“‘Live as children of light.'” … “Behave like God as His very dear children” … “This daughter of Abraham,whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now, ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day from this bondage?”
MASS READINGS 10.24.16 – FIRST READING: Ephesians 4:32–5:8 – PSALM 100:1B-2, 3, 4AB, 4C-5 – GOSPEL: Luke 9:46-50 – FIND A MASS: MassTimes.org – FIND A MASS: TheCatholicDirectory.com
DAILY TV MASS: Catholic TV – Boston
FIRST READING
FIRST READING: Ephesians 4:32–5:8
Saint Paul exhorts us to compassion and calls us to imitate Christ.
Be kind to one another, compassionate,
forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love,
as Christ loved us and handed Himself over for us
We are to avoid immorality, impurity and greed.
… no immoral or impure or greedy person,
… has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God.
Saint Paul cautions us to dissociate ourselves from those who are disobedient to God, disregarding their empty earthly arguments. We should be mindful of our conversion and God’s leading us out from the darkness of sin.
Let no one deceive you with empty arguments,
… the Wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient.
So do not be associated with them.
For you were once darkness,
but now you are light in the Lord.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Behave like God as His very dear children.
GOSPEL
A synagogue leader complains when Jesus cures on the Sabbath, even though He is helping a woman who had been crippled by a demon for 18 years.
The Lord said … ‘Hypocrites!
Does not each one of you on the sabbath
untie his ox or his ass from the manger
and lead it out for watering?
This daughter of Abraham,
whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now,
ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day
from this bondage?’
We are reminded to keep our proper focus on God and serving as instruments of God’s Love and Mercy.
Additionally, the Healing of the woman reminds us to never lose hope. Even when evil and suffering persist for many years, we should still look forward to God’s Mercy and Divine Help. Ultimately, of course, no earthly existence, no matter how seemingly pleasant, will compare with God’s Love and Mercy shown by inviting us to Eternal Life.
[Scripture passages excerpted or adapted from the NABRE, available online from the USCCB, which provides the following rights statement:
Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.]
