Ordinary Time

1) Opening prayer

God of power and mercy,

protect us from all harm.

Give us freedom of spirit

and health in mind and body

to do your work on earth.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

2) Gospel reading - Luke 17:1-6

Jesus said to His disciples, "scandals are sure to come, but alas for the one through whom they occur! It would be better for such a person to be thrown into the sea with a millstone round the neck than to be the downfall of a single one of these little ones.

Keep watch on yourselves! If your brother does something wrong, rebuke him and, if he is sorry, forgive him.

And if he wrongs you seven times a day and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I am sorry,’ you must forgive him.”

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." The Lord replied, "If you had faith like a mustard seed you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”

3) Reflection

• Today the Gospel gives us three different words of Jesus. One on how to avoid causing scandal or scandalizing the little ones, the other one on the importance of pardon and a third one on faith in God which we should have.

• Luke 17:1-2: First word: To avoid scandal. “Jesus said to His disciples: “It is unavoidable that there are scandals, but alas for the one through whom they occur. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around the neck than to be the downfall of a single one of these little ones”. To cause scandal means to make people trip and fall. At the level of faith, it means that which drives away the person from the right path. To scandalize the little ones means to be the cause of their drawing away from God and to make them lose their faith in God. Anyone who does this deserves the following sentence: “A millstone round the neck and to be thrown into the sea!”. Why such severity? Because Jesus identifies Himself with the little ones who are  the poor (Mt 25:40.45). They are those He prefers and the first ones to whom the Good News will be given (cf. Lk 4:18). Anyone who touches them touches Jesus!, Because of our way of living faith, we Christians throughout the centuries have been the cause of why the little ones have many times drawn away from the Church and have gone towards other religions. They have not been able any longer to believe, as the Apostle said in the Letter to the Romans quoting the Prophet Isaiah: “In fact, it is your fault that the name of God is held in contempt among the nations.” (Rm 2:24; Is 52:5; Ez 36: 22). Up to what point are we guilty? Is it our fault? Do we also deserve the millstone around the neck?

• Luke 17:3-4: Second word: Forgive your brother. “If your brother does something wrong rebuke him and, if he is sorry, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times a day and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I am sorry’, you must forgive him”. Seven times a day! This is not little! Jesus asks very much! In the Gospel of Matthew, He says that we should forgive seventy times seven! (Mt 18:22). Forgiveness and reconciliation are some of the themes on which Jesus insists the most. The grace to be able to forgive persons and to reconcile them among themselves and with God was granted to Peter (Mt 16:19), to the Apostles (Jn 20:23), and to the community (Mt 18:18). The parable on the need to forgive our neighbor leaves no doubt: if we do not forgive our brothers we cannot receive pardon from God (Mt 18:22-35; 6, 12.15; Mk 11: 26). There is no proportion between the pardon that we receive from God and the pardon that we have to offer to our neighbor. The pardon with which God forgives us gratuitously is like ten thousand talents compared to one hundred denarii (Mt 18: 23-35). It is estimated that ten thousand talents are 174 tons of gold. One hundred denarii are not more than 30 grams of gold.

• Luke 17:5-6: Third word: Increase our faith. “The apostles said to the Lord: ‘Increase our faith!’” The Lord answered: If you had faith like a mustard seed you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea’, and it would obey you”. In this context in Luke, the question of the apostles seems to be motivated by the order of Jesus to forgive, in one day, up to seventy times seven the brother or the sister who sins against us. It is not easy to forgive. It is only with great faith in God that it is possible to reach the point of having such a great love that it makes it possible for us to forgive, in one day, up to seventy times seven the brother who sins against us. Humanly speaking, in the eyes of the world, to forgive in this way is foolish and a scandal. However, for us this attitude is the expression of divine wisdom which forgives us infinitely much more. Paul said: “We announce Christ crucified: a stumbling block for the Jews and foolishness for the gentiles (I Co 1:23).

4) Personal questions

• In my life, have I been  a cause of scandal for my neighbor?  Have others been a cause of scandal for me?

• Am I capable to forgive seven times a day my brother or my sister who offends me, or even seventy times seven times a day?

5) Concluding prayer

Sing to Him, make music for Him,

recount all His wonders!

Glory in His holy name,

let the hearts that seek Yahweh rejoice! (Ps 105:2-3)

Ordinary Time

1) Opening prayer

Almighty and ever-living God,

strengthen our faith, hope and love.

May we do with loving hearts

what you ask of us

and come to share the life you promise.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

2) Gospel Reading - Luke 6: 12-19

Now it happened in those days that Jesus went onto the mountain to pray; and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.

When day came He summoned his disciples and picked out twelve of them; He called them 'apostles': Simon whom He called Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot who became a traitor.

He then came down with them and stopped at a piece of level ground where there was a large gathering of his disciples, with a great crowd of people from all parts of Judaea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon who had come to hear Him and to be cured of their diseases. People tormented by unclean spirits were also cured, and everyone in the crowd was trying to touch Him because power came out of Him that cured them all.

3) Reflection

• Today the Gospel speaks about two facts: (a) to describe the choice of the twelve Apostles (Lk 6: 12-16) and (b) it says that an immense crowd wanted to meet Jesus to listen to him, to touch him, and to be cured (Lk 6: 17-19).

• Luke 6: 12-13: Jesus spends the night in prayer and chooses the twelve apostles. Before the final choice of the twelve Apostles, Jesus goes up to the mountain and spends the whole night in prayer. He prays in order to know whom to choose and He chooses the Twelve, whose names are given in the Gospels. And then they received the title of Apostles. Apostle means one sent, missionary. They were called to carry out a mission. The same mission that Jesus received from the Father (Jn 20: 21). Mark elaborates on the mission and says that Jesus called them to be with Him and to send them out on mission (Mk 3: 14).

• Luke 6: 14-16: The names of the twelve Apostles. The names of the Twelve are the same in the Gospels of Matthew (Mt 10: 2-4), Mark (Mk 3: 16-19) and Luke (Lk 6: 14-16) with little difference. Many of these names come from the Old Testament: Simon is the name of one of the sons of the Patriarch Jacob (Gn 29: 33). James (Giacomo) is the same name as Jacob (Gn 25: 26). Judas is the name of the other son of Jacob (Gn 35: 23). Matthew had the name of Levi (Mk 2: 14), the other son of Jacob (Gn 35: 23). Of the twelve Apostles, seven have a name which comes from the time of the Patriarchs: two times Simon, two times James, two times Judas, and one time Levi! That reveals the wisdom in the pedagogy of the people. By the names of the Patriarchs and the ‘Matriarchs’, given to the sons and daughters, people maintained the tradition of the ancients alive and helped their own children not to lose their identity. Which are the names that we give today to our sons and daughters?

• Luke 6: 17-19: Jesus comes down from the mountain and people look for him. Coming down from the mountain with the twelve, Jesus encounters an immense crowd of people who were seeking to listen to His word and to touch Him because they knew that from Him came out a force of life. In this great crowd there were Jews and foreigners, people from Judaea and also from Tyre and Sidon. They were people who were abandoned and disoriented. Jesus accepts all those who seek him, Jews and Pagans! This is one of the themes preferred by Luke who writes for the converted Pagans.

• The persons called by Jesus are a consolation for us. The first Christians remembered and recorded the names of the Twelve Apostles and of the other men and women who followed Jesus closely. The Twelve, called by Jesus to form the first community with him, were not saints. They were common persons, like all of us. They had their virtues and their defects. The Gospels tell us very little about the temperament and the character of each one of them. But what they say, even if it is not much is a reason of consolation for us.

- Peter was a generous person and full of enthusiasm (Mk 14: 29.31; Mt 14: 28-29), but in the moment of danger and when taking a decision, his heart becomes small and he turns back (Mt 14: 30; Mk 14: 66-72). He was even Satan for Jesus (Mk 8: 33). Jesus calls him Pietra- Rock (Pietro). Peter of himself was not Rock, he becomes Rock (roccia), because Jesus prays for him (Lk 22: 31-32).

- James and John are ready to suffer with and for Jesus (Mk 10, 39), but they were very violent (Lk 9: 54). Jesus calls them “sons of thunder” (Mc 3: 17). John seemed to have a certain jealousy. He wanted Jesus only for his group (Mk 9, 38).

- Philip had a welcoming way. He knew how to get others in contact with Jesus (Jn 1: 45-46), but he was not very practical in solving problems (Jn 12: 20-22; 6: 7). Sometimes he was very naïve. There was a moment when Jesus lost patience with him: Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? (Jn 14: 8-9)

- Andrew, the brother of Peter and friend of Philip, was more practical. Philip goes to him to solve the problems (Jn 12: 21-22). Andrew calls Peter (Jn 1: 40-41), and Andrew found the boy who had five loaves and two fish (Jn 6: 8-9).

- Bartholomew seems to be the same as Nathanael. He was from that place and could not admit that something good could come from Nazareth (Jn 1: 46).

- Thomas was capable of maintaining his opinion for a whole week, against the witness of all the others (Jn 20: 24-25). But when he saw that he was mistaken he was not afraid to recognize his error (Jn 20: 26-28). He was generous, ready to die with Jesus (Jn 11: 16).

- Mathew or Levi was the Publican, a tax collector, like Zacchaeus (Mt 9: 9; Lk 19: 2). They were persons committed to the oppressing system of the time.

- Simon, instead seems belonged to the movement which was radically opposed to the system that the Roman Empire imposed on the Jewish people. This is why they also called them Zelots (Lk 6: 15). The group of Zelots succeeded in provoking an armed revolt against the Romans.

- Judas was the one who was in charge of the money of the group (Jn 13: 29). He betrayed Jesus.

- Nothing is said about James of Alphaeus and Judas Thadeus in in the Gospels  except the name.

4) Personal questions

• Jesus spends the whole night in prayer to know whom to choose, and He chooses these twelve. What conclusions do you draw from this gesture of Jesus?

• The first Christians remembered the names of the twelve Apostles who were at the origin of their community. Do you remember the names of the persons who are at the origin of the community to which you belong? Do you remember the name of some catechist or professor who was significant for your Christian formation? What do you especially remember about them: the content of what they taught you or the witness that they gave you?

5) Concluding prayer

The Lord is good,

his faithful love is everlasting,

his constancy from age to age. (Ps 100: 5)