Mass Readings
Catholic Ireland
Liturgical Readings for : Saturday, 10th June, 2023Léachtaí Gaeilge
Next Sunday's Readings
Saturday of Ninth Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1
Optional memorial of St Ephrem, deacon and doctor of the Church.
FIRST READING
A reading from the Book of Tobit 12:1. 5-15. 20
I am about to return to him above who sent me. Give thanks to God.
When the feasting was over, Tobit called his son Tobias and said, ‘My son, you ought to think about paying the amount due to your fellow traveller; give him more than the figure agreed on’. So Tobias called his companion and said, ‘Take half of what you brought back, in payment for all you have done, and go in peace’.
Then Raphael took them both aside and said, ‘Bless God, utter his praise before all the living for all the favours he has given you. Bless and extol his name. Proclaim before all men the deeds of God as they deserve, and never tire of giving him thanks. It is right to keep the secret of a king, yet right to reveal and publish the works of God. Thank him worthily. Do what is good, and no evil can befall you.
‘Prayer with fasting and alms with right conduct are better than riches with iniquity. Better to practise almsgiving than to hoard up gold. Almsgiving saves from death and purges every kind of sin. Those who give alms have their fill of days; those who commit sin and do evil, bring harm on themselves.
I am going to tell you the whole truth, hiding nothing from you. I have already told you that it is right to keep the secret of a king, yet right too to reveal in worthy fashion the works of God. So you must know that when you and Sarah were at prayer, it was I who offered your supplications before the glory of the Lord and who read them; so too when you were burying the dead. When you did not hesitate to get up and leave the table to go and bury a dead man, I was sent to test your faith, and at the same time God sent me to heal you and your daughter-in-law Sarah.
I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand ever ready to enter the presence of the glory of the Lord.’
Now bless the Lord on earth and give thanks to God. I am about to return to him above who sent me.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God
Responsorial Psalm Tob 13
Response Blessed be God who lives for ever.
1. By turns he punishes and pardons; he sends men down to the depths of the underworld
and draws them up from supreme Destruction; no one can escape his hand. Response
2. If you return to him with all your heart and all your soul,
behaving honestly towards him, then he will return to you and hide his face from you no longer. Response
3. Consider how well he has treated you; loudly give him thanks.
Bless the Lord of justice and extol the King of the ages. Response
4. I for my part sing his praise in the country of’my exile;
I make his power and greatness known to a nation that has sinned. Response
5. Sinners, return to him; let your conduct be upright before him;
perhaps he will be gracious to you and take pity on you. Response
Gospel Acclamation Lk 8: 15
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Your word is truth, O Lord, consecrate us in the truth.
Alleluia!
Or Mt 5: 3
Alleluia, Alleluia!
How happy are the poor in spirit; theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
Go raibh an Tiarna libh. Agus le do spiorad féin
A reading from the Gospel according to Mark 12:38-44 Glory to you, O Lord
This poor widow has put more in than all of them.
In his teaching Jesus said, ‘Beware of the scribes who like to walk about in long robes, to be greeted obsequiously in the market squares, to take the front seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets; these are the men who swallow the property of widows, while making a show of lengthy prayers. The more severe will be the sentence they receive.’
He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the treasury, and many of the rich put in a great deal. A poor widow came and put in two small coins, the equivalent of a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them,
‘I tell you solemnly, this poor widow has put more in than all who have contributed to the treasury; for they have all put in money they had over, but she from the little she had has put in everything she possessed, all she had to live on.’
The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Gospel Reflection Saturday, Ninth Week in Ordinary Time, Mark 12:38-44
Small acts of generosity that can go unnoticed by others are noticed and appreciated by the Lord. In the gospel reading, Jesus noticed the small act of a widow who put in two small coins into the Temple treasury. He had seen rich people putting much more into the treasury but it was this widow’s seemingly insignificant contribution that made an impact on Jesus. He immediately drew his disciples’ attention to her. What would have gone unnoticed by others was noticed clearly by Jesus. The gospel reading is reminding us that the Lord sees differently to the rest of us. He saw that the widow’s small gesture revealed a big heart, because the little she gave was all she had to live on. In giving a little, she was giving everything. Jesus himself would soon give everything on the cross. Perhaps he saw in her an image of himself. Her generosity to God made her vulnerable; she gave everything to serve the worship of God in the Temple.
Jesus’ generous service of God made him completely vulnerable, leaving him at the mercy of powerful men who unjustly took his life in the cruellest fashion. His disciples had something to learn from this widow, which is why Jesus drew their attention to her. The evangelist included this story in his gospel because he recognised that we all have something to learn from her. She teaches us that what matters is not how much we give but the generosity of spirit that lies behind it. In giving a little, we can sometimes be giving our all, if a little is all we have to give. A small gesture at a certain moment in our lives when we are frail can have a greater value in the Lord’s eyes than a greater gesture when we are much more able.
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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 2022-2023: Your word is a lamp for my feet and light for my path by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications 2022, c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/
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