Daily Reading and Questions for Reflection November 14, 2024

Daily Reading for Thursday, November 14th, 2024

Reading 1, Philemon 1:7-20

7     I have received much joy and encouragement by your love; you have set the hearts of God's holy people at rest.

8     Therefore, although in Christ I have no hesitations about telling you what your duty is,

9     I am rather appealing to your love, being what I am, Paul, an old man, and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus.

10  I am appealing to you for a child of mine, whose father I became while wearing these chains: I mean Onesimus.

11  He was of no use to you before, but now he is useful both to you and to me.

12  I am sending him back to you -- that is to say, sending you my own heart.

13  I should have liked to keep him with me; he could have been a substitute for you, to help me while I am in the chains that the gospel has brought me.

14  However, I did not want to do anything without your consent; it would have been forcing your act of kindness, which should be spontaneous.

15  I suppose you have been deprived of Onesimus for a time, merely so that you could have him back for ever,

16  no longer as a slave, but something much better than a slave, a dear brother; especially dear to me, but how much more to you, both on the natural plane and in the Lord.

17  So if you grant me any fellowship with yourself, welcome him as you would me;

18  if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, put it down to my account.

19  I am writing this in my own hand: I, Paul, shall pay it back -- I make no mention of a further debt, that you owe your very self to me!

20  Well then, brother, I am counting on you, in the Lord; set my heart at rest, in Christ.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 146:7, 8-9, 9-10

7     gives justice to the oppressed, gives food to the hungry; Yahweh sets prisoners free.

8     Yahweh gives sight to the blind, lifts up those who are bowed down.

9     Yahweh protects the stranger, he sustains the orphan and the widow. Yahweh loves the upright, but he frustrates the wicked.

10  Yahweh reigns for ever, your God, Zion, from age to age.

Gospel, Luke 17:20-25

20  Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was to come, he gave them this answer, 'The coming of the kingdom of God does not admit of observation

21  and there will be no one to say, "Look, it is here! Look, it is there!" For look, the kingdom of God is among you.'

22  He said to the disciples, 'A time will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of man and will not see it.

23  They will say to you, "Look, it is there!" or, "Look, it is here!" Make no move; do not set off in pursuit;

24  for as the lightning flashing from one part of heaven lights up the other, so will be the Son of man when his Day comes.

25  But first he is destined to suffer grievously and be rejected by this generation.

Questions for Reflection for November 14, 2024

1.      This first reading is an excerpt from the Apostle Paul’s letter to a friend named Philemon. It gives us an insight into the very human friendship between early church leaders. At the time, slavery was practiced and Onesimus is a slave. Yet, he is a free man, having been won to the Lord through the preaching and witness of St. Paul.

Paul asks Philemon to treat Onesimus not as a slave, but as a "dear brother" in the Lord. He lays the Christian principle of freedom and human dignity, grounded in the freedom which Christ has gained for all men and women, which will make the Church a leader in ending the practice. How do we treat our friends in the Lord? Do we view all men and women as our equal, possessing human dignity and loved by the Lord?

2.      The Psalmist reminds us that the Lord gives justice to the oppressed and is a fiend of the poor. He feeds the hungry and sets prisoners free. All of this is to call us to worship the Lord. But also, to call us to reform our own lives, to reflect the character of God our creator and redeemer.  Are we doing this?

3.      The faithful Jewish people were awaiting a Messiah who would free them from Roman domination and establish the Kingdom. Jesus is that promised Messiah. Some recognized Him as the fulfillment of the promises to the Patriarchs and promises of the prophets of the Old Testament. Some did not. Jesus is the suffering servant by Isaiah (Isaiah 53). 

His passion, death and resurrection was a part of the Fathers Loving plan of deliverance for not only Israel, but for all men and women. Jesus teaches them, and us, that with His Coming the Kingdom was already present, to be fully revealed at the Second Coming. Do we recognize Jesus as Messiah and King?  How do we view the Kingdom of God?