32nd WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 3 / (Green)
Ps 34:2-3, 16-17, 18-19
I will bless the Lord at all times.
1st Reading: Wis 2:23–3:9
Indeed God created man to be immortal in the likeness of his own nature, but the envy of the devil brought death to the world, and those who take his side shall experience death.
The souls of the just are in the hands of God and no torment shall touch them.
In the eyes of the unwise they appear to be dead. Their going is held as a disaster; it seems that they lose everything by departing from us, but they are in peace.
Though seemingly they have been punished, immortality was the soul of their hope. After slight affliction will come great blessings, for God has tried them and found them worthy to be with him; after testing them as gold in the furnace, he has accepted them as a holocaust.
At the time of his coming they will shine like sparks that run in the stubble. They will govern nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord will be their king forever.
Those who trust in him will penetrate the truth, those who are faithful will live with him in love, for his grace and mercy are for his chosen ones.
Gospel: Lk 17:7-10
Who among you would say to your servant, coming in from the fields after plowing or tending sheep, ‘Go ahead and have your dinner‘? No, you tell him, ‘Prepare my dinner. Put on your apron, and wait on me while I eat and drink. You can eat and drink afterward.‘ Do you thank this servant for doing what you told him to do? I don‘t think so. And therefore, when you have done all that you have been told to do, you should say, ‘We are no more than servants; we have only done our duty.‘“
REFLECTION:
“It is the will of the Father that you be holy“ (1 Thess 4:3). “Be holy as your heavenly Father is holy“ (Matt. 5:48). God has a goal for us. The exhortations of St. Paul and Jesus should move us to aim high. Jesus does not like mediocrity and doing things simply because one is obligated, that is performing a duty because one is paid. Jesus expects more. A Christian is distinguished from the rest of the world because he works not only out of duty but out of love.
Worse things sometimes happen in the parish. Some donors and benefactors expect and demand special treatment due to their donation. Worst of all when they think God owes them. And therefore nothing wrong should happen to them; no sickness, no one in the family should fail in examinations, no unexpected death, etc. When these happen, they run from God, they blame God and accuse God as ungrateful and does not know how to pay.
God can never be indebted to us and we can never have any claim from Him. If we did something good, we have only done our duty to be good, as expected, because God has created us good and to be good, “immortal in the likeness of his own nature.
Daily Reflection
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Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL
With permission from the EPISCOPAL COMMISION ON LITURGY of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
Readings and Reflections
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