26th Week of Ordinary Time - Week Day Readings

Monday, September 29, 2025

Feast of Saints Micheal, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels 

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092925.cfm

183. BACK TO THE ROUTINE (LK 9:37-50)

“I resolved always to prefer labors to comforts, contempt to honors. And, in particular, if on one side a kingdom were offered and on the other the washing of dishes, I would refuse the kingdom and accept the dishwashing so as to be truly like Christ, who humbled himself.”

- St John Berchmans

Luke 9:37-50

Now on the following day when they were coming down from the mountain a large crowd came to meet him. Suddenly a man in the crowd cried out. ‘Master,’ he said ‘I implore you to look at my son: he is my only child. All at once a spirit will take hold of him, and give a sudden cry and throw the boy into convulsions with foaming at the mouth; it is slow to leave him, but when it does it leaves the boy worn out. I begged your disciples to cast it out, and they could not.’ ‘Faithless and perverse generation!’ Jesus said in reply ‘How much longer must I be among you and put up with you? Bring your son here.’ The boy was still moving towards Jesus when the devil threw him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and cured the boy and gave him back to his father, and everyone was awestruck by the greatness of God.

At a time when everyone was full of admiration for all he did, he said to his disciples, ‘For your part, you must have these words constantly in your mind: The Son of Man is going to be handed over into the power of men.’ But they did not understand him when he said this; it was hidden from them so that they should not see the meaning of it, and they were afraid to ask him about what he had just said. An argument started between them about which of them was the greatest. Jesus knew what thoughts were going through their minds, and he took a little child and set him by his side and then said to them, ‘Anyone who welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For the least among you all, that is the one who is great.’ John spoke up. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘we saw a man casting out devils in your so name, and because he is not with us we tried to stop him.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘You must not stop him: anyone who is not against you is for you.’

CHRIST THE LORD Jesus has work to do. He is a King at war, conquering lost and rebellious hearts by renewing them with his love. The era of the Church, before Christ’s second coming, is the era of work and conquest. So his apostles are necessarily called to keep moving, building, and spreading the Kingdom. We all need our mountaintop moments, as Jesus gave to Peter, James, and John at his Transfiguration. These come in many forms – insights and consolations that arrive uninvited at the oddest times, retreats and sabbaticals and vacations that revitalize our minds and hearts with fresh experiences of God’s love and goodness, even particular liturgies or moments of prayer when God makes his presence felt in especially intense ways.

God sends these experiences to us because we need them, but they are not the goal, at least not as long as we are members of the Church Militant here on earth. There is always “the following day when they were coming down the mountain,” when the demands of our daily life and mission clamor once again for attention. When the moments of bliss give way to moments of battle, we can take comfort that for Christ too the mission was demanding, and even at times exasperating: “How much longer must I be among you and put up with you?” The Lord worked and sweated and suffered, and his earthly joys were only vista points on an uphill journey. His ambassadors (that’s us!) are on the same track.

CHRIST THE TEACHER As the time of Jesus’ ministry in the district of Galilee is drawing to its conclusion, St Luke explains that Christ’s popularity reaches an all-time high: “Everyone was full of admiration for all he did.” Precisely at that moment Jesus pulls his disciples aside and reminds them of his coming passion and death. The apostles still fail to understand what he means; they feel the surge of his popularity and are already looking forward to his victory – in fact, they are arguing who will get which positions of honor once the Lord takes his rightful throne. But Jesus insists: it’s not about self-aggrandizement, it’s about self-giving. He tells them that they must keep the Passion, the ultimate model of self- giving, “constantly in your mind.”

Jesus says the same thing to us. We are continually beset by the temptation that led Adam and Eve to their demise, the one at the root of every sin: trying to make earth into heaven, trying to find satisfaction in life apart from God and his commands. Suffering, opposition, toil, hardship – these are the bread and butter of human life in a fallen world, and we will never avoid them completely. Jesus doesn’t save us from them; he saves us through them. He takes the wafers of bread that are made from the grinding and pounding and baking of the wheat, and he turns them into his Body. We are the grains of wheat, and the sufferings of life are the sickle, the millstone, and the oven that make us into hosts with the Host. They turn our lives into other Christs by giving us a chance to rehabilitate our trust in God and develop all the Christian virtues that such trust entails, that make us into fruitful and fulfilling channels of his wisdom and power. Only self-sacrificial, self-forgetful love can give his grace room to work, and that kind of love always involves the cross.

Christians in the Middle Ages had a beautiful phrase that we should all make our own: per crucem ad lucem– “through the cross to the light.” Deciphering the mystery of human life means keeping those words “constantly in mind.”

CHRIST THE FRIEND True friendship can’t be earned, it simply happens. Two people discover in each other a soul mate, and that’s that. That’s what we’re like for Jesus. He doesn’t choose us because we have certain talents, or because we’re popular, useful, or beautiful. He chooses us simply because we are who we are and we delight him. He tries to convince us of this over and over again.

In this passage, while his apostles are arguing about who deserves more recognition and prestige, Jesus puts a little child beside him – in the place of honor. It’s as if he is saying, “Look, I didn’t choose you because of what you deserve. You are like this little child, who by yourself can do nothing to build my Kingdom except delight the King. I chose you because I

delight in you, because I love you. I want you with me. That’s the kind of love I have for you, and that’s the kind of love that will be the sole law of my Kingdom. If you want to be great in my Kingdom, accept my love and love others like that. Think not of yourself, but think of others – delight in them, and serve them.”

CHRIST IN MY LIFE You are all I need, Lord. I only need to know that you are near me and that I’m on the path you want me to be on. With that I am satisfied. At least, I want to live like that. I don’t want my joy to depend on external circumstances. I want to experience truly Christian joy, rooted in your unchanging love for me. Teach me to find you in the moments of calm and in the heat of the battle...

I am struck by how often you warned your apostles about the coming drama of the cross, and how little they understood. But then I have to ask myself, have I understood? I react so violently when my will or my plans or my hopes are contradicted. In your cross is my salvation and that of the whole world. Teach me the wisdom of your cross, Lord...

I know that you love me without any strings attached. Even so, at times I’m afraid. I have been wounded so often. I recoil from such love. Don’t let me, Lord. Come after me. Convince me, Lord, that you love me just because I exist. Convince me, Lord, that nothing I can do will every increase or decrease the love you have for me right now. Reign in my heart with your peace...

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 can we keep our hopes up in the middle of life’s trials and tribulations and daily grind?

3. Why do you think it took the apostles so long to learn the lesson of the cross? How have we learned this lesson in our own lives?

4. What opportunities to exhibit Christian greatness are provided by our daily life- situation?

Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 853, 863 on how to spread Christ’s Kingdom; 699, 1244, and 1261 on Jesus and the little children; 607 and 713 on the meaning and necessity of Christ’s Passion

Tuesday, September 30, 2025

Memorial of St Jerome, Priest and Doctor of The Church

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/093025.cfm

184. BAD EXCUSES (LK 9:51-62)

“You who have been present at this bloody tragedy, learn that all torments seem as nothing to one who has an everlasting crown before his eyes. Your gods are not gods; renounce their worship. He alone for whom I suffer and die is the true God. To die for Him is to live.”

- Last words of St Arcadius, fourth-century martyr

Luke 9:51-62

Now as the time drew near for him to be taken up to heaven, he resolutely took the road for Jerusalem and sent messengers ahead of him. These set out, and they went into a Samaritan village to make preparations for him, but the people would not receive him because he was making for Jerusalem. Seeing this, the disciples James and John said, ‘Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to burn them up?’ But he turned and rebuked them, and they went off to another village. As they travelled along they met a man on the road who said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus answered, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ Another to whom he said, ‘Follow me’, replied, ‘Let me go and bury my father first.’ But he answered, ‘Leave the dead to bury their dead; your duty is to go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.’ Another said, ‘I will follow you, sir, but first let me go and say good-bye to my people at home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Once the hand is laid on the plough, no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’

CHRIST THE LORD Two of Jesus’ closest disciples (James and John) still hadn’t understood their leader. Even as Jesus “resolutely took” the road to Jerusalem, where he would allow himself to be rejected, humiliated, tortured, and executed, they were eager to defend his Lordship by violence and force. On the one hand, they were right: Jesus was the Lord, and he deserved to be welcomed and treated with the highest respect. Therefore, in rejecting him, the Samaritan village deserved censure. But on the other hand, Christ had repeatedly explained that he was on his way to Jerusalem precisely to accept the people’s rejection. Christ reveals God’s mercy precisely by not giving his enemies what they deserve, but by patiently bearing with them. Christ’s Lordship is real, but it differs from what we tend to expect: for Christ, and thus for the Christian, success means fulfilling God’s will, even if that requires suffering, humiliation, rejection, and total failure in the eyes of the world.

CHRIST THE TEACHER These three encounters with these would-be disciples teach us three tough lessons about what it means to follow Christ.

First, we have to give up our security. Christ is trustworthy, but when we follow him, we have to do so one step and one day at a time – he refuses to give us a full outline in advance. Even foxes and birds have the security of their instincts and natural habitats, but Christians are on an unpredictable adventure.

Second, we have to take risks. The words of the Lord to this young man seem harsh, but in the idiom of the time, they probably weren’t. The man’s father was probably not dead at all. Rather, the young man simply said that he wanted to follow the Lord, to leave behind the spiritually dead environment he lived in, but he would do so once his father had grown old and died. He felt the tug of Christ calling him, but he also felt the pull of his comfortable life, of the relationships, hopes, and projects that he had long been attached to. Christ warns him that he needs to heed God’s voice without delay – as risky as it may be.

Finally, we can expect difficulties. Plowing fields by hand was no easy task, and to do it well, to plow a straight and deep furrow, required dedication, perseverance, and just plain hard work. Following Christ is no different. Once we get into it, we discover how demanding it

really is, and we are tempted to look back at the ease and comfort of a self-centered life (conveniently forgetting, of course, about the hardships that go along with that too). But if we go back, we lose. Only Christ’s Kingdom lasts forever, only God can fill the deepest longings of our hearts – the hard work that fidelity to God’s will requires pays for itself witheternal returns.

CHRIST THE FRIEND Christ invites these potential disciples to follow him, just as he invites us to follow him. This is no insignificant detail. If he invites us, it is because he wants us to be with him; he is interested in us, in bringing us into his Kingdom. What we do, whether we follow him or not, matters to him. God really cares about each one of us. As the Catechism (#30) puts it, “[God] never ceases to call every man to seek him, so as to find life and happiness.” If we understood how much we matter to him, it would solve an awful lot of our problems.

Jesus: Would you approve of a doctor who ignored his patient’s illness? Would you hire a coach who never pushed his players to excel? Then why do you resist when I ask you to leave things behind in order to follow me? Unless you make room in your heart for my grace by emptying it of selfishness, how can you be my follower? Remember, whenever I ask something of you, I am the doctor of your soul, the coach of your pursuit of happiness and holiness.

CHRIST IN MY LIFE Why am I so afraid of failure and rejection? You chose exactly those realities as your path of glory. You only cared about fulfilling the Father’s will, so why do I care so much about what others think of me, about performing better than my neighbor? Lord, free my heart from vanity and arrogance and insecurity. Free me to love and give myself as totally and gladly as you did...

I really do want to be your disciple. You know my limits and my circumstances, and you know my possibilities – much better than I do. So teach me to trust in you and your will more than in my own judgment. Teach me to find the balance between sensibility (I know you don’t want me to abandon common sense, since you invented it) and courage...

Since you are God, you think unceasingly of those you love. And since you love me, you must think of me unceasingly. Lord, help me to believe that! Help me to live knowing that you are always surrounding me with your wise, merciful, and loving providence. Inspire me with your love, so I will be generous and courageous in spreading the treasures of your truth and 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. In what circumstances are we tempted to react to others’ rejection of Christ (or of Church teaching) as James and John did? How can we learn to be more Christlike in those situations?

3. How does popular culture encourage us to react to the demands and difficulties involved in following Christ? How does Christ want us to react?

4. How can we deepen our appreciation and awareness of God’s personal interest in each of us? How can we transmit it to those who have no awareness of it all?

Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2340, 1734, 2015 on the need for effort in following Christ; 1846-1848 and 218-221 on God’s mercy and love

Wednesday, October 1, 2025

Memorial of St Therese of The Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of The Church

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100125.cfm

184. BAD EXCUSES (LK 9:51-62)

“You who have been present at this bloody tragedy, learn that all torments seem as nothing to one who has an everlasting crown before his eyes. Your gods are not gods; renounce their worship. He alone for whom I suffer and die is the true God. To die for Him is to live.”

- Last words of St Arcadius, fourth-century martyr

Luke 9:51-62

Now as the time drew near for him to be taken up to heaven, he resolutely took the road for Jerusalem and sent messengers ahead of him. These set out, and they went into a Samaritan village to make preparations for him, but the people would not receive him because he was making for Jerusalem. Seeing this, the disciples James and John said, ‘Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to burn them up?’ But he turned and rebuked them, and they went off to another village. As they travelled along they met a man on the road who said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus answered, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ Another to whom he said, ‘Follow me’, replied, ‘Let me go and bury my father first.’ But he answered, ‘Leave the dead to bury their dead; your duty is to go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.’ Another said, ‘I will follow you, sir, but first let me go and say good-bye to my people at home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Once the hand is laid on the plough, no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’

CHRIST THE LORD Two of Jesus’ closest disciples (James and John) still hadn’t understood their leader. Even as Jesus “resolutely took” the road to Jerusalem, where he would allow himself to be rejected, humiliated, tortured, and executed, they were eager to defend his Lordship by violence and force. On the one hand, they were right: Jesus was the Lord, and he deserved to be welcomed and treated with the highest respect. Therefore, in rejecting him, the Samaritan village deserved censure. But on the other hand, Christ had repeatedly explained that he was on his way to Jerusalem precisely to accept the people’s rejection. Christ reveals God’s mercy precisely by not giving his enemies what they deserve, but by patiently bearing with them. Christ’s Lordship is real, but it differs from what we tend to expect: for Christ, and thus for the Christian, success means fulfilling God’s will, even if that requires suffering, humiliation, rejection, and total failure in the eyes of the world.

CHRIST THE TEACHER These three encounters with these would-be disciples teach us three tough lessons about what it means to follow Christ.

First, we have to give up our security. Christ is trustworthy, but when we follow him, we have to do so one step and one day at a time – he refuses to give us a full outline in advance. Even foxes and birds have the security of their instincts and natural habitats, but Christians are on an unpredictable adventure.

Second, we have to take risks. The words of the Lord to this young man seem harsh, but in the idiom of the time, they probably weren’t. The man’s father was probably not dead at all. Rather, the young man simply said that he wanted to follow the Lord, to leave behind the spiritually dead environment he lived in, but he would do so once his father had grown old and died. He felt the tug of Christ calling him, but he also felt the pull of his comfortable life, of the relationships, hopes, and projects that he had long been attached to. Christ warns him that he needs to heed God’s voice without delay – as risky as it may be.

Finally, we can expect difficulties. Plowing fields by hand was no easy task, and to do it well, to plow a straight and deep furrow, required dedication, perseverance, and just plain hard work. Following Christ is no different. Once we get into it, we discover how demanding it

really is, and we are tempted to look back at the ease and comfort of a self-centered life (conveniently forgetting, of course, about the hardships that go along with that too). But if we go back, we lose. Only Christ’s Kingdom lasts forever, only God can fill the deepest longings of our hearts – the hard work that fidelity to God’s will requires pays for itself with eternal returns.

CHRIST THE FRIEND Christ invites these potential disciples to follow him, just as he invites us to follow him. This is no insignificant detail. If he invites us, it is because he wants us to be with him; he is interested in us, in bringing us into his Kingdom. What we do, whether we follow him or not, matters to him. God really cares about each one of us. As theCatechism (#30) puts it, “[God] never ceases to call every man to seek him, so as to find life and happiness.” If we understood how much we matter to him, it would solve an awful lot of our problems.

Jesus: Would you approve of a doctor who ignored his patient’s illness? Would you hire a coach who never pushed his players to excel? Then why do you resist when I ask you to leave things behind in order to follow me? Unless you make room in your heart for my grace by emptying it of selfishness, how can you be my follower? Remember, whenever I ask something of you, I am the doctor of your soul, the coach of your pursuit of happiness and holiness.

CHRIST IN MY LIFE Why am I so afraid of failure and rejection? You chose exactly those realities as your path of glory. You only cared about fulfilling the Father’s will, so why do I care so much about what others think of me, about performing better than my neighbor? Lord, free my heart from vanity and arrogance and insecurity. Free me to love and give myself as totally and gladly as you did...

I really do want to be your disciple. You know my limits and my circumstances, and you know my possibilities – much better than I do. So teach me to trust in you and your will more than in my own judgment. Teach me to find the balance between sensibility (I know you don’t want me to abandon common sense, since you invented it) and courage...

Since you are God, you think unceasingly of those you love. And since you love me, you must think of me unceasingly. Lord, help me to believe that! Help me to live knowing that you are always surrounding me with your wise, merciful, and loving providence. Inspire me with your love, so I will be generous and courageous in spreading the treasures of yourtruth and 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. In what circumstances are we tempted to react to others’ rejection of Christ (or of Church teaching) as James and John did? How can we learn to be more Christlike in those situations?

3. How does popular culture encourage us to react to the demands and difficulties involved in following Christ? How does Christ want us to react?

4. How can we deepen our appreciation and awareness of God’s personal interest in each of us? How can we transmit it to those who have no awareness of it all?

Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2340, 1734, 2015 on the need for effort in following Christ; 1846-1848 and 218-221 on God’s mercy and love

Thursday, October 2, 2025

Memorial of The Holy Guardian Angels

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100225.cfm

185. WORKING FOR THE LORD (LK 10:1-12)

“I am convinced that there is a great need for the whole Church to rediscover the joy of evangelization, to become a community inspired with missionary zeal to make Jesus better known and loved.”

- Pope Benedict XVI

Luke 10:1-20

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out ahead of him, in pairs, to all the towns and places he himself was to visit. He said to them, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest. Start off now, but remember, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Carry no purse, no haversack, no sandals. Salute no one on the road. Whatever house you go into, let your first words be, Peace to this house! And if a man of peace lives there, your peace will go and rest on him; if not, it will come back to you. Stay in the same house, taking what food and drink they have to offer, for the labourer deserves his wages; do not move from house to house. Whenever you go into a town where they make you welcome, eat what is set before you. Cure those in it who are sick, and say, The kingdom of God is very near to you. But whenever you enter a town and they do not make you welcome, go out into its streets and say, “We wipe off the very dust of your town that clings to our feet, and leave it with you. Yet be sure of this: the kingdom of God is very near.” I tell you, on that day it will not go as hard with Sodom as with that town.’

CHRIST THE LORD Appointing seventy-two disciples to be collaborators in his mission is an action with deep biblical significance. When Moses was leading the people of Israel into the Promised Land, God had him bring seventy elders to the door of the Tabernacle (the tent where the Ark of the Covenant was kept, and where Moses used to meet with God), so that they could receive the spirit of Moses and become his assistants. Later the Sanhedrin, the ruling body of post-exilic Israel, was made up of seventy-one elders. By following this pattern, Christ once again shows that he is bringing the Old Covenant to its fulfillment. The number seventy-two may even have yet another level of meaning. The Book of Genesis described the division of the non-Jewish world into seventy nations. So Jesus’ choice of seventy-two disciples includes those seventy Gentile nations, the nation of Israel, and, perhaps, his Church, the new People of God. In any case, the allusion is clear. Christ is the new Moses; he is bringing a New Covenant and extending it to a new Israel, the Church.

We also see in this passage Jesus’ insistence on his methodology of mediation. He had chosen his twelve closest companions, the apostles, the forerunners of the bishops. He had already sent them out on their first missionary journey. Now that their training has advanced, he gathers another group of assistants and sends them out on a similar mission. The structure of the New People of God is already taking shape, and it is even now hierarchical. Jesus is at the top of the pyramid, his Twelve Apostles come next, and beneath them there is another rung of ministers. Each of these in turn would reach out to others and engage them in building the Kingdom. The Lord came not only to announce the Good News, but to set up the ecclesial structure that would insure its ongoing announcement to the ends of the earth until the end of time, setting a pattern for apostleship that brings the principles of effectiveness and multiplication onto center stage.

CHRIST THE TEACHER Among the many lessons Jesus teaches in this lecture on how to be a Christian apostle, the last one is too often overlooked. He tells his disciples how to react when they are rejected, when their efforts appear to bear no fruit, when they run into opposition, and when they seem to fail in their attempts to win people over to Christ. When that happens, they are simply to shake the dust from their feet and move on.

Everyone remains free to accept or reject God’s grace. If Christ himself suffered seeming failures in the apostolate (the Pharisees weren’t exactly pushovers), should we expect anything more? The greatest danger for an apostle is discouragement. But discouragement comes from unfulfilled expectations. To avoid discouragement, therefore, Jesus points out what our expectations need to be. If we seek only to please the Lord, the Lord will indeed be pleased, even if no one else is.

CHRIST THE FRIEND “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few.” Imagine the emotion behind those words. They express a sense of urgency, a burning desire to reach out to all the men and women who so desperately need direction, meaning, and true love in their lives, and to lead them into the Kingdom. So many needs, so many souls ripe for the Good News! And yet, so few of Christ’s followers are willing to go out and gather them in. The true friends of Christ, the ones he can really count on, will let his yearning love echo in their hearts, and reverberate in their actions.

Priests share this mission in a special way, and Christ therefore allows them to share his yearning love more closely. They are the extension in time and space of Christ himself, who in his wisdom has chosen to work through them to infuse sacramental grace into the Church. Friendship with Christ, then, includes a supernatural appreciation for his priests, an attitude of respect and cooperation, and an eagerness to help those whom Christ is calling hear and heed him.

CHRIST IN MY LIFE You want your saving message to reach every human heart and society. But you also desire to spread that message through the words and actions of your disciples. I am a bit puzzled by your confidence in us, but even so, Lord, I renew my willingness to go wherever you want me to go and do whatever you want me to do to build your Kingdom. Teach me to do your will...

I tend to measure my Christian life in non-Christian terms, as if I could earn more of your love by showing more results in my efforts to build your Kingdom. I know you want the contrary: you want me to work for your Kingdom out of love for you, not in order to earn your love. But my heart is infected with the upside-down insecurity of this fallen world. Heal me with your love...

Your heart is burning with love. Why else would you have left heaven in order to come and suffer and die on earth? You eagerly desire the friendship of people just like me. Jesus, I can do nothing greater for my neighbors – the ones I know well and the ones I barely know at all – than to bring them deeper into your friendship. With the zeal of your heart, inflame my heart...

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 the guidelines that Christ gave the seventy-two apply to us today?

3. What are the biggest obstacles we face in trying to spread Christ’s Kingdom and what would Christ say about them?

4. If Christ asked me to give my life completely to “gathering the harvest,” would I be willing to? If not, why not?

Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 857-865 on the apostolic nature of the Church; 3 and 1267-1270 on the responsibility of each Christian to spread the Kingdom

Friday, October 3, 2025

Friday of The 26th Week in Ordinary Time

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100325.cfm

186. JOY AND HOPE (LK 10:13-24)

“What more do we want than to have at our side a friend so loyal that he will never desert us when we are in trouble or in difficulties, as worldly friends do?”

- St Theresa of Avila

Luke 10:13-24

‘Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. And still, it will not go as hard with Tyre and Sidon at the Judgement as with you. And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be exalted high as heaven? You shall be thrown down to hell. Anyone who listens to you listens to me; anyone who rejects you rejects me, and those who reject me reject the one who sent me.’

The seventy-two came back rejoicing. ‘Lord,’ they said, ‘even the devils submit to us when we use your name.’ He said to them, ‘I watched Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Yes, I have given you power to tread underfoot serpents and scorpions and the whole strength of the enemy; nothing shall ever hurt you. Yet do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you; rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.’ It was then that, filled with joy by the Holy Spirit, he said, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’ Then turning to his disciples he spoke to them in private, ‘Happy the eyes that see what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.’

CHRIST THE LORD Jesus identifies himself with his chosen missionaries. To demonstrate what a high privilege that is, St Luke records some of the boldest claims that Jesus ever made.

First, we hear him reprimand the towns that refused to accept his teaching and apply it to their lives. His reaction to their rejection is passionate and dramatic; he prophesies that their cold reception will lead to their demise on the Day of Judgment. The implication is clear: Jesus is the One sent by the Father, and the way we treat Jesus is the way we treat God, for good or for ill.

Second, he exults in the faith-filled welcome the seventy-two gave to his grace, which enabled them to push back Satan’s conquests and advance Christ’s eternal Kingdom. In the course of that exultation he actually identifies himself with the Father; he explains that although they are two separate persons, they are completely united in the knowledge and love they share – knowledge and love being the two characteristics that bring persons into communion with each other. Here we have a protolesson on the Blessed Trinity.

Third, after celebrating the return of the seventy-two, Jesus speaks alone with his apostles. We can picture his eyes shining with an eager light, his gladness at the seventy-two’s faith still overflowing in his countenance. And then it overflows again in his words as he explains that his mission, his presence in Israel, and the establishment of his Church are what all human history and all salvation history had been looking forward to. He is the “center of the universe and of history.” 1

CHRIST THE TEACHER Commentators vary on their interpretation of the striking phrase, “I watched Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” Some read it as if Jesus were smiling and affirming the reports from the seventy-two disciples that the devils submitted to them. It would be like Jesus saying, “Yes, while you were preaching and healing, I was here and I saw Satan’s rule rolling back wherever you spread the Good News.” Others read the saying as a preface to the rest of his minidiscourse, as a warning against unhealthy pride, which was the cause of Satan’s original fall from grace. In this case, the phrase would mean, “Well, it’s good that you have experienced the power of my salvation, but be careful. If you forget that this power comes not from yourselves but from on high, you may fall into the tragic trap that the devil fell into, thinking that you are on par with God.”

In either case, the lesson of his conversation with the returning disciples remains the same. Those who trust in God and obey his call in their lives, as did the seventy-two, will experience God’s power acting in and through their lives, and that is exactly what Christ is hoping for. And as long as they remember that their fruitfulness and effectiveness is based on God’s initiative and grace working in them, thus staying humble and trusting like “mere children,” all will be well. But if they begin to think too highly of themselves, as if their own greatness were yielding these remarkable results, thus considering themselves “the learned and the clever,” they will self-destruct.

How easy it is, even for those who have spent long years working faithfully in the Lord’s vineyard, to become dangerously proud and self-satisfied! The secret to perseverance in friendship with Christ is to draw our satisfaction not primarily from what we do, but from what God has done for us, and that requires the daily mental discipline of directing our thoughts again and again to God’s goodness, cultivating an attitude of gratitude. After all, what can give us greater happiness than knowing that our “names are written in heaven,” just as the names of citizens in the Greek cities at the time of Christ were carefully kept on regularly updated lists?

CHRIST THE FRIEND The disciples come back “rejoicing.” Jesus catches their spirit, and his acclamation of praise to the Father is given while he is “filled with joy by the Holy Spirit.” The Lord rejoices in our joys, just as much as he sorrows in our sorrows. We have a hard time understanding how deeply interested he is in our lives, but the fact remains, as this passage makes clear – he is deeply interested. This is one of Christianity’s great differences. The God of the Bible cares passionately about every single human soul. Was Jesus’ reaction to Bethsaida and Capernaum’s failure to repent one of indifference? Hardly – it was as full of pathos as his reaction to the successful mission of the seventy-two was full of joy. Christ’s heart beats with our hearts, because it is one with ours, because it came to earth and started beating in the first place in order to save our hearts from loneliness, frustration, and despair. He is the Friend beyond all imagining.

Philip: I will never forget that day when everyone came back from the second mission trip. We were all exhausted but overflowing with enthusiasm. Everyone wanted to tell Jesus about all the wonderful things that had happened. Everyone had some remarkable stories. As we came together, I was thinking to myself that Jesus wouldn’t be as eager to hear our stories as we were to tell them. After all, his own miracles were far beyond the scope of anything we were

doing. But I was wrong. As we approached him he came out towards us. It was as if he had been waiting for us. His eyes were full of welcome – and questions. He wanted to know everything. No detail was too slight for him. It made a lasting impression on me. I remembered it frequently in later years, when we had all gone out to spread the Church. When I prayed, I would remember how eagerly he had listened to the seventy-two, and I would tell him everything, absolutely everything that was going on. He would always answer me, somehow. That’s the way I stayed close to him.

CHRIST IN MY LIFE You have given me the universe. All that I see around me, Lord, is mine, because it is yours. You have given me your very self, and you continue to give me yourself every time I receive Holy Communion. You hold me in the palm of your hand. You, the all-powerful, all-knowing God, shower me with gifts. Thank you, Lord. Blessed be your name through all the earth...

I bear your name, and you have anointed my forehead with the sign of the cross. You have given me a mission in life, just as you gave one to the seventytwo. I am to bring the sweet aroma of your truth and love into the world where I live and work. Make me your faithful disciple, Lord, so that I can experience the joy of your victory, and so bring joy to your heart...

Why do I insist on walking alone through life? You are always thinking of me, like a lover in the full, fresh bloom of love. You are interested in me, wanting to teach and guide me in all my responsibilities, activities, and relationships. You are on the edge of your seat, waiting to see how I will respond to all the blessings and opportunities for growth that you send me. Thank you, 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. How does Christ expect us to build his Kingdom in our current life-situation? What can help us do it more effectively?

3. Christ promises to protect those who trust him and strive to do his work. Have you ever felt that protection? Do the examples of the martyrs contradict Jesus’ promise that “nothing shall every hurt you”?

4. What does popular culture encourage us to “rejoice” in? What would Christ say about that?

Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 27, 30, 384, 1028, 1035, 1723 on how God gives happiness; 774-776 on the Church as the sacrament of salvation; 1554-1571 on the three degrees of holy orders

Saturday, October 4, 2025

Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100425.cfm 

186. JOY AND HOPE (LK 10:13-24)

“What more do we want than to have at our side a friend so loyal that he will never desert us when we are in trouble or in difficulties, as worldly friends do?”

- St Theresa of Avila

Luke 10:13-24

‘Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. And still, it will not go as hard with Tyre and Sidon at the Judgement as with you. And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be exalted high as heaven? You shall be thrown down to hell. Anyone who listens to you listens to me; anyone who rejects you rejects me, and those who reject me reject the one who sent me.’

The seventy-two came back rejoicing. ‘Lord,’ they said, ‘even the devils submit to us when we use your name.’ He said to them, ‘I watched Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Yes, I have given you power to tread underfoot serpents and scorpions and the whole strength of the enemy; nothing shall ever hurt you. Yet do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you; rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.’ It was then that, filled with joy by the Holy Spirit, he said, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’ Then turning to his disciples he spoke to them in private, ‘Happy the eyes that see what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.’

CHRIST THE LORD Jesus identifies himself with his chosen missionaries. To demonstrate what a high privilege that is, St Luke records some of the boldest claims that Jesus ever made.

First, we hear him reprimand the towns that refused to accept his teaching and apply it to their lives. His reaction to their rejection is passionate and dramatic; he prophesies that their cold reception will lead to their demise on the Day of Judgment. The implication is clear: Jesus is the One sent by the Father, and the way we treat Jesus is the way we treat God, for good or for ill.

Second, he exults in the faith-filled welcome the seventy-two gave to his grace, which enabled them to push back Satan’s conquests and advance Christ’s eternal Kingdom. In the course of that exultation he actually identifies himself with the Father; he explains that although they are two separate persons, they are completely united in the knowledge and love they share – knowledge and love being the two characteristics that bring persons into communion with each other. Here we have a protolesson on the Blessed Trinity.

Third, after celebrating the return of the seventy-two, Jesus speaks alone with his apostles. We can picture his eyes shining with an eager light, his gladness at the seventy-two’s faith still overflowing in his countenance. And then it overflows again in his words as he explains that his mission, his presence in Israel, and the establishment of his Church are what all human history and all salvation history had been looking forward to. He is the “center of the universe and of history.” 1

CHRIST THE TEACHER Commentators vary on their interpretation of the striking phrase, “I watched Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” Some read it as if Jesus were smiling and affirming the reports from the seventy-two disciples that the devils submitted to them. It would be like Jesus saying, “Yes, while you were preaching and healing, I was here and I saw Satan’s rule rolling back wherever you spread the Good News.” Others read the saying as a preface to the rest of his minidiscourse, as a warning against unhealthy pride, which was the cause of Satan’s original fall from grace. In this case, the phrase would mean, “Well, it’s good that you have experienced the power of my salvation, but be careful. If you forget that this power comes not from yourselves but from on high, you may fall into the tragic trap that the devil fell into, thinking that you are on par with God.”

In either case, the lesson of his conversation with the returning disciples remains the same. Those who trust in God and obey his call in their lives, as did the seventy-two, will experience God’s power acting in and through their lives, and that is exactly what Christ is hoping for. And as long as they remember that their fruitfulness and effectiveness is based on God’s initiative and grace working in them, thus staying humble and trusting like “mere children,” all will be well. But if they begin to think too highly of themselves, as if their own greatness were yielding these remarkable results, thus considering themselves “the learned and the clever,” they will self-destruct.

How easy it is, even for those who have spent long years working faithfully in the Lord’s vineyard, to become dangerously proud and self-satisfied! The secret to perseverance in friendship with Christ is to draw our satisfaction not primarily from what we do, but from what God has done for us, and that requires the daily mental discipline of directing our thoughts again and again to God’s goodness, cultivating an attitude of gratitude. After all, what can give us greater happiness than knowing that our “names are written in heaven,” just as the names of citizens in the Greek cities at the time of Christ were carefully kept on regularly updated lists?

CHRIST THE FRIEND The disciples come back “rejoicing.” Jesus catches their spirit, and his acclamation of praise to the Father is given while he is “filled with joy by the Holy Spirit.” The Lord rejoices in our joys, just as much as he sorrows in our sorrows. We have a hard time understanding how deeply interested he is in our lives, but the fact remains, as this passage makes clear – he is deeply interested. This is one of Christianity’s great differences. The God of the Bible cares passionately about every single human soul. Was Jesus’ reaction to Bethsaida and Capernaum’s failure to repent one of indifference? Hardly – it was as full of pathos as his reaction to the successful mission of the seventy-two was full of joy. Christ’s heart beats with our hearts, because it is one with ours, because it came to earth and started beating in the first place in order to save our hearts from loneliness, frustration, and despair. He is the Friend beyond all imagining.

Philip: I will never forget that day when everyone came back from the second mission trip. We were all exhausted but overflowing with enthusiasm. Everyone wanted to tell Jesus about all the wonderful things that had happened. Everyone had some remarkable stories. As we came together, I was thinking to myself that Jesus wouldn’t be as eager to hear our stories as we were to tell them. After all, his own miracles were far beyond the scope of anything we were

doing. But I was wrong. As we approached him he came out towards us. It was as if he had been waiting for us. His eyes were full of welcome – and questions. He wanted to know everything. No detail was too slight for him. It made a lasting impression on me. I remembered it frequently in later years, when we had all gone out to spread the Church. When I prayed, I would remember how eagerly he had listened to the seventy-two, and I would tell him everything, absolutely everything that was going on. He would always answer me, somehow. That’s the way I stayed close to him.

CHRIST IN MY LIFE You have given me the universe. All that I see around me, Lord, is mine, because it is yours. You have given me your very self, and you continue to give me yourself every time I receive Holy Communion. You hold me in the palm of your hand. You, the all-powerful, all-knowing God, shower me with gifts. Thank you, Lord. Blessed be your name through all the earth...

I bear your name, and you have anointed my forehead with the sign of the cross. You have given me a mission in life, just as you gave one to the seventytwo. I am to bring the sweet aroma of your truth and love into the world where I live and work. Make me your faithful disciple, Lord, so that I can experience the joy of your victory, and so bring joy to your heart...

Why do I insist on walking alone through life? You are always thinking of me, like a lover in the full, fresh bloom of love. You are interested in me, wanting to teach and guide me in all my responsibilities, activities, and relationships. You are on the edge of your seat, waiting to see how I will respond to all the blessings and opportunities for growth that you send me. Thank you, 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. How does Christ expect us to build his Kingdom in our current life-situation? What can help us do it more effectively?

3. Christ promises to protect those who trust him and strive to do his work. Have you ever felt that protection? Do the examples of the martyrs contradict Jesus’ promise that “nothing shall every hurt you”?

4. What does popular culture encourage us to “rejoice” in? What would Christ say about that?

Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 27, 30, 384, 1028, 1035, 1723 on how God gives happiness; 774-776 on the Church as the sacrament of salvation; 1554-1571 on the three degrees of holy orders