Weekly reading: Tuesday 14th November “feast of Saint Lawrence o’toole

The dead may seem extinct, but their souls are in peace

God created us for incorruption, and made us in the image of his own eternity, but through the devil’s envy death entered the world, and those who belong to his company experience it.

But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure was thought to be a disaster, and their going from us to be their destruction; but they are at peace. For though in the sight of others they were punished, their hope is full of immortality. Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good, because God tested them and found them worthy of himself; like gold in the furnace he tried them, and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them.

In the time of their visitation they will shine forth, and will run like sparks through the stubble. They will govern nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord will reign over them forever. Those who trust in him will understand truth, and the faithful will abide with him in love, because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones, and he watches over his elect.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 33(34):2-3,16-19 ©

I will bless the Lord at all times.

I will bless the Lord at all times,

his praise always on my lips;

in the Lord my soul shall make its boast.

The humble shall hear and be glad.

I will bless the Lord at all times.

The Lord turns his face against the wicked

to destroy their remembrance from the earth.

The Lord turns his eyes to the just

and his ears to their appeal.

I will bless the Lord at all times.

They call and the Lord hears

and rescues them in all their distress.

The Lord is close to the broken-hearted;

those whose spirit is crushed he will save.

I will bless the Lord at all times

Alleluia:

Gospel: Luke 17:7-10

We are servants who have done no more than our duty

Jesus said to his disciples, “Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from ploughing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’”