Open to Everyone

Oct. 16: Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Sorry I’m sending these way late. We had an appointment this morning, and Kirrily had to work late this evening. All in all, I had a nice day with Amelia, but not much time for writing.

Reading 1

Rom 1:1-7

Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an Apostle and set apart for the Gospel of God, which he promised previously through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, the Gospel about his Son, descended from David according to the flesh, but established as Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness through resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles, among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ; to all the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is a very, very truncated summary of the Old Testament, and its relationship to Jesus. We don’t actually know how the church in Rome started or which missionary brought it there. Paul is sending this letter ahead of his trip there, and wants to put his preaching in context.

It beings with the prophets and king David, which leads to Jesus and the Gospels. Now, Paul is widening the circle to include gentiles, even those who were part of the empire oppressing the Israelites of the time. Everyone is called to be holy, Jew, Roman, or other.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 98:1bcde, 2-3ab, 3cd-4

R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.

God doesn’t save Israel for Israel’s sake alone. He wants the whole world to know.

Alleluia

Ps 95:8

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

When God ultimately makes His salvation known throughout the whole world, everyone will hear his voice. No one should have a hardened heart.

Gospel

Lk 11:29-32

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, "This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here."

Remember from last week, Nineveh was an evil and, more importantly, non-Israelite town. The Queen of the South, likewise, wasn’t Jewish. Yet when they heard the word of God, they didn’t harden their hearts.

Obviously, the crowd wouldn’t respond to being negatively compared to these gentiles. You’d think that would go double for the Pharisees, but tomorrow, we’ll find that’s not exactly true.

For now, though, it’s enough to note that Jesus doesn’t pull any punches with His audience. He lets them know that, even though we’re all the heroes of our own stories, we might be the villains of His.

Instead, we should open our hearts when the Lord makes His salvation known.