Liturgical Readings for : Thursday, 26th October, 2023
Thursday of the Twenty Ninth Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1
FIRST READING
A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Romans 6:19-23
Now you have been set free from sin, you have been made slaves of God.
If I may use human terms to help your natural weakness: as once you put your bodies at the service of vice and immorality, so now you must put them at the service of righteousness for your sanctification.
When you were slaves of sin, you felt no obligation to righteousness, and what did you get from this? Nothing but experiences that now make you blush, since that sort of behaviour ends in death. Now, however, you have been set free from sin, you have been made slaves of God, and you get a reward leading to your sanctification and ending in eternal life. For the wage paid by sin is death; the present given by God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 1
Response Happy the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.
1. Happy indeed is the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked;
nor lingers in the way of sinners nor sits in the company of scorners,
but whose delight is the law of the Lord and who ponders his law day and night. Response
2. He is like a tree that is planted beside the flowing waters,
that yields its fruit in due season and whose leaves shall never fade;
and all that he does shall prosper. Response
3. Not so are the wicked, not so! For they like winnowed chaff
shall be driven away by the wind. For the Lord guards the way of the just
but the way of the wicked leads to doom Response
Gospel Acclamation Jn 8: 12
Alleluia, Alleluia!
I am the light of the world, says the Lord, anyone who follows me will have the light of life.
Alleluia!
Or Phil 3: 8-9
Alleluia, Alleluia!
I have accepted the loss of everything, and I look on everything as so much rubbish
if only I can have Christ and be given a place in him.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 12:49-53 Glory to you, O Lord.
I have not come to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already! There is a baptism I must still receive, and how great is my distress till it is over!
‘Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on a household of five will be divided: three against two and two against three; the father divided against the son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Thursday, Twenty Ninth Week in Ordinary Time Luke 12:49-53
Jesus refers at the beginning of the gospel reading to a baptism he must still receive. What is this baptism? Jesus is referring to the suffering and death that awaits him. Being immersed in water over which one has no control is a standard biblical image for being overwhelmed by trouble and distress. Just prior to speaking of this future baptism, Jesus spoke of himself as having come to bring fire to the earth, and he expressed the desire that this fire were already blazing. What is this fire? It is likely to be a reference to the fire of the Holy Spirit. There is a connection between the baptism and the fire. It is in and through his suffering and death, and his resurrection, that Jesus will be enabled to pour out the Spirit upon all who are open to receive it. After the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus came Pentecost, not just the first Pentecost but many subsequent Pentecosts.
The baptism and the fire relates to us as well as to Jesus. At the beginning of our lives, we were baptized into Christ. We put on our Christ identity. At that moment the fire of the Holy Spirit was lit in our hearts, symbolized by the paschal candle. As we seek to live out our baptism, the Lord will call us to share in his self-emptying love of others, which, for him, culminated in his passion and death. As we try to answer that call, the Lord will continue to light the fire of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, so as to empower us to answer his call. The one who calls also makes it possible for us to live his call.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible
