Thursday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

Foreword: During Ordinary Time, the entrance and communion antiphons of the Sunday liturgy are repeated throughout the week. In this way, the themes developed at the Sunday Mass are enriched and expanded as they interact with the different readings found on each day of the following week in much the same way that a kaleidoscope presents a constantly changing view of colors, forms, and designs.

We hear again today of St. Paul’s plea for the conversion of our lives from impurity and lawlessness. He urges us to present our bodies “as slaves to righteousness and sanctification. The entrance antiphon, “To you I call, for you will surely heed me, O God; turn your ear to me; hear my words…” (Ps 17(16):6), is a fervent plea for the Lord’s assistance in this process of the reform of our lives. Through Christ’s resurrection we “have been freed from sin and have become slaves of God…and its end is eternal life…in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom 6:22,23. The responsory is a meditation from Psalm 1 upon this theme: “Blessed the man who follows not…in the way of sinners…But delights in the law of the Lord…He is like a tree planted near running water…” Ps 1:1a,2a,3ab, (the water reminding us of the waters of life flowing from the heavenly temple in the New Jerusalem of the Book of Revelation).

In the gospel from St. Luke, Jesus speaks of the baptism with which he must be baptized, and “how great is my anguish until it is accomplished” (Lk 12:50). This “baptism” is indeed a baptism by fire, the suffering that he must endure for the remission of our sins and to gain for us eternal life. The communion antiphon is Jesus’ triumphant cry and he urges us to make it our own: “The Son of Man has come to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mk 10:45).

Prayer for today: Lord, free me from all impurity and lawlessness. Heal my heart of all interior division that I may be single-hearted and devoted to your service.

Reflection by Br. Michael Marcotte, OSB