Ordinary Weekday / Callistus I, Pope, Martyr
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 33: 1-2, 4-5, 12-13
Alleluia: Psalms 33: 22
Gospel: Luke 12: 1-7
First Reading: Ephesians 1: 11-14
11 In whom we also are called by lot, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things according to the counsel of his will.
12 That we may be unto the praise of his glory, we who before hoped Christ:
13 In whom you also, after you had heard the word of truth, (the gospel of your salvation;) in whom also believing, you were signed with the holy Spirit of promise,
14 Who is the pledge of our inheritance, unto the redemption of acquisition, unto the praise of his glory.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 33: 1-2, 4-5, 12-13
R. (12) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
1 A psalm for David. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye just: praise becometh the upright.
2 Give praise to the Lord on the harp; sing to him with the psaltery, the instrument of ten strings.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
4 For the word of the Lord is right, and all his works are done with faithfulness.
5 He loveth mercy and judgment; the earth is full of the mercy of the Lord.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord: the people whom he hath chosen for his inheritance.
13 The Lord hath looked from heaven: he hath beheld all the sons of men.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Alleluia: Psalms 33: 22
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
22 May your kindness, LORD, be upon us; who have put our hope in you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Luke 12: 1-7
1 And when great multitudes stood about him, so that they trod one upon another, he began to say to his disciples: Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
2 For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed: nor hidden, that shall not be known.
3 For whatsoever things you have spoken in darkness, shall be published in the light: and that which you have spoken in the ear in the chambers, shall be preached on the housetops.
4 And I say to you, my friends: Be not afraid of them who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
5 But I will shew you whom you shall fear: fear ye him, who after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell. Yea, I say to you, fear him.
6 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?
7 Yea, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: you are of more value than many sparrows.
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It is beyond comprehension how few people think but a moment about hell or purgatory. We think of the devil as a myth and that God “would not send any but the worst to hell”. We fear sickness, being scammed, being mugged or assalted or burgled………but we do not fear the devil. In Western society we live oblivious to eternity, seeking pleasure in movies, dining, travel…… We spend our working lives aimed at retirement, which may last as much as 20 years (if we make it). We save money and seek posessions…………. Eternity is forever. No one CHOOSES hell but our lives are built on choices. We choose self. We avoid sacrifice.
“I’m a good person – God can’t possibly send me to hell”
The saints and Our Blessed Mother in private revelation (eg Fatima) tell us how very few go to heaven directly, how many “good people” still require long purgation, and how very many will spend eterity in hell.
Priests won’t breach that subject in the Church of ‘Nice’ after this gospel.
Call me a ‘sad-sack’, a pessimist….
Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.