Doing good is boundless!

October 30, 2015 

Friday of the Thirtieth week in Ordinary Time

Saint of the day : Saint Marcellus, Martyr (3rd Century)

    

Letter to the Romans 9:1-5

1I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie; my conscience joins with the holy Spirit in bearing me witness[1] 2that I have great sorrow and constant anguish in my heart.

3For I could wish that I myself were accursed and separated from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kin according to the flesh.

4They are Israelites; theirs the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; 5theirs the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, is the Messiah. God who is over all be blessed forever. Amen.[2][3]

Psalms 147:12-15; 19-20

12Glorify the LORD, Jerusalem; Zion, offer praise to your God, 13For He has strengthened the bars of your gates, blessed your children within you. 14He brings peace to your borders, and satisfies you with finest wheat. 15He sends His command to earth; His word runs swiftly!

19He proclaims his word to Jacob, his statutes and laws to Israel. 20He has not done this for any other nation; of such laws they know nothing. Hallelujah!

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 14:1-6

1On a sabbath He went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing Him carefully.[4]

2In front of Him there was a man suffering from dropsy. [5] 3Jesus spoke to the scholars of the law and Pharisees in reply, asking, "Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?"

4But they kept silent; so He took the man and, after He had healed him, dismissed him.

5Then He said to them, "Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?"[6] 

6But they were unable to answer his question.

  

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Notes on Readings

[1] Romans - 9:1 - 11:36 Israel's unbelief and its rejection of Jesus as savior astonished and puzzled Christians. It constituted a serious problem for them in view of God's specific preparation of Israel for the advent of the Messiah. Paul addresses himself here to the essential question of how the divine plan could be frustrated by Israel's unbelief. At the same time, he discourages both complacency and anxiety on the part of Gentiles. To those who might boast of their superior advantage over Jews, he warns that their enjoyment of the blessings assigned to Israel can be terminated. To those who might anxiously ask, "How can we be sure that Israel's fate will not be ours?" he replies that only unbelief can deprive one of salvation.

[2] Romans - 9:-5 The apostle speaks in strong terms of the depth of his grief over the unbelief of his own people. He would willingly undergo a curse himself for the sake of their coming to the knowledge of Christ (Romans 9:3); compare with Leviticus 27:28-29. His love for them derives from God's continuing choice of them and from the spiritual benefits that God bestows on them and through them on all of humanity (Romans 9:4-5).

[3] Romans 9:5 - Some editors punctuate this verse differently and prefer the translation, "Of whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all." However, Paul's point is that God who is over all aimed to use Israel, which had been entrusted with every privilege, in outreach to the entire world through the Messiah.

[4] Luke 14:1-6 See the footnote on Luke 13:10-17.

[5] Luke 14:2 - Dropsy: an abnormal swelling of the body because of the retention and accumulation of fluid.

[6] Luke 14:5 - Your son or ox: this is the reading of many of the oldest and most important New Testament manuscripts. Because of the strange collocation of son and ox, some copyists have altered it to "your ass or ox," on the model of the saying in Luke 13:15.