuesday, 1st October, 2024
Tuesday of the Twenty-Sixth Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2
Memorial of St Thérese of the Child Jesus, religious and doctor of the Church
c/f St Thérese life after the Readings for today)
FIRST READING
A reading from the Book of Job 3:1-3. 11-17. 20-23
Why give light to a man of grief?
Job broke the silence and cursed the day of his birth. This is what he said:
May the day perish when I was born, and the night that told of a boy conceived.
Why did I not die new-born, not perish as I left the womb?
Why were there two knees to receive me, two breasts for me to suck?
Had there not been, I should now be lying in peace, wrapped in a restful slumber,
with the kings and high viziers of earth who build themselves vast vaults,
or with princes who have gold to spare and houses crammed with silver.
Or put away like a still-born child that never came to be, like unborn babes that never see the light. Down there, bad men bustle no more, there the weary rest.
Why give light to a man of grief? Why give life to those bitter of heart,
who long for a death that never comes, and hunt for it more than for a buried treasure?
They would be glad to see the grave-mound and shout with joy if they reached the tomb.
Why make this gift of light to a man who does not see his way, whom God baulks on every side?
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 87
Response: Let my prayer come into your presence, O Lord.
- I call to you, Lord, all the day long; to you I stretch out my hands.
Will you work your wonders for the dead? Will the shades stand and praise you? Response - Will your love be told in the grave or your faithfulness among the dead?
Will your wonders Be known in the dark or your justice in the land of oblivion? Response - As for me, Lord, I call you for help: in the morning my prayer comes before you;,
Lord, why do you reject me ? Why do you hide your face? Response
Gospel Acclamation Ps 118: 36
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Bend my heart to your will, O Lord,
and teach me your laws.
Alleluia !
or Mk 10: 45
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Son of Man came to serve,
and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Alleluia !
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the Gospel according to Luke 9:51-56 Glory to you, O Lord
Jesus resolutely took the road for Jerusalem
As the time drew near for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely took the road for Jerusalem and sent messengers ahead of him. These set out, and they went into a Samaritan village to make preparations for him, but the people would not receive him because he was making for Jerusalem.
Seeing this, the disciples James and John said,
‘Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to burn them up?’
But he turned and rebuked them, and they went off to another village.
The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ
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Gospel Reflection Tuesday, Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time Luke 9:51–56
In today’s gospel reading we find Jesus setting out on what will be a difficult journey, his journey to Jerusalem where he is aware rejection and death await him. That is why Luke says at the beginning of the gospel reading that Jesus resolutely took the road for Jerusalem. We all face into difficult journeys in life. We find ourselves heading into some situation that we know is going to make demands on us. The supportive presence of others can mean a lot to us at such times. As Jesus set out on his difficult journey, he would have welcomed support too. Yet, according to today’s gospel reading, his first experience having set out on his journey was one of rejection. A Samaritan village refused him hospitality, because he was a Jew heading for Jerusalem. His journey began as it would end, in rejection.
Like Jesus, we too don’t always receive the support we need at those vulnerable moments in our lives. How do we respond when that happens? We can learn from Jesus’ response in today’s gospel reading. He did not react angrily towards the Samaritan village, which is what his disciples wanted. He just continued on his journey and preached the gospel elsewhere. He remained true to God’s purpose for his life. His way is to be our way. In the power of his Spirit, we too keep journeying on, always remaining true to God’s purpose for our lives and to our baptismal identity, which is our deepest and best self.
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Reflection on the Feast of St Thérése of the Child Jesus, religious and doctor of the Church.
Summary: St Thérése of the Child Jesus, religious and doctor of the Church. Born at Alençon (France) in 1873; died of tuberculosis on 30 Sept. 1897. Coming from a devout family, she entered a Carmelite monastery at fifteen, where she embraced the suffering of her ill-health with love and in service to the missionary spread of the gospel. Known through her popular autobiography and loved for her unaffected simplicity, humble obedience and fidelity to her ordinary duties as the path to sanctity.
Patrick Duffy outlines her short life.
St Thérèse shows us the power of humility and of her “little way” spirituality to advance in holiness. In Jesus’s garden of souls, she saw herself as “a little flower“.
Early life
Thérèse was born at Alençon, the youngest of five daughters of Louis Martin, a watchmaker, and his wife Azélie-Marie Guérin, who died when Thérèse was four years old. The family moved to Lisieux and in her mother’s absence Thérèse looked to her elder sister Pauline as a mother. Thérèse was nine when Pauline entered the Carmelite monastery at Lisieux and she missed her. A second sister Marie followed. By the time Thérèse was fourteen, she too wanted to enter. She went with her father to Rome to appeal to Pope Leo XIII and although the Pope’s reply was non-committal, she was allowed to enter the convent a year early for her age. She took the name of Thérèse of the Infant Jesus.
Her parents
Her parents, Louis (1823-1894) and Marie Zelie Guerin Martin (1831-1877), had nine children, five of whom joined religious orders. They themselves were beatified at Lisieux on Mission Sunday, 19 October, 2015.
The “little way”
Convent life was difficult for Thérèse. The prioress was severe and she herself had doubts about her vocation. But Thérése found what she called her “little way” – not trying great mortifications, but accepting everything and doing God’s will with great love, convinced that she was a “little soul“. This was her way of combating the temptation to pride.
Thérèse was appointed assistant novice mistress and she set down her “little way” in a book, The Story of A Soul, that became enormously popular when it was published (although with some doctoring) by the Carmelites soon after her death. An extract shows us how she came to be called “The Little Flower”.
‘Jesus set before me the book of nature. I understand how all the flowers God has created are beautiful, how the splendour of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not take away the perfume of the violet or the delightful simplicity of the daisy. I understand that if all flowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose her springtime beauty, and the fields would no longer be decked out with little wild flowers. So it is in the world of souls, Jesus’ garden. He has created smaller ones and those must be content to be daisies or violets destined to give joy to God’s glances when He looks down at His feet. Perfection consists in doing His will, in being what He wills us to be.’
Contact with missionaries
A missionary gave Thérèse a copy of the Life and letters of Venerable Théophane Vénard, a priest of the Paris Foreign Missionary Society, who had been martyred in Vietnam some years previously. She was inspired by his example to volunteer for the new Carmelite monastery in Hanoi. But her health was declining from the tuberculosis she had contracted, so that was not on. However, she wrote a series of moving letters to two missionaries in Vietnam.
Her death and influence
The last eighteen months of her life were a slow and painful agony. Besides the physical breathlessness and discomfort, she experienced a real dark night of the soul. Most of the pages of her book were written at this time.
She died on 30 September 1897, clutching the relic of Venerable Théophane. She became hugely popular when her book, The Story of a Soul, was published and many cures took place through her intercession. People loved the simplicity of her “little way”. When Pope Pius XI canonised her in 1925, he proclaimed her principal patron of all missionaries. In the centenary to mark her death, Pope John Paul II declared her a doctor of the Church.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
