Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection November 14, 2024

14th November 2024 (Thursday)

Psalter: Week 4

Readings of the Day

First Reading: Philemon 7-20

Beloved: I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus—I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.

Psalm 146:6c-7, 8-9a, 9bc-10 (R. 5a)

R/. Blessed is he who is helped by Jacob’s God

Gospel Acclamation

V/. Alleluia

R/. Alleluia

V/. I am the vine; you are the branches, says the Lord. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit

R/. Alleluia.

Gospel: Luke 17:20-25

At that time: Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

Daily Gospel Reflection

Thursday – Thirty-Second Week of Ordinary Time

Guidelines: God’s kingdom is not to be equated with a religious domain or domination. God’s kingdom is not the suppression and intimidation of others in the name of religiosity and pure religion

1. The Pharisees ask Jesus ‘when’ the kingdom of God will come. But interestingly Jesus’ answer concerns ‘where’ the kingdom of God is. But this is not unreasonable because, in the case of the kingdom of God, the ‘when’ (time factor) and the ‘where’ (space factor) merge. The kingdom of God comes when and where God reigns.

2. Accordingly, God’s kingdom is there in the midst of us when God’s Spirit reigns within us, in our hearts. It is said that God is so clever that He hides Himself inside the human heart. For, He is very sure that often many seek Him everywhere else and in everything else except in their own hearts, in the caves of their being.

3. The kingdom of God in the first place is inside reality, a matter of the heart. Unless the heart changes, the kingdom does not come and reign. This is evident in the often-repeated caution of Jesus: ‘Unless you repent and change, you shall not enter the kingdom of God.’ It is actually not so much we are entering into a territory of the kingdom. Rather, it is the kingdom that enters into our hearts.

4. It is foolish that people search and fight to establish God’s kingdom by imposing particular religions or traditions. Little do they realise that God’s kingdom is not to be equated with a religion or a place or a culture. It is a way of life. It is a culture of heart. It is the reign of godliness.

5. This is the spirit of the kingdom that reigns in the heart and life of Paul. He not only worked for the spread of the kingdom through his preaching and animation. But also he allowed God’s kingdom to reign within him.

6. That is why he could regard even Onesimus, a mere slave, and one who was unfaithful as his own brother and son in faith. He would humble himself and plead with Philemon on his behalf.

Practice: The kingdom of God is really there when “our goodness is not by compulsion but of our own accord when we refresh each other’s heart in Christ”