Liturgical Readings for : Thursday, 7th November, 2024
Thursday of the Thirty First Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2
Optional memorial of St Willibrord, a Northumbrian who joined the Irish Benedictines, became a bishop and missionary.
FIRST READING
A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Philippians 3:3-8
Because of Christ, I have come to consider all these advantages that I had as disadvantages.
We are the real people of the circumcision,
we who worship in accordance with the Spirit of God;
we have our own glory from Christ Jesus without having to rely on a physical operation.
If it came to relying on physical evidence, I should be fully qualified myself.
Take any man who thinks he can rely on what is physical: I am even better qualified.
I was born of the race of Israel and of the tribe of Benjamin,
a Hebrew born of Hebrew parents, and I was circumcised when I was eight days old.
As for the Law, I was a Pharisee;
as for working for religion, I was a persecutor of the Church;
as far as the Law can make you perfect, I was faultless.
But because of Christ, I have come to consider all these advantages that I had as disadvantages.
Not only that, but I believe nothing can happen that will outweigh the supreme advantage of
knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 104
Response Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice.
Or Alleluia!
1. O sing to the Lord, sing his praise; tell all his wonderful works!
Be proud of his holy name, let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice. Response
2. Consider the Lord and his strength; constantly seek his face.
Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, the judgements he spoke. Response
3. O children of Abraham, his servant, O sons of the Jacob he chose.
He, the Lord, is our God: his judgements prevail in all the earth. Response
Gospel Acclamation Ps 129: 5
Alleluia, Alleluia!
My soul is waiting for the Lord, I count on his word.
Alleluia!
or Mt 11: 28
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened,
and I will give you rest, says the Lord.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 15: 1-10 Glory to you, O Lord
There will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner.
The tax collectors and the sinners, meanwhile, were all seeking his company to hear what he had to say,
and the Pharisees and the scribes complained. ‘This man’ they said ‘welcomes sinners and eats with them.’
So he spoke this parable to them:
‘What man among you with a hundred sheep, losing one, would not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the missing one till he found it? And when he found it, would he not joyfully take it on his shoulders and then, when he got home, call together his friends and neighbours?
“Rejoice with me,” he would say “I have found my sheep that was lost.”
In the same way, I tell you, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine virtuous men who have no need of repentance.
‘Or again, what woman with ten drachmas would not, if she lost one, light a lamp and sweep out the house and search thoroughly till she found it? And then, when she had found it, call together her friends and neighbours?
“Rejoice with me,” she would say “I have found the drachma I lost.”
In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one repentant sinner.’
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Thursday Thirty First Week in Ordinary Time Luke 14:25-33
When Jesus wanted to communicate who God is like, he often pointed to some human experience. He recognized that sometimes the way humans behave can give us an insight into God. There is something to be learned about God, Jesus suggests, by looking at how ordinary people live their lives. Even those who would not see themselves as especially religious can reveal God to us.
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus invites his critics, who thought of themselves as religious, to look at how a shepherd and a woman might behave when they lose something precious. The shepherd who loses one of a hundred sheep will go looking for that one sheep until he finds it. He will passionately search for it, and, then when he has found it, he will gather his friends and neighbours in his home to share his joy. When one went missing, he didn’t say, ‘Well, I have another ninety nine, so let him go’.
Similarly, a woman who loses one of her ten precious coins will sweep every nook and cranny in her house until she finds it, and so great is her joy upon finding it that she invites her neighbours to share her joy. Jesus is saying, ‘God is like this shepherd and this woman’. God is always searching for the lost, those who have not come to know his tremendous love for them. He wants everyone to know that they are God’s beloved sons and daughters. That is why he sent Jesus into the world, to show to the world God’s passionate, searching, love for all. Each one of us is invited to allow ourselves to be found by this loving God whom Jesus reveals and continues to make present to us today.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, 1966 by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd
