Liturgical Readings for : Wednesday, 20th November, 2024
Wednesday of the Thirty Third Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2
St John is given a vision of the Heavenly Court where God reigns with the saints.
FIRST READING
A reading from the book of the Apocalypse 4:1-11
A vision; Holy is the Lord God, the Almighty; he was, he is and he is to come.
St John writes his fascinating fabric of dreams given to him in an angelic presentation over a period of time.
In my vision, I, John, saw a door open in heaven and heard the same voice speaking to me, the voice like a trumpet, saying,
‘Come up here: I will show you what is to come in the future’.
With that, the Spirit possessed me and I saw a throne standing in heaven, and the One who was sitting on the throne, and the Person sitting there looked like a diamond and a ruby. There was a rainbow encircling the throne, and this looked like an emerald.
Round the throne in a circle were twenty-four thrones, and on them I saw twenty-four elders sitting, dressed in white robes with golden crowns on their heads. Flashes of lightning were coming from the throne, and the sound of peals of thunder, and in front of the throne there were seven flaming lamps burning, the seven Spirits of God.
Between the throne and myself was a sea that seemed to be made of glass, like crystal. In the centre, grouped round the throne itself, were four animals with many eyes, in front and behind.
The first animal was like a lion, the second like a bull, the third animal had a human face, and the fourth animal was like a flying eagle.
Each of the four animals had six wings and had eyes all the way round as well as inside; and day and night they never stopped singing:
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God, the Almighty; he was, he is and he is to come’.
Every time the animals glorified and honoured and gave thanks to the One sitting on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders prostrated themselves before him to worship the One who lives for ever and ever, and threw down their crowns in front of the throne, saying,
‘You are our Lord and our God, you are worthy of glory and honour and power,
because you made all the universe and it was only by your will that everything was made and exists’.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 150
Response: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God, the Almighty.
or Alleluia!
1. Praise God in his holy place, praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his powerful deeds, praise his surpassing greatness. Response
2. O praise him with sound of trumpet, praise him with lute and harp.
Praise him with timbrel and dance, praise him with strings and pipes. Response
3. O praise him with resounding cymbals, praise him with clashing of cymbals.
Let everything that lives and that breathes give praise to the Lord. Response
Gospel Acclamation 1 Jn 2: 5
Alleluia, Alleluia!
When anyone obeys what Christ has said, God’s love comes to perfection in him.
Alleluia!
Or 1 Jn 4: 10
Alleluia, Alleluia!
I chose you from the world to go out and to bear fruit, fruit that will last says the Lord.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the Gospel according to Luke 19:11-28 Glory to you, O Lord
Why did you not put my money in the bank?
While the people were listening to this Jesus went on to tell a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and they imagined that the kingdom of God was going to show itself then and there. Accordingly he said,
‘A man of noble birth went to a distant country to be appointed king and afterwards return. He summoned ten of his servants and gave them ten pounds.
“Do business with these” he told them “until I get back.”
But his compatriots detested him and sent a delegation to follow him with this message,
“We do not want this man to be our king”.
Now on his return, having received his appointment as king, he sent for those servants to whom he had given the money, to find out what profit each had made. The first came in and said,
“Sir, your one pound has brought in ten”.
“Well done, my good servant!” he replied “Since you have proved yourself faithful in a very small thing, you shall have the government of ten cities.”
Then came the second and said, “Sir, your one pound has made five”.
To this one also he said, “And you shall be in charge of five cities”.
Next came the other and said,“Sir, here is your pound. I put it away safely in a piece of linen because I was afraid of you;
for you are an exacting man: you pick up what you have not put down and reap what you have not sown.”
“You wicked servant!“ he said “Out of your own mouth I condemn you.
So you knew I was an exacting man, picking up what I have not put down and reaping what I have not sown?
Then why did you not put my money in the bank? On my return I could have drawn it out with interest?”
And he said to those standing by, “Take the pound from him and give it to the man who has ten pounds”.
And they said to him, “But, sir, he has ten pounds . . .“
“I tell you, to everyone who has will be given more; but from the man who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
But as for my enemies who did not want me for their king, bring them here and execute them in my presence.”‘
When he had said this he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Wednesday, Thirty Third Week in Ordinary Time Luke 19:11-28
In the time when the Book of Revelation was written, towards the end of the first century, the Emperor Domitian was on the throne in Rome. Historical sources suggest that he was happy to be addressed as ‘Lord and God’. According to our first reading, there is a throne which is higher than the throne of the Roman Emperor, and the one seated on it, the Creator God, is alone worthy of the titles that Domitian claimed, ‘You are our Lord and our God, you are worthy of glory, honour and power’.
The often perplexing symbolic language of the Book of Revelation is always at the service of this fundamental truth. There is only one who is worthy of the worship of our lives and hearts and that is the Creator God who, according to the reading, ‘made all the universe’ and by whose will ‘everything was made and exists’. In the following chapter of this Book of Revelation, the risen Lord is honoured and worshipped on an equal footing to God, ‘To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honour and glory and might forever and ever!’ (Rev 5:13). It is in and through his Son, the risen Lord, that God exercises his rule on earth.
The author of this book was reassuring his persecuted churches that in a world where the Emperor and various gods were demanding to be honoured and worshipped, the God of Jesus Christ was alone worthy of their total allegiance and worship. Such worship finds expression in liturgy but embraces all of our lives. Paul calls on the church in Rome, at the heart of Empire, to ‘present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds’ (Rom 12:1-2). Today’s gospel reading suggests that one of the ways we give expression to this spiritual worship, the worship of our lives, is by imaginatively using the gifts God has given us in the service of others. The time before the arrival of the glorious Son of Man is an opportunity for faithful and courageous service of the Lord and all created reality.
The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
