Friday of 32nd Week in Ordinary Time

Friday November 11, 2022    

Friday of 32nd Week in Ordinary Time

MARTIN OF TOURS, Bishop

Introduction

During a military campaign, Martin (317-397) cut his mantle into two to save a poor beggar from freezing to death. This gesture became the symbol of a sharing Christianity. Ordained a priest by St. Hilary of Tours, he introduced the monastic life in France. Later, as bishop of Tours, he created and organized many rural parishes and monasteries, whose monks evangelized much of Gaul in the 4th and 5th centuries. Tours became a center of pilgrimages.

Opening Prayer

Our loving God,
you let St. Martin of Tours remind us today,
that we have to recognize and love your Son
by welcoming him in those who are naked,
in all who are hungry and thirsty,
abandoned and lonely,
in refugees, in the poor and the sick.
Let our love become free and spontaneous,
like the tenderness you have shown us in your Son.
Welcome us in the everlasting kingdom
prepared for us through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Reading 1 2 JN 4-9

I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth
just as we were commanded by the Father.
But now, Lady, I ask you,
not as though I were writing a new commandment
but the one we have had from the beginning:
let us love one another.
For this is love, that we walk according to his commandments;
this is the commandment, as you heard from the beginning,
in which you should walk.
Many deceivers have gone out into the world,
those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh;
such is the deceitful one and the antichrist.
Look to yourselves that you do not lose what we worked for
but may receive a full recompense.
Anyone who is so "progressive"
as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God;
whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son.

Responsorial Psalm PS 119:1, 2, 10, 11, 17, 18

(1b) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Blessed are they whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all their heart.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
With all my heart I seek you;
let me not stray from your commands.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Within my heart I treasure your promise,
that I may not sin against you.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Be good to your servant, that I may live
and keep your words.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Open my eyes, that I may consider
the wonders of your law.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!

Alleluia LK 21:28

Alleluia, alleluia.
Stand erect and raise your heads
because your redemption is at hand.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel LK 17:26-37

Jesus said to his disciples:
"As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be in the days of the Son of Man;
they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage up to the day
that Noah entered the ark,
and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot:
they were eating, drinking, buying,
selling, planting, building;
on the day when Lot left Sodom,
fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all.
So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
On that day, someone who is on the housetop
and whose belongings are in the house
must not go down to get them,
and likewise one in the field
must not return to what was left behind.
Remember the wife of Lot.
Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it,
but whoever loses it will save it.
I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed;
one will be taken, the other left.
And there will be two women grinding meal together;
one will be taken, the other left." 
They said to him in reply, "Where, Lord?"
He said to them, "Where the body is,
there also the vultures will gather."

Intercessions

–          For the Church, the People of God, that we may not be self-sure, proud and triumphant, but aware of our poverty, our ills, and our constant need of conversion to the gospel of Christ, we pray:

–          For a world of violence, denial of rights and discrimination, that people may build to one another roads of friendship, respect and freedom, we pray:

–          For all of us in this community, that we may hasten the coming of God’s new heaven and new earth by making straight our tortuous ways of selfishness and pride, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

Our generous God,
this is the bread you give us
to share with the poor
and here is the wine you wish us to drink
with all who have forgotten what joy is.
In these signs, let your Son come among us
and give us the love and the strength to meet him
in all who hunger and thirst,
for food and affection,
in all that is little and insecure.
Let this be the sacrifice you accept
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Prayer after Communion

Lord our God,
with the inspiration of his stirring words
and by the strength of this bread of life
may we go to you the royal way of Jesus
and to our neighbor the way of sharing.
Make us aware that what we are and have
is a gift from you, not just for ourselves
but for our brothers and sisters.
Let us meet Christ in the underprivileged,
for they are a treasure you have entrusted to us
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Blessing

Keep hoping, for there is a future. Christ is with you, and with him you can do away with violence and wars, you can defeat enmity with friendship. Keep your heads high, for the Lord Jesus is among us and with him there is hope and a future. Go with him, with the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Commentary

Preparedness

“Being prepared” is a theme that keeps recurring in the liturgy of the word, as we approach the end of the liturgical year. Jesus speaks about the suddenness of the coming of the Son of Man, be it collectively for a group or individually. The best way to remain prepared is to ensure that we walk, on a daily basis, according to God’s commandments, as John tells us today. What is the commandment? That we walk in love. But then, what is love? There are so many forms of love that we are confused. The love we must grow into is the love that the Scriptures speak of: love for God and our brothers and sisters; a love that results when we are able to die to ourselves and make the lives of others a priority; a love made visible in Jesus Christ.

Reflection taken from Bible Diary 2022;

written by Fr.Paulson Velyannoor, CMF

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