Thursday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
November 7, 2019
Today, in Mercy, our scripture passages are all about confidence in our salvation.
Do you ever wonder if you’re going to get to heaven? Maybe even worry about it a little? If so, today’s readings are for you.
Paul tells the faithful:
For if we live, we live for the Lord,
and if we die, we die for the Lord;
so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
And Jesus, using the symbol of a lost sheep, counsels the critical Pharisees:
I tell you, in just the same way
there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous people
who have no need of repentance.
Key to both readings is the call to a repentant, Christian life.
Our beautiful Responsorial Psalm captures the joy of the repentant sinner, the very ones for whom Christ died:
R. I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
R. I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.
One thing I ask of the LORD;
this I seek:
To dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
That I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD
and contemplate his temple.
R. I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.
R. I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.
We might want to turn toward the searching Shepherd today while praying this Psalm of repentance and faith.
Music: In the Land of the Living – Eric Becker
Lavish Mercy 