Catholic Ireland
Liturgical Readings for : Friday, 27th October, 2023
Friday of the Twenty Ninth Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1
Optional Memorial of St Otterman, monk
FIRST READING
A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Romans 7:18-25
Who will rescue me from this body doomed to death?
I know of nothing good living in me – living, that is, in my unspiritual self – for though the will to do what is good is in me, the performance is not, with the result that instead of doing the good things I want to do, I carry out the sinful things I do not want. When I act against my will, then, it is not my true self doing it, but sin which lives in me.
In fact, this seems to be the rule, that every single time I want to do good it is something evil that comes to hand. In my inmost self I dearly love God’s Law, but I can see that my body follows a different law that battles against the law which my reason dictates. This is what makes me a prisoner of that law of sin which lives inside my body.
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body doomed to death?
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 118: 66. 68. 76-77, 93-94, rv 68
Response Lord, teach me your statutes.
1. Teach me discernment and knowledge for I trust in your commands.
You are good and your deeds are good; teach me your statutes. Response
2. Let your love be ready to console me by your promise to your servant.
Let your love come to me and I shall live for your law is my delight. Response
3. I will never forget your precepts for with them you give me life.
Save me, for I am yours since I seek your precepts. Response
Gospel Acclamation Ps 94: 8
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Harden not your hearts today’ but listen to the voice of the Lord.
Alleluia!
Or Mt 11: 25
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom to mere children .
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 12:54-59 Glory to you, O Lord.
You know how to interpret the face of the earth and the sky. How is it you do not know how to interpret these times?
Jesus said to the crowds:
‘When you see a cloud looming up in the west you say at once that rain is coming, and so it does. And when the wind is from the south you say it will be hot, and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the face of the earth and the sky.
How is it you do not know how to interpret these times?
‘Why not judge for yourselves what is right? For example:
when you go to court with your opponent, try to settle with him on the way, or he may drag you before the judge and the judge hand you over to the bailiff and the bailiff have you thrown into prison. I tell you, you will not get out till you have paid the very last penny.’
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Friday, Twenty Ninth Week in Ordinary Time Luke 12:54-59
In the gospel reading Jesus criticizes his contemporaries for not knowing how to interpret the times in which they were living. They are failing to take seriously the presence of God among them in the person of Jesus and are also failing to respond to his call to conversion and renewal. They know how to interpret the signs in nature which suggest the kind of weather that is on the way but they do not know how to interpret a much more fundamental reality, the ministry of Jesus in their midst.
The gospel reading calls on all of us to interpret the signs of the Lord’s presence in all our lives, and to discern what the Lord is asking of us and calling us towards. The Lord has some purpose for our lives and there is always an urgency about that purpose; the Lord looks for our response in the here and now. We need to be alert, ready and keen, in response to that sense of urgency that the Lord feels in our regard. During this time of preparation for a National and Universal Synod of the church especially, we are being asked to interpret the times, to listen to what the Lord may be saying to us as a church in these days. We need to pray for a listening heart so that we can discern what the Lord is saying to the church now, regarding its mission in the world.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible
