This week’s Gospel message for Sunday, October 29th is from Matthew 22:34-40.
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law, tested him by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
Reflection
“One of the greatest gifts we can give someone is time. To show our love for God and for our neighbor, giving the gift of time is the best way to start. We give God our time when we pray. We give our neighbor our time when we go out of our way to do something for them. This is the love Jesus calls us to in today’s Gospel.” SOURCE: Pastoral Patterns, Autumn 2023
DAILY READINGS FOR THE WEEK
Monday Romans 8:12-17; Luke 13:10-17
Tuesday Romans 8:18-25; Luke 13:18-21
Wednesday Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12a
All Saints Day – This feast, honoring all the saints of the Church, known and unknown, provides an opportunity to reflect on the nature of sainthood and celebrate the exemplary faithfulness of holy men and women of every place and time, whose lives and deeds inspire us.
Thursday Wisdom 3:1-9; Romans 5:5-11; John 6:37-40
The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls’ Day) – Since the early Church, Christians have prayed for the dead, and in 988, Odilo, abbot of the French monastery of Cluny, established the tradition of keeping, ‘with joyous affection, the memory of all the faithful departed who have lived from the beginning of the world until the end.’ By the fourteenth century, the commemoration had spread and was universally accepted in the Latin Church.
Friday Romans 9:1-5; Luke 14:1-6
Saturday Romans 11:1-2a, 11-12, 25-29; Luke 14:1, 7-11
Saint Charles Borromeo, Bishop (Memorial) – As archbishop, he was one of the leading figures in the Catholic reformation of the Church after the Council of Trent. May we learn from him that ‘if we wish to make any progress in the service of God, we must begin every day of our life with new eagerness.’ SOURCE: Living with Christ, November 2023