TWENTY-EIGHTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Friday

Year I

Readings

First Reading
Rom 4:1–8

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 32:1b–2, 5, 11

Gospel
Lk 12:1–7

Meditation on Today’s Readings

Taken from the Vatican II Sunday and Weekday Missal
Written by Celia Sirois

In today’s selection from Romans, Paul returns to a familiar theme. He argues that Abraham is the father of all the uncircumcised (the Gentiles) who are justified by faith, since according to the Scripture Abraham was justified by believing God, long before circumcision was decreed. Thus Paul firmly grounds his Gospel in the long history of God’s people, recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures. Many scholars read the letter to the Ephesians as a synthesis of Paul’s thought. Today’s passage seems to generalize from his argument in Romans. Here in Ephesians, the concept of divine election—God’s choice of Israel, first revealed in the call of Abraham—is taken over from the Hebrew Scriptures. Christians now are “chosen” by God to receive a promised “inheritance.”

Today’s Gospel makes it clear that divine election is a costly grace. Jesus prepares his friends and followers for the real possibility of persecution. But he assures them, and us as well, that in the eyes of God we are worth more than many sparrows.

The copyright for the Sunday Missal Introductions is:
Copyright (c) 2001, Daughters of St. Paul
The copyright for the Weekday Missal Introduction is:
Copyright (c) 2002, Daughters of St. Paul