November 14
Saturday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
First Reading
3 JN 5-8
Beloved, you are faithful in all you do for the brothers and sisters, especially for strangers; they have testified to your love before the Church. Please help them in a way worthy of God to continue their journey. For they have set out for the sake of the Name and are accepting nothing from the pagans. Therefore, we ought to support such persons, so that we may be co-workers in the truth.
Responsorial Psalm
PS 112:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
R. Blessed the man who fears the Lord.
Blessed the man who fears the LORD,
who greatly delights in his commands.
His posterity shall be mighty upon the earth;
the upright generation shall be blessed.
R. Blessed the man who fears the Lord.
Wealth and riches shall be in his house;
his generosity shall endure forever.
Light shines through the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious and merciful and just.
R. Blessed the man who fears the Lord.
Well for the man who is gracious and lends,
who conducts his affairs with justice;
He shall never be moved;
the just one shall be in everlasting remembrance.
R. Blessed the man who fears the Lord.
Alleluia
See 2 THES 2:14
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God has called us through the Gospel,
to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
LK 18:1-8
Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, “There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’ For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, ‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.’” The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
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.
“Blessed the man who fears the Lord.”
Readings & Reflection
Jesus tells a great story today in Luke. The story consists of a poor widow who is asking a judge to render a decision in her favor against an adversary. We must remember that in the time of Jesus, a woman, no less a widow, had very little power to affect a positive outcome for herself.
The widowed woman in the story is so insistent that eventually the judge begins to respect, if not fear her. He, because of her insistence renders a verdict in her favor! It is much the same way with God. Jesus reminds us today that we must never tire of prayer. We all have faced times in our life when we wonder if God is really hearing the prayers we offer. The thought may enter our mind that wouldn’t it be easier to just stop praying.
It is through incessant prayer that often our prayers are answered, but it is not because God tires of hearing us, or that he is in fear of us striking out at him. Through our incessant prayer we realize that God wants to hear us, wants to communicate with us. Through that communication, God shows us the answer that we were seeking in the first place, and that God has answered our prayer!
Peace,
Fr. John Kurgan
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