You Are Worth More Than Many Sparrows

OCTOBER 14, 2022, FRIDAY

Friday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time (Green)

CYCLE C - YEAR II

Lectionary: 471

Reading 1

EPH 1:11-14

Brothers and sisters:
In Christ we were also chosen,
destined in accord with the purpose of the One
who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will,
so that we might exist for the praise of his glory,
we who first hoped in Christ.
In him you also, who have heard the word of truth,
the Gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him,
were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
which is the first installment of our inheritance
toward redemption as God’s possession, to the praise of his glory. 

 

Responsorial Psalm

PS 33:1-2, 4-5, 12-13

R.  (12) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

 
Exult, you just, in the LORD;
praise from the upright is fitting.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten-stringed lyre chant his praises.

R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

 
For upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.

R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

 
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
From heaven the LORD looks down;
he sees all mankind.

R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

 

 

Alleluia

PS 33:22

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 
May your kindness, LORD, be upon us;
who have put our hope in you.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel

LK 12:1-7

At that time:
So many people were crowding together 
that they were trampling one another underfoot.
Jesus began to speak, first to his disciples,
“Beware of the leaven–that is, the hypocrisy–of the Pharisees.

“There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.
Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness
will be heard in the light,
and what you have whispered behind closed doors
will be proclaimed on the housetops.
I tell you, my friends,
do not be afraid of those who kill the body
but after that can do no more.
I shall show you whom to fear.
Be afraid of the one who after killing
has the power to cast into Gehenna;
yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one.
Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins?
Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God.
Even the hairs of your head have all been counted.
Do not be afraid.
You are worth more than many sparrows.”

GOSPEL REFLECTION:

People who are suffering or are on the fringes of society may not know that they are “of more value than many sparrows.” Trusting that the millions of people who suffer terrible trials of injustice here on earth will find consolation in the life after death is a huge leap of faith. Even the most ordinary life has its trials and needs the leap of faith that hopes for life after death. The message is, do not fear. Every little bird is cared for by God. Even the hairs of our heads are counted.

PRAYER:

A hypocrite was a person whose life was not in tune with the ways of God. A simple way to be part of God’s music is to trust God and not to be afraid. I ask God that I may not live out of fear but out of belief that I am limitlessly valued by God.