November 11, 2025
Memorial of Saint Martin of
Tours, Bishop
Lectionary: 492
Reading
1
God formed man to
be imperishable;
the image of his own nature he made them.
But by the envy of the Devil, death entered the world,
and they who are in his possession experience it.
But the souls of the just are in the hand of God,
and no torment shall touch them.
They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead;
and their passing away was thought an affliction
and their going forth from us, utter destruction.
But they are in peace.
For if before men, indeed, they be punished,
yet is their hope full of immortality;
Chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed,
because God tried them
and found them worthy of himself.
As gold in the furnace, he proved them,
and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.
In the time of their visitation they shall shine,
and shall dart about as sparks through stubble;
They shall judge nations and rule over peoples,
and the Lord shall be their King forever.
Those who trust in him shall understand truth,
and the faithful shall abide with him in love:
Because grace and mercy are with his holy ones,
and his care is with his elect.
Responsorial
Psalm
R. (2a) I
will bless the Lord at all times.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. I will bless the Lord at all times.
The LORD has eyes for the just,
and ears for their cry.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
R. I will bless the Lord at all times.
When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
R. I will bless the Lord at all times.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus said to the
Apostles:
"Who among you would say to your servant
who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,
'Come here immediately and take your place at table'?
Would he not rather say to him,
'Prepare something for me to eat.
Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink.
You may eat and drink when I am finished'?
Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?
So should it be with you.
When you have done all you have been commanded, say,
'We are unprofitable servants;
we have done what we were obliged to do.'"
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111125.cfm
Commentary on Wisdom
2:23—3:9
Here is a lovely and magnificent passage which is often read
during requiem Masses and which we also read on November 2, All Souls Day. It
speaks about death and immortality and is full of hope:
…God created us for incorruption and made us in the image
of his own eternity…
God says in the opening chapter of the Book of Genesis:
Let us make humans in our image, according to our
likeness… (Gen 1:26)
In Genesis, the meaning was primarily that humanity was
given responsibility to manage the rest of creation and to live in truth and
love. But in our present reading, the emphasis is on God’s eternal nature which
God intended to share with all human beings.
That immortality was called into question by death which
came into the world “through an adversary’s [Satan] envy”, as if to say, that
our First Parents were tempted to sin because of Satan’s envy at their sharing
in God’s immortality, something he himself had forfeited by his disobedience
(see Rev 12:9 and 20:2). All those who submit themselves to Satan’s deceitful
guidance will meet the same fate:
You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do
your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand
in the truth because there is no truth in him… (John 8:44)
The ‘death’ that Satan brings here is primarily spiritual
death, the eternal alienation from God, of which physical death is one of its
consequences.
But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
and no torment will ever touch them.
By contrast, the fate of the ‘upright’, those who are fully
conformed in every way to the will of God, are under his special protection and
“no torment will ever touch them”.
In practice, when people die—even good people—it does not,
on the surface, look like that:
In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and
their departure was thought to be a disaster and their going from us to be
their destruction…
Even when good and saintly people leave us, it is regarded
as a tragedy and a blow not only to us, but to them. We ask: “What did they do
to be taken away like this?”
But where the truly good are concerned, the reality is quite
different. In fact, in death:
…they are at peace.
It is not only that all negative elements have been removed
from their life, but that they are in a state of security and total happiness
under the protection of, and in intimacy with God. As the Third Eucharistic
Prayer reads in speaking of the dead:
There we hope to share in your glory when every tear will
be wiped away. On that day we shall see you, our God, as you are.
Their death seemed like a form of punishment, the denial of
the gift of life, but in fact:
…their hope is full of immortality.
For a Christian, faith is coupled with hope, a confident
hope of being one day reunited forever with Christ our Lord. That hope is for
immortality (in the Greek, athanasia).
Strangely, this is the first appearance of the term athanasia in
this late book of the Old Testament. For the Greeks, it was a familiar term
meaning either a remembrance that would never die, or immortality of the soul.
Here it is clearly used in the second sense and, more specifically, speaks of a
blessed immortality in close companionship with God as the reward for a life of
uprightness—a life lived according to God’s will. This was the hope of the
Psalmist who could not reconcile himself to losing his friendship with God
through death:
Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
my body also rests secure.
For you do not give me up to Sheol
or let your faithful one see the Pit. (Ps 16:9-10)
In Old Testament times, the fate of all was to be confined
forever to this nether world, called Sheol. The author of Wisdom has a much
more hope-filled attitude which makes the Psalmist’s prayer a reality for all
the upright.
In fact, for the upright, the pain of death is only a slight
tap on the wrist, compared to the blessings that are in store on the far side:
…because God tested them and found them worthy of
himself…
Sorrow and pain are the ways in which God tests and purifies
the upright:
…for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves and
chastises every child whom he accepts. (Heb 12:6)
…like gold in the furnace he tried them, and like a
sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them.
One can understand how those who do evil come upon bad
times. It is more difficult to understand why the good should suffer. But as
the writer says, suffering in the case of the good has a purifying effect. The
image is that of the holocaust, in which the victim is completely consumed by
fire. Similarly, by being put in fire, all impurities are removed from newly
mined gold. Even Jesus himself, the very Son of God, was so tested and so
entered his glory.
In the time of their visitation they will shine forth and
will run like sparks through the stubble.
‘Visitation’ here expresses God’s loving judgement on those
who have been faithful to him (but note that later in Wisdom, the same term is
used for the punishment of the wicked at God’s final judgement).
The image of sparks running through the stubble, left over
after the cutting of the grain, is used in many biblical passages and
symbolises the effects of God’s avenging anger or of Israel’s revenge on its
enemies. Here it is used slightly differently, perhaps to mean the
participation of the glorified upright in the elimination of evil, preceding
the establishing of the Kingdom of God, of which they are striking evidence.
And so:
They will govern nations and rule over peoples, and the
Lord will reign over them forever.
Obviously, they will judge the nations not on the same level
as God. But their very uprightness will stand in sharp contrast with those who
did not follow God’s will in their lives.
And finally:
Those who trust in him will understand truth…
Those who fully committed themselves in faith and trust to
God’s will in their lives will, after death, know that they were indeed walking
the way of truth, the way of integrity and wholeness which they have now
achieved. They will also:
…abide with him in love because grace and mercy are upon
his holy ones, and he watches over his elect.
A life of faith in Christ and his Way is not possible
without also being a life of love—love for God, love for others, love for
oneself. In death they will truly know and be totally taken up into the God who
is Love. This is Heaven!
It is for us, then, to ready ourselves so that our death too
will simply be the gateway to perfect happiness and union with God. We make
ready for that time by each day seeking and finding God in every person and in
every experience.
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Commentary on Luke
17:7-10
Today we have another warning from Luke (and one which is
only found in his Gospel) about complacency. As we read this parable we must be
careful—as with many of the others—not to confuse matters by dragging in issues
which are anachronistic. Jesus asks:
Who among you would say to your slave who has just come
in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your
place at the table’.
Would we invite him to sit down, have his supper and take a
good rest?
Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me;
put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and
drink’?
Would we even express gratitude to a servant who was only
doing what was expected of him?
Here, let us temporarily put aside our current understanding
of workers’ rights, democracy and the evils and long-lasting repercussions of
slavery of every kind. No one in Jesus’ time, either an employer or a slave,
would have thought for a moment of questioning what he is saying. At the same
time, we might remember Jesus saying that watchful servants will be welcomed by
their master who will make them sit down and will wait personally on them (see
Luke 12:37), and that Jesus washed his disciples’ feet as an example of
service.
What we are dealing with here is our relationship with God.
The point Jesus is making is that God need never be grateful to us for anything
we do for him. No matter how much we do for him, we can never put him in our
debt. Everything we give to God (or to God through others) is simply giving
back to him a small portion of what he has already given us. It is well said in
Preface IV for Weekday Masses:
You have no need of our praise, yet our desire to thank
you is itself your gift. Our prayer of thanksgiving adds nothing to your
greatness, but makes us grow in your grace.
God can never be in our debt. He can never be under any
obligation to us. Perhaps that is what some of the Pharisees thought. They
believed that, because they kept the Law perfectly, God owed them salvation. We
see that in the scene of the Pharisee and the tax collector praying in the
Temple, where the Pharisee’s prayer gives the impression that God should be
deeply grateful to have, among so many negligent people, such a good person as
himself.
We can do the same thing ourselves when, for instance, we
think that by saying certain prayers or performing certain acts (like novenas,
indulgences and pilgrimages), God should jump to attention and do what we are
telling him to do or give us what we are asking for.
All our living out of the gospel is not a compliment paid to
God. On the contrary, we can never be grateful enough to him for showing us the
way to truth, love, freedom and happiness which Jesus taught us, and for giving
us the grace to walk in his Way. With God, all our giving is only an imperfect
and partial giving back.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o1323g/
Tuesday,
November 11, 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 17:7-10
Jesus said, "Which of you, with a servant
ploughing or minding sheep, would say to him when he returned from the fields,
‘Come and have your meal at once?’ Would he not be more likely to say, ‘Get my
supper ready. Fasten your belt and wait on me while I eat and drink. You
yourself can eat and drink afterwards’? Must he be grateful to the servant for
doing what he was told? So with you: when you have done all you have been told
to do, say ‘We are useless servants. We have done no more than our duty.’”
Reflection
•
The Gospel today narrates a parable which is
found only in Luke’s Gospel and has no parallel in the other Gospels. The
parable teaches that our life has to be characterized by an attitude of
service. It begins with three questions which are ultimately answered by Jesus.
•
Luke 17:7-9: The three questions of Jesus. It
asks three questions taken from daily life, and therefore the listeners have to
think about each one from their own experience to give a response according to
that experience. In the first question, Jesus asks “which of you, with a
servant ploughing or minding sheep, would say to him when he returned from the
fields, ‘Come and have your meal at once?” All will answer “No!” The second
question asks would he not be more likely to say “Get my supper ready. Fasten
your belt and wait on me while I eat and drink. You yourself can eat and drink
afterwards?” All will answer: “Yes! Certainly!” Finally, the third question
inquires “must he be grateful to the servant for doing what he was told?” All
will answer “No!” The way in which Jesus asks the questions orientates people
to his way of thinking. He wants us to be servants to one another.
•
Luke 17:10: The response of Jesus. At the end
Jesus draws a conclusion which was already implicit in the questions: “So with
you, when you have done all you have been told to do, say ‘We are useless
servants, we have done no more than our duty”. This applies to all Christians,
to serve the Master and to avoid pride in doing so. Jesus has told us what to
do, and we must do it with the humility of one who sees himself as a useless
servant, expecting to have our reward after doing the Master’s work. He has
given us an example of service when He said: “The Son of Man has not come to be
served, but to serve” (Mk 10:45). Service is a theme which Luke likes. Service
represents the form in which the poor in the time of Jesus, the anawim, were
waiting for the Messiah. Not like a royal and glorious Messiah, high priest or
judge, but rather as the Servant of Yahweh, announced by Isaiah (Isa 42:1-9). Mary,
the Mother of Jesus, says to the angel, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, may
it be done to me according to your word!” (Lk 1:38). In Nazareth, Jesus
presents Himself as the Servant described by Isaiah (Lk 4:18-19 and Isa
61:1-2). In Baptism and in the Transfiguration, He was confirmed by the Father
who quotes the words addressed by God to the Servant (Lk 3: 22; 9:35 and Isa
42:1). Jesus tells His followers, “Anyone who wants to be first among you must
be your slave” (Mt 20:27). Useless servants! This is the definition of the
Christian. Paul speaks about this to the members of the community of Corinth
when he writes, “I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but God gave the
growth. In this, neither the planter nor the waterer counts for anything, only
God who gave growth” (1Cor 3:6-7). Paul and Apollos are nothing, only simple
instruments. The only one who counts is God. He alone! (1Cor 3:7).
•
To serve and to be served. Here in this text,
the servant serves the master and not the master the servant. But in the other
text of Jesus the contrary is said: “Blessed are those servants whom the master
finds awake when he comes. In truth, I tell you, he will do up his belt, sit
them down at table and wait on them” (Lk 12:37). In this text, the master
serves the servant and not the servant the master. In the first text, Jesus
spoke in the present. In the second text, Jesus is speaking in the future. This
contrast is simply another way of saying that the one who is ready to lose his
life out of love for Jesus and the Gospel will find it (Mt 10:39; 16:25).
Anyone who serves God in this present life will be served by God in the future
life!
Personal questions
•
How do I define my life?
•
Do I ask myself the three questions that Jesus
asks? Do I live like a useless servant?
Concluding prayer
The lives of the just are in Yahweh's care. Their
birthright will endure forever.
Yahweh guides a strong man's steps and keeps them firm and
takes pleasure in him. (Ps 37:18, 23)
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