32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
FORGIVE!
Introduction
The First Reading in Year I will be taken for a whole week from the Book of Wisdom. It was written in Greek in Alexandria, the century before the Christian era. Although he hopes non-Jews to read it too, the author advises mainly his co-religionists to seek wisdom in their faith in God rather than in the surrounding philosophical culture of Alexandria.
It is hard to place the sayings of our Gospel today (Lk 17:1-6) in a coherent context. They rather look like disparate statements about key concerns and messages of Luke: concern for the lowly, the need to forgive one another, and faith. When Luke speaks about scandal, he is not thinking of giving any bad example, but of obstacles that make people stumble, like Jesus sitting at a table with sinners, something totally unacceptable to many Jews. We take the message of forgiveness.
Opening Prayer
God of mercy and compassion,
your Son Jesus Christ, has brought us together
as a community of sinners
that knows that you have pardoned us.
When our weaknesses threaten our unity,
remind us of our responsibility for one another.
Let your unifying Spirit give us the strength
to care for one another
and to do all we can to remain
a living, forgiving and welcoming community.
May we meet in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Reading 1: Wis 1:1-7
think of the Lord in goodness,
and seek him in integrity of heart;
Because he is found by those who test him not,
and he manifests himself to those who do not disbelieve him.
For perverse counsels separate a man from God,
and his power, put to the proof, rebukes the foolhardy;
Because into a soul that plots evil, wisdom enters not,
nor dwells she in a body under debt of sin.
For the holy Spirit of discipline flees deceit
and withdraws from senseless counsels;
and when injustice occurs it is rebuked.
For wisdom is a kindly spirit,
yet she acquits not the blasphemer of his guilty lips;
Because God is the witness of his inmost self
and the sure observer of his heart
and the listener to his tongue.
For the Spirit of the Lord fills the world,
is all-embracing, and knows what man says.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 139:1b-3,4-6,7-8,9-10
O LORD, you have probed me and you know me;
you know when I sit and when I stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
with all my ways you are familiar.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know the whole of it.
Behind me and before, you hem me in
and rest your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
too lofty for me to attain.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
Where can I go from your spirit?
From your presence where can I flee?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I sink to the nether world, you are present there.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
If I take the wings of the dawn,
if I settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
Even there your hand shall guide me,
and your right hand hold me fast.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
Alleluia: Phil 2:15d, 16a
Shine like lights in the world,
as you hold on to the word of life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Lk 17:1-6
“Things that cause sin will inevitably occur,
but woe to the one through whom they occur.
It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck
and he be thrown into the sea
than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.
Be on your guard!
If your brother sins, rebuke him;
and if he repents, forgive him.
And if he wrongs you seven times in one day
and returns to you seven times saying, ‘I am sorry,’
you should forgive him.”
And the Apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you would say to this mulberry tree,
‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”
Intercessions
– That in all honesty, we may acknowledge our sins to the Lord, who knows what is in our hearts, and also to the persons we have hurt, we pray:
– That we may have enough faith to forgive totally and without reservations those who have offended us, we pray:
– That pastors in charge of communities may practice what they teach and inspire their people, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
God our Father,
you bring together at the table of your Son
the weak with the strong, the sick with the healthy.
Let your Son fill us here
with the fullness of his presence,
that we may accept one another
to live with one another in peace and friendship.
We offer you our good will
to welcome one another
in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
God our Father,
your Son Jesus, has been in our midst
and he has strengthened us with his body and blood.
He made our wounds of sin
his wounds and he healed them.
Let the wounds of our brothers and sisters
become ours, their joys our happiness.
Let your Son teach us the art
of bringing those who err back to you
and into our communities,
without embittering or humiliating them,
without any feeling of superiority,
but simply because they are our brothers and sisters
in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Blessing
Let us keep in mind the exhortation Jesus gives us in Luke, to be people of deep faith who can forgive one another and care for the poor and the humble, with the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Reflection
13 November 2023
Luke 17:1-6
Faith opens the door to understanding
In today’s Gospel, Jesus taught His disciples about scandal, forgiving others and an increase of faith.
Jesus says temptation to sin is inevitable but he cursed the one through whom sin is caused. it is a grave sin to be a scandal. The one who becomes a scandal is the one who becomes stumbling block for the faith of others. He is one who leads others to sin. He is hypocrite who causes others to stay away from Christ. He is the one who discourages them from following Christ by his bad witnesses. Their punishment would be greater than those who actually commit Sin.
Christ’s disciples must forgive. Forgiveness of offences is a great duty of Christ’s disciples. When they see another disciple sinning. they ought to rebuke and correct that brother. When he repents, he must be forgiven. We are not to carry a grudge in our hearts, and meditate vengeance for offenders. Our duty is to correct the sins of others and when they repent, we are to forgive them.
We must pray for an increase of faith. The Apostles themselves recognized their deficiency of faith, and prayed for an increase of it. Some say that the occasion for this prayer was that they found the teaching of repeated forgiveness of the offenders difficult for them or others say that the disciples found it difficult to work a miracle because of their lack of faith and, therefore, they prayed for an increase of faith. Christian duties are hard and demanding, they could be performed only by having a great faith in the Person of Christ and in His teaching we must recognize the deficiencies of our faith and pray for a faith that shall depend up Christ heavily.
When we pray for an increase of faith, it is not for the increase in quantity, but for genuine faith. A genuine faith is bold, simple and trusting like a child’s faith. Even a small quantity of this genuine faith, like a mustard seed, will accomplish great things.
Faith believes the inconceivable and achieves the impossible. It takes us beyond the realm of what can be seen or touched, and allows us to look beyond our limitations.