33rd Sunday A

Jeff Bagnall • 17 November 2023

The reading from Proverbs is a surprising choice, though it is a beautiful picture of a wife if we overlook the the servility of the woman that was part of the writer’s culture.  It is a selection of verses from Proverbs chapter 31.  It might remind us of last week’s first reading praising the lady Sophia (meaning wisdom).  In the end we must realise the beauty in any person who loves God and shows care and devotion to others.

The second reading addresses the anxiety the Thessalonians have about the end of the world – many Christians thought that it would be quite soon, but Paul wants to allay their fears – the phrase ‘like a thief in the night’ is just a way of saying that you don’t know when it will come.  If they are good living people they should have nothing to fear.

The Gospel reading takes up the same message about being ready to meet the Lord when that time comes. It does make the point that we are all different in the talents that we have, but what matters is what we make of what we’ve got – we all must strive to make our own sphere of influence as good as we can.

Jeff Bagnall was a lecturer for many years at Craiglockhart College teaching RE to many future Catholic Primary teachers.

24th Sunday In Ordinary Time - 2025 - Year C

5 September 2025
The first reading is one of the significant incidents in the tale of the exodus – the going out from slavery in Egypt towards the promised land. At this point in the story (Exodus 32:7-17) Moses has gone up the nearby mount Sinai and received the Ten Commandments from God; but he had been away forty days and during this time the people had forgotten this unknown God of Moses and remembered the golden calf worshipped in Egypt: an abandonment of the true god who brought them out of slavery. The account describes this depravity in terms of the wrath of God. But most interestingly, Moses intercedes with God on their behalf and reminds Him of the promises made to Abraham and his descendants, and that these are the people due for this promise. This story was kept alive in the people’s tradition because it was a pattern of betrayal and return that was repeated in their lives as a race and as individuals, and the Psalm chosen to follow this reading indicates this.

23rd Sunday In Ordinary Time - 2025 - Year C

28 August 2025
The first reading is from the Book of Wisdom (9:13-18), which is not in the Hebrew Bible and is known to us only in Greek. It is generally only accepted as canonical by Catholics. It may well have originated in Egypt, a centre of intellectual excellence, and like other wisdom writings is attributed to Solomon
Show More