October 19
Memorial of Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, Priests, and Companions, Martyrs
First Reading
EPH 2:1-10
Brothers and sisters: You were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you once lived following the age of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the desires of our flesh, following the wishes of the flesh and the impulses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ (by grace you have been saved), raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast. For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them.
Responsorial Psalm
PS 100:1B-2, 3, 4AB, 4C-5
R. (3b) The Lord made us, we belong to him.
Sing joyfully to the LORD all you lands; serve the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful song.
R. The Lord made us, we belong to him.
Know that the LORD is God; he made us, his we are; his people, the flock he tends.
R. The Lord made us, we belong to him.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, his courts with praise.
R. The Lord made us, we belong to him.
Give thanks to him; bless his name, for he is good: the LORD, whose kindness endures forever, and his faithfulness, to all generations.
R. The Lord made us, we belong to him.
Alleluia
MT 5:3
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
LK 12:13-21
Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” He replied to him, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” Then he said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”
Then he told them a parable. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.”
Give a Mass Offering
Prayer for Spiritual Communion
My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.
“The Lord made us, we belong to him.”
Readings & Reflection
Our Gospel reading today allows us to reflect on what we have in life and how we use it. When we focus on the gifts that we have from God and the material things we have stored up throughout our lives, what worth are they to us? How often do we say to ourselves, “What am I going to do with some of this stuff I have accumulated?” I think one of the letters from St. Paul can put this in perspective. In St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, he reminds them that no one lives for oneself. The gifts that we are given by God and the wealth that we accumulate over time should not be kept to ourselves.
As in the parable today, Jesus tells the rich man, all these things that you have prepared, to whom do they belong? When something happens to us, what will happen to all our wealth? We are called to share the things that God gives us and allows us to have. The material wealth we have is something that we should be able to say that we share with those around us. How easy is that? I know for myself that this is something I struggle with in some ways. Each of us probably thinks along the same lines at times, “I worked for this. It’s my wealth.” This is the attitude that Christ cautions us against. Material wealth does not always need to be considered money but things that we have accumulated over time. How can we use those things to help those around us? How can we use those things to help us grow closer to God?
Fr Matt Rawson
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