Saturday November 16, 2024
ST MARGARET OF SCOTLAND OR GERTRUDE, V. (Opt Mem)
BVM on Saturday
Office: Psalter Week 4
Mass and Preface of day or Memorial or BVM
Vestment: Green/White
Today’s Rosary: The Joyful Mystery

Click HERE for the Previous Catholic Daily Reading

Vespers I of the 33rd Sunday of the Year

ENTRANCE ANTIPHON Cf. Ps 87: 3
Let my prayer come into your presence. Incline your ear to my cry for help, O Lord.

COLLECT
Almighty and merciful God, graciously keep from us all adversity, so that, unhindered in mind and body alike, we may pursue in freedom of heart the things that are yours. Through our Lord….

FIRST READING
We ought to support the brethren, that we may be fellow workers in the truth.
A reading from the third Letter of Saint John (3 John 5-8)

Beloved [Gaius], it is a loyal thing you do when you render any service to the brethren, especially to strangers, who have testified to your love before the Church. You will do well to send them on their journey as befits God’s service. For they have set out for his sake and have accepted nothing from the heathen.  So we ought to support such men, that we may be fellow workers in the truth.

The word of the Lord.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM  Psalm 112: lb-2.3-4.5-6 (R. 1b)
R/. Blessed the man who fears the Lord.
Or:  Alleluia.

Blessed the man who fears the Lord,
who takes great delight in his commandments.
His descendants shall be powerful on earth;
the generation of the upright will be blest. R/.

Riches and wealth are in his house;
his justice stands firm forever.
A light rises in the darkness for the upright;
he is generous, merciful and just. R/.

R/. Blessed the man who fears the Lord.
Or:  Alleluia.

It goes well for the man who deals generously and lends,
who conducts his affairs with justice.
He will never be moved;
forever shall the just be remembered. R/.

ALLELUIA 2 Thessalonians 2:14
Alleluia. God has called us through the Gospel, to obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Alleluia.

GOSPEL              
“God will vindicate his elect, who cry to him.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Luke 18:1-8)

At that time: Jesus told his disciples a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man; and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Vindicate me against my adversary.’ “For a while he refused; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming. ”’ And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

The Gospel of the Lord.

TODAY’S REFLECTION
Jesus was a man of prayer. He would spend long hours in dialogue with his heavenly Father. He taught his disciples not only how to pray, but also on the need to pray sincerely and constantly. Sometimes our prayers might seem to fall on deaf ears as they go apparently unanswered. We lose heart and get discouraged to the point of neglecting to pray. Jesus warns us against such attitude. No prayer would go unanswered. God is not a cold-hearted and unfriendly taskmaster, but a benevolent Father who knows the needs and concerns of his children. He will answer in His own time and manner as He knows our needs better than we know them. Never stop praying to Him.

PEROSNAL DEVOTIONAL
“No one who conceals transgressions will prosper, but one who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” – Proverbs 28:13

  • Pray for the grace to have a forgiving heart no matter the offence.
  • In prayer call the names of those whom you have tied down through non forgiveness, and from your heart, pronounce their forgiveness.
  • Pray for those you may have hurt that God will soften and heal their heart.

Let Us Pray
Give me, good Lord, a longing to be with you….. Give me warmth, delight and quickness in thinking upon you. And give me your grace to long for your holy sacraments, and specially to rejoice in the presence of your very blessed body, Sweet Saviour Christ, in the Holy Sacrament for the altar.