27th Sunday of the Year (c)
This Week’s Liturgy Calendar.
Ordinary Season of the Year. (c)
Weekdays – Year 1
Sunday 6th October: 27th Sunday of the Year. (c)
The first reading is from the Prophet Habakkuk. He is complaining that God does not seem to hear or act in response to the Prophet’s cry for justice. God tells him the time is coming when justice will prevail.
The second reading is from the Letter of St. Paul to Timothy. He reminds us that God gives us the Holy Spirit to empower us to bear witness tou our faith and to persevere in the face of difficulty.
St. Luke, in this section of his Gospel, is reminding us that it not the quantity of faith that matters, if indeed we can measure it at all but the quality of our relationship with God that matters.
Monday 7th October: Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary.
This feast was instituted by Pope Saint Pius V, in thanksgiving, on the anniversary of the battle of Lepanto in 1571. It was claimed that the Christians were victorious over the Turks because they had prayer the Rosary on the eve of the battle and invoked Our Lady’s help.
The feast is reminder to each one of us to use the prayer of the rosary as a means of reflecting on the life of Jesus and of drawing closer to him and each other as a result.
Tuesday 8th October: Tuesday of 27th week of the year.
Today we move on to another book connected with the exile in Babylon. The Book of Jonah is regarded as a sermon in the form of a story. It teaches that the mercy of God extends to all nations and is not restricted to the Chosen People.
In this section, we read that, when Jonah eventually got to the great city of Nineveh, he was successful in persuading the people to repent of their sinful ways. From the highest level, the king, down all applied themselves and as a result God relented and did not allow disaster to fall on them.
The Gospel is a stark reminder to make sure we are taking time for God in our busy lives. Jesus stresses the need to stop, reflect and pray.
Wednesday 9th October: Wednesday of 27th week of the year.
The reaction of the people in Nineveh showed again how God’s mercy is not restricted, a response which surprises Jonah. Many people in Nineveh did not realise the wrong they were doing until Jonah preaches to them.
Yesterday we were told of the need to make time. Today Jesus gives an example of how to pray – the Lord’s Prayer.
Thursday 10th October: Thursday of 27th week of the year.
Malachi, from whom the first reading comes, lived some years after the end of the exile. He assures the people who were doing evil and not seeming to be punished, would, in time, be called to judgement by God. The good deeds that people do would also be recorded for the final judgement before the throne of God.
In the Gospel, Jesus continues his lesson on prayer. To be real prayer it has to be trusting and persevering. If we have faith we shouldn’t hesitate to ask.
Friday 11th October: Friday of 27th week of the year.
Joel is the last of the books that deal with the period after the exile. In this passage there is a real sense of foreboding amongst the Israelites because they have again turned their back on God. The fear is stressed that the day of the Lord is coming when they will face judgement.
Jesus continues his teaching on prayer and the need for us to make time for it in our lives. It is from and through prayer we receive strength to fight against temptation and trial in our lives.
Saturday 12th October: Saturday of 26th week of the year.
At the end of his book, Joel calls on all nations, especially those who have been responsible for the oppression of Israel, to face their judgement day. There will be great harmony in Israel but desolation and punishment in the land of their enemies.
Jesus presents us with another special lesson. We will be truly blessed if we hear the word of God, keep it and put it into action.
Lord,
Send us out into our world
To help bear one another’s crosses
And to share one another’s joys
So that we may not simply admire your Son
For having born his cross, suffered and died for us,
But follow him on the road that leads to life and glory
We ask this
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
