FIRST READING
“The righteous shall live by his faith.”
A reading from the Book of the Prophet Habakkuk (Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4)
O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? Why do you make me see wrongs and look upon trouble? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain upon tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its time; it hastens to the end — it will not lie. If it seem slow, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay. Behold, he whose soul is not upright in him shall fail, but the righteous shall live by his faith.”
The word of the Lord.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 95:1 -2.6-7abc.7d-9 (R. 7d, 8a)
R/. O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts.
Come, let us ring out our joy to the Lord;
hail the rock who saves us.
Let us come into his presence,
giving thanks; let us hail him with a song of praise. R/.
O come; let us bow and bend low.
Let us kneel before the God who made us,
for he is our God and we
the people who belong to his pasture,
the flock that is led by his hand. R/.
R/. O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts.
O that today you would listen to his voice!
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as on that day at Massah in the desert
when your forebears put me to the test;
when they tried rue, though they saw my work.” R/.
SECOND READING
“Do not be ashamed of testifying to our Lord.”
A reading from the second Letter of Saint Paul to Timothy (2 Timothy 1:6-5. 13- 14)
Beloved: I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control. Do not be ashamed then of testifying to our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but take your share of suffering for the Gospel in the power of God. Follow the pattern of the sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus; guard the truth that has been entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.
The word of the Lord.
ALLELUIA 1 Peter 1:25
Alleluia. The word of the Lord abides for ever; that word is the good news which was preached to you. Alleluia.
GOSPEL
“If you had faith!”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Luke 17:5-10)
At that time: The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this sycamine tree, ‘Be rooted up, and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. “Will any one of you, who has a servant ploughing or keeping sheep, say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and put on your apron and serve me, till I eat and drink; and afterwards you shall eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that is commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.”’
The Gospel of the Lord.
TODAY’S REFLECTION
“We are unworthy servants; we have only done what we are supposed to do.” Man wants affirmation and frowns if it does not come. In life, as we grow spiritually, we must learn how to shift our attention from ourselves to God or others. Attention to self makes one the centre of all things. The tendency is to allude to the following: my work; my talent; my house; my person; my wealth; my intelligence; my achievements etc. when we succeed in proclaiming the ‘my litany’, we find it hard to appreciate God, who gives us opportunities to serve him through the gifts and favours he bestows. Again, when misfortunes come to challenge our faith, we easily lose focus; we get disappointed and slacken in our belief. Prophet Habakkuk warns: “For still the vision awaits its time; it hastens to the end; it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not delay” (Habk. 2:2-4). This can only happen smoothly for someone who has God at the centre and not oneself at the centre.