November 3, 2013

Today is St. Martin de Porres feast day. Learn more.

Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 153
Reading 1 WIS 11:22-12:2

Before the LORD the whole universe is as a grain from a balance
or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth.

God is greater than the entire universe.  God is greater than all creation.  

But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things;

God is good and merciful because He is so great.  Scripture says:

Psalm 130:3 If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?

and you overlook people's sins that they may repent.

And God is patient in order to give us the opportunity to turn to Him.

2 Peter 39 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

For you love all things that are
and loathe nothing that you have made;

For God loves all of creation.

for what you hated, you would not have fashioned.

And He would not have created anything which He despised.

And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it;

Nothing could continue to exist unless He gives it existence.

or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you?

Nor could it continue unless He sustained it.

But you spare all things, because they are yours,

But God saves all things because all things are His.

O LORD and lover of souls,
for your imperishable spirit is in all things!

Oh God, all things exist in you.

Therefore you rebuke offenders little by little,
warn them and remind them of the sins they are committing,
that they may abandon their wickedness and believe in you, O LORD!

Therefore, you coax sinners to turn to you and give many warnings before punishing.  Because you want sinners to turn to you and abandon their evil ways.

Responsorial Psalm PS 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13, 14

R. (cf. 1) I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
I will extol you, O my God and King,
and I will bless your name forever and ever.
Every day will I bless you,
and I will praise your name forever and ever.

R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.

R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might.

R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
The LORD is faithful in all his words
and holy in all his works.
The LORD lifts up all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.

Let us turn to God and praise Him always.  Let us abandon our sins and turn to Him.  Because God is good and worthy of all our praise.

Reading 2 2 THES 1:11-2:2

Brothers and sisters:
We always pray for you,
that our God may make you worthy of his calling
and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose
and every effort of faith,
that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you,
and you in him,
in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ.

Pray for each other and all whom you love that God may give them the grace to bring their faith to fulfillment.  That they may pass the test of their faith and be purified.

We ask you, brothers and sisters,
with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
and our assembling with him,
not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed
either by a "spirit," or by an oral statement,
or by a letter allegedly from us
to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand.

And don't be overly concerned about the coming of the day of our Lord. 

Gospel LK 19:1-10

At that time, Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town.
Now a man there named Zacchaeus,
who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man,
was seeking to see who Jesus was;
but he could not see him because of the crowd,
for he was short in stature.

In Jericho, a tax collector named Zacchaeus, wanted to see Jesus.  But he was very short and could not see over the crowd.

So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus,
who was about to pass that way.

So, he ran ahead and climbed a tree.

When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said,
"Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house."

When Jesus saw him, he said, "Come on down, Zacchaeus, for today I will stay at your house."

And he came down quickly and received him with joy.
When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying,
"He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner."

But the Jews weren't too happy.  They said, "He is staying with a sinner!"

But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,
"Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor,
and if I have extorted anything from anyone
I shall repay it four times over."

But Zacchaeus repented of all his sins and promised to pay many times over what evil he had committed.

And Jesus said to him,
"Today salvation has come to this house
because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.
For the Son of Man has come to seek
and to save what was lost."

And Jesus said, "this man also is a son of Abraham.  I came to call sinners to repentance and save those who had been lost."