CCC Cross Reference:
Rom 11:29 839; Rom 11:31 674; Rom 11:32 1870
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Reading 1
Rom 11:29-36
Brothers and sisters:
The gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.
Just as you once disobeyed God
but have now received mercy
because of their disobedience,
so they have now disobeyed in order that,
by virtue of the mercy shown to you,
they too may now receive mercy.
For God delivered all to disobedience,
that he might have mercy upon all.
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways!
For who has known the mind of the Lord
or who has been his counselor?
Or who has given him anything
that he may be repaid?
For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To God be glory forever. Amen.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 69:30-31, 33-34, 36
R. (14c) Lord, in your great love, answer me.
But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your saving help, O God, protect me.
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
“See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the Lord hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.”
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
For God will save Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah.
They shall dwell in the land and own it,
and the descendants of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall inhabit it.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
Gospel
Lk 14:12-14
On a sabbath Jesus went to dine
at the home of one of the leading Pharisees.
He said to the host who invited him,
“When you hold a lunch or a dinner,
do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters
or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors,
in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.
Rather, when you hold a banquet,
invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;
blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.
For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Romans 11:29 – 36
God never takes back his gifts or revokes his choice.
Just as you changed from being disobedient to God, and now enjoy mercy because of their disobedience, so those who are disobedient now – and only because of the mercy shown to you – will also enjoy mercy eventually. God has imprisoned all men in their own disobedience only to show mercy to all mankind.
How rich are the depths of God – how deep his wisdom and knowledge – and how impossible to penetrate his motives or understand his methods! Who could ever know the mind of the Lord? Who could ever be his counsellor? Who could ever give him anything or lend him anything?
All that exists comes from him; all is by him and for him. To him be glory for ever! Amen.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 68(69):30-31,33-34,36-37
In your great love, answer me, O God.
As for me in my poverty and pain
let your help, O God, lift me up.
I will praise God’s name with a song;
I will glorify him with thanksgiving.
In your great love, answer me, O God.
The poor when they see it will be glad
and God-seeking hearts will revive;
for the Lord listens to the needy
and does not spurn his servants in their chains.
In your great love, answer me, O God.
For God will bring help to Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah
and men shall dwell there in possession.
The sons of his servants shall inherit it;
those who love his name shall dwell there.
In your great love, answer me, O God.
Gospel Luke 14:12 – 14
Jesus said to his host, ‘When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not ask your friends, brothers, relations or rich neighbors, for fear they repay your courtesy by inviting you in return. No; when you have a party, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; that they cannot pay you back means that you are fortunate, because repayment will be made to you when the virtuous rise again.’
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Monday of the 31st Week in Ordinary Time
From: Romans 11:29-36
The Conversion of the Jews (Continuation)
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[29] For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. [30] Just as you were once disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, [31] so they have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they may also receive mercy. [32] For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all.
[33] 0 the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
[34] "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?"
[35] "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?"
[36] For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory for ever. Amen.
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Commentary:
29. God never goes back on anything he promises; therefore he continues to call the Jews to enter the chosen people. He does no take account of their disobedience or their sins: he will love them with an everlasting love, as he promised the patriarchs and in line with the merits accruing to them for their fidelity (cf. Rom 9:4-5). It is this very immutability of God's love that makes it possible for "all Israel" (v. 26) to be saved. God's calling, which is eternal, cannot cease; but we for our part can reject his call. This immutability of God's plan is reassuring to us: it means that even if we abandon him at any point, we can always return to our earlier fidelity; he is still there, waiting for us.
33-36. God's admirable goodness, to both Jews and Gentiles, permitting them to disobey and then talking pity on them in their wretchedness, causes the Apostle to pour out his heart in words reminiscent of the Book of Isaiah: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (55:8-9). The designs of divine Providence may disconcert us, may be difficult to understand; but if we remember how great God is -- he is beyond our comprehension -- and how God's power and faithfulness overcome any obstacle man may place in God's way we will realize that the very things which seem to frustrate his plans actually serve to forward them.
The correct attitude of man to the designs of God is one of humility. This will lead him to realize that the mysteries of God, which are intrinsically clear, seem obscure to us, simply because our mind's capacity is limited. Therefore, as Fray Luis de Granada reminds us, we must avoid saying that "something cannot be because we cannot understand it [...], for what is more in conformity with reason than to think in the highest way of him who is the All-High and to attribute to him the highest and best nature that our mind can conceive? [...] So it is that our failure to understand the sublimity of this mystery has a trace and scent of something divine, because, as we said, God being infinite must necessarily be beyond our comprehension" ("Introduccion Al Simbolo De La Fe", part IV).
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From: Luke 14:12-14
The right attitude to the poor
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[12] He said also to the man who had invited him, "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and you be repaid. [13] But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, [14] and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just."
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Commentary
14:14. A Christian acts in the world in the same way anyone else does; but his dealings with his colleagues and others should not be based on pursuit of reward or vainglory: the first thing he should seek is God's glory, desiring heaven as his only reward (cf. Lk 6:32-34).
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Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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