Bible Diary 2008 : Readings & Commentaries

BIBLE DIARY 2008
Readings and Commentaries

November 2008
Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
						1 All Saints
2 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time All Souls	3 Martin de Porres (OM)	4 Charles Borromeo (M)	5	6	7	8
9 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time	10 Pope Leo the Great (M)	11 Martin of Tours (M)	12 Josaphat (M)	13 Frances Xavier Cabrini (M)	14	15 Albert the Great (OM)
16 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time	17	18 Dedication of the Churches of Peter and Paul, Apostles (OM)	19	20	21 Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (M)	22 Cecilia (M)
23 Christ the King	24 Andrew Dung-Lac and Companions, martyrs (OM)	25	26	27	28	29
30 1st Sunday of Advent						F - Feast M - Memorial OM - Optional Memorial

Download November 2008

November 1
Saturday

All Saints

First Reading: Rev 7:2-4, 9-14

I saw another angel ascending from the sunrise, carrying the seal of the living God, and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels empowered to harm the earth and the sea, "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads."
Then I heard the number of those marked with the seal: a hundred and forty-four thousand from all the tribes of the people of Israel.
After this I saw a great crowd, impossible to count, from every nation, race, people and tongue, standing before the throne and the Lamb, clothed in white, with palm branches in their hands, and they cried out with a loud voice, "Who saves but our God who sits on the throne and the Lamb?"
All the angels were around the throne, the elders and the four living creatures; they then bowed before the throne with their faces to the ground to worship God. They said,
Amen. Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power and strength to our God forever and ever. Amen!
At that moment, one of the elders spoke up and said to me, "Who are these people clothed in white, and where did they come from?" I answered, "Sir, it is you who know this."
The elder replied, "They are those who have come out of the great persecution; they have washed and made their clothes white in the blood of the Lamb.

Responsorial Psalm:
Ps 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.

Second Reading: 1 Jn 3:1-3

See what singular love the Father has for us: we are called children of God, and we really are. This is why the world does not know us, because it did not know him.
Beloved, we are God's children and what we shall be has not yet been shown. Yet when he appears in his glory, we know that we shall be like him, for then we shall see him as he is. All who have such a hope try to be pure as he is pure.

Gospel Reading: Mt 5:1-12a

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain. He sat down and his disciples gathered around him. Then he spoke and began to teach them:
"Fortunate are those who are poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Fortunate are those who mourn, they shall be comforted.
Fortunate are the gentle, they shall possess the land.
Fortunate are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied.
Fortunate are the merciful, for they shall find mercy.
Fortunate are those with a pure heart, for they shall see God.
Fortunate are those who work for peace, they shall be called children of God.
Fortunate are those who are persecuted for the cause of justice, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Fortunate are you, when people insult you and persecute you and speak all kinds of evil against you because you are my followers. Be glad and joyful, for a great reward is kept for you in God. This is how this people persecuted the prophets who lived before you."

Commentary
A youngster was once asked what a saint was. Thinking of the beautiful stained glass windows in her parish church, she responded, "A saint is someone whom the light shines through." How simple, yet how profound her response!
Jesus proposes a way of life based upon the simplicity of the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount. If we are to be holy, if we are to be saints we must allow His light to permeate everything that we do and say. Therein will we find lasting happiness and peace, and so will the world find reason to hope.

index calendar

November 2
Sunday

Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls)

First Reading: Wis 3:1-9

The souls of the just are in the hands of God and no torment shall touch them.
In the eyes of the unwise they appear to be dead. Their glory is held as a disaster; it seems that they lose everything by departing from us, but they are in peace.
Though seemingly they have been punished, immortality was the soul of their hope. After slight affliction will come great blessings, for God has tried them and found them worthy to be with him; after testing them as gold in the furnace, he has accepted them as a holocaust.
At the time of his coming they will shine like sparks that run in the stubble. They will govern nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord will be their king forever.
Those who trust in him will penetrate the truth, those who are faithful will live with him in love, for his grace and mercy are for his chosen ones.

Responsorial Psalm:
Ps 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6
The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.

Second Reading: Rom 6:3-9

Don't you know that in baptism which unites us to Christ we are all baptized and plunged into his death. By this baptism in his death, we were buried with Christ and, as Christ was raised from among the dead by the Glory of the Father, so we begin walking in a new life. It was an image of his death when we were grafted in him, and so we will also share in his resurrection.
We know that our old self was crucified with Christ, so as to destroy what of us was sin, so that we may no longer serve sin-if we are dead, we are no longer in debt to sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe we will also live with him. We know that Christ, once risen from the dead, will not die again and death has no more dominion over him.

Gospel Reading: Mt 25:31-46

Jesus said to his disciples, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory with all his angels, he will sit on the throne of his Glory. All the nations will be brought before him, and as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, so will he do with them, placing the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
"The King will say to those on his right: 'Come, blessed of my Father! Take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world. For I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me into your house. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to see me.'
"Then the good people will ask him: 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food; thirsty and give you drink, or a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to see you?' The King will answer, 'Truly, I say to you: whenever you did this to these little ones who are my brothers and sisters, you did it to me.'
"Then he will say to those on his left: 'Go, cursed people, out of my sight into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels! For I was hungry and you did not give me anything to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink; I was a stranger and you did not welcome me into your house; I was naked and you did not clothe me; I was sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'"
"They, too, will ask: 'Lord, when did we see you hungry, thirsty, naked or a stranger, sick or in prison, and did not help you?' The King will answer them: 'Truly, I say to you: whatever you did not do for one of these little ones, you did not do for me.'
"And these will go into eternal punishment, but the just to eternal life."

Commentary
The month of November is traditionally the time to remember the dead, especially the poor souls in purgatory. Though the just Judge has every reason to restrict admittance into heaven to those who are perfect, He mercifully grants to those who are not damned a time of purification or purgation so that they might be made ready for the glorious life of the saints in heaven.
We rightly pray for our loved ones and others who have died, that they might one day be raised up to the company of the saints, where they will pray for us to complete successfully the journey to heaven.

index calendar

November 3
Monday

31st Week in Ordinary Time
Martin de Porres

First Reading: Phil 2:1-4

If I may advise you in the name of Christ and if you can hear it as the voice of love; if we share the same spirit and are capable of mercy and compassion, then I beg of you make me very happy: have one love, one spirit, one feeling, do nothing through rivalry or vain conceit. On the contrary let each of you gently consider the others as more important than yourselves. Do not seek your own interest, but rather that of others.

Responsorial Psalm:
Ps 131:1bcde, 2, 3
In you, O Lord, I have found my peace.

Gospel Reading: Lk 14:12-14

Jesus addressed the man who had invited him and said, "When you give a lunch or a dinner, don't invite your friends, or your brothers and relatives and wealthy neighbors. For surely they will also invite you in return and you will be repaid. When you give a feast, invite instead the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. Fortunate are you then, because they can't repay you; you will be repaid at the Resurrection of the upright."

Commentary
The month of November is also a time to remember that we know neither the day nor the hour of our own death. In the Gospel, Jesus offers not simply advice for the banquet planner, but direction for life. Looking after the needs of others is a way of reciprocating for God's immeasurable generosity to us. We have received grace upon grace, and our proper response should be to extend kindness and mercy toward others.
Our actions of goodness toward the poor and less fortunate are seen by God as acts of goodness toward Him, and He will not be outdone in generosity.

index calendar

November 4