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22nd Week of Ordinary Time - Week Day Readings

September 1, 2025

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Monday, September 1, 2025

Monday in the 22nd week of Ordinary Time

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090125.cfm

162. MORE THAN A HUMAN MISSION (LK 4:14-21)

“As there are many kinds of persecution, so there are many forms of martyrdom. You are a witness to Christ every day.”

- St Ambrose

Luke 4:14-21

Jesus, with the power of the Spirit in him, returned to Galilee; and his reputation spread throughout the countryside. He taught in their synagogues and everyone praised him. He came to Nazara, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the

sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written: ‘The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.’ He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to speak to them, ‘This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.’

CHRIST THE LORD Here we have Jesus’ first sermon. He reads a passage from the Old Testament that refers to the Messiah, to the descendent of David whom God promised to raise up to establish a Kingdom of justice and peace that would never end. When he finishes reading it, he sits down (the recognized posture for official teaching in Jewish culture at the time) and pauses, meeting the expectant gazes of everyone gathered in the synagogue. Probably he had read the scripture passage with a force of expression that they had never heard before, and so their attention was riveted on what he was going to say. He looks at them, and speaks: “This passage is fulfilled today, right now: I am that Messiah, that promised Savior, that King whose Kingdom will never end.” If they had difficulty believing it (and they did), and if others throughout the centuries would have the same difficulty (and they would), at least Jesus made clear what exactly it was he wanted them to believe – that he is the Lord.

It is a worthy spiritual exercise every once in a while to examine our faith in Jesus as Lord. Often we get so caught up in our efforts to follow him, to fulfill our responsibilities, to imitate his virtues, and to spread the faith that we forget about the majesty and nobility of our God. Jesus is King of the universe. He is the promised Messiah God had promised to send since the beginning of salvation history. He will come again to judge all people, living and dead, and bring this fallen world to an end, resolving once and for all the struggle between good and evil. Reflecting on this bigger picture can do wonders for putting our little pictures in proper perspective – the Lord’s perspective.

CHRIST THE TEACHER Here St Luke begins his description of Jesus’ public ministry. Jesus will spend the coming two or three years traveling throughout Palestine, teaching, healing, and gathering his Twelve Apostles, whom he will put in charge of the Church after his passion, resurrection, and ascension. His itinerant career is a pattern for every Christian life, in a sense, and for the Church as a whole. He is the light of the world, and through his disciples – through their words, actions, and example – he brings that light to shine in all the sin-darkened corners of the globe. He wants to bring his truth (what he taught) and his grace (that which heals both body and soul) to every human heart, of every epoch and to every nation. This is his mission; this is our mission.

But notice how Jesus set up this pattern of Church life. St Luke points out that Jesus entered Galilee “with the power of the Spirit in him, and the first line of the prophecy he quotes is “the Spirit of the Lord is upon me,” Jesus’ mission was more than a merely human mission, and so is ours. We received that very same Spirit in baptism, and we received a further outpouring of the Spirit in confirmation. Our mission in life, in the Church, and in the world is one that we must carry out depending on God’s supernatural grace and following his

supernatural lead. Much of the frustrations, conflicts, and discouragements that Christians experience come from forgetting this fact. We are instruments, foot soldiers, and ambassadors, but the Holy Spirit is coordinating all of our efforts. If each of us is docile to him, when the last battle comes to its close, we will be amazed at the hidden progress thatblossoms forth in the definitive establishment of Christ’s Kingdom. The most fundamental lesson the active Christian needs to learn is to see all things with eyes enlightened by the Spirit.

CHRIS THE FRIEND Jesus came to bring “good news” to those who suffer, to free captives, and to cure the blind – he came because we needed him to come. We suffer the moral agony of incurable selfishness; we are shackled by our strong tendencies to sin; we are blinded by the sparkling allure of temptation. He came to be our Savior. And when we truly contemplate him, he attracts us with a force that leaves all other material realities far behind. If we want to experience life as God means it to be lived, all we need to do is call upon the name of Jesus and follow where he leads; he is all for us, the perfect friend, the one we can trust without limits.

CHRIST IN MY LIFE Many people consider you to be just one more great philosopher. I know better, Lord. You have given me the gift of faith. I know that you are God made man, the source of all existence, and you come to dwell among your creatures. You stay with us in the Tabernacle; you feed us in Holy Communion. You are all-powerful and all-loving.Never let me be separated from you...

Teach me to lean on you, to listen for your instructions, to pay attention to the teachings and directives of the pope, to live, as you lived, “by the power of the Spirit.” Why do I fear failure when I know you can bring glory out of grime? Why do I fear loneliness when I know you have made me a Temple of the Holy Spirit? Reign fully in me, Lord, for the glory of your name...

I need your grace. What can I do on my own? You know what happens when I try to follow you and build your Kingdom and be faithful to your teaching depending on my own strength alone. I don’t even want to think about it. I am glad to admit that I need you. Without you, I wouldn’t even exist. I would simply disappear, be obliterated. Be my light and my refuge, Lord...

QUESTIONS FOR SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION

1. What struck you most in this passage? What did you notice that you hadn’t noticed before?

2. What evidence should there be in our daily living that we believe Christ’s Kingdom “will have no end”?

3. How can we foster a more responsible and reverential love for Scripture and for the Church?

4. How can we develop the confidence in God that we need in order to be sincere with him in prayer, instead of vainly putting on a show?

Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 430-440 on who Christ is; 456-460 on why Christ came; 74-95 on the transmission of divine revelation

Tuesday, September 2, 2025

Tuesday in the 22nd week of Ordinary Time

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090225.cfm

164. AUTHORITY AND POWER (LK 4:31-44)

“If you seek to know where you are going, stay close to Christ, because he is the truth that we long to reach.”

- St Thomas Aquinas

Luke 4:31-44

He went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath. And his teaching made a deep impression on them because he spoke with authority. In the synagogue there was a man who was possessed by the spirit of an unclean devil, and it shouted at the top of its voice, ‘Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus said sharply, ‘Be quiet! Come out of him!’ And the devil, throwing the man down in front of everyone, went out of him without hurting him at all. Astonishment seized them and they were all saying to one another, ‘What teaching! He gives orders to unclean spirits with authority and power and they come out.’ And reports of him went all through the surrounding countryside. Leaving the synagogue he went to Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever and they asked him to do something for her. Leaning over her he rebuked the fever and it left her. And she immediately got up and began to wait on them. At sunset all those who had friends suffering from diseases of one kind or another brought

them to him, and laying his hands on each he cured them. Devils too came out of many people, howling, ‘You are the Son of God.’ But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ. When daylight came he left the house and made his way to a lonely place. The crowds went to look for him, and when they had caught up with him they wanted to prevent him leaving them, but he answered, ‘I must proclaim the Good News of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, because that is what I was sent to do.’ And he continued his preaching in the synagogues of Judaea.

CHRIST THE LORD In this brief passage, St Luke describes a flurry of activity that sets the tone for the rest of Jesus’ public ministry. He also profiles Christ’s qualifications as Redeemer, as the second Adam who came to restore and renew the fallen world. Adam’s sin had caused the human family to fall under the influence of ignorance, sickness and death, and the devil. Jesus proves his Lordship by overcoming all three of those curses. His teaching makes a deep impression on normal people who are usually full of doubts, questions, and conflicting opinions, because his grasp of the truth is firm and complete. He cures the sick and diseased with a simple word or gesture. The demons flee his very presence, recognizing in him a unique closeness to God and an unassailable spiritual strength (theologians differ on whether the devil knew that Jesus was the incarnate Second Person of the Holy Trinity – the titles “Holy One of God” and “Son of God” could refer, in the Semitic mindset, to a merely human Messiah).

What comes across in these encounters is Christ’s authority. Where even strong and intelligent men have to guess and labor, Jesus simply acts. The same fearlessness and effectiveness are exhibited throughout the centuries in the lives of the Church’s many saints. He is truly a King, and his Kingdom is already well advanced.

CHRIST THE TEACHER Jesus has had great success in his first appearances at Capernaum. Yet he decides to move on. Purely human logic fails to explain such a move, but Jesus leaves behind the adoring crowds and takes his disciples to the next town, because “That is what I was sent to do.”

Every Christian shares in Christ’s mission. We have all received a commission, something to do in this world to advance Christ’s Kingdom. As we make our way through life trying to accomplish it, sometimes we are unsure what the next step should be. Should I move on, or should I stay here? Human logic can shed a bit of light on those decisions, but ultimately, since God is the commander-in-chief who alone has a view of the entire spiritual war, I can only make those decisions wisely if my prayer life is in good shape (and if I make humble use of the advice God sends through his representatives). This is how Jesus discerned when it was time to leave Capernaum: “When daylight came he left the house and made his way to a lonely place.” He went off to pray. In the quiet of prayer, he was able to detect his Father’s will.

And it wasn’t easy to find the time to pray. He had to get up early enough to avoid the crowds, even after what was surely a busy and tiring schedule the day before. He had to find a “lonely place” where he could recollect his spirit and converse peacefully with the Father.

It is possible to picture a faithful Christian who never travels the globe or converts thousands or builds cathedrals – indeed, plenty of saints have lived outwardly normal and unspectacular lives. But it is not possible to picture a faithful Christian who doesn’t give God the time he deserves every day in prayer. If Christ needed it, we all need it.

CHRIST THE FRIEND Simon Peter’s mother-in-law knew what it meant to be Christ’s friend. As soon as he healed her, she “immediately got up and began to wait on them.” She learned from Jesus, who came to serve. When we experience his saving power in our lives, the most natural way to respond is to stand up and join his team, loving and serving others as Jesus has loved and served us.

Friendship is, among other things, a kind of partnership. Jesus has a mission to win over hearts for his Kingdom, to bring lost and frustrated souls back into communion with God. When he offers us his friendship, he also offers us a share in his work. He wants us to experience the joy of loving as he loves, because that’s what he created us to do. Simon Peter’s mother-in-law got the picture; Jesus hopes that we get it too.

CHRIST IN MY LIFE Sometimes I think that if I could just see you and hear your voice, my life would take on an entirely different sheen. But that’s not true. It’s not lack of knowledge that hinders my discipleship – in fact, you are always speaking to me – it’s my persistent selfish tendencies. They weaken my confidence in you and make me deaf to your words. Give me the strength to rein in my self-centeredness, so you can work more freely in and through my life...

Thank you for the gift of prayer. It’s something I take for granted. At any time, at any place, I can turn to you and know for certain that you hear me and pay attention to me. No busy numbers, no voicemails, no crammed inboxes – you are always attentive and eager to hear and answer me. I have a direct line. Teach me to pray, Lord. Teach me to live always in the light of your truth and love...

I can’t imagine what life would be like without your friendship. What hope would I have? Where would I go to repent of my sins, to get the light and strength I need for my life’s mission, to restore my soul? And what would I look forward to after death? But many, many people haven’t accepted your offer of friendship. Make me an instrument of your grace...

QUESTIONS FOR SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION

1. What struck you most in this passage? What did you notice that you hadn’t noticed before?

2. How do you think the disciples might have reacted when Jesus said it was time to move on to another town?

3. Why do you think Jesus ordered the demons to stay quiet about his identity as Messiah?

4. Many people don’t believe in the devil, but the Gospels clearly show the reality of demonic action and presence in the world. How would you explain the devil’s existence to a skeptical, agnostic friend?

Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 397, 413, 1707, 2583, 2851 on the devil as the origin of evil; 394-395, 398, 2851-2852 on the works of the devil; 547-550 on the signs of the Kingdom of God

Wednesday, September 3, 2025

Memorial of St Gregory the Great Pope and Doctor of The Church

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090325.cfm

Luke 4:31-44

QUESTIONS FOR SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION

1. What struck you most in this passage? What did you notice that you hadn’t noticed before?

2. How do you think the disciples might have reacted when Jesus said it was time to move on to another town?

3. Why do you think Jesus ordered the demons to stay quiet about his identity as Messiah?

Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 397, 413, 1707, 2583, 2851 on the devil as the origin of evil; 394-395, 398, 2851-2852 on the works of the devil; 547-550 on the signs of the Kingdom of God

Thursday, September 4, 2025

Thursday in the 22nd week of Ordinary Time

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090425.cfm

165. CATCHING FISH AND LEAVING BOATS (LK 5:1-11)

“Christ is the light and the lamp stand is Peter.”

- St Ephraem

Luke 5:1-11

Now he was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats close to the bank. The fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats – it was Simon’s – and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch’. ‘Master,’ Simon replied ‘we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.’ And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking point. When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, ‘Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.’ For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made; so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners. But Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now

on it is men you will catch.’ Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed him.

CHRIST THE LORD Jesus shows his mastery over the hearts of men (the crowd was “pressing round” him to hear him speak) and over the forces of nature (they caught a “huge number of fish”). Yet when he asks Peter to “put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch,” the future Apostle complains before he obeys. However many times God shows himself worthy of our trust (creation, the Incarnation, the Passion, the Resurrection, the sacraments – what more could he have done to win us over?), we still hesitate to do things his way. We need to acknowledge him as Lord not only with our lips, but with our hearts as well, and with our decisions. Like Peter, we need to apply all our natural effort (they had been fishing all night), but then take the extra step of faith: “Master...if you say so, I will...”

This applies to our apostolic endeavors, but it also applies to our moral lives. Many times the Church’s teaching on controversial moral issues (for example, artificial and assisted reproduction, contraception, divorce and remarriage) is hard to understand on a merely natural level, especially when the prevailing culture bombards us with contrary views. In those moments especially, we need to realize that the life we are called to live surpasses our natural capacities. Jesus could never have proved to Peter beforehand that he would take in a miraculous catch in the middle of broad daylight, but that’s what the Lord had in store for his disciple. To experience the wonderful action of God’s grace in our lives, we have to bolster our natural understanding with supernatural faith (we need both faith and reason – either one without the other is not Christianity), and then we, like Peter, will draw in a wondrous catch.

CHRIST THE TEACHER Whenever we trust Jesus sufficiently to admit the limits of our merely human judgment, God rewards us in multiple ways. He gives us a greater experience of his goodness (the enormous catch of h); he gives us a deeper knowledge of ourselves (in the wake of the miracle Peter sees clearly, maybe for the first time in his life, how arrogant and headstrong he really is: “I am a sinful man...”); he brings us closer to him, giving us a more intimate knowledge of him and the mission he has entrusted to us (“from now on you will be catching men...they left everything and followed him...”).

Whenever God asks anything of us, it is always for our good and for the good of his Kingdom. This is the experience of all the saints – as soon as they launch themselves into the enterprises of God, life takes on an entirely new and indescribable dimension. On the other hand, when we hesitate, or demand proofs, or measure God by the undersized standards of human reason, we inhibit him from showing forth his goodness and love. But when we make an act of trust in God, obeying his will even when our human nature resists, God rewards us beyond our wildest imaginations.

CHRIST THE FRIEND God doesn’t want to do everything by himself; he wants us to help him. He wants it so much that he makes himself weak in order to actually need our help. In this passage, he asks Peter to take him out from the shore so he can more effectively address the crowds – God enlists the help of a fisherman to make his voice heard! Since that moment, the advance of Christ’s cause has been linked to an unbroken chain of men and

women generous enough to lend their boats to the Lord, just as Peter did – or even to dock their boats, to “leave everything, and follow” him. He doesn’t want to impose his Kingdom from above; he wants us to enter freely into it, and help others to do the same, walking right beside him.

Andrew: It was mid-morning, my least favorite time of day. We were fixing our nets on the shore – my least favorite task. Everyone was tired and surly. As Jesus came by with the crowds I didn’t even look up, I was in such a rotten humor. But he came over to us. I could tell Simon didn’t want to oblige the Master, but sometimes it was simply impossible to say no to Jesus. We rowed out a little way. You should have seen the faces of the people as they listened to Jesus. They didn’t miss a syllable. You could see their souls in their eyes, begging him for solace. I was barely listening to him. I couldn’t look away from the crowd. Some of their faces were full of joy and enthusiasm. Others were yearning for something. Others were trying to hide, but unable to pull themselves away. When Jesus asked us to put out for a catch, I was still thinking about all those people. And then, when we drew in the overflowing nets, and when he told Simon that he would make us into fishers of men, it all came together. The fish were like the crowd of people; the boat was like his Kingdom. From then on I wanted only one thing: to go wherever Jesus went.

CHRIST IN MY LIFE I believe in you, Lord, and I believe in your Church. You continue to teach and guide the human family in every era and in every place through the living Magisterium of your Church. I want to follow you, and I want to experience the life you created me to live, and so I commit myself once again to be a faithful child of the Church, your chosen sacrament of salvation...

I am impressed by Peter’s faith. He resisted at first, but when he saw the light in your eyes, he did what you asked him. And he did it only because it was you who were asking. I want to be like that. I want to see the light in your eyes and obey your every command, your every indication. You are the Lord; you are my Savior; Thy will be done...

Take my boat, Lord; enter into my life and use it to preach your saving message. I will go wherever you ask me. I will do whatever you require of me. Give me the strength to persevere in your will, no matter how dull or how painful it may become. You alone have the words of eternal life; turn my life into an amplifier that will make them resound to the ends of the earth...

QUESTIONS FOR SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION

1. What struck you most in this passage? What did you notice that you hadn’t noticed before?

2. Why do you think Christ told Peter, “Do not be afraid”?

3. Why do you think Christ decided to give the men a miraculous catch of fish?

4. Is Christ asking us (or me personally) to “put out in the deep” in any way? If so, is he pleased with our (my) response?

Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 547-550 on the signs of the Kingdom; 551-553 on the primacy of Peter (from whose boat Jesus taught) among the Apostles

Friday, September 5, 2025

Friday in the 22nd week of Ordinary Time

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090525.cfm

167. MAKING ALL THINGS NEW (LK 5:27-39)

“As the tree is known by its fruits, so they who claim to belong to Christ are known by their actions; for this work of ours does not consist in just making professions, but in a faith that is both practical and lasting.”

- St Ignatius of Antioch

Luke 5:27-39

When he went out after this, he noticed a tax collector, Levi by name, sitting by the customs house, and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And leaving everything he got up and followed him. In his honour Levi held a great reception in his house, and with them at table was a large gathering of tax collectors and others. The Pharisees and their scribes complained to hisdisciples and said, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’ Jesus said to them in reply, ‘It is not those who are well who need the doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the virtuous, but sinners to repentance.’ They then said to him, ‘John’s disciples are always fasting and saying prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees too, but yours go on eating and drinking.’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely you cannot make the bridegroom’s attendants fast while the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come, the time for the bridegroom to be taken away from them; that will be the time when they will fast.’ He also told them this parable, ‘No one tears a piece from a new cloak to put it on an old cloak; if he does, not only will he have torn the new one, but the piece taken from the new will not match the old. And nobody puts new wine into old skins; if he does, the new wine will burst the skins and then run out, and the skins will be lost. No; new wine must be put into fresh skins. And nobody who has been drinking old wine wants new. The old is good, he says.’

CHRIST THE LORD Christ’s invitation to Levi (aka Matthew) is odd. In fact, the word “invitation” doesn’t describe it very well. It’s more like a command. Jesus doesn’t say, “Levi, would you like to join my band of disciples?” or “Levi, how would you feel about taking some time off work to come and learn how to save your soul?” Instead, he simply looks at Levi and orders him, with no explanation, to follow him: “Follow me.”

Jesus is either a megalomaniac or the Lord. Who else would issue such a definitive, personal command? This is no cajoling philosopher; this is a King exercising his rights over his beloved subjects. And Levi makes the right response: when your King sends for you, you come. He is our King too, and he is daily sending for us – how he hopes that we will have the same courage and love that Levi had, so he can make us too into the saints he created each one of us to be.

CHRIST THE TEACHER Following Jesus involves change. Levi the tax collector makes himself into a living parable of this fundamental Christian truth – Jesus called him, and Levi responded the way everyone must respond if they want to enter Christ’s Kingdom. First, St Luke tells us that Levi’s response required “leaving everything.” Jesus is not a TV show that you can turn on and off when you feel like it, or a website you can visit at your leisure and forget about the rest of the time. Jesus is God. To make room in one’s life for his voice, his action, means taking a huge risk. We have to be willing to give up whatever Jesus demands

that we give up. Second, St Luke mentions that Levi “got up” and followed the Lord. He had to step out of his comfort zone. Christ teaches us that life on earth is a mission, not a vacation – a journey, not a destination. Jesus is constantly demanding more from his followers, constantly upsetting their plans and their ease, because love does that: it settles only for the very best, which means inciting continual growth in virtue and wisdom (along with the required growing pains).

Levi’s response is a living parable about what the Christian life involves, but to make sure the lesson sticks, Jesus complements Levi’s example with some normal parables. Old clothes are comfortable; old, familiar wine is pleasant. When Christ comes into our lives, he brings new clothes and new wine, and responding generously to his call means making an uncomfortable and at first unpleasant adjustment. And as our friendship with Christ grows, he continues to surprise us with another set of new clothes, with another new batch of wine. Earth is not heaven, so while we are on earth making our way to heaven, we can never rest on our laurels. The authentic Christian never conforms to what he has already accomplished, because Christ always has more for us to learn, to do, and to become.

CHRIST THE FRIEND St Luke paints a vivid picture of the encounter between Jesus and Levi. Jesus is walking downtown, probably with his disciples, and sees Levi there at his office. Luke says that Jesus “noticed a tax collector, Levi by name.” Isn’t it just like Jesus to notice someone – what a torrent of instruction rushes out of that one little verb! It means that the Lord is always on the lookout. It means that Jesus is thinking not of himself, but of us and of our needs. It means that Jesus recognizes the needs and desires and yearnings of our hearts. Jesus notices this unhappy tax collector, a social pariah, and calls him, renews his life, and gives him a mission and a meaning.

That’s what Jesus does. He is the doctor of every soul; he detects our every need and hope, and he prescribes the perfect medicine. He is the bridegroom of every heart; he gazes on us with personal, determined love and leads us into the everlasting adventure of indescribable intimacy and communion with God. Jesus is a friend, true – but what a friend he is, and what great friends he teaches us to be!

CHRIST IN MY LIFE You deserve my whole allegiance and my unconditional obedience. You created me. You placed me on this wonderful, mysterious earth. You gave me faith and showed me the purpose of my life: to know you and love you, and to help build up your Kingdom. I don’t need to know anything else, Lord. Your word is enough for me. Thy will be done in every corner of my life...

Lord, sometimes I wonder why you keep asking me for more, why you keep sending me more crosses, more missions. Why can’t we relax and take it easy? I know the answer: because you love me too much, and you love every person too much – you suffered and died to win us grace, and you want that grace to fill us and lead us to true meaning and lasting happiness. Lord Jesus, I trust in you...

I remember the first time I heard your voice in my heart. I was like Levi, living an average life, wanting more but not knowing where to find it. And you noticed me. You notice me every day, every moment. Give me a heart like yours, one that responds like Levi to your

every wish, and in turn reaches out to others as you have reached out to me. Teach me, Lord...

QUESTIONS FOR SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION

1. What struck you most in this passage? What did you notice that you hadn’t noticed before?

2. What have been some of the more difficult changes Christ has asked of you in your life?

3. Levi followed Jesus generously and enthusiastically. What can inhibit us from doing the same?

4. How can we reach out to sinners who need Christ without falling into their sins?

Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1500-1513 on Christ the physician; 545 and 588 on the universality of Christ’s mercy; 796 on Christ as the bridegroom of the Church

Saturday, September 6, 2025

Saturday in the 22nd week of Ordinary Time

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090625.cfm

168. THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD (LK 6:1-16)

“For we can have no life apart from Jesus Christ; and as he represents the mind of the Father, so our bishops, even those who are stationed in the remotest parts of the world, represent the mind of Jesus Christ.”

- St Ignatius of Antioch

Luke 6:1-16

Now one sabbath he happened to be taking a walk through the cornfields, and his disciples were picking ears of corn, rubbing them in their hands and eating them. Some of the Pharisees said, ‘Why are you doing something that is forbidden on the sabbath day?’ Jesus answered them, ‘So you have not read what David did when he and his followers were hungry – how he went into the house of God, took the loaves of offering and ate them and gave them to his followers, loaves which only the priests are allowed to eat?’ And he said to them, ‘The Son of Man is master of the sabbath’. Now on another sabbath he went into the synagogue and began to teach, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees were watching him to see if he would cure a man on the sabbath, hoping to find something to use against him. But he knew their thoughts; and he said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Stand up! Come out into the middle.’ And he came out and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, ‘I put it to you: is it against the law on the sabbath to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to destroy it?’ Then he looked round at them all and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand’. He did so, and his hand was better. But they were furious, and began to discuss the best way of dealing with Jesus. Now it was about this time that he went out into the hills to pray; and he spent the whole night in prayer to God. When day came he summoned his disciples and picked out twelve of them; he called them ‘apostles’: Simon whom he called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot who became a traitor.

CHRIST THE LORD Jesus is Lord, but he exercises his Lordship through normal human channels. For the duration of the Old Covenant, he governed his Chosen People through prophets, judges, and kings – through flesh and blood human beings. He established his Covenant with Israel through Abraham; he sent them the Law through Moses; he led them into the Promised Land through Joshua; he made them into a Kingdom through Samuel, Saul, and David. God most often sends his grace into human lives through human instruments.

At this point in his ministry, however, Jesus is seeing that the current religious leaders of Israel, who were supposed to be acting as those instruments for that generation, were closing themselves off to his teaching. He answers their objection to the disciples’ picking and eating corn on the Sabbath; he explains why their conception of Sabbath regulations is wrong (they have forgotten the reason behind it) and proves the validity of his explanation and his claim to be Lord of the Sabbath by a dramatic miracle. But in spite of these and other proofs and arguments, the Pharisees and Scribes become outraged and harden their minds and hearts even more to the Messiah.

So Jesus goes off to pray. And in his prayer he sees that the time has come to prepare a new generation of leaders who will be his instruments of grace for the New Covenant. The leaders of the Old Covenant have relinquished their roles by rejecting Jesus, who will now name a new generation of shepherds. When his night vigil comes to a close, he chooses twelve of his disciples to be his special envoys, and the Apostolic College, the first bishops of the Church, is established. The Lord changes the Covenant, but he doesn’t change his methodology: in the New People of God, just as in the Old People of God, he will administer his grace and his salvation through human instruments. He likes to treat us like the people we are.

CHRIST THE TEACHER The Pharisees had become obsessed with their appearance of holiness. They were convinced that external formalities sufficed; if they followed all the rules, that was all that mattered. But in truth they were missing the very point of the rules. The Law of the Old Covenant was a gift of God to his Chosen People. It was aimed at helping them learn to love God and their neighbors better. At the time of Christ, the Pharisees, the experts in interpreting this Law and in carrying it out to the minutest external detail, had forgotten this essential purpose. And so, when Jesus performs a work of mercy (a miraculous work that could only have been performed with God’s direct intervention) that contradicts the Sabbath rules (you could heal mortal wounds on the Sabbath, but not illnesses or wounds that weren’t putting one’s life in immediate danger), the Pharisees become violently indignant, “furious” St Luke tells us. Their self-righteousness had blinded them completely to God’s action, God’s presence, and the real needs of their neighbors.

It is easy to point fingers at these Pharisees. It is easy to see how foolish and hard-hearted they were. But the Gospels don’t remind us of them just so we can shake our heads in disdain. We too can fall into the exact same trap. How many divisions in the Church happen because we are so attached to appearances (to our appearance) that we neglect the substance! How many times arguments drive divisions deeper just because we are concerned about keeping up vain appearances!

The human heart easily gets too attached to its own practices and preferences, so that other practices and preferences are looked upon not simply as different, but as inferior. Does it please Christ when we break into cliques and quarreling camps? Didn’t he give us the papacy to guarantee unity by identifying and protecting what must be maintained and held by all his followers and to determine where variety is allowed? The ancient Pharisees destroyed Christ; modern Pharisees continue, tragically, to wound his Body.

CHRIST THE FRIEND Jesus spends the whole night in prayer. It’s clear that he is praying about his next day’s choice of the Twelve Apostles. He chooses carefully, purposely – not randomly. He chooses each one by name.

Christianity is the most personal of religions. True, Christians become members of Christ’s Body, of the family of the Church, but their individuality is not destroyed – it is liberated. Jesus knows each of his followers by name. That list of names that St Luke records assures us that in God’s eyes none of us is a mere statistic. None of us is overlooked or chosen by mistake. God is the God of the entire universe, but he knows each of us through and

through, and he calls each one of us to follow him individually. We are not generic soldiers in a zombie army. Christ’s followers are, first and foremost, his personal friends.

CHRIST IN MY LIFE Sometimes I think that it would be more convenient if I could follow you without the Church, in a purely one-on-one religion. I wouldn’t have to bother with other people, many who rub me the wrong way. But you want to send your grace through human instruments. Teach me why, Lord, so that I can love as you love...

The law of your Kingdom is self-giving, not self-assertion. The Pharisees didn’t understand that. Lord, I am afraid of becoming like those Pharisees. I see that I too have a tendency toward self-righteousness, a tendency to think I am always right, a tendency to get stuck in my opinions. Keep me humble, Lord. Teach me to love my neighbor as you have loved me. Never let me be separated from you...

You know my name, and you have told me yours. How much peace this should give me! You call me by name! You have gone to heaven to prepare a place there just for me, with my name on it. No one else can love you or know you in quite the same way as I can. Thank you, Lord. Teach me to live in the peace of your love and leave behind the pressure of merely keeping up appearances...

QUESTIONS FOR SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION

1. What struck you most in this passage? What did you notice that you hadn’t noticed before?

2. In all the lists of Apostles that appear in the New Testament, Peter is always put first and Judas last. Do you think that arrangement is significant?

3. Once again we see Jesus going off to pray, all by himself. What is the biggest obstacle in your prayer life? What has been the biggest help?

4. If a non-Catholic Christian friend asked you why you don’t just “go right to God” instead of “going through a priest or the pope,” how would you respond?

Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 857-865 on the Apostolicity of the Church; 758- 769 on the Church’s origin and mission; 587-591 on the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees

22nd Week of Ordinary Time - Week Day Readings

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