Mass Readings
Catholic Ireland
Liturgical Readings for : Friday, 22nd September, 2023Léachtaí Gaeilge
Next Sunday's Readings
Friday of the 24th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1
FIRST READING
A reading from the first letter of St Paul to Timothy 6:2-12
As a man dedicated to God, you must aim to be saintly and religious, filled with faith and love.
Following in the footsteps of Jesus
This is what you are to teach the brothers to believe and persuade them to do. Anyone who teaches anything different, and does not keep to the sound teaching which is that of our Lord Jesus Christ, the doctrine which is in accordance with true religion, is simply ignorant and must be full of self-conceit – with a craze for questioning everything and arguing about words. All that can come of this is jealousy, contention, abuse and wicked mistrust of one another; and unending disputes by people who are neither rational nor informed and imagine that religion is a way of making a profit.
Religion, of course, does bring large profits, but only to those who are content with what they have. We brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it; but as long as we have food and clothing, let us be content with that. People who long to be rich are a prey to temptation; they get trapped into all sorts of foolish and dangerous ambitions which eventually plunge them into ruin and destruction. ‘The love of money is the root of all evils’ and there are some who, pursuing it, have wandered away from the faith, and so given their souls any number of fatal wounds.
But, as a man dedicated to God, you must avoid all that. You must aim to be saintly and religious, filled with faith and love, patient and gentle. Fight the good fight of the faith and win for yourself the eternal life to which you were called when you made your profession and spoke up for the truth in front of many witnesses.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 48
Response How happy are the poor in spirit; theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
1. Why should I fear in evil days the malice of the foes who surround me,
men who trust in their wealth, and boast of the vastness of their riches? Response
2. For no man can buy his own ransom, or pay a price to God for his life.
The ransom of his soul is beyond him.
He cannot buy life without end, nor avoid coming to the grave. Response
3. Then do not fear when a man grows rich, when the glory of his house increases.
He takes nothing with him when he dies, his glory does not follow him below. Response
4. Though he flattered himself while he lived: ‘Men will praise me for doing well for myself,’
yet he will go to join his fathers, who will never see the light any more. 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 Gospel according to Luke 8:1-3 Glory to you, O Lord.
With Jesus went several women who provided for him out of their own resources.
Jesus made his way through towns and villages preaching, and proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom of God. With him went the Twelve, as well as certain women who had been cured of evil spirits and ailments:
Mary surnamed the Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,
Joanna the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza,
Susanna, and several others who provided for them out of their own resources.
The Gospel of the Lord. Glory to you, O Lord.
Gospel Reflection Friday, Twenty Fourth Week in Ordinary Time Luke 8:1-3
Women don’t have quite as strong a profile as men in the gospels. Yet, the women who do feature tend to leave a lasting impression. We think of Mary, the mother of Jesus, the Samaritan woman who met Jesus at the well, Martha and her sister Mary who were friends of Jesus and offered him hospitality, the Syro-Phoenician woman who displayed a steadfast faith in the face of Jesus’ reluctance to respond to her request, the widow who put all she had into the temple treasury, Anna who spent all her time in the Temple of Jerusalem and spoke to others about the child Jesus, the faithful women who stood by the cross when the male disciples had fled, Mary Magdalene who, according to John’s gospel, was the first to whom the risen Lord appeared and the first to proclaim the Easter good news.
All these women, and many others, model for us some aspect of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Today’s gospel reading speaks of a group of women who travelled with Jesus and the Twelve, and who provided for them out of their own resources. They were clearly women of some means who provided very practical, including financial, support for Jesus and his ministry. Jesus was served by these women. We think of Jesus as the great servant of others and, indeed, he said of himself that he came not to be served but to serve. Yet, he also allowed himself to be served; there were times when he needed to be served. The gospel reading suggests that Jesus benefited in a special way from the service of women. As the Lord’s followers we are called to serve others in his Spirit but we are also called to allow him to serve us in and through the service of others, and in particular the service of women. Today we thank the Lord for the many ways that women serve us in the church. Without their faithful service, all of us who form the church would be so much the poorer.
________________
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 Reflections on the Weekday Readings 2022-2023: Your word is a lamp for my feet and light for my path by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications 2022, c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/
______________________________