A reading from the Book of Wisdom
(Chapter 18:6-9)
This passage from the Book of Wisdom might seem obscure when it is read without context. It expresses the confidence that Israel can have in the promises God has made. Considering the persistent, mindless harassment that Jewish people have endured over the ages, and still endure today, we might wonder what that confidence is all about. It becomes more clear, perhaps, when we recall that the mighty Romans, Nazis, and Soviets who sought to suppress the Jewish people are only bad memories, the Jewish people survive. It is good for Catholics to be aware, in this connection, that the Church teaches that God has never abrogated his covenant with Israel and that any act of discrimination or violence against the Jewish people is a particular affront to the divine will.
Responsorial Psalm
(Psalm 33: 1, 12, 18-19, 20-22)
“Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.” This psalm originally referred to the Jewish people, but God has also called us to a special relationship as members of the Body of Christ. We are truly blessed who can become one with God and each other in the sacrament of the Eucharist.
A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews
(Chapter 11:1-2, 8-19)
This reflection on the origins of the Jewish people, descendants of Abraham, reminds us that our destiny is not to be realized on earth but only in heaven. God promised Abraham a homeland for the nation that he, in effect, would found, but even as his descendants saw that promise fulfilled, their hopes had to extend beyond the Promised Land. Through the sacrifice and glorification of Jesus Christ, the hope of life forever in the presence of God became possible, not for one nation but for all of mankind.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke
(Chapter 12:32-48)
In this passage, Jesus tells his disciples, "Where your treasure is, there also will your heart be." He means that we should be guided and motivated in life by his promise of eternal life in heaven. Jesus uses a parable about the fate of servants who either do their master's will or violate it. What will happen to them when the master returns? But that isn't a story about musical chairs, as though justification is a matter of who gets caught standing when the music stops. Rather, it is about a lifetime devoted not to the temporary pleasures and comforts that can be achieved in this world but about the everlasting bliss of heaven.
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Painting: "Abraham's Journey from Ur to Canaan" by József Molnár (1850). Hungarian National Gallery. Public domain.
Excerpts from the English translation of the Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL). All rights reserved.
Charles Paolino is managing editor at RENEW International and a permanent deacon of the Diocese of Metuchen.