1ST READING
One of the greatest challenges facing both the Church and the world today is that of social justice. The growing gap between the rich and the poor is a scandal to human dignity. How the inequalities within countries and societies, and between countries, are going to be evened out is a very difficult question to answer. Suffice it to say that, until we have a better understanding and commitment to full human dignity for all people, there will be little advancement on where we are today.
Amos 8:4-7
4 Hear this, you who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land! 5 “When will the new moon be over,” you ask, “that we may sell our grain, and the sabbath, that we may display the wheat? We will diminish the ephah, add to the shekel, and fix our scales for cheating! 6 We will buy the lowly man for silver, and the poor man for a pair of sandals; even the refuse of the wheat we will sell!” 7 The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Never will I forget a thing they have done!
P S A L M
Psalm 113:1-2, 4-6, 7-8
R: Praise the Lord who lifts up the poor.
1 Praise, you servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. 2 Blessed be the name of the Lord both now and forever. (R) 4 High above all nations is the Lord; above the heavens is his glory. 5 Who is like the Lord, our God, who is enthroned on high 6 and looks upon the heavens and the earth below? (R) 7 He raises up the lowly from the dust; from the dunghill he lifts up the poor 8 to seat them with princes, with the princes of his own people. (R)
2ND READING
We should remember to pray for one another. Paul exhorts Timothy to encourage his flock to be constant in their intercession not just for themselves but for all the people of God. We cannot scientifically measure the effectiveness of intercession (by the way, every Mass is an intercessory prayer); it is something that we simply have to believe is true.
1 Timothy 2:1-8
1 Beloved: First of all, then, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, 2 for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity. 3 This is good and pleasing to God our savior, 4 who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God. There is also one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as ransom for all. This was the testimony at the proper time. 7 For this I was appointed preacher and apostle —I am speaking the truth, I am not lying — teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. 8 It is my wish, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or argument.
GOSPEL
Normally, a person is tested before he is entrusted with bigger responsibilities. Sometimes God chooses to do otherwise, but not normally. Therefore, we hear Jesus encouraging people to be faithful to the gifts and talents they have been given. The more faithful we are, the stronger and more numerous they will become. Let us never take for granted the blessings and graces we have been given, lest we lose them or they are taken away.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
Though our Lord Jesus Christ was rich, he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.
Luke 16:1-13
1 Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property. 2 He summoned him and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.’ 3 The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.’ 5 He called in his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’ 7 Then to another the steward said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘One hundred kors of wheat.’ The steward said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.’ 8 And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently. “For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. 9 I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. 10 The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. 11 If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? 12 If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? 13 No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
think: The growing gap between the rich and the poor is a scandal to human dignity.
T O D A Y’S BLESSING LIST
Thank You Lord for: __________________
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God’s special verse/thought for me today_
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READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Ezekiel 17-20
SABBATH PAUSE
My weekly time with God
THANK YOU LIST
Things to be grateful for from the past week
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SPECIAL NEEDS
Things to ask God for in the coming week
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HIDDEN TREASURE
Most important word God told me this week
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