Catholic Daily Mass Reading + Reflection: 19 October 2020
Monday 19, October 2020
Weekday (29)
Vestment: White/ Green/Red
Today’s Rosary: The Joyful Mystery
SS. John de Brebeuf, Isaac Jogues, Priest and Companions, Mythers;
Six Jesuits, with two of their lay companions, suffered martyrdom in North America between the years 1642 and 1649. They had been sent there to preach the Gospel but the local people captured and tortured them, eventually killing them.
St Paul of the Cross, P. (Opt Mem)
Paul Francis Danei was born in Italy in 1694. Feeling the call to live a consecrated life, he left his parents, gave his goods to the poor and lived as a hermit. Later he became a priest and began to evangelize with great zeal and power. He’ founded the Passionists, taking the name of Paul of the Cross. He practiced austere mortifications, stressing, both in his life and teaching, the mystery of the cross. He died in Rome in 1775.
OYO: Tomorrow is the 13th Anniversary of the Episcopal ordination of Most Revd Emmanuel A. Badejo, 20th October 2007.
FIRST READING
“He made us alive together with Christ and made us sit with him in the heavenly places.”
A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians (Ephesians 2: 1-10)
Brethren: You he made alive, when you were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. Among these we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of body and mind, and so we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with him, and made us sit, with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God — not because of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
The word of the Lord.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 100: 1-2.3.4.5 (R. 3b)
R/. The Lord made us; we belong to him.
Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing for joy. R
Know that he, the Lord, is God.
He made us; we belong to him.
We are his people, the sheep of his flock. R.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with songs of praise.
Give thanks to him, and bless his name. R.
Indeed, how good is the Lord,
eternal his merciful love.
He is faithful from age to age. R.
ALLELUIA Matthew 5:3
Alleluia. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Alleluia.
GOSPEL
“The things you have prepared, whose will they be?”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Luke 12: 13-21)
At that time: One of the multitude said to Jesus, “Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or divider over you?” And he said to them, “Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.’ “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Today’s Reflection
Today the Lord puts before us a parable that mirrors the dual nature of our human inclinations – the pursuit of wealth and the salvation of souls. Physical and spiritual wellbeing divide our thoughts along whether to continue in merriment and debauchery or to turn our face back to the creator for salvation. In this parable, the most cherished of both worlds is highlighted, the salvation of the soul. Store up for yourself righteousness that will last for eternity. Earthly inheritance, success and wealth without a spiritually balanced personality is worthless. We must put our trust in God with whom our success is secured. What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul?
A BLESSING FOR THE NEW WEEK
O God our Heavenly Father, we thank you with all our hearts for this new working week you have brought us into, we thank you because it is by your grace that we are here today, for in you we live and move and have our being.
Loving Father, we present ourselves before you as we begin this week and we ask for your blessings upon us, we ask you to keep us safe from every danger, we ask you to be within us to animate us, be with us to protect us and provide for our needs, guide our steps wherever we go, bless the labours of our hands, may our works and businesses be successful and fruitful.
Keep our families in your loving care, our spouses, parents, siblings, children and all who are near and dear to us, let us continue to have recourse to your goodness and mercy so that we would be able to reach out to others, to give a helping hand and to do the little we can to make the world a better place for everyone in Jesus name amen