Readings

Mass Readings Catholic IrelandLiturgical Readings for : Friday, 3rd October, 2025Léachtaí GaeilgeNext Sunday's ReadingsFriday of the Twenty-Sixth Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1Israel in exile is punished because of her sin in abandoning the Law passed on by Moses Saint of the day: Oct. 3rd; – Bl Columba Marmion, priest, , monk, abbot in Belgium, and modern spiritual writer of note. D. 1923, beatified in 2000. C/f A short life story of this saint can be found below today’s Readings and Reflection.       FIRST READING               A reading from the book of Baruch      1:15-22 We have sinned in the sight of the Lord and have disobeyed himIntegrity belongs to the Lord our God; to us the look of shame we wear today, to us, the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem, to our kings and princes, our priests, our prophets, as to our ancestors, because we have sinned in the sight of the Lord, have disobeyed him, and have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God telling us to follow the commandments which the Lord had ordained for us. From the day when the Lord brought our ancestors out of the land of Egypt until today we have been disobedient to the Lord our God, we have been disloyal, refusing to listen to his voice. And so the disasters, and the curse which the Lord pronounced through his servant Moses the day he brought our fathers out of Egypt to give us a land where milk and honey flow, have seized on us, disasters we experience today. Despite all the words of those prophets whom he sent us, we have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God, but, each following the dictates of his evil heart, we have taken to serving alien gods, and doing what is displeasing to the Lord our God. The Word of the Lord.                 Thanks be to God. Responsorial Psalm              Ps 78:1-5.8-9.R/v 9 Response                                  Rescue us, O  Lord, for the glory of your name. 1. O God, the nations have invaded your land, they have profaned your holy temple. They have made Jerusalem a heap of ruins. They have handed over the bodies of your servants as food to feed the birds of heaven and the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.             Response 2. They have poured out blood like water in Jerusalem, leaving no one to bury the dead. We have become the taunt of our neighbours, the mockery and scorn of those who surround us. How long, 0 Lord? Will you be angry for ever, how long will your anger bum like fire?      Response 3. Do not hold the guilt of our fathers against us. Let your compassion hasten to meet us for we are in the depths of distress.                                                                                                  Response 4.    O God our saviour, come to our help, come for the sake of the glory of your name. O Lord our God, forgive us our sins; rescue us for the sake of your name.                              Response Gospel Acclamation       Ps 144:13 Alleluia, alleluia! The Lord is faithful in all his words and loving in all his deeds. Alleluia! Or Alleluia, alleluia!          Ps 94:8 Harden not your hearts today, but listen to the voice of the Lord Alleluia! GOSPEL                     The Lord be with you.          And with your spirit A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke     10:13-16           Glory to you, O Lord. Anyone who rejects me rejects the one who sent me.Jesus said to his disciples:  ‘Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. And still, it will not go as hard with Tyre and Sidon at the Judgement as with you. And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be exalted high as heaven? You shall be thrown down to hell. ‘Anyone who listens to you listens to me; anyone who rejects you rejects me, and those who reject me reject the one who sent me.’ The Gospel of the Lord.         Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.___________________________ Gospel Reflection     Friday   Twenty Sixth Week in Ordinary Time     Luke 10:13-16 It is only Luke who gives us the passage where Jesus appoints seventy disciples and sends them out two by two, as labourers into the Lord’s great harvest. Jesus does not simply send out the twelve, according to Luke, but a much larger group as well. Luke would probably want us all to find a place for ourselves among that large group of the seventy. We are all called, each in our own way, to be labourers in the Lord’s harvest, in virtue of our baptism. It is to that large group of the seventy that Jesus addresses the words we find in today’s gospel reading, ‘whoever listens to you, listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me’. Jesus identifies himself very closely with those he sends out in his name. He identifies himself very closely with all of us; we are the members of his body. In our dealings with each other, we are dealing with the Lord. We meet the Lord in and through each other. We are called to be the Lord for each other. We pray that we would be true to that privileged calling. __________________________________ The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd. and used with the permission of the publishers.  http://dltbooks.com/ The Scripture Reflection is made available with our thanks from Reflections on the Weekday Readings : Your word is a lamp for my feet and light for my path by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications  c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/ ________________________________ Saint of the Day: Oct 3: Bl Columba Marmion Columba was born in Dublin  in 1858,, he became the Benedictine abbot of Maredsous in Belgium and from 1909 to 1923 was abbot beatified in Rome in 2000. He is known for his writings on the divine adoption: since Jesus became human in the incarnation, we who are human are therefore children of God the Father too. Patrick Duffy tells his story as follows. Early life Born at 57 Queen’s Street, in Smithfield, Dublin on 1st April 1859, he was baptised Joseph Aloysius in St Paul’s Church, Arran Quay. His father William was Irish, his mother Herminie Cordier was French, so Joseph spoke French from childhood. Educated in Belvedere College and Clonliffe College, he was sent to the Irish College, Rome, where he was ordained by the Rector, Archbishop John Kirby, in 1881. Appointed curate in Dundrum, Co Dublin, from there he went to teach philosophy for four years in Clonliffe College and was also chaplain to the women’s prison in Mountjoy. His reputation was of a kind, wise and understanding man. Benedictine monk of Maredsous    Abbeye de Maredsous in Denee’, Belgium.                              founded in 1872. In 1886 he became a novice in the Benedictine monastery of Maredsous near Namur in Belgium, where he spent five years studying before his profession, took the name Columba in 1891 and it was as a monk of Maredsous that he represented the  Benedictine order at the centenary celebrations of Maynooth College in 1895. Abbot at Maredsous 1909-23 In 1899 he was chosen as prior of Mont-Cesar Monastery in Louvain and taught theology there. Ten years later he was elected as abbot of Maredsous in 1909. This was an onerous position, especially as Maredsous belonged to the Beuronese Congregation (based in Germany). After World War I anti-German sentiment was so strong that the Belgians withdrew from the Beuronese congregation and founded their own. Marmion was also instrumental in sending Belgian monks to the Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem. He was also involved in the Anglican monks of Caldey Island in Wales joining the Catholic Church. At Edermine, Co Wexford 1914-19 When war broke out in 1914 he went to find a place of safety for his monks, first in England. Eventually he found a suitable house belonging to the Power family at Edermine on the banks of the River Slaney, a few miles south of Enniscorthy, Co Wexford. After the war, Marmion and his monks returned to Maredsous, where they had to rebuild their monastery. His writings Marmion was an excellent lecturer and retreat giver in his time. He wrote three significant works of very positive spiritual theology: Christ, the life of the soul (1918), Christ in his mysteries (1919) and in 1922 Christ the ideal of the monk. These were translated into many languages. Spirituality: Theme of Divine Adoption One of the central themes of Marmion’s writings is that of the divine adoption: because God became man, we as humans become adopted children of God. This theme is found in the New Testament letters of Paul and the Eastern fathers, but Marmion brought it down to the level of ordinary people. Grace, he said, is the life of Christ in the soul, which we get at baptism and which we build on right on up to the day we die. This gives the ordinary Christian a great dignity and is an enormous encouragement in prayer.  Marmion’s teaching is that prayer was simply ‘spending time with God’. He stressed that holiness, contemplation, and prayer are open to anyone, whereas in his day, it was thought to be the preserve of monks, nuns and priests. Marmion’s theology of hope drew much from his time as chaplain to the women’s prison at Mountjoy in Dublin: here he helped hardened criminals, people who had no hope, to see that even though they were condemned in the world of humans, they were not condemned by God. Death and Influence Columba Marmion died on 30th June 1923 aged 65 and was buried at Maredsous. In 1966 a mother of seven, Patricia Bitzen of St. Cloud, Minnesota developed breast cancer, which spread to her lungs and lymph gland. She was given three months to live. Her brother, a Benedictine monk at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota, suggested she go to the Abbey of Maredsous in Belgium, to pray at the tomb of Dom Columba Marmion. She did and was totally healed. This miracle led to Dom Columba’s beatification on 3 September 2000. (In 1975 a new bridge across the Slaney was opened at Edermine beside where the monks lived during World War I and called it Dom Marmion Bridge.) ****************************** Memorable Saying for Today Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, Loving someone deeply gives you courage.                ~ Lao Tzu ~  ******************************