Liturgical Readings for : Friday, 26th January, 2024
01-26 Ss Timothy and Titus, bishops, Memorial
Ss Timothy and Titus were disciples and co-workers with St Paul .
Paul put Timothy in the church at Ephesus and Titus at Crete.
FIRST READING
A reading from the second letter of St Paul to Timothy 1:1-8
I am reminded of the sincere faith which you have.
From Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus in his design to promise life in Christ Jesus; to Timothy, dear child of mine, wishing you grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord.
Night and day I thank God, keeping my conscience clear and remembering my duty to him as my ancestors did, and always I remember you in my prayers; I remember your tears and long to see you again to complete my happiness. Then I am reminded of the sincere faith which you have; it came first to live in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice, and I have no doubt that it is the same faith in you as well.
That is why I am reminding you now to fan into a flame the gift that God gave you when I laid my hands on you. God’s gift was not a spirit of timidity, but the Spirit of power, and love, and self-control. So you are never to be ashamed of witnessing to the Lord, or ashamed of me for being his prisoner; but with me, bear the hardships for the sake of the Good News, relying on the power of God who has saved us and called us to be holy.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God
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Alternative FIRST READING
A reading from the letter of St Paul to Titus 1:1-5
To Titus, true child of mine in the faith that we share.
From Paul, servant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ to bring those whom God has chosen to faith and to the knowledge of the truth that leads to true religion; and to give them the hope of the eternal life that was promised so long ago by God. He does not lie and so, at the appointed time, he revealed his decision, and, by the command of God our saviour, I have been commissioned to proclaim it.
To Titus, true child of mine in the faith that we share, wishing you grace and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our saviour.
The reason I left you behind in Crete was for you to get everything organised there and appoint elders in every town, in the way that I told you.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God
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Responsorial Psalm Ps 95:1-3. 7-8.10 Rv v.3
Response Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the peoples.
1. O sing a new song to the Lord, sing to the Lord all the earth.
O sing to the Lord, bless his name. Response
2. Proclaim his help day by day, tell among the nations his glory
and his wonders among all the peoples. Response
3. Give the Lord, you families of peoples, give the Lord glory and power,
give the Lord the glory of his name. Response
4. Proclaim to the nations: ‘God is king.’ The world he made firm in its place;
he will judge the peoples in fairness. Response
Gospel Acclamation Jn 15: 16
Alleluia, Alleluia!
The Lord has sent me to bring the Good News to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 10:1-9 Glory to you, O Lord
The harvest is rich but the labourers are few.
The Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out ahead of him, in pairs, to all the towns and places he himself was to visit. He said to them,
‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.
Start off now, but remember, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.
Carry no purse, no haversack, no sandals. Salute no one on the road.
Whatever house you go into, let your first words be, “Peace to this house!”
And if a man of peace lives there, your peace will go and rest on him;
if not, it will come back to you.
Stay in the same house, taking what food and drink they have to offer, for the labourer deserves his wages; do not move from house to house.
Whenever you go into a town where they make you welcome, eat what is set before you.
Cure those in it who are sick, and say, “The kingdom of God is very near to you”.
The Gospel of the Lord. Glory to you, O Lord
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Gospel Reflection Friday Jan. 26th Memorial of Ss Timothy and Titus Luke 10:1-9
I celebrated Mass in one of the parish primary schools, to which the grandparents of the pupils had been invited. There is a reference to a grandmother in today’s first reading. Paul is writing to his closest co-worker, Timothy. He tells Timothy that he is always being reminded of the sincere faith which he has, and Paul goes on to acknowledge that Timothy’s faith came first to live in his grandmother Lois, and then in his mother Eunice. We can all look back to the faith of our grandparents and, perhaps, to our parents as well. Grandparents continue to have a very important role today in passing on the faith to their grandchildren. They often do this by praying for their grandchildren, praying with them, taking them to church and pointing out the various images and symbols in the church and explaining their meaning. Grandparents are so often among the labourers in the harvest that Jesus mentions in the gospel reading.
As he sends out the seventy two labourers, he calls on them to keep praying to God to send more labourers into the harvest. We are all called to be labourers in the Lord’s harvest, in virtue of our baptism. The Lord needs each one of us to witness to him and his gospel in our world today. Timothy and Titus were co-workers of Paul. He had many other co-workers, woman as well as men. Paul knew that the Lord’s work could not get done without all these co-workers. The Lord’s need is as great today as it was at the beginning of the church, in the time of Paul. He needs every one of us to be a labourer in his harvest, just as he needed the seventy two and many more. The harvest of the Lord remains rich and the Lord needs all the co-workers he can get. We need to all work together to ensure that people today hear and experience the same good news that the seventy two were called by Jesus to preach, ‘The kingdom of God is very near to you’.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
