Mass Readings

Catholic Ireland

Liturgical Readings for : Monday, 14th October, 2024
Léachtaí Gaeilge
Next Sunday's Readings

Monday of the Twenty-Eight Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle 2

Optional memorial of St Calistas I, pope and martyr, 

FIRST READING 

A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Galatians             4:22-24. 26-27. 31-5:1
We are the children, not of the slave-girl, but of the free-born wife.

The Law says, if you remember, that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave-girl, and one by his free-born wife. The child of the slave-girl was born in the ordinary way; the child of the free woman was born as the result of a promise. This can be regarded as an allegory: the women stand for the two covenants. The first who comes from Mount Sinai, and whose children are slaves, is Hagar – The Jerusalem above, however, is free and is our mother, since scripture says:
Shout for joy, you barren women who bore no children!
Break into shouts of joy and gladness, you who were never in labour.
For there are more sons of the forsaken one than sons of the wedded wife.
So, my brothers, we are the children, not of the slave-girl, but of the free-born wife.

When Christ freed us, he meant us to remain free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.

The Word of the Lord.              Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm             Ps 112
Response                                  May the name of the Lord be blessed for evermore!
or                                               Alleluia!

1. Praise, O servants of the Lord praise the name of the Lord!
May the name of the Lord be blessed both now and for evermore!          Response

2. From the rising of the sun to its setting praised be the name of the Lord!
High above all nations is the Lord, above the heavens his glory.              Response

3. Who is like the Lord, our God, who stoops from the heights to look down,
to look down upon heaven and earth? From the dust he lifts up the lowly,
from the dung heap he raises the poor.                                                          Response

Gospel  Acclamation         Ps 118: 88
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Because of your love give me life, and I will do your will.
Alleluia!

or                                              Ps 94: 8
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Harden not your hearts today’ but listen to the voice of the Lord.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL  

The Lord be with you.                          And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke    11:29-32          Glory to you, O Lord
The only sign it will be given is the sign of Jonah.

The crowds got even bigger and Jesus addressed them,
‘This is a wicked generation; it is asking for a sign
The only sign it will be given is the sign of Jonah.
For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.

On Judgement day the Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon;
and there is something greater than Solomon here.

On Judgement day the men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation. and condemn it, because when Jonah preached they repented;
and there is something greater than Jonah here.

The Gospel of the Lord.        Thanks be to God.

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Gospel Reflection        Monday         Twenty Eighth Week in Ordinary Time       Luke 11:29-32

In today’s gospel reading, people come to Jesus looking for a sign. He replies that the signs they are looking for are actually there in front of their eyes if only they could see them. The people of Nineveh took Jonah more seriously than some of the people of Jesus’ generation were taking him, and, yet, there were far more powerful signs of God’s presence in the life of Jesus than in the life of Jonah. ‘There is something greater than Jonah here’. The queen of Sheba took Solomon more seriously than some of the people of Jesus’ generation were taking him, and, yet, there were far more powerful signs of God’s presence in the life of Jesus than in the life of Solomon. ‘There is something greater than Solomon here’.

In looking for some striking, spectacular, signs from Jesus, many of his contemporaries were missing the signs that were staring them in the face. In looking for the extraordinary, we too can miss the richness in the ordinary. In many ways Jesus was very ordinary. ‘Is not this the son of the carpenter?’ the people of Nazareth asked. When Jesus spoke about God’s kingdom, the ways of God, he did so in very ordinary terms, the sower going out to sow, the man robbed on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho, the father whose son left home in a very selfish fashion, the weeds that grow among the field of wheat. These were scenes from ordinary life. Jesus was saying, the signs of God’s presence are to be found there in the ordinary stuff of life, for those who have eyes to see.

Today we pray for eyes to see the many signs of the Lord’s presence in our day to day lives.

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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd. and used with the permission of the publishers.  http://dltbooks.com/
The Scripture Reflection is made available with our thanks from his book Reflections on the Weekday Readings 2024: The Word is near to you, on your lips and in your heart by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications 2022/ 24, c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/

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