October 3, 2010 27th SUNDAY OF THE YEAR    (Cycle A)    ENTRANCE ANTIPHON O Lord, you have given everything its place in the world, and no one can make it otherwise. For it is your creation, the heavens and the earth and the stars: you are the Lord of all. PENITENTIAL RITE All three Readings of today’s liturgy deal with the theme of faith. The biblical notion of faith, of course, means a commitment of the entire person to God. This means intellectual assent as well as action. It is steadfast loyalty to God what counts. We have to remind ourselves that faithfulness to Jesus and the Gospel is rewarding. To celebrate this Eucharist worthily let us be sorry for our failure to make efforts to grow in our faith, and for not striving to live faithfully. (Pause) I confess... Glory to God... OPENING PRAYER Father, your love for us surpasses all our hopes and desires. Forgive our failings, keep us in your peace and lead us in the way of salvation. We ask this... FIRST READING (Prophet Habakkuk cries out to God for help. God responds by promising to save those who trust in Him, and to give the just man strength and courage in the trials that are to come.) A reading from the Book of Habakkuk     (1:2-3;2:2-4) “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and thou wilt not hear? Or cry to thee ‘Violence!’ and thou wilt not save? Why dost thou 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 seems 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.” This is the Word of the Lord PSALM    (94) Response: O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts. Come, ring out our joy to the Lord; hail the rock who saves us. Let us come before him, giving thanks, with songs let us hail the Lord. R./   Come in; 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./ 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 fathers put me to the test; when they tried me, though they saw my work.” R./ SECOND READING (St Paul advises Timothy to enliven the gift of faith which he has received from God.) A reading from the Second Letter of St Paul to Timothy   (1:6-8,13-14) 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. This is the Word of the Lord ACCLAMATION    (Jn 17:17) Alleluia, alleluia! Your Word is truth, O Lord, sanctify us in the truth, Alleluia! GOSPEL (The apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith. In reply Jesus tells them that a little faith can do great things; and he also urges them to serve God without claiming any reward.) A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Luke     (17:5-10) 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 gird yourself 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’.” This is the Gospel of the Lord I believe in God,/the Father Almighty,/ Creator of heaven and earth./ I believe in Jesus Christ,/his only Son, our Lord./ He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit/ and born of the Virgin Mary./He suffered under Pontius Pilate,/was crucified, died, and was buried./He descended to the dead./On the third day he rose again./He ascended into Heaven,/and is seated at the right hand of the Father./He will come again to judge the living and the dead./I believe in the Holy Spirit,/the Holy Catholic Church,/the communion of saints,/the forgiveness of sins,/the resurrection of the body,/and the life everlasting./ Amen. PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL Cel: My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are blessed to be born in a Christian family; let us now thank the Lord for the gift of faith. Like the Apostles, let us ask the Lord to increase our faith: Response: Lord, increase our faith. 1. For our Pope, bishops, clergy and religious: that they may be filled with deep faith to guide the people in unity, love and peace. Let us pray to the Lord. R./ 2. For the followers of Jesus: that their lives may bear witness to the faith they profess with their lips. Let us pray to the Lord. R./ 3. For those who are suffering: that with their faith they may experience God’s love and care for them. Let us pray to the Lord. R./ 4. For political and religious leaders: that they may stand for truth and justice; may they work with honesty and integrity for the welfare of the poor and the marginalized in society. Let us pray to the Lord. R./ 5. For all gathered here: that the Lord may increase our faith, and may help us to serve Him, not as a duty, but out of love. Let us pray to the Lord. R./ (Pray for local and personal needs) Cel: God our Father, teach us to trust you; to serve you as you deserve; to labour and not to ask for any reward. Give us the grace to rise above our difficulties, and keep us faithful to you. We ask this... PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS Father, receive these gifts which our Lord Jesus Christ has asked us to offer in his memory. May our obedient service bring us to the fullness of your redemption. We ask this... PREFACE   (33) Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks. All things are of your making, all times and seasons obey your laws, but you chose to create man in your image, setting him over the whole world in all its wonder. You made man the steward of creation, to praise you day by day for the marvels of your wisdom and power, through Jesus Christ our Lord. We praise you, Lord, with all the angels in their song of joy: All: Holy, holy, holy... COMMUNION ANTIPHON The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to those who are searching for his love. PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION Almighty God, let the Eucharist we share fill us with your life. May the love of Christ which we celebrate here touch our lives and lead us to you. We ask this...     LITURGY  AND  LIFE   In today’s First Reading, the prophet Habakkuk asks God how long is He going to ignore the cries of His battered people. The prophet’s cry is not a scream of despair but a cry that is rooted in faith in God. He believes God will ‘do’ something and his faith is proved right.  A faithful man, Habakkuk is all the more real to us because he knew what it is to experience temptations to faithfulness. Daringly but respectfully in today’s dialogue with God, he wanted to know of the same things we would like to know. For example: Why is God so silent while the faithless conquer and the wicked devour the good? Why doesn’t God intervene in the world—especially when suffering and evil seem to be thriving? Why does God tolerate the wicked? God gave many interesting answers. He said that justice will finally and surely come (2:3)—in God’s own good time. Meanwhile, in ways we don’t understand, God is preparing the final victory of the just. Bringing the message down to individuals, God said that the evil doers shall pass away, but good people shall live, because of their faithfulness (2:4). In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells his Apostles some hard truths, and they in response cry out to him, “increase our faith!” Jesus used the picture of a tiny mustard seed to move a mighty sycamine tree as a metaphor for faith being the greatest force in the world. Even on a purely natural plane, things that look impossible become possible when approached with faith. Examples abound—the invention of the simple electric bulb, the aeroplane, space travel, medical marvels, television, computer and mobile phone are but a few. In the supernatural order, faith is the only power that can save the world, a seemingly impossible task. The rest of the Gospel passage (vv. 7-10) teaches the disciples the necessity of being humble in the service of God. Jesus says that we can never have any claim to any reward. Our greatest response to the Giver of faith is works of service. Faith is never acquired; it must ceaselessly be re-animated. That is part of the message of today’s Second Reading. St Paul’s advice to Timothy—a young, timid, sickly bishop—begins by reminding him (and us) to stir into flame the gifts God has given (v. 6). Timothy is young, and because of the heresies and other great dangers, he must keep his faith alive and courage high (v. 7). He is given a version of the message of the prophet Habakkuk: Bear hardships for the sake of the Good News, relying on the power of God. In your efforts, be strong, in order to have the power to cope. God’s message to Habakkuk, St Paul, Timothy and the Apostles is just as important to us now as ever in history. Faith, then, is the only key that can open a glimpse into the mystery of suffering, sorrow and anguish that afflict each of us at various times in our lives. A faith that is rooted in God is capable of a boldness that is awesome. We believe in a God who gives us a spirit not of timidity but of boldness, a God for whom we can do wonders while doing only our duty. With good reason did the Apostles ask Jesus, “Increase our faith,” for it is faith in God, faith in His love, faith in His fidelity, compassion, forgiveness and loving kindness, faith in God’s all-seeing vision and ability to bring good out of evil, that makes it possible for us to fly above valleys of suffering and sorrow. One way of stirring into flame the gift of faith is listening to the word of God, allowing it to penetrate our minds and hearts. —Fr Harold A. Buetow   October 2010       READINGS OF THE WEEK        Psalter Week 3 4 Mon (W) St Francis of Assisi, mem Gal 1:6-12; Ps 110:1-2,7-8,9&10c; Lk 10:25-37 5 Tue (W) St Faustina, mem Gal 1:13-24; Ps 138:1-3,13-14ab,14c-15; Lk 10:38-42 6 Wed (G)   Gal 2:1-2,7-14; Ps 116:1,2; Lk 11:1-4 7 Thu (W) Our Lady of the Rosary, mem                    Ac 1:12-14; Ps Lk 1:46-47,48-49,50-51,52-53,54-55; Lk 1:26-38 8 Fri (G)   Gal 3:7-14; Ps 110:1-2,3-4,5-6; Lk 11:15-26 9 Sa (R)  St Denis and Co. Gal 3:22-29; Ps 104:2-3,4-5,6-7; Lk 11:27-28