Friday October 13, 2017
Introduction
Judgment. It is an uneasy word. A discomforting possibility. Will it be a discomforting reality? The answer lies in us. The answer lies in our world. Our options are clear. We are facing the evil in ourselves and in the world. In a way we judge ourselves, we have to take a stand in the face of evil, in word and deed. And as believers we must also be conscious of our role of intercession, mediation, and reconciliation.
We see the mystery of evil alive also in the Gospel. There are people, also religious people, who see the good works Jesus does, the signs that God’s kingdom is coming, and yet, do not accept him, reject him or remain neutral. Who is this man? Do we accept him as our Savior? The more we share his life and become familiar with him, the more we will recognize that he is the Son of God, our friend, our Savior. Happy the eyes that see. And he overcomes evil, also in us.
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
faith is all that matters to save us.
We know it, and yet we seek proofs.
Help us to believe in you
on seeing your works:
your creation, your power,
your goodness that we encounter in people.
Grant us to live in trust
with the uncertain certainty of faith,
believing, hoping, loving
and trusting that you have set us free
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Reading: JL 1:13-15; 2:1-2
Gird yourselves and weep, O priests!
wail, O ministers of the altar!
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
O ministers of my God!
The house of your God is deprived
of offering and libation.
Proclaim a fast,
call an assembly;
Gather the elders,
all who dwell in the land,
Into the house of the LORD, your God,
and cry to the LORD!
Alas, the day!
for near is the day of the LORD,
and it comes as ruin from the Almighty.
Blow the trumpet in Zion,
sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all who dwell in the land tremble,
for the day of the LORD is coming;
Yes, it is near, a day of darkness and of gloom,
a day of clouds and somberness!
Like dawn spreading over the mountains,
a people numerous and mighty!
Their like has not been from of old,
nor will it be after them,
even to the years of distant generations.
Responsorial Psalm 9:2-3, 6 AND 16, 8-9
R. (9) The Lord will judge the world with justice.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart;
I will declare all your wondrous deeds.
I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, Most High.
R. The Lord will judge the world with justice.
You rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
their name you blotted out forever and ever.
The nations are sunk in the pit they have made;
in the snare they set, their foot is caught.
R. The Lord will judge the world with justice.
But the LORD sits enthroned forever;
he has set up his throne for judgment.
He judges the world with justice;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. The Lord will judge the world with justice.
Alleluia JN 12:31B-32
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The prince of this world will now be cast out,
and when I am lifted up from the earth
I will draw all to myself, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: LK 11:15-26
When Jesus had driven out a demon, some of the crowd said:
"By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons,
he drives out demons."
Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven.
But he knew their thoughts and said to them,
"Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste
and house will fall against house.
And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?
For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons.
If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul,
by whom do your own people drive them out?
Therefore they will be your judges.
But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
When a strong man fully armed guards his palace,
his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him,
he takes away the armor on which he relied
and distributes the spoils.
Whoever is not with me is against me,
and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
"When an unclean spirit goes out of someone,
it roams through arid regions searching for rest
but, finding none, it says,
'I shall return to my home from which I came.'
But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order.
Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits
more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there,
and the last condition of that man is worse than the first."
Intercessions
– That like Abraham, our Father in the faith, Christians may put themselves trustingly into God’s hands, we pray:
– That by the grace of God, we may be good people who are a blessing to others, we pray:
– That our hearts may not be divided, but that we try to live sincerely the way of the Gospel, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
our faith reassures us
that Jesus your Son,
already present in this community of faith,
will give himself to us in person
in these signs of bread and wine.
Strengthen our faith,
that we may sow and gather
on the side of your Son
and with him live in your love,
now and for ever.
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God, we thank you
for nourishing our hesitant faith
with the Word of your Son
and with his bread of strength.
Engrave his message in our hearts
that it can never be erased
and keep us going without any need
of proofs and signs,
in the certainty that you love us
and that, even in trials and challenges,
you will lead us home to you
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Blessing
“Lord, make our faith grow!” That should be our cry from the heart. We ask the Lord for a deep faith that accepts him on his word and that lets his message and his person guide our lives. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
