Day: October 13, 2023

October 13, 2023
Nolan Catholic High School
Fort Worth, Texas

Joel 1:13-15; 2:1-2
Psalm 9:2-3, 6 and 16, 8-9
Luke 11:15-26

Today’s first reading from the Book of Joel is also the first reading for the Mass of Ash Wednesday. The message of the prophet Joel is that each person is first a member of a community, members of one people called to repentance and radical conversion from selfishness to a life directed to love of God and neighbor. The prophet Joel summoned the people for a service of repentance seeking God’s mercy and forgiveness. God, having heard the people’s painful expression of contrition, in turn promised the people of Israel a time of peace and prosperity. The good news is that His judgment is not a judgment of condemnation but a judgment of salvation that liberates us from the power of sin.