November 10, 2025
Memorial of Saint Leo the
Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church
Lectionary: 491
Reading
1
Love justice, you
who judge the earth;
think of the Lord in goodness,
and seek him in integrity of heart;
Because he is found by those who test him not,
and he manifests himself to those who do not disbelieve him.
For perverse counsels separate a man from God,
and his power, put to the proof, rebukes the foolhardy;
Because into a soul that plots evil, wisdom enters not,
nor dwells she in a body under debt of sin.
For the holy Spirit of discipline flees deceit
and withdraws from senseless counsels;
and when injustice occurs it is rebuked.
For wisdom is a kindly spirit,
yet she acquits not the blasphemer of his guilty lips;
Because God is the witness of his inmost self
and the sure observer of his heart
and the listener to his tongue.
For the Spirit of the Lord fills the world,
is all-embracing, and knows what man says.
Responsorial
Psalm
Psalm 139:1b-3, 4-6, 7-8,
9-10
R. (24b) Guide
me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
O LORD, you have probed me and you know me;
you know when I sit and when I stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
with all my ways you are familiar.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know the whole of it.
Behind me and before, you hem me in
and rest your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
too lofty for me to attain.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
Where can I go from your spirit?
From your presence where can I flee?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I sink to the nether world, you are present there.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
If I take the wings of the dawn,
if I settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
Even there your hand shall guide me,
and your right hand hold me fast.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Shine like lights in the world,
as you hold on to the word of life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus said to his
disciples,
"Things that cause sin will inevitably occur,
but woe to the one through whom they occur.
It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck
and he be thrown into the sea
than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.
Be on your guard!
If your brother sins, rebuke him;
and if he repents, forgive him.
And if he wrongs you seven times in one day
and returns to you seven times saying, 'I am sorry,'
you should forgive him."
And the Apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."
The Lord replied, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you would say to this mulberry tree,
'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111025.cfm
Commentary on
Wisdom 1:1-7
Today we go back to the Old Testament and during the whole
of this week our readings are from the Book of Wisdom. This is one of the later
books in the Bible and, unlike most of the others, was written in Greek rather
than Hebrew. It dates from only about 100 BC and was written in Alexandria, a centre
of Hellenism on the north coast of Egypt. It is one of the so-called
deutero-canonical books, not part of the Jewish Bible nor recognised as part of
the Bible by most Protestant churches (although some non-Catholic bibles may
include it in a section of ‘apocrypha’). It was used by the Fathers of the
Church from the second century AD, and despite some hesitation and opposition,
notably from St Jerome, was recognised as being inspired in just the same way
as the books of the Hebrew canon.
The name of the author is not known, but he was a member of
the Jewish community at Alexandria in Egypt. Alexandria was the second city of
the Roman Empire at this time. He wrote in Greek, but following a Hebrew-verse
style. In order to give greater credence to his statements, he puts them in the
mouth of Solomon, renowned for his wisdom, but who lived long before this book
was written. Throughout, the author shows himself deeply familiar with the
earlier Old Testament writings.
His main purpose in writing was to give encouragement to his
fellow-Jews during a time of great suffering and oppression, not least from
apostate fellow-Jews. The first 10 chapters prepare us for the fuller teachings
of Christ and his church. And many passages from this part of the book,
especially Wisdom 3:1-7, are used by the church in her liturgy.
The opening reading today is an evaluation of Wisdom as an
essential factor in our lives:
Love righteousness, you rulers of the earth;
think of the Lord in goodness
and seek him with sincerity of heart,
because he is found by those who do not put him to the test
and manifests himself to those who do not distrust him.
‘Righteousness’, also translated as ‘justice’ or
‘uprightness’ (from the Greek, dikaiosune), exists when there is
perfect harmony in both thought and deed with the known will of God as
expressed in the Law or in the injunctions of one’s conscience. We see this in
Jesus as he prays in the garden to his Father:
…not my will but yours be done. (Luke 22:42)
Perfect uprightness, then, is when God’s will and mine are
in such harmony that I not only submit my will to God’s, but where my will and
God’s will totally coincide. I want what God wants.
The author speaks to the “rulers of the earth”. Later on in
the book, he will imply that he is Solomon, renowned for his wisdom, speaking
to his fellow-kings. This, of course, is just a literary device. In fact, he is
addressing his fellow Jews in Alexandria, who are threatened by the
‘unrighteousness’ of their gentile neighbours.
The writer tells us:
…seek him with sincerity of heart…
‘Seeking God’ in order to ‘find him’ is a recurrent
admonition in both prophetic and wisdom literature. Another version of this is
found in the Beatitudes:
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
(Matt 5:8)
And that is the meaning of ‘simplicity’ here. It does not
imply ‘naïveté’, but a vision that is clear and not cluttered by distorting
factors.
For perverse thoughts separate people from God,
and when his power is tested, it exposes the foolish…
Perverse thoughts are the opposite of that simplicity of
heart because they cut people off from God. And ‘power’ confounds the stupid.
That is the power of God which, if challenged by rebellious acts, confounds the
stupid because only the stupid would do such a thing. In the course of the
book, the author will identify the power of God with God’s Spirit and Wisdom,
which, for him, are interchangeable terms. In the gospel, too, the ‘Reign of
God’ which Jesus put at the heart of his teaching is not the power of a secular
ruler, but the power of Wisdom.
…wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul
or dwell in a body enslaved to sin.
Wisdom and sin are incompatible. No truly wise person, whose
wisdom comes from God, who is Wisdom, can be in conflict with God. A person who
deliberately does what is wrong is closing his mind to true wisdom. Nor can
wisdom dwell in a body enslaved to sin. We do not hold that the body is evil in
itself, a principle strongly held by the New Testament. However, it may become
the instrument of sin and thus dominate the soul. In John’s Gospel Jesus says:
Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a
slave to sin. (John 8:34)
Paul, too, speaks of the struggle between the “flesh” and
his “inner self” (see Rom 7:14-24).
From Wisdom:
For a holy and disciplined spirit will flee from deceit
and will leave foolish thoughts behind
and will be ashamed at the approach of unrighteousness.
If we are under the influence of the ‘holy spirit’ of
Wisdom, we will avoid all deceitfulness, which is the direct opposite of the
‘simplicity of heart’, that transparency which is the path to ‘uprightness’. We
will avoid all ‘unintelligent thoughts’, which, by definition are not guided by
wisdom. On the other hand, wisdom is blocked once vice is allowed to take over.
For wisdom is a kindly spirit,
but it will not free blasphemers from the guilt of their words,
because God is witness of their inmost feelings
and a true observer of their hearts and a hearer of their tongues.
‘Wisdom’ is, of course, friendly to humanity, because to be
truly wise is to be in close harmony with God, and that is what our whole being
is made for. When our lives are guided by wisdom, then we become the kind of
people that God intended us to be. As wisdom grows, we too grow more and more
into his image.
On the other hand, Wisdom:
…will not free blasphemers from the guilt of their words…
The blasphemer is one who speaks or acts in a way derogatory
to God and all that God stands for. To behave in such a way is to alienate one
from the God in whose image we are called to live. And there is no escape from
this:
…because God is witness of their inmost feelings and a
true observer of their hearts and a hearer of their tongues.
In the passage from Wisdom, for the word translated as
‘soul’, the author actually used the traditional word, ‘kidneys’. In the
ancient world, the kidneys—and not the heart—were considered the centre of the
emotions and instinctive impulse. On the other hand, the ‘heart’ was the seat
of the activity of intellect and will. Where we tend to say ‘heart and mind’,
they would say ‘kidneys and heart’. Hence, in the ancient world, ‘heart’ and
‘kidneys’ were frequently linked to signify all the inner forces of the human
person.
In the concluding sentence of the reading we are told that:
…the spirit of the Lord has filled the world
and that which holds all things together knows what is said…
The ‘spirit of the Lord’, another name for the ‘wisdom of
God’ fills the whole world, because he created that world, and wherever
creation is, God’s wisdom is immanent there, giving it and conserving it in
existence. It is that Wisdom or Spirit which “holds all things together” and
hence “knows what is said”. The Wisdom or Spirit links all things so intimately
that He is immediately aware of every word uttered. The liturgy of Pentecost
adapts this text to the ‘gift of tongues’, where, after the Apostles were
filled with the Holy Spirit, everyone could understand what they were saying.
God sees deep into our inmost self, into our heart and
overhears all that we say. For God’s spirit, the source of wisdom, penetrates
the whole world and knows all. Wisdom is our sharing in that knowledge and
insight of God into things.
Both the transcendence and the immanence of God are implied
in the whole passage. God’s transcendence means that he is far above and beyond
all the capacity of the human mind to grasp. That is the meaning of the
Incarnation, by which in the humanity of Jesus, we can get a dim glimpse of
what God is like as expressed through Jesus’ way of living his human life. But
the fullness of God’s being is something that we cannot grasp in the humanity
of Jesus. That will have to wait for the Beatific Vision.
God’s immanence speaks of his deep presence in every created
thing. This is not to be confused with pantheism, which believes that
everything is God. Some have come up with another term ‘panentheism’, i.e.
God’s creative, transforming and loving presence in everything.
We need to keep both God’s transcendence and immanence in mind when we try to
understand his nature, but a full understanding will never be reached in our
present life.
Also, we must not confuse wisdom with intelligence or having
encyclopaedic knowledge. It is not a question of knowing much. To know the
Catechism of the Catholic Church by heart and to be able to enunciate every
doctrinal statement with perfect accuracy does not constitute wisdom. Nor does
impeccable orthodoxy equip one with wisdom. Rather it is the ability to see all
things in their proper relationship to each other and to see where we ourselves
fit into the whole picture and, of course, to see it all in the light of God.
As we go through life, it will be a constantly changing
picture. It is a gift which began to flow into us at our confirmation, but it
never ceases to call for a further deepening.
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Commentary on
Luke 17:1-6
We move on to chapter 17 of Luke and today we have three
separate sayings of Jesus which we find in different contexts in Matthew’s
Gospel. The first is on the inevitability of scandals. Scandals are those actions
or words which, literally, cause people to trip up and fall. Here they refer to
words or actions which become obstacles, preventing or making it more difficult
for people to believe in and accept Christ and the gospel.
These things are inevitable, Jesus says, but it is tragic
for those who are responsible. It is a terrible thing to come between a person
and the call of Christ—that is, to be the effective agent for blocking a
person’s coming to know and love Christ and his Way. It would be better for the
scandal-causer:
…if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were
thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to sin.
Jesus is speaking about damage to the “little ones”. This
can refer either to those who are young and innocent, or those who are frail in
their Christian faith.
Sadly, over the years, our news has been full of many
‘scandals’ on the part of Catholic leaders—bishops, priests, brothers and
sisters. It is difficult to say how many people’s faith was weakened by these
events, but it is likely that they were enough to make some less committed
people experience a sense of disillusionment and abandon the Church.
In some cases, there was probably no scandal in the strict
sense, but simply failings due to human frailty. In other cases, especially
where the young or the innocent were abused or led astray, real scandal and
prolonged harm were certainly present.
Scandal in the gospel sense and in the tabloid sense are not
quite the same, and we should be careful to distinguish them. Jesus himself
caused ‘scandal’ among some of the religious leaders because he failed to
observe certain rituals. This is known as ‘pharisaical scandal’ or
‘hypocritical scandal’. We Catholics can certainly be guilty of this kind of
false scandal, and certainly the media at times, for purposes of
sensationalism, can blow up certain trivial matters in a particularly obnoxious
‘holier-than-thou’ approach.
But it is not only people in public life who cause scandal.
Parents, by an ambivalent, two-standard behaviour, can tell their children to
behave in one way while they themselves act in a totally other way. Catholic
parents, and others in charge of the guidance of children (such as teachers),
need to be particularly careful of being stumbling blocks to their children’s
faith.
The second saying is about forgiveness and reconciliation,
and it is not unconnected with the question of scandal above. If a brother or
sister, that is, a fellow-Christian is clearly in the wrong, he or she should
be corrected. And, if the wrong-doer clearly repents, then forgiveness should
be given. Even if someone commits the same offence any number of times and each
time sincerely expresses sorrow, that person is to be forgiven.
This is not to say that a person can keep doing wrong and
expect forgiveness simply by apologizing. Some kind of controlling action may
have to be taken. This is especially true where the person is not in control of
himself or herself, which could be the case with someone who is addicted to
alcohol, drugs, sex, or is the victim of some other compulsive behaviour. But
even here, punishment alone cannot be a satisfactory solution. Rather, every
effort must be made to heal and rehabilitate.
As Christians, the whole thrust of our actions is for
reconciliation, and not judgement and condemnation. We need to remember the
teaching about God’s love for the sinner in the parables of the lost sheep, the
lost coin and the lost (prodigal) son (see Luke chap 15).
The third saying is about faith, that is, deep trust in God.
The apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith. This may be seen in the
context of the warning about scandal, and the requirement to forgive
indefinitely. He told them:
If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could
say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would
obey you.
Perhaps an area where we need a strong trust is in trying to
rehabilitate both the givers and the victims of scandal, and certainly we need
faith if we are to be able sincerely to forgive, again and again, those who
have hurt us or others. But true forgiveness is not the simple writing off of a
wrongdoing. Rather, it is taking the necessary steps to restore a status quo of
harmony and peace and mutual love and respect. And it should be noted, that can
take a long time.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o1322g/
Monday,
November 10, 2025
Ordinary Time
Opening prayer
God of power and mercy, protect us
from all harm. Give us freedom of spirit and health in mind and body to do your
work on earth.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Gospel reading - Luke 17:1-6
Jesus said to His
disciples, "scandals are sure to come, but alas for the one through whom
they occur! It would be better for such a person to be thrown into the sea with
a millstone round the neck than to be the downfall of a single one of these
little ones.
Keep watch on yourselves! If your
brother does something wrong, rebuke him and, if he is sorry, forgive him.
And if he wrongs you seven times a
day and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I am sorry,’ you must forgive
him.”
The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our
faith." The Lord replied, "If you had faith like a mustard seed you
could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it
would obey you.”
Reflection
•
Today the Gospel gives us three different words
of Jesus. One on how to avoid causing scandal or scandalizing the little ones,
the other one on the importance of pardon and a third one on faith in God which
we should have.
•
Luke 17:1-2: First
word: To avoid scandal. “Jesus said to His disciples: “It is unavoidable that
there are scandals, but alas for the one through whom they occur. It would be
better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around the neck than
to be the downfall of a single one of these little ones”. To cause scandal
means to make people trip and fall. At the level of faith, it means that which
drives away the person from the right path. To
scandalize the little ones means to be the cause of their drawing away from
God and to make them lose their faith in God. Anyone who does this deserves the
following sentence: “A millstone round the neck and to be thrown into the sea!”.
Why such severity? Because Jesus identifies Himself with the little ones who
are the poor (Mt 25:40.45). They are those He prefers and the first ones to
whom the Good News will be given (cf. Lk 4:18). Anyone who touches them touches
Jesus!, Because of our way of living faith, we Christians throughout the
centuries have been the cause of why the little ones have many times drawn away
from the Church and have gone towards other religions. They have not been able
any longer to believe, as the Apostle said in the Letter to the Romans quoting
the Prophet Isaiah: “In fact, it is your
fault that the name of God is held in contempt among the nations.” (Rm
2:24; Is 52:5; Ez 36: 22). Up to what point are we guilty? Is it our fault? Do
we also deserve the millstone around the neck?
•
Luke 17:3-4: Second
word: Forgive your brother. “If your brother does something wrong rebuke him
and, if he is sorry, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times a day and
seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I am sorry’, you must forgive him”. Seven
times a day! This is not little! Jesus asks very much! In the Gospel of
Matthew, He says that we should forgive seventy times seven! (Mt 18:22).
Forgiveness and reconciliation are some of the themes on which Jesus insists
the most. The grace to be able to forgive persons and to reconcile them among
themselves and with God was granted to Peter (Mt 16:19), to the Apostles (Jn
20:23), and to the community (Mt 18:18). The parable on the need to forgive our
neighbor leaves no doubt: if we do not forgive our brothers we cannot receive
pardon from God (Mt 18:22-35; 6, 12.15; Mk 11: 26). There is no proportion
between the pardon that we receive from God and the pardon that we have to
offer to our neighbor. The pardon with which God forgives us gratuitously is
like ten thousand talents compared to
one hundred denarii (Mt 18: 23- 35).
It is estimated that ten thousand talents are 174 tons of gold. One hundred
denarii are not more than 30 grams of gold.
•
Luke 17:5-6: Third
word: Increase our faith. “The apostles said to the Lord: ‘Increase our
faith!’” The Lord answered: If you had faith like a mustard seed you could say
to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea’, and it would obey
you”. In this context in Luke, the question of the apostles seems to be
motivated by the order of Jesus to forgive, in one day, up to seventy times
seven the brother or the sister who sins against us. It is not easy to forgive.
It is only with great faith in God that it is possible to reach the point of
having such a great love that it makes it possible for us to forgive, in one
day, up to seventy times seven the brother who sins against us. Humanly
speaking, in the eyes of the world, to forgive in this way is foolish and a scandal.
However, for us this attitude is the expression of divine wisdom which forgives
us infinitely much more. Paul said: “We announce Christ crucified: a stumbling
block for the Jews and foolishness for the gentiles (I Co 1:23).
Personal questions
•
In my life, have I been a cause of scandal for
my neighbor? Have others been a cause of scandal for me?
•
Am I capable to forgive seven times a day my
brother or my sister who offends me, or even seventy times seven times a day?
Concluding prayer
Sing to Him, make music for Him, recount all His
wonders! Glory in His holy name, let the hearts that seek Yahweh rejoice! (Ps
105:2-3)
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