Daily Mass Readings for Thursday, 31 August 2023
First Reading: First Thessalonians 3: 7-13
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 90: 3-5a, 12-13, 14 and 17
Alleluia: Matthew 24: 42a, 44
Gospel: Matthew 24: 42-51
Thursday, 31 August 2023
First Reading
First Thessalonians 3: 7-13
We have been reassured about you, brothers and sisters,
in our every distress and affliction, through your faith.
For we now live, if you stand firm in the Lord.
What thanksgiving, then, can we render to God for you,
for all the joy we feel on your account before our God?
Night and day we pray beyond measure to see you in person
and to remedy the deficiencies of your faith.
Now may God himself, our Father, and our Lord Jesus
direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase
and abound in love for one another and for all,
just as we have for you,
so as to strengthen your hearts,
to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father
at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones. Amen.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 90:3-5a, 12-13, 14 and 17
Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
You turn man back to dust,
saying, "Return, O children of men."
For a thousand years in your sight
are as yesterday, now that it is past,
or as a watch of the night.
Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
And may the gracious care of the LORD our God be ours;
prosper the work of our hands for us!
Prosper the work of our hands!
Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Alleluia
Mt 24:42a, 44
Alleluia, alleluia.
Stay awake!
For you do not know when the Son of Man will come.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Mt 24:42-51
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
Be sure of this: if the master of the house
had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,
he would have stayed awake
and not let his house be broken into.
So too, you also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.
"Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant,
whom the master has put in charge of his household
to distribute to them their food at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so.
Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property.
But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is long delayed,'
and begins to beat his fellow servants,
and eat and drink with drunkards,
the servant's master will come on an unexpected day
and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely
and assign him a place with the hypocrites,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth."
Todays Reflection
Gentle Promptings of Grace
Jesus' call to stay awake is a reminder that it is easy to fall asleep spiritually. This exhortation is a warning to always be ready to meet Him in our judgment upon our passing from this life. It also invites us to become increasingly aware of the countless ways in which Jesus speaks to us each and every day. The goal of the Christian life must be to be continually at prayer, forming a spiritual habit of becoming continually attentive to the promptings of grace given to us throughout our lives.
God wants to lead us always, inspiring us with His grace every day. We should have one eye on the things that occupy our day and the other eye upon Him, allowing Him to gently lead us through everything. God is most clearly found in the details of life, even the smallest ones. To become attentive to God as He speaks to us and guides us every moment of every day, we must form a spiritual habit of ongoing prayer.
Reflecting on this clear and concise exhortation from Jesus, we should hear them as a call to form this holy habit of prayer throughout the day. By doing so, God will slowly take over our life and lead us each and every day into His holy will. Through us, God will extend His love and mercy to many who are in our life and beyond.
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