Nov. 5, 2023: Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

First Reading    Malachi 1.14 – 2.2, 8-10 “I am a great King,” says the Lord of hosts, “and my name is reverenced among the nations. “And now, O priests, this command is for you. If you will not listen, if you will not lay it to heart to give glory to my name,” says the Lord of hosts, “then I will send the curse on you and I will curse your blessings; indeed I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. “You have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by your instruction; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi,” says the Lord of hosts, “and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you have not kept my ways but have shown partiality in your instruction.” Have we not all one father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our ancestors? Psalm    131 R. In you, Lord, I have found my peace. O Lord, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvellous for me. R. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; my soul is like the weaned child that is with me. R. O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time on and forevermore. R. Second Reading    1 Thessalonians 2.7-9, 13 Brothers and sisters: Though we might have made demands as Apostles of Christ, we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the Gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us. You remember our labour and toil, brothers and sisters; we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you while we proclaimed to you the Gospel of God. We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, the word of God, which is also at work in you believers. Gospel    Matthew 23.1-12 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ chair; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practise what they teach. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. They love to have the place of honour at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi. “But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters. And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father — the one in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”