Monday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Forgive!
Alternative Celebration: Learn more here.
Other Celebrations for this Day:
Liturgical Cycle: C | Lectionary Cycle: I
Introduction
The First Reading in Year I will be taken for a whole week from the Book of Wisdom. It was written in Greek in Alexandria, the century before the Christian era. Although he hopes non-Jews too to read it, the author advises mainly his coreligionists to seek wisdom in their faith in God rather than in the surrounding philosophical culture of Alexandria.
It is hard to place the sayings of our Gospel today (Lk 17:1-6) in a coherent context. They rather look like disparate statements about key concerns and messages of Luke: concern for the lowly, the need of forgiving one another, and faith. When Luke speaks about scandal, he is not thinking of giving any bad example, but of obstacles that make people stumble, like Jesus sitting at table with sinners, something totally unacceptable to many Jews. We take the message of forgiveness.
Opening Prayer
God of mercy and compassion,
your Son Jesus Christ has brought us together
as a community of sinners
that knows that you have pardoned us.
When our weaknesses threaten our unity,
remind us of our responsibility for one another.
Let your unifying Spirit give us the strength
to care for one another
and to do all we can to remain
a living, forgiving and welcoming community.
May we meet in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 139:1b-3, 4-6, 7-8, 9-10
R. (24b) Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
O LORD, you have probed me and you know me;
you know when I sit and when I stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
with all my ways you are familiar.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know the whole of it.
Behind me and before, you hem me in
and rest your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
too lofty for me to attain.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
Where can I go from your spirit?
From your presence where can I flee?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I sink to the nether world, you are present there.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
If I take the wings of the dawn,
if I settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
Even there your hand shall guide me,
and your right hand hold me fast.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Shine like lights in the world,
as you hold on to the word of life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Scandals will necessarily come and cause people to stumble, but woe to the one who causes them.
It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around his neck. Truly, this would be better for that person than to cause one of these little ones to fall.
Listen carefully: if your brother offends you, tell him, and if he is sorry, forgive him.
And if he offends you seven times in one day, but seven times he says to you, ‘I’m sorry,’ forgive him.”
The apostles said to the Lord:
“Increase our faith.”
And the Lord said:
“If you have faith, even the size of a mustard seed, you may say to this tree, ‘Be uprooted, and plant yourself in the sea!’ and it will obey you.”
Prayers of the Faithful
– That in all honesty we may acknowledge our sins to the Lord, who knows what is in our hearts, and also to the persons we have hurt, we pray:
– That we may have enough faith to forgive totally and without reservations those who have offended us, we pray:
– That pastors in charge of communities may practice what they teach and inspire their people, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
God our Father,
you bring together at the table of your Son
the weak with the strong, the sick with the healthy.
Let your Son fill us here
with the fullness of his presence,
that we may accept one another
to live with one another in peace and friendship.
We offer you our good will
to welcome one another
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
God our Father,
your Son Jesus has been in our midst
and he has strengthened us with his body and blood.
He made our wounds of sin
his wounds and he healed them.
Let the wounds of our brothers and sisters
become ours, their joys our happiness.
Let your Son teach us the art
of bringing those who err back to you
and into our communities,
without embittering or humiliating them,
without any feeling of superiority,
but simply because they are our brothers and sisters
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Blessing
Let us keep in mind the exhortation Jesus gives us in Luke, to be people of deep faith who can forgive one another and care for the poor and the humble, with the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
REFLECTIONS
10 November 2025
Pope Leo the Great
Luke 17:1-6
In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks about three powerful realities for Christian life: scandal, forgiveness, and faith.
First, the LORD warns against being a cause of scandal. To lead another into sin is to twist the sign-posts of life and send a soul down the wrong path. Like the story of the old man who once turned a signpost as a prank and later feared he had misled travellers forever, our choices and examples have lasting effects.
Second, Jesus insists on boundless forgiveness. The rabbis said that forgiving three times made a man perfect, but Jesus stretches this to a calculation that our mercy must mirror God’s limitless mercy. Forgiveness is not optional for a disciple; it is the very rhythm of Christian life. To forgive is to reflect the love we ourselves have received.
Pope St Leo the Great, whose memory we celebrate today, defended the true faith with clarity and courage, ensuring that the faithful were not misled. His life reminds us that our witness—whether in word, teaching, or daily example—must always point others toward Christ. Today, let us pray for Pope Leo XIV as he celebrates his patron’s day that the Holy Spirit may guide him in leading the Church through the unrelenting practice of reconciliation. True greatness, as St. Leo taught, lies in reflecting the mercy we ourselves have received.
Finally, Jesus emphasises the power of faith. Even faith the size of a mustard seed can uproot those deep-rooted sinful inclinations from our lives; it is trust in God’s power working through us. Faith does not mean denying difficulties but facing them with God. If we approach life saying, “It cannot be done,” nothing will happen. But if we say, “It must be done—with God’s help,” then the impossible becomes possible..
Today, Jesus calls us to be people who do not mislead but guide, who forgive without limit, and who live with faith that transforms impossibility into hope.
Fraternal Correction
“To name and shame” is one of the preferred methods in currency. We love to publicly announce the mistakes of others for the purpose of bringing them to shame. However, is this a redemptive act? Or is it one meant to make us feel good and satisfy our bloodlust? Jesus wouldn’t approve. For, he is pretty direct and clear in his statement as to how to deal with an erring brother or sister: If they offend you, tell them directly and privately about it – which means, do not indulge in public shaming. When they repent, forgive them, even up to seven times a day! This does not mean that we do not hold them accountable for the harm they have done or do not want them to do reparations for the same. It only means that we do not deprive them of their right to basic human dignity, but act with compassion, even as we hold them accountable.
Reflection taken from Bible Diary 2022; written by Fr. Paulson Velyannoor, CMF