Daily Liturgy
Monday November 8
THIRTIETH-SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
FORGIVE!
Introduction
The First Reading in Year I will be taken for a whole week from the Book of Wisdom. It was written in Greek in Alexandria, the century before the Christian era. Although he hopes non-Jews to read it too, the author advises mainly his co-religionists to seek wisdom in their faith in God rather than in the surrounding philosophical culture of Alexandria.
It is hard to place the sayings of our Gospel today (Lk 17:1-6) in a coherent context. They rather look like disparate statements about key concerns and messages of Luke: concern for the lowly, the need of forgiving one another, and faith. When Luke speaks about scandal, he is not thinking of giving any bad example, but of obstacles that make people stumble, like Jesus sitting at table with sinners, something totally unacceptable to many Jews. We take the message of forgiveness.
Opening Prayer
God of mercy and compassion,
your Son Jesus Christ, has brought us together
as a community of sinners
that knows that you have pardoned us.
When our weaknesses threaten our unity,
remind us of our responsibility for one another.
Let your unifying Spirit give us the strength
to care for one another
and to do all we can to remain
a living, forgiving and welcoming community.
May we meet in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Reading 1: Wis 1:1-7
Love justice, you who judge the earth;
think of the Lord in goodness,
and seek him in integrity of heart;
Because he is found by those who test him not,
and he manifests himself to those who do not disbelieve him.
For perverse counsels separate a man from God,
and his power, put to the proof, rebukes the foolhardy;
Because into a soul that plots evil, wisdom enters not,
nor dwells she in a body under debt of sin.
For the holy Spirit of discipline flees deceit
and withdraws from senseless counsels;
and when injustice occurs it is rebuked.
For wisdom is a kindly spirit,
yet she acquits not the blasphemer of his guilty lips;
Because God is the witness of his inmost self
and the sure observer of his heart
and the listener to his tongue.
For the Spirit of the Lord fills the world,
is all-embracing, and knows what man says.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 139:1b-3, 4-6, 7-8, 9-10
(24b) Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
O LORD, you have probed me and you know me;
you know when I sit and when I stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
with all my ways you are familiar.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know the whole of it.
Behind me and before, you hem me in
and rest your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
too lofty for me to attain.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
Where can I go from your spirit?
From your presence where can I flee?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I sink to the nether world, you are present there.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
If I take the wings of the dawn,
if I settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
Even there your hand shall guide me,
and your right hand hold me fast.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
Alleluia: Phil 2:15d, 16a
Alleluia, alleluia.
Shine like lights in the world,
as you hold on to the word of life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Lk 17:1-6
Jesus said to his disciples,
“Things that cause sin will inevitably occur,
but woe to the one through whom they occur.
It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck
and he be thrown into the sea
than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.
Be on your guard!
If your brother sins, rebuke him;
and if he repents, forgive him.
And if he wrongs you seven times in one day
and returns to you seven times saying, ‘I am sorry,’
you should forgive him.”
And the Apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you would say to this mulberry tree,
‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”
Intercessions
– That in all honesty, we may acknowledge our sins to the Lord, who knows what is in our hearts, and also to the persons we have hurt, we pray:
– That we may have enough faith to forgive totally and without reservations those who have offended us, we pray:
– That pastors in charge of communities may practice what they teach and inspire their people, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
God our Father,
you bring together at the table of your Son
the weak with the strong, the sick with the healthy.
Let your Son fill us here
with the fullness of his presence,
that we may accept one another
to live with one another in peace and friendship.
We offer you our good will
to welcome one another
in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
God our Father,
your Son Jesus, has been in our midst
and he has strengthened us with his body and blood.
He made our wounds of sin
his wounds and he healed them.
Let the wounds of our brothers and sisters
become ours, their joys our happiness.
Let your Son teach us the art
of bringing those who err back to you
and into our communities,
without embittering or humiliating them,
without any feeling of superiority,
but simply because they are our brothers and sisters
in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Blessing
Let us keep in mind the exhortation Jesus gives us in Luke, to be people of deep faith who can forgive one another and care for the poor and the humble, with the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Commentary
Writing in Egypt in the first century before Christ, the author of Wisdom was more than familiar with Greek speculation and the pursuit of philosophical wisdom. He champions wisdom of a different sort, that which is imparted in the Jewish scriptures and offers true enlightenment to the discerning soul. This book is written in Greek and is not part of the Hebrew Bible.
The author argues today that true wisdom never enters where evil dwells. It opposes deceit and injustice. The author’s advice to the believer is to seek justice in goodness and integrity of heart. True wisdom is to be found in the revealed will of God; to follow after it will bring true happiness and peace of mind.
The Gospel today realizes that sin will appear with a certain inevitability but predicts dire consequences for the one through whom it arrives. It is a serious and grave offense for one person to lead another into sin. However, where sin does occur and repentance follows, forgiveness should always be granted, even when there are multiple occurrences. Faith alone makes this understandable, but where faith is strong, all things are possible.
It may well be that we do not often understand our faith as true wisdom. It may make little sense to some (a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles); to us who are being saved it is the great wisdom of God.
Points to Ponder
Wisdom as different from intelligence
The seriousness of leading another to sin
Faith makes all things possible.