6 November 2025 (Thursday) / Thursday of week 31 in Ordinary Time / Ordinary Weekday/ Thursday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time

6 November 2025 (Thursday)

Thursday of week 31 in Ordinary Time.

Ordinary Weekday/ Thursday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time.

Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:

First Reading: Romans 14: 7-12
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 27: 1, 4, 13-14
Alleluia: Matthew 11: 28
Gospel: Luke 15: 1-10

First Reading : Romans 14:7‐12

The life and death of each of us has its influence on others; if we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord, so that alive or dead we belong to the Lord. This explains why Christ both died and came to life: it was so that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. This is also why you should never pass judgement on a brother or treat him with contempt, as some of you have done. We shall all have to stand before the judgement seat of God; as scripture says: By my life – it is the Lord who speaks – every knee shall bend before me, and every tongue shall praise God. It is to God, therefore, that each of us must give an account of himself.

Responsive Psalm : Psalm 26(27):1,4,13‐14

I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.

The Lord is my light and my help; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; before whom shall I shrink?

I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.

There is one thing I ask of the Lord, for this I long,
to live in the house of the Lord, all the days of my life, to savour the sweetness of the Lord, to behold his temple.

I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.

I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living. Hope in him, hold firm and take heart. Hope in the Lord!

I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.

Alleluia: Matthew 11: 28
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
28 Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest, says the Lord.
(25. At that time Jesus exclaimed, 'I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to little children.
26. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do.
27. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
28. 'Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest.
29. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.')
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel : Luke 15:1‐10

The tax collectors and the sinners were all seeking the company of Jesus to hear what he had to say, and the Pharisees and the scribes complained. ‘This man’ they said ‘welcomes sinners and eats with them.’ So he spoke this parable to them: ‘What man among you with a hundred sheep, losing one, would not leave the ninety‐nine in the wilderness and go after the missing one till he found it? And when he found it, would he not joyfully take it on his shoulders and then, when he got home, call together his friends and neighbours? “Rejoice with me,” he would say “I have found my sheep that was lost.” In the same way, I tell you, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety‐nine virtuous men who have no need of repentance. ‘Or again, what woman with ten drachmas would not, if she lost one, light a lamp and sweep out the house and search thoroughly till she found it? And then, when she had found it, call together her friends and neighbours? “Rejoice with me,” she would say “I have found the drachma I lost.” In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one repentant sinner.’

For our reflection today:

“This man receives sinners and eats with them” (v. 2). In reality, this statement turns out to be a marvelous announcement. Jesus welcomes sinners and eats with them. It is what happens to us at every Mass, in every Church: Jesus is happy to welcome us to his table where he offers himself for us. It is a statement that we could inscribe on Church doors: “Here Jesus welcomes sinners and invites them to his table”. The first parable says: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it?” (v. 4). What man of you? Not a person with good sense: he does the math and sacrifices the one to keep the ninety-nine. Whereas God does not give up. He cherishes precisely you who still do not know the beauty of his love; you who have not yet welcomed Jesus into the centre of your life; you who are unable to overcome your sin; you who, perhaps due to the bad things that have happened in your life, do not believe in love. In the second parable, you are that small coin that the Lord does not accept losing, and he searches relentlessly. He wants to tell you that you are precious in his eyes, that you are unique. No one can replace you in God’s heart. You have a place; you are you, and no one can replace you; nor me, no one can replace me in God’s heart. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 15 September 2019)

Jonathan Fabian Ginunggil,
Most High Servant,
Jesus, Mary, Joseph Ministry of Love (Blessed  and Saints and the Nine Choirs of Angels)