Monday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
August 30, 2021
Monday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 431
Reading I
We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,
about those who have fallen asleep,
so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose,
so too will God, through Jesus,
bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord,
that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord,
will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself, with a word of command,
with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God,
will come down from heaven,
and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive, who are left,
will be caught up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air.
Thus we shall always be with the Lord.
Therefore, console one another with these words.
Responsorial Psalm
- (13b) The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
R. The Lord comes to judge the earth.
For great is the LORD and highly to be praised;
awesome is he, beyond all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are things of nought,
but the LORD made the heavens.
R. The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then shall all the trees of the forest exult.
R. The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Before the LORD, for he comes;
for he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy.
R. The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Alleluia
- Alleluia, alleluia.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me;
he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had grown up,
and went according to his custom
into the synagogue on the sabbath day.
He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.
Rolling up the scroll,
he handed it back to the attendant and sat down,
and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.
He said to them,
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
And all spoke highly of him
and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.
They also asked, “Is this not the son of Joseph?”
He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb,
‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in your native place
the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’”
And he said,
“Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you,
there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong.
But he passed through the midst of them and went away.
Reflection: THE MISSION OF JESUS
A few days back Jesus gave us two commandments, namely love of God and love of neighbor. This is like a mission statement. Today he spells this out into five practical lines of action. First - to share the good news to the poor. There is so much of bad news in and around us. The daily news reel or newspaper gives us a grim picture of society – war, famine, corona, plane crashes, robberies, etc. We can share a good word with someone we meet today and discuss a positive topic with them. Second - release to the captives. Those that are fettered in our places of work, in our institutions, domestic workers, watchmen, security guards, migrants, etc. listen to them and alleviate them. Give them a just wage and time for rest too. If our families are well to do, we could even sponsor their children's education. Third – recovery of sight to the blind. Help those physically blind by assisting them cross the road; get their groceries, taking them to church or the work place. Those morally blind, that see only evil and are destructive. Befriend them and help them change their viewpoints and their habits. Those spiritually blind, help them see with the eyes of faith, let them see a good God working for their benefit. Fourth – setting the oppressed free. Take the load off someone; unburden someone who is heavy laden. Share the burdens of others who are loaded with work and projects. Do not overburden or tax someone. Fifth-proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Let it be a jubilee year for them. For the Israelites, every 7th year was a jubilee year and the 50th year was a grand jubilee. The loans that are taken and which a person is genuinely trying to pay back can be waived off. In the spiritual field, when we forgive someone of his or her faults, they and we experience peace, it is like a jubilee, a celebration.