Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time (Luke 19:1-10)
The story of the chief tax-collector Zacchaeus is of considerable importance in the Gospel of Luke, for in it Jesus declares that the purpose of his coming is ‘to seek out and save what was lost’(verse 10). In climbing the sycamore tree Zacchaeus illustrates that sometimes strenuous efforts are needed to rise above fears and preoccupations and to see the forgiving face of the Lord.
Forgiveness can bring profound changes in a person’s life. Zacchaeus now knows that he is no longer an isolated individual caught up in his own greed and selfishness.
Do I recognise my need for forgiveness and the need to make changes in my life?
Do I allow the preoccupations of life to obscure my view of Jesus?
Let us pray for those who are approaching forgiveness and faith.
Let us pray for those who are critical of the free gift of forgiveness.
All Saints (Matthew 5:1-12)
We celebrate our belonging to the great ‘communion of saints’ and long to be fully united with those who have gone before us. We are born into then life of the saints, of God’s holy people, through our baptism and faith in Christ. We yearn for the life of God. This life is for the present beyond our imaging. We are reminded that so many of those who follow Christ in our day still give their lives in martyrdom. That way of following Christ may not be asked of us, but self-giving after the example of Christ is.
Do I treasure my membership of the Church, the holy people of God?
Do I try to make real in my life the simplicity of the beatitudes?
We celebrate being one with our brothers and sisters in the communion of saints.
We pray for all the faithful departed that they may have the fulness of life.
Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Luke 20:27-38)
Jesus points out that the life of the resurrection is quite different from earthly life. Above all, death will not bring this risen life to an end. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is God of the living, the God of the resurrection, the God who raises human beings from death.
Do I trust in the Christian hope that God’s care and power go beyond death?
Do I respect the life of every human being?
Let us pray for those who live without hope.
Lt us pray for all our deceased brothers and sisters.
Fr Adrian Graffy