Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection October 03, 2024

03rd October 2024 (Thursday)

Psalter: Week 2

Readings of the Day

First Reading: Job 19:21-27

Job said: “Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me! Why do you, like God, pursue me? Why are you not satisfied with my flesh? “Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock for ever! For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!

Psalm 27:7-8b, 8c-9abc, 13-14 (R. 13)

R/. I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living

Gospel Acclamation

V/. Alleluia

R/. Alleluia

V/. The kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the Gospel.

R/. Alleluia.

Gospel: Luke 10:1-12

At that time: The Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no money bag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the labourer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

Daily Gospel Reflection

Thursday – Twenty-Sixth Week of Ordinary Time

Guidelines: We are on a mission and that is the very same mission of the Lord. In carrying out this mission, he is always with us to sustain us and guide us

1. In the first place, we need to remember that we all received a mission. Therefore, life is duty-bound and must be mission-directed. If so, a life which is not dutiful and missionary, a life which is careless and negligent to duties in life, a life which is not driven by a sense of mission but is purposeless and directionless, is a failure in its very nature and meaning.

2. Our life is a mission with a destiny. The Lord himself appoints us and sends us on duty. This missionary duty is to establish the kingdom of God. This is like cultivating a field and reaping the harvest.

3. That is why Jesus uses the metaphor of harvest as he says, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few”. We are the labourers who have to toil in the field. This would constantly keep us as committed and assiduous labourers.

4. This mission is not any one’s self-creation or private agenda. It is the mission of the Lord himself. Our mission is nothing but a sharing in his very mission, a continuation of the same.

5. This is to spread God’s kingdom by bearing abundant fruits of the harvest. This will guard us against our privatizing or monopolizing the God-given mission.

6. This mission is challenging and tough because we will be like lambs among wolves. The world is like the free zone of a lot of wolves, always ready to pounce and harm. There are many evil forces and false values that tempt us and torment us.

7. We will face a lot of opposition and persecution. Jesus never assured a smooth mission without adversities. He never promised his disciples all success always. In fact, he already warns them of the possible resistance and rejection and prepares them to accept such unsuccessful situations without getting upset. It is enough that they do their duty with utmost dedication and perseverance.

8. There is nothing to worry because the Lord himself is with us. He accompanies and sustains us unceasingly. His own power will equip us to preach and to heal. The words of Nehemiah 8.1-12 are truly the guiding and strengthening lines in their lives: “Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength”.

9. Consequently, there is no need at all to depend on worldly securities like “purse, bag or sandals”. It is not that we do not make use of the available resources that can help us in our mission.

10. It only means that we should not give excessive importance to the material resources or securities, as if the whole mission depends only on them. We should not be overdependent on them. Our primary resourcefulness and equipment is God’s own Spirit.

Practice: As disciples of Christ, we share his life and mission as well. Therefore, we are constantly urged to live as authentic disciples and work as effective apostles, equipped with his own power