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32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, 10 November 2024 Liturgical Colour: Green.
Note: Homilies & Angelus / Regina Caeli of Pope Saint John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI & Pope Francis I had been compiled for you after the Mass Readings below. Happy Reading!
Readings at Mass: See below or Encouragements-163 or EWTN, USCCB. 8-) Saints’ Commentaries: Mark 12:38-44 from CATENA AUREA BY SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS.
First Reading: 1 Kings 17:10-16 'Jar of meal shall not be spent, jug of oil shall not be emptied'
Elijah the Prophet went off to Sidon. And when he reached the city gate, there was a widow gathering sticks; addressing her he said, ‘Please bring me a little water in a vessel for me to drink.’ She was setting off to bring it when he called after her. ‘Please’ he said ‘bring me a scrap of bread in your hand.’ ‘As the Lord your God lives,’ she replied ‘I have no baked bread, but only a handful of meal in a jar and a little oil in a jug; I am just gathering a stick or two to go and prepare this for myself and my son to eat, and then we shall die.’ But Elijah said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, go and do as you have said; but first make a little scone of it for me and bring it to me, and then make some for yourself and for your son. For thus the Lord speaks, the God of Israel: “Jar of meal shall not be spent, jug of oil shall not be emptied, before the day when the Lord sends rain on the face of the earth.”’ The woman went and did as Elijah told her and they ate the food, she, himself and her son. The jar of meal was not spent nor the jug of oil emptied, just as the Lord had foretold through Elijah.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 145(146):7-10 My soul, give praise to the Lord. or Alleluia!
It is the Lord who keeps faith for ever, who is just to those who are oppressed. It is he who gives bread to the hungry, the Lord, who sets prisoners free.
It is the Lord who gives sight to the blind, who raises up those who are bowed down. It is the Lord who loves the just, the Lord, who protects the stranger.
The Lord upholds the widow and orphan but thwarts the path of the wicked. The Lord will reign for ever, Zion’s God, from age to age.
Second Reading: Hebrews 9:24-28 Christ, our high priest, has done away with sin by sacrificing himself
It is not as though Christ had entered a man-made sanctuary which was only modelled on the real one; but it was heaven itself, so that he could appear in the actual presence of God on our behalf. And he does not have to offer himself again and again, like the high priest going into the sanctuary year after year with the blood that is not his own, or else he would have had to suffer over and over again since the world began. Instead of that, he has made his appearance once and for all, now at the end of the last age, to do away with sin by sacrificing himself. Since men only die once, and after that comes judgement, so Christ, too, offers himself only once to take the faults of many on himself, and when he appears a second time, it will not be to deal with sin but to reward with salvation those who are waiting for him.
Gospel Acclamation Revelation 2:10 Alleluia, alleluia! Even if you have to die, says the Lord, keep faithful, and I will give you the crown of life. Alleluia! Or: Matthew 5:3 Alleluia, alleluia! How happy are the poor in spirit: theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Alleluia!
Gospel: Mark 12:38-44 This poor widow has put in more than all
In his teaching Jesus said, ‘Beware of the scribes who like to walk about in long robes, to be greeted obsequiously in the market squares, to take the front seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets; these are the men who swallow the property of widows, while making a show of lengthy prayers. The more severe will be the sentence they receive.’
He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the treasury, and many of the rich put in a great deal. A poor widow came and put in two small coins, the equivalent of a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, ‘I tell you solemnly, this poor widow has put more in than all who have contributed to the treasury; for they have all put in money they had over, but she from the little she had has put in everything she possessed, all she had to live on.’
Acknowledgment: We thank the Publisher for allowing us to publish the Mass Readings to be used as reference for Homilies & Angelus / Regina Caeli of Pope Saint John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI & Pope Francis I as a source of God’s encouragements to all of us around the World.
Others: Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath See the “Media Tweets” of @Michael65413248 (we have not endorsed on their other Retweets). Many Thanks Michael Lewis & Friends.
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1. Do you want this kind of “pastoral care”? Latest updates! 2. Criminal Investigation Department, Singapore Police Force harassed Law-abiding Citizen. Latest! https://twitter.com/Michael65413248/status/1510086218851270658 (2 April 2022) #Singapore Police Force harassing the same law abiding business owner again from 92298844, 97397514, 83487591, 96645914, 63914706, 82825465, 97378102, 90360045, 92981234! They can’t perform to contain COVID, so they bully to appear busy? Shameless? You decide! 3. See another Police case to frame against the Innocent! Please spread the News to help them who commit no crime. Many Thanks. Till this day, the harassment continues and there is no apology from the Rulers and no compensation paid for damages inflicted. 4. See the Bloggers went MISSING before / after the Singapore General Election on 10 July 2020. Please pray for their safety as we search for them actively. Many Thanks.
Homilies, Angelus / Regina Caeli Homily, 12 November 2000, JUBILEE OF THE AGRICULTURAL WORLD Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, be grateful to the Lord, but at the same time be proud of the task that your work assigns to you. Work in such a way that you resist the temptations of a productivity and profit that are detrimental to the respect for nature. God entrusted the earth to human beings "to till it and keep it" (cf. Genesis 2: 15). When this principle is forgotten and they become the tyrants rather than the custodians of nature, sooner or later the latter will rebel.
But you understand clearly, dear friends, that this principle of order, which applies to agricultural work as well as to every other area of human activity, is rooted in the human heart. The "heart" itself is therefore the first ground to be cultivated. It was not by chance that, when Jesus wanted to explain the work of God's word, he used the parable of the sower as an illuminating example taken from the farming world. God's word is a seed meant to bear abundant fruit, but unfortunately it often falls on unsuitable ground, where stones or weeds and thorns - various terms for our sins - prevent it from taking root and growing (cf. Matthew 13: 13-23, par.). Thus, a Father of the Church gives the following advice precisely to a farmer: "So when you are in the field and are looking at your farm, consider that you too are Christ's field and devote attention to yourself as you do to your field. The same beauty that you require your peasant to give to your field, give to God in the cultivation of your heart ..." (St Paulinus of Nola, Letter 39, 3 to Aper and Amanda).
It is because of this "cultivation of the spirit" that you are here to celebrate the Jubilee today. You present to the Lord, even before your professional efforts, the daily work of purifying your heart: a demanding task, which we will never succeed in doing on our own. Our strength is Christ, who, as the Letter to the Hebrews just reminded us, "appeared once for all at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" (Hebrews 9: 26).
This sacrifice, offered once and for all on Golgotha, is made real for us every time we celebrate the Eucharist. Here Christ makes himself present with his body and blood to become our food.
How significant it must be for you, men and women of the agricultural world, to contemplate on the altar this miracle which crowns and exalts the very wonders of nature. Is not a miracle worked each day when a seed becomes an ear of corn and so many grains from it ripen to be ground and made into bread? Is not the cluster of grapes that hangs on the branch of the vine one of nature's miracles? All this already mysteriously bears the mark of Christ, since "all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made" (John 1: 3). But greater still is the event of grace in which the Word and the Spirit of God make the bread and wine, "fruit of the earth and work of human hands", the Body and Blood of the Redeemer. The Jubilee grace that you have come to implore is none other than a superabundance of Eucharistic grace, the power that raises us and heals us from within by grafting us on to Christ. Pope Saint John Paul II (Homily, 12 November 2000)
Angelus, 12 November 2000, JUBILEE OF THE AGRICULTURAL WORLD At the end of this solemn Jubilee celebration, I wish to thank the many representatives of the agricultural world who have come here from various nations. I extend a particular greeting to Mr Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the FAO, and to Mr Paolo Bedoni, representing the farmers. In their addresses they wanted to highlight the challenges but also the enormous potential that agriculture holds today. It is called to play an active and responsible role especially in facing the great problems connected with food and hunger in the world. The balanced use of natural resources and the equitable distribution of available goods will make it possible to offer the world population the food security that everyone desires. Dear brothers and sisters who form the great family of the agricultural world! Thank you for your joyful presence and for your fervent participation in today's meeting. The Church is close to you! May this Jubilee day encourage and support you all to continue your praiseworthy activity, which is indispensable for the overall progress of the global community! Pope Saint John Paul II (Angelus, 12 November 2000)
"The temple of God is holy, and you are that temple" (I Corinthians 3: 17). We listen once again to these words of the apostle Paul in today's solemn liturgy of the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, Cathedral of Rome, Mother of all the churches. Every place set aside for divine worship is a sign of that spiritual temple, which is the Church, made up of living stones: of the faithful united by the one faith, of the participation in the Sacraments and of the bond of charity. The Saints, in particular, are precious stones of that spiritual temple. Holiness, fruit of the unceasing work of God's Spirit, shines in the new Blesseds: Juan Nepomuceno Zegrí y Moreno, priest; Valentin Paquay, priest; Luigi Maria Monti, religious; Bonifacia Rodríguez Castro, virgin; Rosalie Rendu, virgin.
The vision of the Sanctuary presented to us in today's liturgy by the prophet Ezechiel describes a stream that flows from the temple carrying life, vigour and hope: "Everything will live where the river goes" (Ezekiel 47: 9). This image expresses God's infinite goodness and his design of salvation which scales the walls of the sacred enclosure and thus becomes the blessing of the entire earth.
The words of Jesus proclaimed in today's Gospel: "Stop turning my Father's house into a marketplace" (John 2: 16), question today's society, often tempted to turn everything into commodity and profit, putting aside values and dignity which do not have a price. Since the human person is the likeness and dwelling place of God, a purification is necessary, so as to protect the person beginning with his or her social condition or work. Pope Saint John Paul II (Homily, 9 November 2003)
In Italy, the annual Day of Thanksgiving is being celebrated today. Its theme is: "The earth: a gift for the whole human family". In our Christian families, children are taught to always thank the Lord prior to eating with a short prayer and the Sign of the Cross. This custom should be preserved or rediscovered, for it teaches people not to take their "daily bread" for granted but to recognize it as a gift of Providence. We should become accustomed to blessing the Creator for all things: for air and water, precious elements on which life on our planet depends, as well as for the food that through the earth's fertility God offers to us for our sustenance. Jesus taught his disciples to pray by asking the Heavenly Father not for "my" but for "our" daily bread. Thus, he desired every person to feel co-responsible for his brothers so that no one would want for what he needs in order to live. The earth's produce forms a gift which God has destined "for the entire human family".
The last annual report of the FAO has confirmed what the Church knows very well from her direct experience of the communities and missions: more than 800 million people are living in a condition of undernourishment and too many, especially children, die of hunger. How should we cope with this situation which, though repeatedly renounced, shows no sign of a solution and indeed, in some respects is worsening? It is certainly necessary to eliminate the structural causes linked to the system for regulating the world economy, which destines the majority of the planet's resources to a minority of the population. This injustice was stigmatized on various occasions by my venerable Predecessors, the Servants of God Paul VI and John Paul II. To be effective on a wide scale, it is necessary "to convert" the model of global development, required not only due to the scandal of hunger but also by environmental and energy emergencies. Yet, every person and every family can and must do something to alleviate hunger in the world by adopting a lifestyle and consumption compatible with the safeguarding of creation and with criteria of justice for those who cultivate the land in every country. Pope Benedict XVI (Angelus, 12 November 2006)
Homily, 8 November 2009 (See our extracts with pictures in Encouragements-163) 8-)
At this Angelus prayer, I wish to recall the profound devotion for the Virgin Mary of the Servant of God Giovanni Battista Montini. He celebrated his first Mass in the Shrine of Santa Maria delle Grazie, the Marian heart of your city, not far from this square. In this way he placed his priesthood under the maternal protection of the Mother of Jesus, and this bond accompanied him throughout his life.
As his ecclesial responsibilities grew, he developed an ever broader and more organic concept of the relationship between the Blessed Virgin Mary and the mystery of the Church. In this perspective, his closing Discourse at the Third Session of the Second Vatican Council on 21 November 1964 remains memorable. That session had promulgated the Constitution on the Church Lumen gentium which in the words of Paul VI "has as its summit and crown an entire chapter dedicated to Our Lady". The Pope noted that it was the most ample synthesis of Marian doctrine ever elaborated by an Ecumenical Council, aimed at "manifesting the face of the Holy Church, to which Mary is intimately bound" (Enchiridion Vaticanum, Bologna 1979, p. 185, nn. 300-302). In that context, he proclaimed Mary Most Holy as "Mother of the Church" (cf. ibid., n. 306), emphasizing, with great ecumenical sensitivity, that "the devotion to Mary... is a means intended to orient souls towards Christ and thus to unite them with the Father, in the love of the Holy Spirit" (ibid., n. 315).
Echoing the words of Paul VI, today we too pray: O Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, we entrust to you the Church of Brescia and the entire population of this region. Remember all your children; confirm their prayers to God; keep their faith steady; reinforce their hope; make charity grow. O merciful, O pious, O sweet Virgin Mary (cf. ibid., nn. 317.320.325). Pope Benedict XVI (Angelus, 8 November 2009)
From these two biblical passages, wisely juxtaposed, one can learn a valuable lesson about the faith. It appears as an interior attitude of he who bases his life on God, on the Word, and trusts totally in him. Being a widow in antiquity was in itself a condition of grave need. This is why in the Bible widows and orphans were people whom God cared for in a special way: they have lost their earthly support but God remains their Spouse, their Parent.
Yet, Scripture says that the objective state of need, in this case being a widow, does not suffice: God always asks for our free adherence to faith, that it is expressed in love for him and for our neighbour. No one is so poor that he cannot give something. And, in fact, both of these widows from today demonstrate their faith by carrying out an act of charity: one for the Prophet and the other by almsgiving. Thus they attest to the inseparable unity between faith and love, as between love of God and love of one’s neighbour — as the Gospel of last Sunday reminded us. Pope St Leo the Great, whose memory we celebrated yesterday, affirmed this: “On the scales of divine justice the quantity of gifts is not weighed, but the weight of hearts. The widow deposited in the Temple treasury two small coins and by doing so surpassed the gifts of all the rich. No gesture of goodness is meaningless before God, no mercy is left barren” (Sermo de jejunio dec. mens., 90, 3).
The Virgin Mary is the perfect example of someone who gives her whole self by trusting in God; with this faith she proclaims her fiat to the Angel and accepts the Will of Lord. May Mary help each one of us too, during this Year of Faith, to strengthen our faith in God and in his Word. Pope Benedict XVI (Angelus, 11 November 2012)
Let’s start with the first: what not to do. In the first part, Jesus accuses the scribes, the teachers of the law, of having three defects in their lifestyle: pride, greed and hypocrisy. They like “to have salutations in the market places and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at feasts” (Mark 12:38-39). But beneath such solemn appearances they are hiding falsehood and injustice.
While flaunting themselves in public, they use their authority — as Jesus says — to devour “the houses of widows” (cf. v. 40); those who, along with orphans and foreigners, were considered to be the people most vulnerable and least protected. Lastly, Jesus says that the scribes, “for a pretence make long prayers” (v. 40). Even today we risk taking on these attitudes. For example, when prayer is separate from justice so that God cannot be worshiped, and causing harm to the poor. Or when one claims to love God, but instead offers him only grandiosity for one’s own advantage.
The second part of the Gospel follows this line of thinking. The scene is set in the temple of Jerusalem, precisely in the place where people are tossing coins as offerings. There are many rich people putting in large sums, and there is a poor woman, a widow, who contributes only two bits, two small coins. Jesus observes the woman carefully and calls the disciples’ attention to the sharp contrast of the scene.
The wealthy contributed with great ostentation what for them was superfluous, while the widow, Jesus says, “put in everything she had, her whole living” (v. 44). For this reason, Jesus says, she gave the most of all. Because of her extreme poverty, she could have offered a single coin to the temple and kept the other for herself. But she did not want to give just half to God; she divested herself of everything. In her poverty she understood that in having God, she had everything; she felt completely loved by him and in turn loved him completely. What a beautiful example this little old woman offers us!
Today Jesus also tells us that the benchmark is not quantity but fullness. There is a difference between quantity and fullness. You can have a lot of money and still be empty. There is no fullness in your heart. This week, think about the difference there is between quantity and fullness. It is not a matter of the wallet, but of the heart. There is a difference between the wallet and the heart.... There are diseases of the heart, which reduce the heart to the wallet.... This is not good! To love God “with all your heart” means to trust in him, in his providence, and to serve him in the poorest brothers and sisters without expecting anything in return. Pope Francis I (Angelus, 8 November 2015)
Important Note: We found these News record (starting from 19 April 2023). We prayed to God for direction on what to do next, we were instructed to stop updating the Homilies, Regina Caeli/ Angelus and the General Audiences from the Vatican (until the matters are resolved) as we lay persons are unable to discern quickly what is beneficial/detrimental to our souls and yours, and this work is supposed to be a Thanksgiving to Him who loves us and has blessed us. Thanks for following us.
Daily Blessings to You from Emmanuel Goh & Friends
Note: This webpage has many hyperlinks to the Vatican Webpage. The above extracts were compiled for your easy reading. This Publication is aimed to encourage all of Goodwill around the World. It is not for business or profit purposes but it is our way to thank our Creator for His continuous blessings!
Compiled on 11 November 2018 Last updated: 3 November 2024, 15:38 SGT.
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