Liturgical Readings for : Thursday, 14th November, 2024
Thursday of the Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2
Optional memorial of St Laurence O’Toole, monk,
Archbishop of Dublin, missionary in Normandy, d.1180
FIRST READING
A reading from the letter of St Paul to Philomen vs 7-20
Have him back for ever, not as a slave any more, but as a dear brother.
I am so delighted, and comforted, to know of your love; they tell me, brother, how you have put new heart into the saints.
Now, although in Christ I can have no diffidence about telling you to do whatever is your duty, I am appealing to your love instead, reminding you that this is Paul writing, an old man now and, what is more, still a prisoner of Christ Jesus. I am appealing to you for a child of mine, whose father I became while wearing these chains: I mean Onesimus. He was of no use to you before, but he will be useful to you now, as he has been to me. I am sending him back to you, and with him – I could say – a part of my own self. I should have liked to keep him with me; he could have been a substitute for you, to help me while I am in the chains that the Good News has brought me.
However, I did not want to do anything without your consent; it would have been forcing your act of kindness, which should be spontaneous. I know you have been deprived of Onesimus for a time, but it was only so that you could have him back for ever, not as a slave any more, but something much better than a slave, a dear brother; especially dear to me, but how much more to you, as a blood-brother as well as a brother in the Lord. So if all that we have in common means anything to you, welcome him as you would me; but if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, then let me pay for it. I am writing this in my own handwriting: I, Paul, shall pay it back – I will not add any mention of your own debt to me, which is yourself. Well then, brother, I am counting on you, in the Lord; put new heart into me, in Christ.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 145
Response He is happy who is helped by Jacob’s God.
Or Alleluia!
1. It is the Lord who keeps faith for ever, who is just to those who are oppressed.
It is he who gives bread to the hungry, the Lord, who sets prisoners free. Response
2. It is the Lord who gives sight to the blind, who raises up those who are bowed down.
It is the Lord who loves the just, the Lord, who protects the stranger. Response
3. The Lord upholds the widow and orphan, but thwarts the path of the wicked.
The Lord will reign for ever, Zion’s God from age to age. Response
Gospel Acclamation 1 Pt 1:25
Alleluia, Alleluia!
I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, with me in him,
bears fruit in plenty, says the Lord.
Alleluia ! Alleluia!
Or Jn 15: 5
Alleluia, Alleluia!
The word of the Lord remains for ever: What is this word?
It is the Good News that has been brought to you.
Alleluia !Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the Gospel according to Luke 17:20-25 Glory to you, O Lord
The kingdom of God is among you.
Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was to come,
Jesus gave them this answer,
‘The coming of the kingdom of God does not admit of observation and there will be no one to say,
“Look here! Look there!” For, you must know, the kingdom of God is among you.’
He said to the disciples,
‘A time will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man and will not see it. They will say to you, “Look there!” or, “Look here!“
Make no move; do not set off in pursuit; for as the lightning flashing from one part of heaven lights up the other, so will be the Son of Man when his day comes.
But first he must suffer grievously and be rejected by this generation.
The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Thursday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time Luke 17:20-25
Sometimes we can miss something of great significance. It is there before us but we do not see it. In today’s gospel reading the Pharisees ask Jesus when the kingdom of God was to come. In reply Jesus says to them, ‘You must know, the kingdom of God is among you’. They failed to see that the kingdom of God was present to them in and through the person of Jesus. They were not alert to the signs of God’s kingdom in the ministry of Jesus. The kingdom of God was there but in a less dramatic form than they expected it.
The gospel reading reminds us that the Lord is present in our lives in more ways than we realize. His presence does not always admit of observation in the words of today’s gospel reading. It will often be un-dramatic, without fanfare. Yet the Lord is really present especially in the words and deeds of people that build up and heal and bring life. The Lord has assured us that we will never be without his presence. What we need are eyes to see and ears to hear, the eyes and ears of faith. Like the disciples earlier in Luke’s gospel we need to pray, ‘Increase our faith’.
In the first reading, Paul called on Philemon to create an opening for the coming of the kingdom of God by welcoming back his runaway slave no longer as a slave but as a brother in Christ. The kingdom of God is among us. Each one of us in our day-to-day lives can make visible the presence of the kingdom of God by living the Gospel message in the power of the Spirit. Then we will put new heart into one another, in the words of today’s first reading.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
