From: Luke 12:8-12

Various Teachings of Jesus (Continuation)

(Jesus said to His disciples,) [8] “And I tell you, every one who acknowledges
Me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God;
[9] but he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.
[10] And every one who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven;
but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. [11] And
when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities,
do not be anxious how or what you are to answer or what you are to say; [12]
for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

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Commentary:

8-9. This follows logically from Christ’s previous teaching: worse than physical
evils, worse even than death, are evils of the soul, that is, sin. Those who out
of fear of temporal suffering deny our Lord and are unfaithful to the demands of
the faith will fall into a greater evil still: they will be denied by Christ Himself on
the Day of Judgment; whereas those who are penalized in this life because of
their faithfulness to Christ will receive the eternal reward of being recognized
by Him and will come to share His glory.

10. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit consists in maliciously attributing to the
devil actions which have God as their origin. A person who does that prevents
God’s pardon from reaching him: that is why he cannot obtain forgiveness (cf.
Matthew 12:31; Mark 3:28-30). Jesus understands and excuses the weakness
of a person who makes a moral mistake, but He is not similarly indulgent to
someone who shuts his eyes and his heart to the wonderful things the Spirit
does; that was the way these Pharisees acted who accused Jesus of casting
out demons in the name of Beelzebul; it is the way unbelieving people act who
refuse to see in Christ’s work a sign of the goodness of God, who reject the
invitation God offers them and who thereby put themselves outside the reach
of salvation (cf. Hebrews 6:4-6; 10:26-31). See the note on Mark 3:28-30.

[The note on Mark 3:28-30 states:

28-30. Jesus has just worked a miracle but the scribes refuse to recognize it
“for they had said ‘He has an unclean spirit’” (verse 30). They do not want to ad-
mit that God is the author of the miracle. In this attitude lies the special gravity
of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit — attributing to the prince of evil, to Satan,
the good works performed by God Himself. Anyone acting in this way will be-
come like the sick person who has so lost confidence in the doctor that he re-
jects him as if an enemy and regards as poison the medicine that can save his
life. That is why our Lord says that he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
will not forgiven: not because God cannot forgive all sins, but because that per-
son, in his blindness towards God, rejects Jesus Christ, His teaching and His
miracles, and despises the graces of the Holy Spirit as if they were designed to
trap him (cf. “St. Pius V Catechism”, II, 5, 19; St. Thomas Aquinas, “Summa
Theologiae”, II-II, q. 14, a. 3).]

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible by Darton, Longman & Todd

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Green.

First reading
Ephesians 1:15-23 ©

Paul’s prayer for the enlightenment of the faithful

I, having once heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus, and the love that you show towards all the saints, have never failed to remember you in my prayers and to thank God for you. May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him. May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, what rich glories he has promised the saints will inherit and how infinitely great is the power that he has exercised for us believers. This you can tell from the strength of his power at work in Christ, when he used it to raise him from the dead and to make him sit at his right hand, in heaven, far above every Sovereignty, Authority, Power, or Domination, or any other name that can be named not only in this age but also in the age to come. He has put all things under his feet and made him, as the ruler of everything, the head of the Church; which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creation.

Responsorial Psalm	Psalm 8:2-7 ©

You gave your Son power over the works of your hand.

How great is your name, O Lord our God,

through all the earth!

Your majesty is praised above the heavens;

on the lips of children and of babes

you have found praise to foil your enemy,

to silence the foe and the rebel.

You gave your Son power over the works of your hand.

When I see the heavens, the work of your hands,

the moon and the stars which you arranged,

what is man that you should keep him in mind,

mortal man that you care for him?

You gave your Son power over the works of your hand.

Yet you have made him little less than a god;

with glory and honour you crowned him,

gave him power over the works of your hand,

put all things under his feet.

You gave your Son power over the works of your hand.

Gospel Acclamation	1S3:9,Jn6:68

Alleluia, alleluia!

Speak, Lord, your servant is listening:

you have the message of eternal life.

Alleluia!

Or:	Jn15:26,27

Alleluia, alleluia!

The Spirit of truth will be my witness;

and you too will be my witnesses.

Alleluia!

Gospel	Luke 12:8-12 ©

If you declare yourselves for me, I will declare myself for you

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘I tell you, if anyone openly declares himself for me in the presence of men, the Son of Man will declare himself for him in the presence of the angels. But the man who disowns me in the presence of men will be disowned in the presence of God’s angels.

‘Everyone who says a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

‘When they take you before synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how to defend yourselves or what to say, because when the time comes, the Holy Spirit will teach you what you must say.’