This week’s Gospel message for Sunday, November 20th is from Luke 23:35-43.
“The rulers sneered at Jesus and said, ‘He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Christ of God.’ Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus . . . The other, however, . . . said ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ He replied to him, ‘Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’”
“Those surrounding Jesus on the cross scoffed at this supposed king slowly dying the death of a criminal. The rulers, the soldiers, and one of the criminals each call upon him to save himself. The criminal goes on to demand that he save him as well. They cannot understand the paradox of God being born into this world seemingly only to die an ignominious death. Only the criminal who recognizes Jesus’ innocence seeks not that his own life be saved, but rather life in a kingdom that the Messiah is willing to die for.” SOURCE: Pastoral Patterns, Autumn 2022
DAILY READINGS FOR THE WEEK
Monday Revelation 14:1-3, 4b-5; Luke 21:1-4
The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Memorial) – “This feast began as a commemoration of the dedication of the basilica of St. Mary’s the New in Jerusalem in 543. An apocryphal source recounts that Mary’s parents brought their three-year-old daughter to the temple to offer her to God. Inspired by a priest’s vision, they left her there to be educated and to serve God. The feast entered the Western calendar in 1585. Today, the feast celebrates Mary as a temple where God dwelt in a special way through her role as Mother of Jesus.”
Tuesday Revelation 14:14-19; Luke 21:5-11
Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr (Memorial) – “According to tradition she was a Roman woman who was martyred sometime in the second or third century. Her association with music stems from the story that at her wedding feast she sang to God in her heart.”
Wednesday Revelation 15:1-4; Luke 21:12-19
Thursday Revelation 18:1-2, 21-23; 19:1-3, 9a; Luke 21:20-28
Saint Andrew Dũng-Laç, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs (Memorial) – “In the sixteenth century, Christian missionaries went to Vietnam. From the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, some 130,000 Christians were martyred. Some were foreign missionaries, but most were native Vietnamese people killed by their own government and people. Among them were Andrew Dũng-Lac and Peter Thi, Vietnamese priests. Pope St. John Paul II declared 117 Vietnamese martyrs saints of the Church.”
Thanksgiving Day Readings:
Sirach 50:22-24; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Luke 17:11-19
Friday Revelation 20:1-4, 11—21:2; Luke 21:29-33
Saturday Revelation 22:1-7; Luke 21:34-36