Daily Readings

November 7, 2025

Friday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time

 

Reading I

Romans 15:14–21

 

I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience – by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God – so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.”

 

Responsorial Psalm

 Psalm 98:1, 2–3ab, 3cd–4 

 

Response: The Lord has shown his deliverance to the nations.

 

O sing a new song to the Lord,

for he has worked wonders.

His right hand and his holy arm

have brought salvation.

 

Response: The Lord has shown his deliverance to the nations.

 

The Lord has made known his salvation,

has shown his deliverance to the nations.

He has remembered his merciful love

and his truth for the house of Israel.

 

Response: The Lord has shown his deliverance to the nations.

 

All the ends of the earth have seen

the salvation of our God.

Shout to the Lord, all the earth;

break forth into joyous song,

and sing out your praise.

 

Response: The Lord has shown his deliverance to the nations.

 

Alleluia

1 John 2:5

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Whoever keeps Christ’s word, in him truly the love of God is perfected.

 

Gospel

Luke 16:1–8

 

At that time: Jesus said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ‘He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ “He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.

Reflection

 

Luke 16:1-8 is often referred to as the Parable of the dishonest manager or the unjust steward. In this parable, Jesus tells the story of a manager who was accused of wasting his employer’s resources. Just as the manager was called to account for his actions, we are all called to be accountable for how we use the resources and opportunities we are given. If we prove ourselves faithful in managing small things, we will be entrusted with greater responsibilities. Worldly wealth is temporary, we are called to use it wisely to prepare for our eternal future and not be controlled by the spirit of worldliness. Just as the manager was focused on securing his earthly future, we,  as children of God, should be concerned with our eternal destiny. How can we make wise use of our resources today?

 

Saint Willibrord, Bishop Confessor

 

Born in Northumbria in 658, St Willibrord was a Benedictine monk who had his early education at the Abbey of Ripon near York. At 20, he went to Ireland and spent 12 years under St Egbert who commissioned him and 11 companions to the mission to Frisia.

 

When Willibrord visited Rome in 692 he received the apostolic authorization for his missionary labours. When he visited Rome a second time he was consecrated Archbishop of the Frisians by Pope Sergius I on 21 November 695 and given the name Clement, which means “merciful”.

 

He founded a monastery at Utreht (Holland), built a church in the city which he made his cathedral and, in 698 established an abbey at Villa Echternach.

 

In 716, Radbod gained possession of Frisia, forcing Willibrord into exile, destroying churches and replacing them with temples dedicated to idols. But soon after his death in 719, Willibrod returned and, with the assistance of St Boniface, undertook the repairs and rebuilding of churches and the work of conversion in Frisia.

 

St Willibrord died at Echternach, Luxembourg, on 7 November 739 and was buried at the abbey church which has ever since been a place of pilgrimage.

 

Reflection: “There are some who desire knowledge merely for its own sake; and that is shameful curiosity. And there are others who desire to know, in order that they may themselves be known; and that is vanity, disgraceful too.… But there are also some who desire knowledge, that they may build up the souls of others with it and that is charity. Others, again, desire it that they may themselves be built up thereby; and that is prudence. Of all these types, only the last two put knowledge to the right use” (St Bernard).

Daily Readings

November 6, 2025

Thursday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time

 

Reading 1

Romans 14:7–12

 

Brethren: None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 27:1, 4, 13–14

 

Response: I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.

 

The Lord is my light and my salvation;

whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life;

whom should I dread?

 

Response: I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.

 

There is one thing I ask of the Lord,

only this do I seek:

to live in the house of the Lord

all the days of my life,

to gaze on the beauty of the Lord,

to inquire at his temple.

 

Response: I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.

 

I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness

in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord; be strong;

be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!

 

Response: I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.

 

Alleluia

Matthew 11:28

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, says the Lord.

 

Gospel

Luke 15:1–10

 

At that time: The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

 

Reflection

 

Jesus teaches us a different way of looking at things as compared to the ways of the world. While the world often values the successful, Jesus seeks out those who are lost. In today’s Gospel, he narrates two powerful parables: one about a shepherd leaving ninety-nine sheep to find the one lost sheep and another about a woman searching for a single lost coin. These stories show how personal Jesus’ love is for each person. No matter how imperfect someone may seem, she/he is important in Jesus’ eyes. He is willing to invest time and care for each individual. These parables redefine devotion, showing that devotion is not just our loyalty to God but also God’s faithfulness, always ready to welcome us with an open heart. Are we ready to accept that loving embrace?

 

Saint Leonard of Limousin, Abbot Confessor

 

A nobleman at the Frankish Court of Clovis I, St Leonard is said to have been converted to Christianity by St Remigius of Reims (France). He became a monk, preached the Gospel in Gascony, and founded the Abbey of Noblac, which he governed until his death. Esteemed highly by King Clovis, he was granted the rare privilege of releasing from prison whomever he chose.

 

St Leonard’s was one of the most popular cults in southern Germany, Austria and Bohemia, especially in the Middle Ages, and innumerable favours were noted through his intercession.

 

He is revered as the Patron of the sick, the insane, of women in childbirth, and of prisoners.

 

Reflection: “It is by humility that the Lord allows himself to be conquered, so that he will do all we ask him” (St Teresa of Avila).

Daily Readings

November 5, 2025

Wednesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time

 

Reading 1

Romans 13:8–10

 

Brethren: Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet”, and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

 

Responsorial psalm

Psalm 112:1b–2, 4–5, 9

 

Response: It goes well for the man who deals generously and lends.

 

Blessed the man who fears the Lord,

who takes great delight in his commandments.

His descendants shall be powerful on earth;

the generation of the upright will be blest.

 

Response: It goes well for the man who deals generously and lends.

 

A light rises in the darkness for the upright;

he is generous, merciful, and just.

It goes well for the man

who deals generously and lends,

who conducts his affairs with justice.

 

Response: It goes well for the man who deals generously and lends.

 

Open-handed, he gives to the poor;

his justice stands firm forever.

His might shall be exalted in glory.

 

Response: It goes well for the man who deals generously and lends.

 

Alleluia

1 Peter 4:14

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

 

Gospel

Luke 14:25–33

 

At that time: Great crowds accompanied Jesus, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

 

Reflection

 

To be a genuine disciple of Jesus, we must empty ourselves because he constantly brings forth the new. Jesus desires us to connect with our true selves, where we wholly belong to God. In this divine core, we must respond to life’s demands faithfully. This is how we truly become his disciples. Often, needless attachments weigh us down, blinding us to our inner divinity and the world around us. These attachments, hinder our discipleship. To be a disciple means surrendering completely and letting go of all attachments. It is about having a clear vision of what it means to follow Jesus on the path of surrender. This surrender comes with trust, even in difficulties. Trust lightens life’s burdens and leads to joyful surrender, the essence of discipleship.

 

Saint Bertilla, Virgin

 

Bertilla was Born into one of the most illustrious families in the territory of Soissons (France) during the reign of Dagobert I, Bertilla grew up witnessing the many ills of the world at large, its deceptions and follies and earnestly sought to renounce it. Not daring to inform her parents about her decision she consulted St Ouen, the Bishop of Rouen, who encouraged her in her resolve and advised her to pray for perseverance.

 

In time, when her parents were informed of her desire, God obviously inclined them not to thwart or oppose it. They sent her to Jouarre, a monastery near Meaux, founded not long before under the Rule of St Columban. Received there with great joy, she was trained up in the strictest practices of monastic perfection; by her humility and perfect submission to all, she seemed everyone’s friend in need and acquitted herself with such great charity and edification that she was soon chosen prioress to assist the abbess in her administration.

 

The fame of this saint and her disciplinary acts in this community attracted a number of foreign vocations; it is here that the widowed Queen Bathildis retired, taking the habit from her hands and living a life of humility and submission, as also did another Queen, Hereswitha, widow of King Ethelhere of East Angels. But the holy abbess Bertilla seemed to all the most humble even among these humble Queens.

 

Bertilla governed the community with equal vigour and discretion, until the close of her life.

 

Reflection: “However great the work that God may achieve by an individual, he must not indulge in self-­satisfaction. He ought rather to be all the more humble, seeing himself merely as a tool which God has made use of” (St Vincent de Paul).

 

 

 

 Daily Readings

November 4

Memorial of Saint Charles Borromeo, Bishop

 

Reading 1

Romans 12:5–16a

 

Brethren: We, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honour. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 131:1, 2, 3

 

Response: Keep my soul in peace at your side, O Lord.

 

O Lord, my heart is not proud,

nor haughty my eyes.

I have not gone after things too great,

nor marvels beyond me.

 

Response: Keep my soul in peace at your side, O Lord.

 

Truly, I have set my soul

in tranquility and silence.

As a weaned child on its mother,

as a weaned child is my soul within me.

 

Response: Keep my soul in peace at your side, O Lord.

 

O Israel, wait for the Lord,

both now and forever.

 

Response: Keep my soul in peace at your side, O Lord.

 

Alleluia

Matthew 11:28

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, says the Lord.

 

Gospel

Luke 14:15–24

 

At that time: One of those who reclined at table with Jesus said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please excuse me.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to examine them. Please excuse me.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’”

 

Reflection

 

Scripture frequently refers to banquets as symbols of abundance and generosity. It is disheartening to know that there are still millions of people in the world who cannot afford even a single nutritious meal a day. Mahatma Gandhi’s profound words remind us that for the hungry, food becomes a divine gift. Today’s Gospel mentions a banquet prepared with care, yet those invited offered excuses, missing out on the feast. This narrative mirrors our lives. God’s invitation to participate in the fullness of life constantly surrounds us. However, we often make excuses that cause us to overlook and miss these divine opportunities. It is crucial to identify our habitual excuses, as they may be barriers preventing us from embracing the abundant life that God offers. Am I open-hearted and receptive? What excuses do I make, that result in missing the divine banquet of abundance?

 

Saint Charles Borromeo, Bishop Confessor

 

The 2nd son of Count Giberto Borromeo and Margherita de’ Medici, sister of Pope Pius IV, Charles received the tonsure at age 12 and his doctorate in Civil and Canon Law at 21. Called to Rome by his uncle Pope Pius IV in 1560, he was made administrator of the Papal States, Cardinal Deacon and Papal legate. At 22, though still only a Deacon, he was appointed Administrator of the Archdiocese of Milan. At the Pope’s command the suspended Ecumenical Council of Trent was reassembled and, with Charles as the “‘very soul of the Council”, enacted specific clarifications of doctrine and Church reform. Charles, who had meanwhile been ordained priest, was now consecrated Archbishop of Milan but was detained in Rome for a while to revise the Roman Catechism, Missal and Breviary, as well as to reform Church music and the Roman Curia in accordance with the Council’s decrees. In Milan he instituted the greatest simplicity and economy, sold his valuable furniture and three-armed galleys, limited his food to one meal a day—just bread, water and some dried figs—and his sleep to four hours.

 

Born at Rocca d’Arona, near Lago Maggiore on 2 October 1538, Charles Borromeo died on 3 November 1584 at Milan aged 46. Canonized by Pope Paul V on 1 November 1610, he is venerated as the patron of catechists and is invoked against pestilence.

 

Reflection: “He who desires to make any progress in the service of God must begin every day of his life with new ardour, must keep himself in the presence of God as much as possible, and must have no other view or end in all his actions but the divine honour” (St Charles Borromeo).

 

 

Daily Readings

November 3, 2025

Monday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1

Romans 11:29–36

Brethren: The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counsellor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory for ever. Amen.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 69:30–31, 33–34, 36–37

Response: In your great mercy, answer me, O Lord.

As for me in my poverty and pain,

let your salvation, O God, raise me up.

Then I will praise God’s name with a song;

I will glorify him with thanksgiving. 

Response: In your great mercy, answer me, O Lord.

The poor when they see it will be glad,

and God-seeking hearts will revive;

for the Lord listens to the needy,

and does not spurn

his own in their chains. 

Response: In your great mercy, answer me, O Lord.

For God will bring salvation to Sion,

and rebuild the cities of Judah,

and they shall dwell there in possession.

The children of his servants shall inherit it;

those who love his name shall dwell there. 

Response: In your great mercy, answer me, O Lord.

Alleluia

John 8:31b-32

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciple, and you will know the truth, says the Lord.

Gospel

Luke 14:12–14

At that time: Jesus said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbours, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

Reflection

The teachings of Jesus are path-breaking. The normal way is to do something for someone who will return the goodness to us in some other way. But Jesus is so different, He says don’t expect anything in return. He urges us to give selflessly, especially to those who cannot repay us. Similarly, in today’s Gospel Jesus says, when you organize a party, invite the very poor.  Normally our parties are patronised by guests whom we know well. And after having organized a party, each of us is bound to pay back the gifts we have received at an opportune moment in double quantity. Jesus’ way brings a freedom that releases us from all our bondages, attachments and expectations. Bondage, attachments and expectations always take away true joy from us.

Saint Martin De Porres, Confessor

Martin was born in Lima, Peru, the child of a free love union. His father, Don Juan de Porres, a knight of Alcantara, Spain, abandoned his mother (a freed negro woman from Panama) after the birth of his son. Growing up in utter poverty, he cultivated an immense love for his fellow poor and the afflicted. At 12 the “little mulatto”, as he was wont to call himself, was apprenticed to a surgeon and soon came to be loved by the inmates of the city hospitals and prisons among whom he distributed a part of his meagre wages.

At 15, Martin became an Oblate of the Dominicans, and such was his charity, obedience and humility, that after nine years the Friars insisted upon his becoming a lay brother. He spent many night hours in spiritual reading, prayer and penitential exercises. Though he tried to conceal the miraculous favours which God bestowed upon him, he soon came to be regarded as a saint, an angel of peace and of compassion; he was able to heal the sick by his mere touch, by his prayers, by the Sign of the Cross; he had the gift of prophecy and invisibility; he could read people’s hearts and understand unexpressed desires even at great distances. At certain times God permitted the friars to see Martin accompanied by angels or enveloped in light during his ecstasy.

Twenty-five years after his death his body was found to have remained supple and incorrupt.

Canonized in 1962, St Martin de Porres is called the patron of social justice.

Reflection: “He did all be could to care for the poor farmhands, blacks and mulattos who were looked down upon as slaves, the dregs of society in their time” (John XXIII).

Daily Readings

November 2, 2025

The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed
(All Souls)

 

Reading 1

Wisdom 3:1–9c

 

The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure was thought to be an evil thing, and their going from us to be their destruction; but they are at peace. For though in the sight of men they were punished, their hope is full of immortality. Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good, because God tested them and found them worthy of himself; like gold in the furnace he tried them, and like a sacrificial whole burnt offering he accepted them. In the time of their visitation they will shine forth and will run like sparks through the stubble. They will govern nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord will reign over them for ever. Those who trust in him will understand truth, and the faithful will abide with him in love, because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 23:1–3, 4, 5, 6

 

Response: The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

 

The Lord is my shepherd;

there is nothing I shall want.

Fresh and green are the pastures

where he gives me repose.

Near restful waters he leads me;

he revives my soul.

He guides me along the right path,

for the sake of his name.

 

Response: The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

 

Though I should walk in the valley

of the shadow of death,

no evil would I fear, for you are with me.

Your crook and your staff

will give me comfort.

 

Response: The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

 

You have prepared a table before me

in the sight of my foes.

My head you have anointed with oil;

my cup is overflowing.

 

Response: The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

 

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life.

In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell

for length of days unending.

 

Response: The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

 

Reading 2

Romans 6:3–9

 

Brethren: Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.

 

OR

Romans 5:5–11

 

Brethren: Hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die – but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

 

Alleluia

 

If we have died with Christ, we will also live with him, and if we endure, we will also reign with him.

 

Gospel

John 6:37–40

 

At that time: Jesus said to the crowds, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

 

Reflection

 

 

Today is the feast of All Souls when we commemorate all those who have gone before us for their eternal reward. We recognize that they are part of the mystical body in the Church. But today we reflect in a special way, not so much on the dead, but those waiting for their reward at this moment. The celebration of All Souls where the day is based on the theological teaching that some of those who have departed from this world, have not been perfectly cleansed from venial sin, or have not fully atoned for their past transgression. As such, being temporarily deprived of the beatified vision until such time as they have been completely sanctified in Christ; these departed souls are to remain in Purgatory.

 

The Catholic teaching on Purgatory is essentially seen in our belief in two realities: First, that there will be a purification of believers prior to entering heaven, and Second, that the prayers and masses of the faithful are sure to benefit those in the state of purification. As to the duration, place, and exact nature of this purification, the Church has no official dogma, although Saint Augustine and others used fire as a way to explain the nature of the purification.

 

From the early days, Christians have prayed for the dead and have undertaken works of penance and mercy on their behalf. The tradition in the Church of having Masses said for the dead began in the earliest times. The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead.

 

The Church prays for the faithful departed throughout the entire year during mass. However, All Souls’ Day is the general, solemn day of commemoration, when the Church remembers, prays for, and offers requiem masses for the faithful departed, now in their state of purification. Tradition tells us that Christians have always been praying for their departed brothers and sisters to remain in communion with them. Praying for the dead is actually borrowed from Judaism, as indicated in the second book of Maccabees.

 

In the early days, departed Christians  names were written on special parchments to remind people to pray for them. In the sixth century, Benedictine communities held commemorations for the departed on the feast of Pentecost. All Souls’ Day became a universal festival largely on account of the influence of Odilo of Cluny in AD 998 when he commanded its annual celebration in the Benedictine houses of his congregation.

 

The Scripture readings of today provide rich matter for reflection and touch on the reality of death in general, something we will all have to face one day and for which we ought to be ready. The Scriptures tell us that the Lord will come quietly at an unexpected moment “like a thief in the night”. We do not want to have the door closed in our face and hear those terrible words: “I do not know you.” The Scripture constantly warns us to be ready to meet our Lord at any time. The gospel of John tells us of the glorification of Jesus and that when he is raised up he will draw all people to himself. The word draw is a special word that involves a sense of attraction and it is Jesus who will take us all to himself. In the Gospel of Mark, we have the confession of Peter who professes that Jesus is the Son of God and Jesus in response tells the disciples that he will suffer and die and will be raised from the dead. Our resurrection is as certain as that of Christ himself. On All Souls’ Day, we ask God for mercy on those who have died. We pray for an ever deeper and abiding awareness of the steadfast love of God.

(Source: The Sunday Liturgy)

Daily Readings

November 1, 2025

Solemnity of All Saints

Reading 1

Revelation 7:2-4.9-14

I, John, saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” And I heard the number of the sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel. After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing round the throne and round the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might be to our God for ever and ever! Amen.” Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 24:1–2, 3–4ab, 5–6

Response: These are the people who seek your face, O Lord.

The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness,

the world, and all those who dwell in it.

It is he who set it on the seas;

on the rivers he made it firm.  

Response: These are the people who seek your face, O Lord.

Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord?

Who shall stand in his holy place?

The clean of hands and pure of heart,

whose soul is not set on vain things.  

Response: These are the people who seek your face, O Lord.

Blessings from the Lord shall he receive,

and right reward from the God who saves him.

Such are the people who seek him,

who seek the face of the God of Jacob.  

Response: These are the people who seek your face, O Lord.

Reading 2

1 John 3:1-3

Beloved: See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

Alleluia

Matthew 11:28

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, says the Lord.

Gospel

Matthew 5:1-12a

At that time: Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.”

Reflection

This All Saints’ Day, as we reflect on the Beatitudes (Mt 5:1-12), we discover a revolutionary magna carta for Christian living. Blessings aren’t found only in expected joyful circumstances but also in places and occasions of pain and tears, and when comforting and reaching out to others. Christian living is a profound spiritual journey, centred on living the Beatitudes ourselves, and empowering others to embrace them too. The saints exemplified this in their unique ways. Mahatma Gandhi embraced the spirit of the Beatitudes and led India to freedom. The blueprint of the Beatitudes empowers us to find happiness by reaching out to others. By following this selfless path, we become true disciples of Jesus, opening ourselves to abundant blessings and holiness of life. How can I live the beatitudes in my daily life to bring happiness and grace to others and myself?

All Saints

Each age has produced its crop of holy men and women who go to make the amazing galaxy of saints in the Catholic Church. There are the canonized, the beatified, the venerable, the well-known and the little known, coming from all walks of life, cutting across all time frames as well as age and gender divides, some named in the book of saints, many others not, all too numerous to be counted! Indeed, it is to celebrate the grace-filled memory of all those in the realm of heaven who have accepted the saving grace of Christ, whether explicitly or implicitly, that the Church has instituted the “Feast of All Saints”.

The exact origin of this feast, which has been accorded the highest rank among feasts, viz., a “Solemnity”, is unclear, observed as it has been on different days in different places. According to Sts Ephraem Syrus (c.306-373) and John Chrysostom (c.349-407), a feast honouring all the martyrs of the Church was already being observed on 13 May in the Eastern Church in the 4th century. It is this date that may have prompted the choice of the same date on the part of Pope Boniface IV when he dedicated the Pantheon in Rome—which he had received from Emperor Phocas (d.610) in 609 or 610—to Our Blessed Mother and the Martyrs.           

The broadening of the feast to include all the saints and martyrs of the Universal Church and its observance on 1 November is variably ascribed to Pope Gregory IV (827-844) and Gregory VII (1020-1085).

Reflection: “O pleasant happiness to see the Saints, to be with the Saints, to be a Saint!” (St Augustine)

Daily Readings

October 31, 2025

Friday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1

Romans 9:1–5

Brethren: I am speaking the truth in Christ – I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit – that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed for ever. Amen.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 147:12–13, 14–15, 19–20

Response: O Jerusalem, glorify the Lord!

O Jerusalem, glorify the Lord!

O Sion, praise your God!

He has strengthened the bars of your gates;

he has blessed your children within you. 

Response: O Jerusalem, glorify the Lord!

He established peace on your borders;

he gives you your fill of finest wheat.

He sends out his word to the earth,

and swiftly runs his command. 

Response: O Jerusalem, glorify the Lord!

He reveals his word to Jacob;

to Israel, his decrees and judgments.

He has not dealt thus with other nations;

he has not taught them his judgments. 

Response: O Jerusalem, glorify the Lord!

Alleluia

John 10:27

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; and I know them, and they follow me.

Gospel

Luke 14:1–6

One Sabbath, when Jesus went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” And they could not reply to these things.

Reflection

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath! This yardstick is once again significant in the Gospel of today as Jesus healed a man who had dropsy. Jesus is surrounded by lawyers and the Pharisees; they carefully watch him. Jesus takes them on and pointedly asks them, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” They are stumped and remain silent. Jesus heals the man and sends him away. He continues challenging the lawmakers, asking them if their son (or ox) had fallen into a well on the Sabbath – would they pull him out immediately or not? The one commandment Jesus gives us is to love: to reach out to others in service, to heal our broken world!

St Alphonsus Rodriguez, Confessor (1532-1617)

Alphonsus was a wool merchant in southern Spain. Subsequent to the death of his wife and children, he began a remarkable life of prayer and severe bodily mortification. At 39, he became a lay brother with the Jesuits on the island of Majorca, where he filled the humble position of “porter” (door-keeper) at Mount Sion College and Seminary for 46 years.

Although lacking a formal education, he exercised a remarkable and widespread influence over the steady stream of people who came to the Fathers for advice and guidance. Known for his profound infused knowledge, soundness of doctrine and his childlike confidence in Our Lady he greatly popularized the “Little Office of the Immaculate Conception” by distributing copies hand-written by himself.

As porter, he would tell himself that every time the door­bell rang, it was Christ who was seeking admittance, and with a cheerful “I’m coming, Lord!” he would go to welcome the next caller. The Fathers appreciated his humility and sanctity and often asked him to give one of his unpretentious and affectionate sermons at meal-time. Once, when the Provincial Superior was making a visitation, he jestingly asked Brother Alphonsus to give a short sermon in Greek. Humbly and obediently the old man, who knew little Latin and no Greek, ascended the pulpit, and for a full minute, slowly and solemnly, repeated the great “Kyrie eleison! Christe eleison! Kyrie eleison!”

This was the Saint with whom St Peter Claver was wont to have a daily conference with and who revealed to him marvellous work in South America. Alphonsus Rodriguez was canonized with Peter Claver in1888.

Reflection: “The way of the Cross by trials suffered for God is the way to heaven” (St Alphonsus Rodriguez).

Daily Readings

October 30, 2025

Thursday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

 

Reading 1

Romans 8:31b–39

 

Brethren: If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died – more than that, who was raised – who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 109:21–22, 26–27, 30–31

 

Response: Save me, Lord, with your merciful love.

 

But you, O Lord, my Lord,

do with me as befits your name.

How good your merciful love! Deliver me.

For I am poor and needy,

and my heart is pierced within me.

 

Response: Save me, Lord, with your merciful love.

 

Help me, Lord my God;

save me with your merciful love.

Let them know that this is your hand,

that this is your doing, O Lord.

 

Response: Save me, Lord, with your merciful love.

 

Loud thanks to the Lord are on my lips.

I will praise him in the midst of the throng,

for he stands at the right hand of the poor,

to save his soul from those

who condemn him.

 

Response: Save me, Lord, with your merciful love

 

Alleluia

See Luke 19:38; 2:14

R. Alleluia,

 

Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord; peace on earth and glory in the highest.

 

Gospel

Luke 13:31–35

 

At that time: Some Pharisees came and said to Jesus, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

 

Reflection

 

The Pharisees warn Jesus to go away from Jerusalem because Herod wanted to kill him! Since Jesus stood for truth, justice and all that was right, he was surely a threat – not only to the political regime of his time (like Herod) but also to the religious authorities like the Pharisees and the Scribes. Jesus always took sides: but he was never with the oppressors the exploiters and those who put heavy burdens on others. So, in response to the warning that the Pharisees give him, he bluntly tells them to tell Herod the fox that he will continue doing good. He laments that Jerusalem has killed the prophets and stoned the messengers. He is not afraid of meeting the same fate!

 

St Gerard Majella Confessor (1726 -1755)

 

Extremely devout, Gerard, the son of poor parents in southern Italy, was blessed with a gift of profound contemplation and an ardent love of the Blessed Sacrament. “Suffer only for God, and your very sufferings will bring you heaven on earth!” Admitted by the Redemptorists on probation as a lay brother at 23, Gerard, deeply rooted in humility and purity, proved a model of perfect obedience. To the customary three vows he added one to do always that which appeared to be the most perfect — “Everything that is done for God becomes a prayer!”

 

God granted him remarkable spiritual gifts: ecstasies, levitations, bi-locations, invisibility, prophecy, infused knowledge, discernment of spirits, and even power over the forces of nature and Satan himself. His obedience to his superiors was such that he knew and carried out their wishes even if unspoken or given at a great distance. He subjected his body to severe penances and rigorous fasts. Every spare moment was spent in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and at times, when passing the tabernacle, he had to do himself violence: “O Lord, let me go, I beseech thee! There is work that I must do!” When he accompanied the Fathers on their missions, he often converted more hardened sinners by his fervent prayers and winning persuasiveness than the older priests by their sermons.

 

Born on 6 April 1726 at Muzo Lucanzo, Gerard died on 16 October 1755 at Caposele, aged barely 29. Characteristic are the words he wrote on the door of his cell: “Here is done what God wills, as God wills, and for as long as God wills!”

 

Reflection: “We should always do God’s will with joy” (St Gerard Majella).

 

 

 

Daily Readings

October 29, 2025

Wednesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading I

Romans 8:26–30

Brethren: The Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 13:4–5, 6–7

Response: I trust in your merciful love, O Lord.

Look, answer me, Lord my God!

Give light to my eyes lest

I fall asleep in death;

lest my enemy say,

“I have overcome him”;

lest my foes rejoice when they see me fall. 

Response: I trust in your merciful love, O Lord.

As for me, I trust in your merciful love.

Let my heart rejoice in your salvation.

I will sing to the Lord who has been

bountiful with me.

I will sing psalms to the name of

the Lord Most High. 

Response: I trust in your merciful love, O Lord.

Alleluia

See 2 Thessalonians 2:14

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

God has called us through the Gospel, to obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Gospel

Luke 13:22–30

At that time: Jesus went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying towards Jerusalem. And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?”  And he said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us.’ Then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

Reflection

Discipleship has never been about numbers! The fact that Jesus chose only twelve to be his apostles from several of his disciples should be a cue for us all.  Many of us focus on numbers rather than on quality. Discipleship which is qualitative is one’s ability and courage to enter the narrow door. It is not easy to do so: but this is what is expected of us! We are called by Jesus to take up the cross and follow him cheerfully and lovingly. The cross of Jesus brings joy to us and leads us to eternal life. Besides, salvation is meant for all, we should neither exclude nor discriminate against anyone.

St Narcissus, Bishop, Confessor (c.110 - c.222)

Narcissus was of Greek origin and, being renowned for his virtues and miracles, was made Bishop of Jerusalem in 185. At his provincial synod in 198 he proposed the adoption of the Roman custom of celebrating Easter, but was opposed by certain converted Jews, the last adherents of the old Nazarene Church of Jerusalem. Others, who stood in fear of his severity, calumniated and accused him of various crimes, so that Narcissus, for the sake of peace, finally retired to the desert.

Years later, after three Bishops had succeeded him in his See, he emerged from his retirement and was urged by the Bishops of the neighbouring Sees and the faithful to resume his duties. Because of his very advanced age (around 110 years old!), however, he was selected as coadjutor to a certain Cappadocian bishop, St Alexander, who was in Jerusalem on a pilgrimage. This was the first instance of an Episcopal transfer and Co-adjutorship, and had to be officially ratified by the Palestinian hierarchy.

Reflection: “We advance in the path of Divine love only in proportion as we check the movements of self-love” (St John Berchmans).

Daily Readings

October 28, 2025

Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles

 

Reading 1

Ephesians 2:19–22

 

Brethren: You are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 19:2–3, 4–5

 

Response: Their sound goes forth through all the earth.

 

The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the firmament proclaims

the work of his hands.

Day unto day conveys the message,

and night unto night imparts the knowledge.

 

Response: Their sound goes forth through all the earth.

 

No speech, no word,

whose voice goes unheeded;

their sound goes forth through all the earth,

their message to the utmost

bounds of the world.

 

Response: Their sound goes forth through all the earth.

 

Alleluia  

We praise you, O God, we acclaim you as Lord; the glorious company of Apostles praise you.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel

Luke 6:12–19

 

In those days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples, and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.

 

Reflection

 

Jesus calls his disciples and chooses the twelve whom he named apostles. Among the twelve, are Saints Simon and Jude; we celebrate their feast today. There is little known of most of the chosen twelve, particularly of Saints Simon and Jude. One thing is clear, the twelve, we are told, are chosen after Jesus spends the whole night in prayer. The people whom Jesus chooses are simple, ordinary folk representing all walks of life, particularly those belonging to the vulnerable sections of society, like fishermen. Today each one of us is called by name and chosen for a mission. The First Reading of today reminds us “in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Eph 2:22).

 

St Simon the Zealot Apostle and Martyr (1st century)

 

Practically nothing is known for certain about the life of this saint — where he preached the Gospel, where he died, and whether he suffered martyrdom; even his tomb is unknown. But his suffix “the Zealot” has been interpreted to mean either that, as a lawyer, he had a special zeal for the Mosaic Law, or that he was a member of the party of zealous patriots who were preparing to throw off the hated yoke of the Romans.

 

The Greeks and the Copts have a tradition that St Simon was the bridegroom at the marriage feast at Cana in Galilee, where Our Lord performed his first public miracle. He is the patron of wood-cutters and tanners.

 

St Jude Thaddeus Apostle and Martyr (1st century)

 

St Jude was the brother of St James the Less and thus a cousin of our Lord. He is the author of the last canonical epistle of which Origen stated that it “contains strong doctrine in a few lines.” It was to Jude’s question during the Last Supper that our Lord replied that he manifests himself only to those who are faithful in keeping his commandments (cfr. Jn14:23-24).

 

There is a tradition that Jude preached the faith mainly in Palestine, but later went to Persia and Armenia, and suffered martyrdom there. The Emperor Domitian once had St Jude’s grandsons brought from Galilee to Rome, but released them when he realized that they were not political rivals. Owing to the similarity of his name to that of Judas Iscariot, Jude Thaddeus was rarely invoked in prayer, which makes it seem likely that seeking his intercession was seen as a final resort when all else    failed. It is thus that his popularity as the patron saint of lost causes has greatly increased in recent times.

 

The lives of the Apostles, Sts Simon and Jude, are shrouded in obscurity and uncertainty. Yet their very closeness to the Lord Jesus as sharers in the great work of redemption is a reminder to us that holiness, from which stems happiness, comes from following closely in the footsteps of Jesus Christ rather than in being known.

 

Reflection: “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too; if they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours too. But they will do all this to you because you are mine” (Jesus - Jn 15:20-21).

Daily Readings

October 27, 2025

Monday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

 

Reading 1

Romans 8:12–17

 

So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 68:2 and 4, 6–7ab, 20–21

 

Response: This God of ours is a God who saves.

 

Let God arise; let his foes be scattered.

Let those who hate him flee from his presence.

But the just shall rejoice at the presence of God;

they shall exult with glad rejoicing. 

 

Response: This God of ours is a God who saves.

 

Father of orphans, defender of widows:

such is God in his holy place.

God gives the desolate a home to dwell in;

he leads the prisoners forth

into prosperity. 

 

Response: This God of ours is a God who saves.

 

Day after day, may the Lord be blest.

He bears our burdens; God is our saviour.

This God of ours is a God who saves.

The Lord our Lord provides

an escape from death. 

 

Response: This God of ours is a God who saves.

 

Alleluia

John 17:17b, 17a

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Your word, O Lord, is truth; sanctify us in the truth.

 

Gospel

Luke 13:10–17

 

At that time: Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.

 

Reflection

 

Jesus takes a stand: he sees the woman with a disabling spirit. She has been suffering for eighteen years. Jesus takes the initiative: he calls her and heals her of her disability.  This rankles the powerful ruler of the Synagogue who represents a system that is unjust and exploitative.  He questions Jesus’ healing on the Sabbath stating that Jesus had broken the Law. Jesus, on the other hand, retorts sharply calling the rulers of the Synagogue ‘hypocrites’; he goes on to highlight the liberating presence of God in the lives of people.  Those who are burdened, shackled, and weighed down by oppressive structures and systems must be set free, as soon as possible. These prophetic acts transcend narrow, insensitive rituals.

 

St Frumentius Bishop, Confessor (c.308 - c.380)

 

Frumentius and Aedesius were young Greek disciples of Meropius, a philosopher from Tyre in Phoenicia whom they were reportedly accompanying on a voyage to India. Their vessel was shipwrecked on the Abyssinian coast and the entire crew perished while the two youths were captured and pressed into service at the court of the King of Abyssinia. When they grew to manhood, they were given their liberty and assigned positions of trust; St Frumentius was even made Royal administrator.

 

On the death of the King whom they had succeeded in converting, the widowed Queen prevailed upon the brothers to supervise the education of the Princes. Frumentius used his position and influence to advance the spread of Christianity; Aedesius returned to Tyre after some years and became a Priest there.

 

In the interest of furthering the Christianization of Abyssinia, St Frumentius went to Egypt and requested St Athanasius to send a bishop and some priests to his adopted country. To the holy Patriarch, Frumentius seemed the most suitable man, and so he consecrated him bishop. The See was established at Axum; the young King was baptized, many churches were built, and the Faith spread all through the kingdom. St Frumentius, is believed to have made the first translation of the New Testament into Ethiopian. The people reverenced him as Abuna (Father), or Abba Salama (Father of Peace), titles which are to this day given to the Metropolitan of the Ethiopian Church.

 

Reflection: “A wise man fears and declines from evil; the fool leaps over and is confident” (Prov 14:16).

 

 

Daily Readings

October 26, 2025

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1

Sirach 35:15b-17, 20–22a

The Lord is the judge, and with him is no partiality. He will not show partiality in the case of a poor man; and he will listen to the prayer of one who is wronged. He will not ignore the supplication of the orphan or the widow when she pours out her story. He whose service is pleasing to the Lord will be accepted, and his prayer will reach to the clouds. The prayer of the humble pierces the clouds, and he will not be consoled until it reaches the Lord; he will not desist until the Most High visits him and does justice for the righteous and executes judgment.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 34:2–3, 17–18, 19 and 23

Response: The lowly one called, and the Lord heard him.

I will bless the Lord at all times;

praise of him is always in my mouth.

In the Lord my soul shall make its boast;

the humble shall hear and be glad. 

Response: The lowly one called, and the Lord heard him.

The Lord turns his face against the wicked

to destroy their remembrance from the earth.

When the just cry out, the Lord hears,

and rescues them in all their distress. 

Response: The lowly one called, and the Lord heard him.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;

those whose spirit is crushed he will save.

The Lord ransoms the souls of his servants.

All who trust in him shall not be condemned. 

Response: The lowly one called, and the Lord heard him.

Reading 2

2 Timothy 4:6–8, 16–18

Beloved: I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. At my first defence no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Alleluia

2 Corinthians 5:19

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

Gospel

Luke 18:9–14

At that time: Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Reflection

The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector is about two persons, with two different styles of prayer, one who personifies pride and the other who epitomizes humility. The Pharisee is clear about his so-called ‘holiness’; he is self-righteous about it and he boastfully tells God that he is not a sinner like the tax collector and that he faithfully observes all the ritualistic practices and other prescriptions. The tax collector, on the other hand, is humble, acknowledges that he is a sinner and seeks God’s mercy. The Pharisee does not feel the need of God, he thinks that he is self-sufficient, thanks to his holier-than-thou attitude. On the other hand, the humble tax collector, who stands at a distance, genuinely seeks the face of God. In our prayer, in our attitudes and actions: are we like the Pharisee or the tax collector?

St Evaristus, Pope, Martyr (- c.107)

Very little is known about the life of St Evaristus, the fifth Pope. Believed to have been the son of a Jew from Bethlehem who settled in Antioch, he succeeded St Clement about the year 100 and reigned until c.107.

According to the 6th century “Book of Popes”, it was St Evaristus who divided the city of Rome into 25 parishes or “titles”, each under its own Presbyter. He also decreed that whenever the Pope preached he was to be surrounded by seven Deacons, to give greater glory to God. Finally, he regulated the formal ceremonies for the consecration of churches, which had been handed down from the Apostles and were strongly reminiscent of the Jewish rites of Solomon; these Christian consecrations had to include the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. It was during this Pope’s reign that the last of the Apostles, St John the Evangelist, died at Ephesus.

Reflection: “It is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life” (St Francis d’Assisi).

 Daily Readings

 October 25, 2025

 Saturday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

 

 Reading I

 Romans 8:1–11

 

Brethren: There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

 

 Responsorial Psalm

 Psalm 24:1–2, 3–4ab, 5–6  

 

 Response: These are the people who seek your face, O Lord.

 

The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness,

the world, and those who dwell in it.

It is he who set it on the seas;

on the rivers he made it firm.

 

 Response: These are the people who seek your face, O Lord.

 

Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord?

Who shall stand in his holy place?

The clean of hands and pure of heart,

whose soul is not set on vain things.

 

 Response: These are the people who seek your face, O Lord.

 

Blessings from the Lord shall he receive,

and right reward from the God who saves him.

Such are the people who seek him,

who seek the face of the God of Jacob.

 

 Response: These are the people who seek your face, O Lord.

 

 Alleluia

 Ezekiel 33:11

 R. Alleluia, alleluia.

I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.

 

 Gospel

 Luke 13:1–9

 

There were some present at that very time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vine dresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig round it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.”

 

 Reflection

Today’s Gospel is divided into two distinct yet interrelated parts. In the first part, Jesus talks about repentance. Wholehearted repentance is a universal condition.  Twice Jesus says that we need to repent, if not we will perish. He refers to death in an eschatological sense, the destruction of one’s soul.  He also speaks of the suddenness of death. In the second part, we have the parable of the unproductive fig tree – which does not bear fruit.  The owner orders the gardener to cut it down. The gardener appeals – for another year; he promises to work hard so that it bears fruit, if not, he says it can be cut down! The same applies to us: to repent of our sinfulness and to bear fruit!

 

 Saints Crispin and Crispinian, Martyrs ( - 304)

 

These two glorious martyrs came from Rome to preach the Faith in Gaul (France) toward the middle of the 2nd century. They were said to be brothers and from a noble family. They fixed their residence at Soissons, and instructed many in the Christian Faith which they preached publicly during the day; at night, in imitation of St Paul, they worked with their hands, making shoes. The infidels listened to their instructions, and were astonished at the example of their lives, especially of their charity, disinterestedness, heavenly piety and contempt of glory and all earthly things. As a result, many were converted to the Faith.

 

They had continued their missionary activities and employment for several years when a complaint was lodged against them, before the Emperor, Maximian. The Emperor, to gratify their accusers and give way to his savage cruelty, ordered that they should be convened before Rictiovarus, the most implacable enemy of the Christians. He tormented them mercilessly in a bid to kill them by various methods such as drowning, boiling, etc., but all his attempts on their life proved in vain. In a surge of despair and fury he took his own life by jumping into the fire prepared for them. Thereupon, on Maximian’s orders they were beheaded.

 

Later, a church was built over their bodies, and St Eligius the Smith, embellished their shrine. They are traditionally venerated as patrons of shoemakers, cobblers and other leather workers.

 

Reflection: “The martyrs were bound, imprisoned, scourged, racked, burnt, rent asunder, butchered — and they multiplied” (St Augustine).

 

 

 

 

Daily Readings

October 24, 2025

Friday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

 

Reading 1

Romans 7:18–25a

Brethren: I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 119:66, 68, 76, 77, 93, 94

 

Response: Teach me your statutes, O Lord.

 

Teach me good judgment and knowledge,

for I trust in your commands. 

 

Response: Teach me your statutes, O Lord.

 

You are good, and you do what is good;

teach me your statutes. 

 

Response: Teach me your statutes, O Lord.

 

Let your merciful love console me

by your promise to your servant.

 

Response: Teach me your statutes, O Lord.

 

Show me compassion, that I may live,

for your law is my delight.

 

Response: Teach me your statutes, O Lord.

 

I will never forget your precepts,

for with them you give me life.

 

Response: Teach me your statutes, O Lord.

 

Save me, I am yours,

for I seek your precepts. 

 

Response: Teach me your statutes, O Lord.

 

Alleluia

See Matthew 11:25

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have revealed to little children the mysteries of the kingdom.

 

Gospel

Luke 12:54–59

 

At that time: Jesus said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’, and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.”

 

Reflection

 

Discipleship implies one’s openness, willingness and ability to read, understand and respond to the signs of the times. Too often, some refuse to do so! The reasons for not doing so are many, but the underlying fact is that one is either too frightened to do so or one is ensconced in one’s comfort zone and does not want to budge. Both these reasons go against the qualities of discipleship. Jesus calls them ‘hypocrites!’  Interpretation of the present times, a contextual understanding of it and an appropriate response are needed today. Reconciliation with God, with our neighbour and with creation becomes paramount on this journey.  Only if and when we do so conscientiously will we be living our discipleship in a meaningful way.

 

St Anthony Mary Claret

 

Anthony started life as a weaver before studying for the secular priesthood to which he was ordained in 1835. In his missionary work he laid great emphasis on the Eucharist and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and in 1849 a group of like-minded priests was formed by him into the “Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary”, the Claretians.

 

In 1851 he was made Archbishop of Santiago in Cuba, where, during his six years, he reformed the seminary and improved clerical discipline and on his many local missions throughout the diocese validated thousands of marriages. Keenly conscious of the importance and need to create material conditions favourable for a good Christian family life, he fostered sound farming methods and credit unions among the poor.

 

Recalled to Spain in 1857 to become, much against his wishes, the confessor of Queen Isabella II, he was exiled with her by the revolution of 1868. His apostolic successes so inflamed the hate of anti-clerical politicians in Spain and Cuba that many attempts were made on his life.

 

A firm believer in a strong Catholic Press, he founded the great Religious Publishing House at Barcelona, which is famous for issuing millions of low-priced copies of the best Catholic works of ancient and modern times, including over 130 works from his own pen.

 

At Vatican I, in 1870, he spoke forcefully in defence of Papal infallibility. After his death at the Cistercian monastery of Fontfroide, France, his heart was found to have remained incorrupt at the time of the translation of his relics in 1897. He was canonized in 1950.

 

Reflection: “Since we cannot send missionaries everywhere, let us send good books which can do as much good as the missionaries themselves” (St Anthony Mary Claret).

Daily Readings

October 23, 2025

Thursday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

 

Reading 1

Romans 6:19–23

Brethren: I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 1:1–2, 3, 4 and 6

 

Response: Blessed the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.

 

Blessed indeed is the man

who follows not the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the path with sinners,

nor abides in the company of scorners,

but whose delight is the law of the Lord,

and who ponders his law day and night.

 

Response: Blessed the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.

 

He is like a tree that is planted

beside the flowing waters,

that yields its fruit in due season,

and whose leaves shall never fade;

and all that he does shall prosper.

 

Response: Blessed the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.

 

Not so are the wicked, not so!

For they, like winnowed chaff,

shall be driven away by the wind.

For the Lord knows the way of the just,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

 

Response: Blessed the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.

 

Alleluia

Philippians 3:8-9

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and be found in him.

 

Gospel

Luke 12:49–53

 

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

 

Reflection

 

We live today in a world that is broken and divided: a world which desperately needs healing and peace.  For some, the Gospel of today is controversial and can be interpreted in a very narrow way. Jesus speaks about ‘fire’ – that he has come to cast fire on the earth! True,  fire is a cleansing agent: it purifies. The Holy Spirit at Pentecost comes in the form of tongues of fire: to strengthen us to be authentic witnesses of Jesus today.  When Jesus speaks about bringing in ‘division’ he is stating the obvious: those who follow him will take the side of truth, justice, compassion, peace and fraternity. Sadly, there are many today who are not ready to accept and live these basic values of life!

 

St John Capistran, Confessor (1386-1456)

 

Saint John Capistran studied both Civil and Canon Law at Perugia with brilliant success, and at the age of 27 was appointed Governor of Perugia, then part of the Papal States. He was successful in combating civic corruption, but when the city was captured by the Malatesta in 1416, John who went to entreat for peace, was cast into a dungeon where he began to consider seriously the state of his own soul.  On his release, he had made up his mind to abandon the world entirely in obedience to St Francis d’Assisi who had appeared to him in a dream.

 

At 31, getting his non-consummated marriage to the daughter of the Count of San Valentino annulled, John became a Franciscan friar in 1415. St Bernardine of Siena, whose great eloquence had just become manifest, was his principal teacher and guide, and one of his fellow students was St James of the Marches, who, like himself a former law student, was to support him throughout the next 40 years in his missionary labours and in the reform of the strict Observant Order.

 

Ordained priest in 1425, his  outstanding preaching that was accompanied by great miracles took him to  the principal cities of Italy where  the largest churches could not contain his hearers  who numbered  some 20,000 to 30,000, spilling over into the open squares, Brescia  (northern Italy)  witnessing  a crowd numbering  126,000 people!

 

He was canonized in 1690.

 

Reflection: “Be thou faithful until death: and I will give thee the crown of life” (Apoc 2:10).

 

 

Daily Readings

October 22, 2025

Wednesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

 

Reading 1

Romans 6:12–18

 

Brethren: Let not sin reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 124:1–3, 4–6, 7–8

 

Response: Our help is in the name of the Lord.

 

“If the Lord had not been on our side,”

let Israel say –

“If the Lord had not been on our side

when people rose against us,

then would they have swallowed us alive

when their anger was kindled.

 

Response: Our help is in the name of the Lord.

 

Then would the waters have engulfed us,

the torrent gone over us;

over our head would have swept

the raging waters.”

Blest be the Lord who did not give us

a prey to their teeth.

 

Response: Our help is in the name of the Lord.

 

Our life, like a bird, has escaped

from the snare of the fowler.

Indeed, the snare has been broken,

and we have escaped.

Our help is in the name of the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.

 

Response: Our help is in the name of the Lord.

 

Alleluia

Matthew 24:42a, 44

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Stay awake, and be ready; the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

 

Gospel

Luke 12:39–48

 

At this time: Jesus said to his disciples, “Know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?” And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming’, and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

 

Reflection

 

‘It is not easy to trust someone else’ is an experience many go through at some time or other in life. One is often let down, betrayed, or cheated even by those whom one trusts very much.  Trust and fidelity are like two sides of a coin; they are also used interchangeably: a faithful servant is trusted, and a trusted servant is faithful. Jesus however, speaks to us today of how a servant can also betray the master’s trust in many different ways. If we look into our own lives, we will realize that we are also unfaithful servants. We are called to get our act together, internalize the trust reposed in us and be faithful to the mission entrusted to us till the very end!

 

Pope Saint John Paul II, Pope (1920-2005)

 

When Cardinal Karol Józef WojtyÅ‚a, Archbishop of Krakow, was elected Pope in 1978, he made history by becoming the first non-Italian in over four centuries and also the first Polish ever to occupy the See of Peter! Naming himself after the two conciliar popes, he signalled his determination to have the fruits of Vatican II benefit every believer.

 

The youngest of three children, he received his First Holy Communion at the age of 9 and his Confirmation at 18. He enrolled at the Jagellonian University of Krakow in 1938, but when the occupying Nazis closed the university in 1939, Karol worked (1940-1944) in a quarry and then in the Solvay chemical factory to earn a living and to avoid deportation to Germany. Ordained priest in 1946 on completing his seminary and university studies post-war, he obtained a doctorate in Theology for his dissertation on faith as understood in the works of Saint John of the Cross in 1948 and defended his thesis at the Jagellonian University on the possibility of grounding a Christian ethic on the ethical system developed by Max Scheler.

 

Consecrated auxiliary bishop of Krakow in 1958, he contributed significantly to the drafting of the Apostolic Constitution Gaudium et Spes of Vatican II (1962-1965). Appointed Archbishop of Krakow in 1964, he was created Cardinal in 1967.

 

He survived an assassination attempt in 1981 in St Peter’s Square. Saved by the maternal hand of Mary, he forgave and visited the would-be assassin, Mehmet Ali Agca, in prison. Aware of having received a great gift, he further intensified his pastoral commitments with heroic generosity. He was canonized on Divine Mercy Sunday 2014.

 

Reflection: “Stupidity is also a gift of God, but one mustn’t misuse it.” (Pope St John Paul II)

Daily Readings

October 21, 2025

Tuesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

 

Reading 1

Romans 5:12, 15b, 17–19, 20b–21

 

Brethren: Just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned – If many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 40:7–8a, 8b–9, 10, 17

 

Response: See, I have come, Lord, to do your will.

 

You delight not in sacrifice and offerings,

but in an open ear.

You do not ask for holocaust and victim.

Then I said, “See, I have come.”

 

Response: See, I have come, Lord, to do your will.

 

In the scroll of the book

it stands written of me:

“I delight to do your will, O my God;

your instruction lies deep within me.”

 

Response: See, I have come, Lord, to do your will.

 

Your justice I have proclaimed

in the great assembly.

My lips I have not sealed;

you know it, O Lord.

 

Response: See, I have come, Lord, to do your will.

 

O let there be rejoicing and gladness

for all who seek you.

Let them ever say, “The Lord is great,”

who long for your salvation.

 

Response: See, I have come, Lord, to do your will.

 

Alleluia

Luke 21:36

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to stand before the Son of Man.

 

Gospel

Luke 12:35–38

 

At this time: Jesus said to his disciples, “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants!

 

Reflection

 

Preparedness is the need of the hour! As humans, we do make intense preparations if, for example, we are expecting the visit of a special guest or if we are having some annual event in our society or institution. This is natural – and one does not need too much coaxing to engage in such preparations. Jesus is, however, talking about a different type of preparation in today’s Gospel: the preparation for eternal life.  Preparing for it meticulously and meaningfully will determine how one lives one’s life here on earth. Jesus situates this preparation in the context of a wedding feast when the servants stay awake waiting for their master to return home: they are dressed for action with their lamps burning. Can we say the same about ourselves?

 

St Hilarion the Great, Abbot, Confessor (c.291 –c.371)

 

Born of pagan parents, near Gaza in Palestine, Hilarion schooled at Alexandria, Egypt,  before converting  to Christianity. At 15, having heard about St Anthony the Great, “Father of Anchorites”, he spent two months in the desert under his personal guidance imbibing his life of penance and contemplation. On his return to Palestine, noting that both his parents had died, he divided his fortune among the poor before retiring to the desert of Majuma near Gaza, where, living in abject poverty, he devoted himself to the austere life of an anchorite. For his upkeep, he wove baskets and grew his own vegetables.  He permitted himself just one frugal meal a day, after sunset, consisting of a small piece of bread and some herbs or vegetables.

 

Hilarion performed supernatural cures and exorcized the possessed, even as his guidance came to be in such demand that, with curious pilgrims arriving by the droves, he found it difficult to make time for personal prayer. Nevertheless, many heathens were converted to the Faith and his group of disciples growing considerably.

 

At 69, Hilarion first returned to Egypt and revisited the places associated with  St Anthony who had died  five years  earlier. He managed to escape the Julian persecution by retiring to the Libyan desert.  The danger having passed, he crossed over to Sicily where he lived as a hermit until he was discovered by one of his former disciples. He died in a lonely cave in Cyprus, aged 80.

 

Reflection: “As someone harvests fruit with one hand and clings to the tree with the other so as not to fall, in this way cling to God, who is the tree of life” (Blessed James Alberione).

Daily Readings

October 20, 2025

Monday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

 

Reading 1

Romans 4:20–25

 

Brethren: No unbelief made Abraham waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness”. But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Luke 1:69–75

 

Response: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited his people.

 

He has raised up a horn of salvation for us

in the house of his servant David,

as he spoke by the mouth of his

holy prophets from of old.

 

Response: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited his people.

 

That we should be saved from our enemies

and from the hand of all who hate us;

to show the mercy promised to our fathers

and to remember his holy covenant.

 

Response: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited his people.

 

The oath that he swore

to our father Abraham,

to grant us that we, being delivered

from the hand of our enemies,

might serve him without fear,

in holiness and righteousness

before him all our days.

 

Response: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited his people.

 

Alleluia

Matthew 5:3

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 

Gospel

Luke 12:13–21

 

At that time: Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of one’s possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich towards God.”

 

Reflection

 

Materialism, consumerism and crass commercialization have gripped the world as never before.  Pope Francis has constantly referred to this reality in his teachings. We live in a world in which ‘having’ is more important than ‘being’. The unhealthy desire to accumulate scandalous amounts of material wealth is what matters most to many. Siblings fight with each other and even kill, to get the family inheritance.  Greed often takes over. Those who have no qualms of conscience hoard; not realizing that when one dies, one will not be able to take anything which one has stored up. Jesus reminds us: “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of one’s possessions!”

 

St Bertilla Boscardin

 

Christened Anna Francesca but called Annetta, this saint was calm by nature, and, though lacking in health, intellect and initiative, the local priest, Don Capovilla, recognized in her a religious vocation. It was at the age of 16 that this ardent follower of the “Little Way” of St Therese of Lisieux was accepted by the Sisters of St Dorothy at Vicenza and given the name Maria Bertilla, after the abbess of Chelles.

 

Gifted with a keen sense of practical judgement, she was sanctified in the unobtrusive execution of her daily chores. For a year Sr Maria worked in the scullery, bake-house and laundry, before being sent to learn nursing at Treviso, where the Sisters of St Dorothy ran the municipal hospital.  Here she worked as a kitchen-maid before being promoted to help in the children’s ward. From then on, Bertilla devoted her time to the sick but soon after took ill herself and for the remaining 12 years of her life agonized on account of a malady that surgery failed to cure and which eventually  claimed her in 1922.

 

Fondly remembered as something of a Florence Nightingale, a memorial plaque in the hospital at Treviso reads: “To Sister Maria Bertilla Boscardin, a chosen soul of heroic goodness, who for several years was a truly angelic alleviator of human suffering in this place.....” Crowds flocked to her first grave at Treviso and then to her tomb at Vicenza, miraculous healings attributed to her intercession leading to her beatification in 1952 and canonization in 1961.

 

Reflection: “Christ, the Master of humility, manifests his truth only to the humble and hides himself from the proud” (St Vincent de Paul).

Daily Readings

October 19, 2025

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1

Exodus 17:8-13

In those days: Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 145:10–13ab, 17–18

Response: Your saints, O Lord, make known the glory of your reign.

All your works shall thank you, O Lord,

and all your faithful ones bless you.

They shall speak of the glory of your reign,

and declare your mighty deeds. 

Response: Your saints, O Lord, make known the glory of your reign.

To make known your might

to the children of men,

and the glorious splendour of your reign.

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;

your rule endures for all generations. 

Response: Your saints, O Lord, make known the glory of your reign.

The Lord is just in all his ways,

and holy in all his deeds.

The Lord is close to all who call him,

who call on him in truth. 

Response: Your saints, O Lord, make known the glory of your reign.

Reading 2

Timothy 4:10–17b

Beloved: Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. At my first defence no one came to stand by me; but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.

Alleluia

The word of God is living and active, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Gospel

Luke 18:1-8

At that time: Jesus told his disciples a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterwards he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?  I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Reflection

As we continue to reflect on our mission here on earth, we need to realize that establishing God’s kingdom here on earth is our primary task. This Kingdom is not based on power and material wealth. It is a kingdom based on a value system commonly referred to as ‘kingdom values’. These values include compassion, service, justice, liberty, equality, fraternity, inclusion and much more. Jesus lived them and expects every disciple of his to do the same. Today’s Gospel is about a judge who “neither feared God nor respected man”, and a widow who keeps pestering the judge for justice against her adversary.  Her persistence wears the judge out and he finally gives her justice.  Jesus goes on to add that God will never let down His elected people and will surely give justice to those who cry to Him.

Blessed Timothy Giaccardo, Priest, Religious, 1896 -1948

Born a normal, healthy looking baby, Joseph fell  critically ill when barely 6 months old.  Fearing for his life, the devout parents pinned all their hope on the Blessed Virgin, thus having their son miraculously cured.

Early in life, virtues such as hard work, filial devotion to Mary and a special love for the Eucharist were inculcated in Joseph, the simple and honest lifestyle of his parents, coupled with a deep love for the Church, inspiring him.

At 12, he came under the influence of Fr James Alberione, who was deeply impressed by his intelligent questions and sensible answers. He entered the Seminary at Alba where Alberione was Spiritual Director. With Alberione soon moving out to start his apostolate of the mass media along with a group of youngsters, Joseph experienced a strong yearning to be part of the new venture. But the very concept of such an apostolate being alien to the Church and grossly misunderstood, the local bishop sternly directed Joseph to choose between the priesthood and the apostolate of the press. Joseph, sure of his convictions, chose the latter and, at his First Profession in the Society of St Paul in 1917 took the name of Timothy, Paul’s closest collaborator, going on to become not only the right hand man of the far-sighted Alberione but, at his ordination in 1919, the first priest ordained explicitly for the ministry of the mass media!

Timothy was beatified in 1989, a shining example of the importance the Church today attaches to the “apostolate of the good press” initiated by Blessed James Alberione.

Reflection: “The apostolate of the press must enlighten all the apostolates, sustain all of them, embrace all of them, and carry them on through its apostles” (Blessed Timothy Giaccardo).

Daily Readings

October 18, 2025

Feast of Saint Luke, Evangelist

 

Reading 1

2 Timothy 4:10–17b

 

Beloved: Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. At my first defence no one came to stand by me; but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 145:10–13ab, 17–18

 

Response: Your saints, O Lord, make known the glory of your reign.

 

All your works shall thank you, O Lord,

and all your faithful ones bless you.

They shall speak of the glory of your reign,

and declare your mighty deeds.

 

Response: Your saints, O Lord, make known the glory of your reign.

 

To make known your might

to the children of men,

and the glorious splendour of your reign.

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;

your rule endures for all generations.

 

Response: Your saints, O Lord, make known the glory of your reign.

 

The Lord is just in all his ways,

and holy in all his deeds.

The Lord is close to all who call him,

who call on him in truth.

 

Response: Your saints, O Lord, make known the glory of your reign.

 

Alleluia

See John 15:16

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

I chose you from the world that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, says the Lord.

 

Gospel

Luke 10:1–9

 

At that time: The Lord appointed seventy–two others, and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no money bag, no knapsack, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house; eating and drinking what they provide, for the labourer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’”

 

Reflection

 

On this Feast of Saint Luke, the Evangelist, we are all invited to revisit the mission that is entrusted to each one of us.  The Synod on Synodality highlighted the essential dimensions of communion, participation and mission. This is so appropriately expressed in today’s Gospel passage from  Saint Luke: the seventy-two are appointed and sent on a mission. The instructions that they are given are very clear: to prepare the way for Jesus’ visit ensuring that there is communion and participation among the people they visit.  Mission involves great risks and Saint Luke takes pains to mention the dictum of Jesus: “I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” Am I able to live the mission that is entrusted to me, whatever the consequences?

 

St Luke Evangelist (-c.74)

 

St Luke was a native of Antioch, the capital of Syria. A physician by profession (cfr. Col 4:14), he was consulted by St Paul during an illness on his 2nd great missionary journey, and converted by him to the Faith. Himself a gentile, he thenceforth associated himself with the great Apostle of the Gentiles, and while Paul was preaching in Thessalonica, Athens and Corinth, and during his 3-year stay at Ephesus, Luke carried on the work of Evangelization in Philippi. He returned with Paul to Jerusalem, and visited him frequently during his imprisonment at Caesarea; it was probably at that time that Luke wrote his extensive Gospel which Sts Jerome and John Chrysostom called St Paul’s Gospel. He is rightly said to have been “illumined by St Paul”, for he recorded and interpreted with utmost fidelity the oral preaching and catechizing of the great missionary. He is also credited with having painted a portrait of the Virgin Mary.

 

Being highly educated, Luke could write in polished, elegant Greek, and he related the events to contemporary history. In his endeavour to furnish an historical background for the faith of the educated Greek converts of the young Church, he particularly stressed the fact that God’s mercy and forgiveness extended universally both to the Jews and the Gentiles who believed in him. Thus, the parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son, for instance, appear only in his Gospel.

 

St Luke is the Patron of physicians, artists, brewers, butchers, glass-workers and notaries.

 

Reflection: “I command you to preach the message, to insist upon proclaiming it, whether the time is right or not; to convince, reproach and encourage as you teach with all patience” (2 Timothy 4:2).

Daily Readings

October 17, 2025

Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr

 

Reading 1

Romans 4:1–8

 

Brethren: What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 32:1–2, 5, 11

 

Response: You are a hiding place for me. You surround me with cries of deliverance.

 

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,

whose sin is remitted.

Blessed the man to whom the Lord

imputes no guilt, in whose spirit is no guile.

 

Response: You are a hiding place for me. You surround me with cries of deliverance.

 

To you I have acknowledged my sin;

my guilt I did not hide.

I said, “I will confess

my transgression to the Lord.”

And you have forgiven the guilt of my sin.

 

Response: You are a hiding place for me. You surround me with cries of deliverance.

 

Rejoice in the Lord; exult, you just!

Ring out your joy,

all you upright of heart!

 

Response: You are a hiding place for me. You surround me with cries of deliverance

 

Alleluia

Psalm 33:22

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

May your merciful love be upon us as we hope in you, O Lord.

 

Gospel

Luke 12:1–7

 

At that time: When so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, Jesus began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

 

Reflection

 

Jesus uses two powerful symbols ‘leaven’ and ‘light’ in today’s Gospel. He uses them negatively: referring to the leaven of the Pharisees as hypocrisy and the fact that whatever is done/said in the darkness will be revealed in the light. He ultimately expects his disciples to be the ‘leaven in the dough’ and the ‘light of the world’ which run counter to the values of the Pharisees. ‘Fearlessness’ is a key quality of a disciple; he exhorts his disciples to fear no one except the one who can cast them into hell. Sadly, many of those who say that they believe in Jesus, are frightened individuals today. He reassures his disciples saying that even sparrows are cared for and that the hairs of one’s head are numbered.

 

St Ignatius of Antioch Bishop Martyr, Apostolic Father of the Church (c.45 -c.107)

 

A native of Syria, a zealous convert and a disciple of St John the Evangelist, Ignatius was the third Bishop of Antioch. From 94 to 96 there raged the second great persecution of Christians under the Emperor Domitian, and St Ignatius was indefatigable in instilling hope and courage in the faithful, so that they might profess the faith unwaveringly, even at the cost of life. After a short period of peace, a third persecution ensued during his reign of Trajan (98-117). St Ignatius once again proved himself the faithful and intrepid leader of the Church in Antioch, both by word and example—“A Christian does not live for himself alone. He belongs to God!”

 

His fearless reply to a derogatory remark made by Emperor Trajan was: “Call me not a poor wretch, for I bear God within me!” Trajan sentenced him to be devoured by wild beasts in the Coliseum.

 

Ignatius was then 62, and the journey to Rome proved quite an ordeal; but it also took on the aspect of triumph for the large numbers of Christians who turned out to meet him all along the way across Asia Minor and northern Greece.

 

Ready and eager to die for the Faith, Ignatius was heard to say to those who were desirous of working for his release: “I am the wheat of the Lord and must be ground by the teeth of wild beasts to become the pure bread of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

Reflection: “Let us ask St Ignatius to help us understand Jesus’ words to his disciples: The man who loves his life loses it, while the man who hates his life in this world preserves it to life eternal!” (Blessed James Alberione)

Daily Readings

October 16, 2025

Thursday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

 

Reading 1

Romans 3:21–30

 

Brethren: The righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it – the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one – who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 130:1–6ab

 

Response: For with the Lord there is mercy, in him is plentiful redemption.

 

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord;

Lord, hear my voice!

O let your ears be attentive

to the sound of my pleadings.

 

Response: For with the Lord there is mercy, in him is plentiful redemption.

 

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,

Lord, who could stand?

But with you is found forgiveness,

that you may be revered.

 

Response: For with the Lord there is mercy, in him is plentiful redemption.

 

I long for you, O Lord,

my soul longs for his word.

My soul hopes in the Lord

more than watchmen for daybreak.

 

Response: For with the Lord there is mercy, in him is plentiful redemption

 

Alleluia

John 14:6

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

I am the way, and the truth, and the life, says the Lord; no one comes to the Father except through me.

 

Gospel

Luke 11:47–54

 

At that time: Jesus said, “Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute’, so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.” As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.

 

Reflection

 

Jesus continues to hit out at those who are manipulative and hypocritical; those who control the lives of others and those who are exploitative. He takes these powerful people back to what their ancestors did. He reminds them, “Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute’.” He accuses the lawyers of taking away the key of knowledge from others. All this is a bitter pill for the scribes and the Pharisees to swallow. They are uncomfortable with the truth and they begin plotting to see how best they can trap him. One needs courage to be a prophet, especially considering that no prophet is accepted in his own home!

 

St Margaret Mary Alacoque, Virgin (1647-1690)

 

With the rapid spread of Protestantism and Jansenism, England lost to the Faith and France ruled by the worldly Louis XIV, Catholicism had grown disastrously cold in the 17th century. To rekindle it, Christ chose an obscure French nun named Margaret Mary Alacoque, whom he expressly commanded to join the Visitation convent in 1671.

 

“My divine Heart is so inflamed with love for humankind, that it can no longer contain the flames of its burning charity.….. I ask that the Friday after the Octave of Corpus Christi be set aside as a special feast in honour of my Heart, that people communicate and make reparation to it by a solemn act, to make amends for the irreverence to which it is subjected while exposed on the altar. I promise you that my Heart will shed the gifts of its divine love in great abundance on all who will thus honour it and induce others to so honour it!” he said.

 

Our Lord also exhorted the faithful to receive him in Holy Communion on the first Friday of each month and to keep the Holy Hour on its eve before the Blessed Sacrament exposed. It was only with the assistance of Blessed Claude de la Colombiere, Margaret’s new confessor, a Jesuit, that devotion to the Sacred Heart as the visible sign of Christ’s infinite and condescending love, received due recognition within her order and came to be established in the Church.

 

She was canonized in 1920.

 

Reflection: “We should always be prepared to give up readily, with the sure belief that the change comes by the will of God” (St Vincent de Paul).

Daily Readings

October 15, 2025

Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Reading I

Romans 2:1–11

You have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practise the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practise such things. Do you suppose, O man – you who judge those who practise such things and yet do them yourself – that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honour and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 62:2–3, 6–7, 9

Response: O Lord, you repay each man according to his deeds.

In God alone is my soul at rest;

my salvation comes from him.

He alone is my rock, my salvation,

my fortress; never shall I falter. 

Response: O Lord, you repay each man according to his deeds.

In God alone be at rest, my soul,

for my hope is from him.

He alone is my rock, my salvation,

my fortress; never shall I falter.

Response: O Lord, you repay each man according to his deeds.

Trust him at all times, O people.

Pour out your hearts before him,

for God is our refuge.

Response: O Lord, you repay each man according to his deeds.

Alleluia

John 10:27

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; and I know them, and they follow me.

Gospel

Luke 11:42–46

At that time: Jesus said, “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the market-places. Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.” One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.” And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.

Reflection 

Jesus takes on the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law and he does not mince words. He is direct in his admonitions with one of the teachers of the Law even telling Jesus that he is insulting them. There is however the hard fact (which we experience today too) that there are laws which are very burdensome to ordinary people. Besides, those who make the laws often do not think that it is important that they should be the first who should adhere to them.  Significantly, we celebrate the Feast of Saint Teresa of  Ávila today, a Doctor of the Church, and a religious reformer, who did all she could to ensure that there was a change in the monastic traditions of her time.

St Teresa of Avila Virgin, Doctor of the Church (1515-1582)

Teresa Cepeda de Ahumada was born in Avila, Old Castille, some 50 miles N.W. of Madrid (Spain). At 20, she read the letters of St Jerome before joining the Carmelites, regarding it as the safest way to salvation, albeit without her father’s consent. “Prayer is the doorway to great graces; if this door is closed, I do not see how God can bestow any graces!” During ill-health she practised mental prayer, and the Confessions of St Augustine inspired her to give herself unreservedly to God. For in many religious houses of that day discipline had become rather relaxed, what with frequent visitors providing worldly distractions. “Prayer and self-indulgence do not go together!” she was wont to say.

Our Lord repeatedly spoke to her, even as a seraph pierced her heart (Transverberation, 1559), and she experienced the spiritual espousal. Extrovert by nature and affectionate of disposition, Teresa had the ability to adapt herself quite easily to all kinds of people, places and circumstances. 

In 1561 our Lord commanded her to reform the Carmelite Order. Then 46 years of age, during the remaining 21 years of her life she was able, despite violent opposition, to found 17 convents of discalced Carmelite nuns and 15 monasteries for friars under the severe, unmitigated rule of the Order. Under due obedience to her superiors Teresa wrote her life story “The Way of Perfection”, “The Interior Castle” and “Conception of the Love of God”. Canonized in 1622, she was declared ‘Doctor of the Church’ in 1970.

Reflection: “When you have received Holy Communion, close your bodily eyes so that you may open the eyes of your soul. Then look upon Jesus in the centre of your heart” (St Teresa of Avila).

Daily Readings

October 14, 2025

Tuesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

 

Reading 1

Romans 1:16–25

 

Brethren: I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honour him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonouring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever! Amen.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 19:2–3, 4–5

 

Response: The heavens declare the glory of God.

 

The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the firmament proclaims

the work of his hands.

Day unto day conveys the message,

and night unto night

imparts the knowledge.

 

Response: The heavens declare the glory of God.

 

No speech, no word,

whose voice goes unheeded;

their sound goes forth

through all the earth,

their message to the utmost

bounds of the world.

 

Response: The heavens declare the glory of God.

 

Alleluia

Hebrews 4:12

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

The word of God is living and active, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

 

Gospel

Luke 11:37–41

 

At that time: While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything

 

Reflection

 

Many of us are trapped today in the web of rituals and rites,  several of which are meaningless. We are obsessed with them, they become a fetish, and we lose the ability to question their relevance or if they serve any purpose. Jesus does not perform the necessary ablutions before he dines. Since Jesus does not follow what is prescribed by the Law, the Pharisees find fault with him.  Jesus hits out at this empty ritual saying, ‘Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.” Strong words indeed but very apt for us today, too – when what matters most for many is the observance of ritualistic practices rather than ensuring the purity of our hearts.

 

St Callistus I, Pope, Martyr (-222)

 

Callistus was Archdeacon of Rome when he was elected to the papacy on the death of Pope. St Zephyrinus in 217. A staunch supporter of orthodox Catholic beliefs, he held the middle ground between those who advocated extreme laxity and those advocating rigorous discipline. The rigourist Hippolytus, for example, believed with the Montanists that certain mortal sins like murder, adultery and apostasy, should never be forgiven, even after due penance had been exacted and publicly performed. He left the Church at Callistus’ election, formed a schismatic body, and set himself up as a kind of anti-pope.

 

At that time, Callistus, firmly maintaining that the Church had the power to absolve from all sins and thus ought to adopt a conciliatory attitude towards those who had fallen away from the Faith in the time of persecution, issued his famous decree which defined the Church’s views, and accordingly readmitted into the Church some who had been expelled from the schismatic congregation of Hippolytus, provided they had publicly repented and carried out the severe penances prescribed. Among the other disciplinary regulations of this Pope there is also one which admitted, contrary to Roman civil law, the validity of marriages between patricians and plebians or slaves.

 

Callistus was killed in a popular disturbance caused by the pagan rabble, by being thrown headlong from a high window. The chapel bearing his name in the Trastevere quarter of Rome appears to stand on land which was adjudged to certain Christians under Emperor Alexander Severus against some claimant who was a tavern keeper. “Any religious rites,” the Emperor declared, “are to be preferred to a tavern!”

 

Reflection: “Let the Spirit live in you and control your inner being: the mind, the heart and the will.” (Blessed James Alberione).

Daily Readings

October 13, 2025

Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

 

Reading 1

Romans 1:1–7

 

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 98:1, 2–3ab, 3cd–4 

 

Response: The Lord has made known his salvation.

 

O sing a new song to the Lord,

for he has worked wonders.

His right hand and his holy arm

have brought salvation.

 

Response: The Lord has made known his salvation.

 

The Lord has made known his salvation,

has shown his deliverance to the nations.

He has remembered his merciful love

and his truth for the house of Israel.

 

Response: The Lord has made known his salvation.

 

All the ends of the earth have seen

the salvation of our God.

Shout to the Lord, all the earth;

break forth into joyous song, and sing out your praise.

 

Response: The Lord has made known his salvation.

 

Alleluia

Psalm 95:8

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Today, harden not your hearts, but listen to the voice of the Lord.

 

Gospel

Luke 11:29–32

 

At that time: When the crowds were increasing, Jesus began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

 

Reflection

 

Jesus had many critics! They were mainly those who belonged to the powerful ruling elite: in the religious and political spheres. Through his teachings and direct acts of intervention, Jesus shook the establishment of his time. To trap Jesus, they began demanding a sign from him. Jesus is strong in his retort saying, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” This of course draws the ire of the powerful because Jesus reminds them that the people of Nineveh repented listening to the preaching of Jonah. He ultimately tells them “Something greater than Jonah is here.” Are we truly listening to the word of God today?

 

St Edward, Confessor,  King (1004 -1066)

 

A saintly, conscientious man, much given to prayer and works of mercy, Edward’s early misfortunes taught him to deprecate all earthly ambitions, and he now concentrated fully on governing his people with Christian gentleness, justice and prudence. Long abandoned monasteries were restored, and in the interest of better education it was decreed that schoolmasters, like clerics, were to be regarded as inviolable. Except for the occasion when Edward gave aid to Malcolm II of Scotland against usurper Macbeth, and another when he repelled a Welsh invasion, his 23­year reign was one of peace and prosperity.

 

Canonized in 1161, Edward was the first English King to touch and heal scrofulous sores, “the King’s Evil”, with his ring—a power which had been conferred originally on the Kings of France by St Remi. Edward’s famous death-bed vision of his country’s future has seen remarkable fulfilment: “When the measure of wickedness will have become full, then will God in his wrath send wicked spirits among the English people, and they will punish and afflict them with great severity by separating the green branch from the parent trunk for the space of three furlongs; but in the end, through the compassionate mercy of God, and without any governmental assistance, this same branch will return to its original fruit, will flourish anew and bear abundant fruit.” The period of time from Henry VIII’s break with Rome in 1534 and the rule of the Protestant innovators until 1850 when Pope Pius IX re-established the Catholic hierarchy in England, is in fact slightly more than three centuries.

 

Reflection: “Goodness begets the good. And with practice it becomes connatural to a person who then can experience the sweetest sensations, which are foreign to the uncouth. (Blessed James Alberione).

Daily Readings

October 12, 2025

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

Reading I

2 Kings 5:14-17

 

In those days: Naaman the Syrian went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him; and he said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so accept now a present from your servant.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused. Then Naaman said, “If not, please let there be given to your servant two mule-loads of earth, for from now on your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god but the Lord.”

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 98:1, 2–3ab, 3cd–4

 

Response: The Lord has shown his deliverance to the nations.

 

O sing a new song to the Lord,

for he has worked wonders.

His right hand and his holy arm

have brought salvation.

 

Response: The Lord has shown his deliverance to the nations.

 

The Lord has made known his salvation,

has shown his deliverance to the nations.

He has remembered his merciful love

and his truth for the house of Israel.

 

Response: The Lord has shown his deliverance to the nations.

 

All the ends of the earth

have seen the salvation of our God.

Shout to the Lord, all the earth;

break forth into joyous song,

and sing out your praise.

 

Response: The Lord has shown his deliverance to the nations.

 

Reading II

2 Timothy 2:8–13

 

Beloved: Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my Gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful – for he cannot deny himself.

 

Alleluia

1 Thessalonians 5:18

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
 

Gospel

Luke 17:11–19

 

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

 

Reflection

 

The Gospel of today has many interrelated dimensions: of healing, of gratitude (or lack of it) and of the Samaritan, who is a foreigner. We are told of the ten lepers who asked Jesus for ‘mercy’; they were asking him to cure them of the disease which had made them outcasts in their society. Realising their suffering, Jesus heals them instructing them to “go and show yourselves to the priests.” They do so with diligence; delighted with their healing they completely forget who has cured them. All of them but one who is a Samaritan, a ‘foreigner’, go away, the Samaritan coming back to thank Jesus, falling at his feet and praising God. Jesus is prompted to ask ‘Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?”  We need to introspect on the way we often treat ‘others’: those who are not like us, the strangers in our midst.

 

St Wilfrid of York, Bishop, Confessor (c.634 -709)

 

St Wilfrid, a native of Northumbria (England), who was to become one of the great men of his age, is best remembered for his part in championing the supreme ecclesiastical authority of Rome. Born of noble stock and educated at the court of King Osway, at Lindisfarne and at Canterbury, he accompanied St Benedict Biscop to Rome as a young man. On his return he founded the monastery of Ripon and, though  aged only 24, became its first Abbot. Here he introduced the Benedictine rule, and five years later was ordained priest. At the famous Synod of Whitby, in 664, he was able to persuade the majority to accept for all of England the Roman usage concerning Easter and the tonsure, in preference to the customs which had been introduced by the Scottish monks from Iona.

 

Shortly after, Wilfrid was made Archbishop of York and received his consecration in France. His energetic administration witnessed the founding of a large number of Benedictine monasteries and the further extension of Roman usage and church chant. But when King Egfrid and St Theodore proceeded to divide his archdiocese into three parts, St Wilfrid went in appeal to Rome — the first known instance of an English Prelate’s appeal. He won his case, but upon his return was imprisoned and then exiled by the King. He thus preached the faith for five years in Sussex and Wessex, and there converted King St Ceadwalla. Not until 686, was a reconciliation effected so that he could return to York. He died on 24 April c.709.

 

Reflection: “When God wants to enrich a soul with graces, he first enriches it with confidence” (St Alphonsus).

Daily Readings

October 11, 2025

Saturday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

 

Reading 1

Joel 3:12–21

 

Thus says the Lord: Let the nations stir themselves up and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the wine press is full. The vats overflow, for their evil is great. Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. The Lord roars from Sion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the Lord is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel. So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who dwells in Sion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall never again pass through it. And in that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the stream beds of Judah shall flow with water; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord and water the Valley of Shittim. Egypt shall become a desolation and Edom a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the people of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall be inhabited for ever, and Jerusalem to all generations. I will avenge their blood, blood I have not avenged, for the Lord dwells in Sion.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 97:1–2, 5–6, 11–12

 

Response: Rejoice in the Lord, you just.

 

The Lord is king, let earth rejoice;

let the many islands be glad.

Cloud and darkness surround him;

justice and right are the foundation

of his throne.

 

Response: Rejoice in the Lord, you just.

 

The mountains melt like wax

before the face of the Lord,

before the face of the Lord of all the earth.

The skies proclaim his justice;

all peoples see his glory.

 

Response: Rejoice in the Lord, you just.

 

Light shines forth for the just one,

and joy for the upright of heart.

Rejoice in the Lord, you just;

to the memory of his holiness give thanks.

 

Response: Rejoice in the Lord, you just.

 

Alleluia

Luke 11:28

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.

 

Gospel

Luke 11:27–28

 

At that time: As Jesus said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

 

Reflection

 

Blessedness is in ‘becoming’ and ‘being’ a person of the beatitudes. A woman in the crowd raises her voice and praises Mary the Mother of Jesus very publicly. Jesus’ reply to her would have stumped many who heard him. He does not deny what the woman says. Jesus goes beyond that and replies, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”. Here is his public acclamation and affirmation of what his Mother is all about: word and witness.  Anyone who is attuned to the word of God and lives out this word in the small, simple things of one’s daily life is blessed. For example, Mary manifests this by visiting her kinswoman, Elizabeth.

 

Pope St John XXIII (Pope) – (1881-1963)

 

Let the winds of change blow into the Church!” said His Holiness, Pope John XXIII, symbolically opening a window, at the commencement of Vatican II in the year 1962. Ever since, neither have the winds of change stopped blowing nor has any of John’s successors closed the window of the Church on the winds of change.

 

Born into a simple peasant family, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was ordained priest in 1904, drafted into the army as a stretcher-boy during World War I, appointed national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in 1921, consecrated Bishop in 1925, made Cardinal-Patriarch of Venice in 1953 and elected Pope in 1958.

 

A many-sided personality, with deep reserves to draw upon, John, who was canonized in 2014, was a man with a keenness all his own—a keen foresight that led him to call the Council whose discussions, decisions and directives have had far reaching implications; a keen sense of duty that ensured he maintained a busy schedule, whether as priest, bishop, Archbishop, Cardinal or Pope, that was both exacting and productive; a keen sense of humour that had him steer clear of controversy; and a keen sense of God’s providence that enabled him to promote a new dialogue with Protestants, Orthodox Christians and with Jews and Muslims as well.

 

Reflection: “Whoever wants to stay with Christ should stay with Peter and his successors. Whoever wants to know the truth should go to this teaching authority; whoever wants to become a citizen of heaven should become, in a spiritual sense, the citizen of Rome” (Blessed James Alberione).

Daily Readings

October 10, 2025

Friday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Reading I

Joel 1:13–15; 2:1–2

Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Go in, pass the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God! Because grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God. Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord. Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes. Blow a trumpet in Sion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 9:2–3, 6 and 16, 8–9

Response: The Lord will judge the world with justice.

I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;

all your wonders I will confess.

I will rejoice in you and be glad, and sing

psalms to your name, O Most High. 

Response: The Lord will judge the world with justice.

You have rebuked the nations,

destroyed the wicked;

you have wiped out their name

forever and ever.

The nations have fallen in the pit

which they made;

their feet have been caught

in the snare they laid. 

Response: The Lord will judge the world with justice.

But the Lord sits enthroned forever;

he has set up his throne for judgment.

He will judge the world with justice;

he will govern the peoples with equity. 

Response: The Lord will judge the world with justice.

Alleluia

John 12:31b-32

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Now will the ruler of this world be cast out, says the Lord; and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.

Gospel

Luke 11:15–26

At that time: [When Jesus had cast out a demon,] some of the people said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons”, while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armour in which he trusted and divides his spoil. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”

Reflection 

In this world we are called to take sides: for truth against untruth, for light against darkness. It is not easy to do so because one will often have to pay the price. Jesus did so; they began demonizing, casting aspersions on him saying, ‘he casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons’; there are also those who want to test him and seek a sign from heaven. Jesus categorically states that it is the finger of God that is revealed in all he does and that it is the kingdom of God that is breaking out through him. The Gospel encourages us to look for the signs of the finger of God in the lives of those we might be tempted to demonize in any way.

St Francis Borgia, Confessor (1510 -1572)

The eldest son of Juan Borja, third Duke of Gandia, and Joanna of Aragón, Francisco de Borgia embarked on a brilliant political career at the age of 18 with his entry into service at the court of Emperor Charles V. The following year he married Eleanor de Castron, the First Lady-in-waiting and intimate friend of the Empress, who was, like himself, known for her exceptional piety and virtue. The young couple enjoyed high favour and, upon being appointed to manage the affairs of the imperial household, travelled about with the court for the next ten years. Made Lieutenant Governor and Viceroy of Catalonia in 1539, he rooted out banditry, reformed the administration of justice, and provided adequately for the suffering poor during times of famine. His pious practice of receiving Holy Communion each Sunday was in those days something singular. On the death of his father in 1542, he became Duke of Gandia.

Widowed in 1546, with five children to provide for, Francis put into effect his determination to become a Jesuit. Privately and in utter secrecy, he studied Theology and Latin, was secretly professed in 1548, received his doctorate in 1550, was ordained to the priesthood in 1551 and went on to become Vicar General of the Society of Jesus and its third General in 1565. Significantly, Pope St Pius V, the great Dominican Pope of the Counter Reformation, found in him an invaluable assistant and reforming instrument of Divine. 

Francis, who was canonized by Pope Clement X in 1671, is the Patron of Portugal.

Reflection: “We must make our way towards eternity, never regarding what men think of us or our actions, studying only to please God” (St Francis Borgia).

Daily Readings

October 9, 2025

Thursday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

 

Reading 1

Malachi 3:13–4:2a

 

“Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’ You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.’” Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. For behold, the day is coming burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.”

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 1:1–2, 3, 4 and 6

 

Response: Blessed the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.

 

Blessed indeed is the man

who follows not the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the path with sinners,

nor abides in the company of scorners,

but whose delight is the law of the Lord,

and who ponders his law day and night.

 

Response: Blessed the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.

 

He is like a tree that is planted

beside the flowing waters,

that yields its fruit in due season,

and whose leaves shall never fade;

and all that he does shall prosper.

 

Response: Blessed the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.

 

Not so are the wicked, not so!

For they, like winnowed chaff,

shall be driven away by the wind.

For the Lord knows the way of the just,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

 

Response: Blessed the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.

 

Alleluia

See Acts 16:14b

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Open our hearts, O Lord, that we may pay attention to the words of your Son.

 

Gospel

Luke 11:5–13

 

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

 

Reflection

Prayer is not a ‘once-and-for-all’ act; it is constant, never ceasing. This is what Jesus teaches us in today’s parable of the friend at midnight. True friends never let each other down, whatever the consequences or the risks involved. Jesus emphasizes this in his parable. One must pay importance to the fact that it is midnight, the door is shut and the friend who is already in bed is initially reluctant to get up and respond. Jesus tells us, “for everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened.” God always hears our prayers; he may not always give us what we ask for but certainly what is best for us!

 

Sts Denis, Rusticus & Eleutherius Martyrs (- c.258)

 

Born and educated in Italy, St Denis is believed to have been the first Bishop of Paris, a martyr and Patron of France. In the year 250, he was sent to Gaul with six other missionary bishops, where he suffered martyrdom. His companions, St Rusticus and St Eleutherius had joined him in Lutetia Parisorum and they together had established Christian worship on an island in the Siene.

 

Their preaching was so effective that they were arrested and, after a long imprisonment — during the Valerian persecution — all three were beheaded. Their bodies were thrown into the Siene, whence they were retrieved before being given an honourable burial. Later, a chapel was built over their tomb, around which arose the great abbey of St Denis. The blood of the martyrs is truly the seed of the Church; and the martyrdom of St Denis and his brethren was speedily followed by the establishment of Christianity upon the ruins of Gallic paganism.

 

St John Leonardi Confessor (1541-1609)

 

Even as a boy in his native Tuscany (Italy), St John Leonardi was wont to seek out solitude for undisturbed meditation and prayer. He studied for the priesthood while earning his living as a pharmacist’s apprentice in Lucca, and while still a layman worked for the salvation of souls. With his ordination at age 31 there began his truly apostolic life in hospitals and prisons, where he preached, catechized and heard confessions with remarkable zeal.

 

John Leonardi is revered as the founder of the Congregation of Clerks Regular of the Mother of God. This consisted at first merely of a group of laymen who had been attracted by St John’s evident holiness, and who wished to live under his guidance and assist him in his beneficent work of bringing sinners to conversion. His contemporaries, St Philip Neri and St Joseph Calasanz, were united with him in a deep friendship by the identity of their aspirations.

 

St John was also one of the founders of the great Roman College of the Propaganda Fide for the philosophical and theological training of missionary Priests. His memory was held so high in the Holy City that Pope Leo XIII had his name placed in the Roman Martyrology and ordered the Roman clergy to celebrate his Mass and Office — an honour which is otherwise strictly limited to beatified Popes.

 

John died of influenza whilst nursing his brethren stricken with the same disease. Beatified in 1861 and canonized in 1938, his relics lie enshrined in Santa Maria in Campitelli, Rome.

 

Reflection: “They that have done good things shall come forth into the resurrection of life; but they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgement” (Jesus - Jn 5:29).

Daily Readings

October 8, 2025

Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1

Jonah 4:1–11

It displeased Jonah exceedingly, [that God did not do the evil which he had said he would do to Nineveh], and he was angry. And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?” Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. Now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labour, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than one hundred twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 86:3–4, 5–6, 9–10

Response: You are slow to anger, O Lord, and abundant in mercy.

Have mercy on me, O Lord,

for I cry to you all the day long.

Gladden the soul of your servant,

for I lift up my soul to you, O Lord. 

Response: You are slow to anger, O Lord, and abundant in mercy.

O Lord, you are good and forgiving,

full of mercy to all who call to you.

Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer,

and attend to my voice in supplication.

Response: You are slow to anger, O Lord, and abundant in mercy.

All the nations you have made shall come;

they will bow down before you, O Lord,

and glorify your name,

for you are great

and do marvellous deeds,

you who alone are God. 

Response: You are slow to anger, O Lord, and abundant in mercy.

Alleluia

Romans 8:15bc

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

You have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”.

Gospel

Luke 11:1–4

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”

Reflection

“Lord, teach us to pray” is the fervent plea of one of the disciples of Jesus; he is certainly voicing the sentiments of all those present with him and others too. They see Jesus praying, in deep encounters with his Father. Saint Luke’s Gospel is also referred to as the ‘Gospel of Prayer’ because ‘Jesus at prayer’ is highlighted several times. The disciples are also eager to pray the way Jesus does. Jesus teaches them what we commonly call today ‘the Lord’s Prayer’ or the ‘Our Father’. The prayer has all the dimensions of what a perfect prayer should be: of praise and petition, of a personal relationship with God and at the same time, having the courage to forgive others.

Saints Sergius and Bacchus (Martyrs) (A.D.-303)

Sergius and Bacchus were said to have been officers of the Roman army on the Syrian frontier; Sergius being described as commandant of the recruits’ school and Bacchus as his subaltern. They were personal favourites of the Emperor Maximian, until one day when he went into the temple of Jupiter to offer sacrifice he noticed that they did not enter with him.

Ordered to take part in the sacrifice, both of them refused and professed their faith in Christ, much to the dismay of the Emperor. They were soon stripped of their arms and ranks and instead paraded through the streets, dressed in women’s clothing. But none of these humiliations and threats could change their hearts.

They were then dispatched to Risafe in Mesopotamia, where the governor had them scourged so severely that St Bacchus died under the lash. His body was thrown out on the highway, where vultures protected it from being attacked by dogs—an incident recorded about several other martyrs. St Sergius was made to walk a long distance wearing shoes with nails thrust through into his feet, and was then beheaded.

In 431, Alexander, Metropolitan of Hierapolis, restored and blessed the church over the grave of St Sergius, whose walls in the middle of the sixth century were plated with silver. The church at Risafe was one of the most famous in the East, and Sergius and Bacchus became the heavenly protectors of the Byzantine army, with the two Theodores, Demetrius, Procopius and George.

Reflection: “When the enemy has been cast out of your hearts, renounce him, not only in word, but in work; not only by the sound of the lips, but in every act of your life” (St Augustine).

Daily Readings

October 7, 2025

Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosar

Reading 1

Acts 1:12–14

[After Jesus was taken up into heaven,] the Apostles returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

Responsorial Psalm 

Luke 1:46-55  

Response: He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour. 

Response: He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

For he has looked on

the humble estate of his servant.

For behold, from now on

all generations will call me blessed;

for he who is mighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his name. 

Response: He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

And his mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm;

he has scattered the proud

in the thoughts of their hearts. 

Response: He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

He has brought down the mighty

from their thrones

and exalted those of humble estate;

he has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty. 

Response: He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy,

as he spoke to our fathers,

to Abraham and to his offspring for ever.” 

Response: He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

Alleluia

Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women.

Gospel

Luke 1:26–38

At that time: The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Reflection 

We celebrate today Mary’s ‘yes’! Her ‘yes’ was total and unconditional; one which came after a dialogue with the angel Gabriel and prayerful discernment. She knows that it is the will of God; she accepts what God wants of her. It is not an easy decision, but she obeys God, cheerfully and lovingly. While May is known as the Month of Mary, the month of October is the month of the Holy Rosary. Today we celebrate the special gift of the  Rosary. As we continue on this journey of life, let us fervently pray to Mary our Mother asking her through the recitation of the Rosary to give us the courage to say “yes’ to the will of God and to accompany us:  “Be with us Mary along the way, guide every step we take…. Lead us to Jesus your son!”

Our Lady of the Rosary

It was on 7 October 1571 that the great naval battle of Lepanto was fought against the invading Turks. The victory of Europe in this famous battle saved Christian civilization. It was to gratefully commemorate Mary’s role in this victory that Pope St Pius V instituted the Feast of Our Lady of Victory on this date. Later popes, in keeping with the fact that the victory was basically the fruit of the rosary, termed it the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

The Rosary devotion was popularized by a Dominican preacher, Alan de la Roche (d.1475) and his confreres, in northern France and Flanders, whence it spread to the rest of Europe. Pope Leo X accorded it official approbation in 1520 and declared October the month of the Holy Rosary. The feast was permanently placed on the liturgical calendar of the Universal Church in 1716—when Prince Eugene won another important victory over the same enemy in Hungary.

The Rosary as we use it today is a simplified version of the Dominican Rosary which consisted of 150 Hail Mary’s to the accompaniment of a meditation on 15 mysteries pertaining to the life, suffering, death and glorification of Jesus and of Mary based on scripture. These mysteries [now 20] fall into four divisions or “chaplets” of 5 mysteries each, viz., the “Joyful”, the “Sorrowful”, the “Glorious” and the “Luminous”, thus summarizing the Church’s Liturgical Year and presenting Christian truth comprehensively and graphically. The rosary possesses great power to enlighten and sanctify and, according to Pope Pius XII, has the special efficacy of intercession.

Reflection: “Never will anyone who prays his Rosary every day be led astray. This is a statement that I would gladly sign with my blood” (St Louis de Montfort).

Daily Readings

October 6, 2025

Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1

Jonah 1:1–17; 2:1, 10

The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord. But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.” And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. Therefore they called out to the Lord, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish. And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

Responsorial Psalm

Jonah 2:2, 3, 4, 7

Response: You brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.

I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,

and he answered me;

out of the belly of Sheol I cried,

and you heard my voice.

Response: You brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.

For you cast me into the deep,

into the heart of the seas,

and the flood surrounded me;

all your waves and your billows passed over me. 

Response: You brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.

Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight;

yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’ 

Response: You brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.

When my life was fainting away,

I remembered the Lord,

and my prayer came to you,

into your holy temple. 

Response: You brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.

Alleluia

John 13:34

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

A new commandment I give to you, says the Lord, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.

Gospel

Luke 10:25–37

At that time: A lawyer stood up to put Jesus to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbour to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Reflection 

On 04 October 2020, Pope Francis gave us his path-breaking Encyclical ‘Fratelli Tutti’. In the second chapter ‘A Stranger on the Road’: the parable of the Good Samaritan (the Gospel of today) he writes, “Although this Letter is addressed to all people of goodwill, regardless of their religious convictions, the parable is one that any of us can relate to and find challenging”. Pope Francis contextualises the parable in a new idiom: in the realities of today; he hits out at what is endemic in society today – the structural sins which we do not address. The parable provides a dual way ahead: the openness to encounter and embrace the stranger and the endurance to accompany the stranger to the very end.

Saint Bruno (Abbot Confessor) (c.1030 -1101)

Bruno Hartenfaust was ordained priest at 25, and received a canonry at Cologne but was recalled by the Bishop of Rheims to assist in directing his former school. 

In 1075 he was appointed Chancellor and Canon-theologian for the diocese. But after the death of his friend, Bishop Gervais, the See was occupied by the worldly and violent Manasses I who, when later suspended, fled for his life in a popular uprising. Bruno and his six companions thereupon carried out a vow made some years before to leave the world and embrace the monastic life in the Alpine solitude of the Chartreuse given to them by St Hugh, Bishop of Grenoble, commencing in 1084 a life of silence, prayer, labour, study, mortification, and poverty. That was the beginning of the Eremitical Order of Carthusians.

Bruno, however, was to spend only six years at the Chartreuse, for Pope Urban II, a former pupil at Reims, called him to Rome as his adviser and confessor with the aim of continuing the reform of the clergy initiated by Pope St Gregory VII; but faced with the anti-pope, Guibert, and the military advances of Emperor Henry IV, Bruno repeatedly tried to persuade Urban to let him return to the solitary life, but Urban wished him to remain within call, and so had a new monastery founded in Calabria, where Bruno died in 1101. His Grande Chartreuse continued to grow until it controlled some 250 monasteries.

Reflection: “In the midst of the battle which we fight for God, we enjoy peace which the world does not know” (St Bruno).

Daily Readings

Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1

Habakkuk 1:2–3; 2:2–4

O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end – it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 95:1–2, 6–7abc, 7d–9

Response: O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts.

Come, let us ring out our joy to the Lord;

hail the rock who saves us.

Let us come into his presence, giving thanks;

let us hail him with a song of praise.

Response: O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts.

O come; let us bow and bend low.

Let us kneel before the God who made us,

for he is our God and we the people

who belong to his pasture,

the flock that is led by his hand. 

Response: O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts.

O that today you would listen to his voice!

“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,

as on that day at Massah in the desert

when your forebears put me to the test;

when they tried me, though they saw my work. 

Response: O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts.

Reading 2

2 Timothy 1:6–8, 13–14

Beloved: I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

Alleluia

1 Peter 1:25

The word of the Lord remains for ever. And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

Gospel

Luke 17:5–10

At that time: The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea’, and it would obey you. Will any one of you who has a servant ploughing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table?’ Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterwards you will eat and drink?’ Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”

Reflection 

The core message of today’s gospel passage is faith. We are all invited to join the apostles as they plead with Jesus, “Lord, increase our faith.” That leaves us with the question: what is ‘faith?’  Too often we associate faith with saying prayers and performing ritualistic practices; whilst all of that may have their specific roles, faith is much more. The apostles in today’s  Gospel passage are unsure of their faith; with deep sincerity, they are convinced they need much more of it. They are not afraid to approach Jesus with their doubt. Jesus’ response is that if one’s faith is genuine, however little it may seem (even like a grain of mustard),  one could do incredible things.  Faith is tangible and is manifested in our attitudes and actions. The one prayer that should always be on our lips and in our hearts is “Lord, increase my faith… help my unbelief”

Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska (Virgin, visionary) (1905-1938)

Named Helena at birth, this ardent promoter of the “Divine Mercy” devotion worked as a domestic since the age of fourteen in order to help her parents until, in 1925, she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy at Warsaw. Here, amidst the humble setting of the simple daily chores Jesus, in a vision in 1931, made her his secretary, confidant and messenger, instructing her to paint an image of his according to the profile she saw. She was blessed with other innumerable and extensive mystical experiences which she put down in her “Diary” at the behest of her spiritual director and of Jesus himself.

She took the name Maria Faustina at her veiling in the Novitiate in 1926 and made her final profession in 1933. In 1934, she visited the artist, E. Kazimirowski, in connection with the proposed painting. 

Despite ill-health and humiliation, she was ever obedient to the dictates of conscience, superior and Lord. Suffering in silence, she prayed fervently for priests, for the Church and her needs, and for the world at large. The Lord for his part, made his satisfaction known to her thus: “My child, you are my delight. You are the comfort of my heart. I grant you as many graces as you can hold. As often as you want to make me happy, speak to the world about my great and unfathomable mercy.”

Sr Maria Faustina Kowalska was canonized by her compatriot, Pope Saint John Paul II, in the Jubilee Year, 2000.

Reflection: “Jesus, source of life, sanctify me. O my strength, fortify me. My commander, fight for me. Only light of my soul, enlighten me. My Master guide me” (St Maria Faustina Kowalska).

Daily Readings 

October 04, 2025, Saturday 

Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi

Reading 1

Baruch 4:5–12, 27-29

Take courage, my people, O memorial of Israel! It was not for destruction that you were sold to the nations, but you were handed over to your enemies because you angered God. For you provoked him who made you, by sacrificing to demons and not to God. You forgot the everlasting God, who brought you up, and you grieved Jerusalem, who reared you. For she saw the wrath that came upon you from God, and she said: “Listen, you neighbours of Sion, God has brought great sorrow upon me; for I have seen the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the Everlasting brought upon them. With joy I nurtured them, but I sent them away with weeping and sorrow. Let no one rejoice over me, a widow and bereaved of many; I was left desolate because of the sins of my children, because they turned away from the law of God. Take courage, my children, and cry to God, for you will be remembered by him who brought this upon you. For just as you purposed to go astray from God, return with tenfold zeal to seek him. For he who brought these calamities upon you will bring you everlasting joy with your salvation.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 69:33–35, 36–37 

Response:The Lord listens to the needy.

The poor when they see it will be glad,

and God-seeking hearts will revive;

for the Lord listens to the needy,

and does not spurn his own in their chains.

Let the heavens and the earth give him praise,

the seas and everything

that moves in them. 

Response:The Lord listens to the needy.

For God will bring salvation to Sion,

and rebuild the cities of Judah,

and they shall dwell there in possession.

The children of his servants shall inherit it;

those who love his name shall dwell there. 

Response:The Lord listens to the needy.

Alleluia

See Matthew 11:25

Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have revealed to little children the mysteries of the kingdom.

Gospel 

Luke 10:17–24

At that time: The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

Reflection 

The seventy-two are entrusted with a mission. They are sent to places where Jesus was to eventually go, in a way to prepare the way for him. They come back to Jesus with tremendous happiness for what they managed to do during their visits. They were particularly happy with the way they dealt with evil and cast out demons. Jesus cautions them saying that what is essential in discipleship is to have one’s name written in heaven. At the same time, he thanks his Father for revealing the truth to the humble of heart.  Saint Francis d’Assisi,  patron of the environment, through his words and deeds, highlights the importance of caring for our common home and responding to the cries of the poor.

St Francis of Assisi (Confessor) (c.1181-1226)

Francis had all the comforts and luxuries of life and, in keeping with the times, was a highly popular romantic who passionately sought knighthood! Thus, in 1202, when Assisi went to war against Perugia, his involvement cost him a year in prison. Recovering from a serious illness that followed, his attempt in late 1205 to join the papal forces against Frederick II in Apulia came to naught when a vision at Spoleto bid him return to Assisi and there await a call to a new kind of knighthood whereby he would “serve the Master rather than the man”, marking the start of his conversion. 

In prayerful solitude he passionately prayed to know God’s will for him. His newfound concern for the poor and the sick reached its peak when he one day dismounted his horse to give a leper by the wayside alms and a warm embrace that, in his own words, changed “bitterness to sweetness.” In response to Jesus’ command from the cross at San Damiano’s Church, “Francis, go repair my house which, as you see, is falling into ruin,” he instantly set about repairing old, dilapidated San Damiano’s. In 1208, he perceived clearly at Mass the Lord’s plan for him in Matthew 10:5-14. In 1209, with the enrobing of Peter of Cattaneo, Canon of the Cathedral, was born the Order of Friars Minor, with Mary, Queen of the Angels as guide and protector.   

Canonized in 1228, Francis was called by Pope Benedict XV the “most perfect image of Christ” and by Pope Pius XI alter Christus.

Reflection: “We adore you and we bless you, Lord Jesus Christ, here and in all the churches which are in the world, because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world” (St Francis d’Assisi).

Daily Readings

October 03,2025,

Friday

Friday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1

Baruch 1:15–22

Righteousness belongs to the Lord our God, but shame, as at this day, to us, to the people of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to our kings and our princes and our priests and our prophets and our fathers, because we have sinned before the Lord and have disobeyed him and have not heeded the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in the statutes of the Lord that he set before us. From the day when the Lord brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt until today, we have been disobedient to the Lord our God, and we have been negligent, in not heeding his voice. So to this day there have clung to us the calamities and the curse that the Lord declared through Moses his servant at the time when he brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt to give to us a land flowing with milk and honey. We did not heed the voice of the Lord our God in all the words of the prophets whom he sent to us. but we each followed the intent of his own wicked heart by serving other gods and doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord our God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 79:1–2, 3–5, 8, 9

Response: For the sake of the glory of your name, free us O Lord.

O God, the nations have invaded your heritage;

they have profaned your holy temple.

They have made Jerusalem a heap of ruins.

They have handed over

the bodies of your servants

as food to feed the birds of heaven,

and the flesh of your faithful

to the beasts of the earth.

Response: For the sake of the glory of your name, free us O Lord.

They have poured out their blood

like water round Jerusalem;

no one is left to bury the dead.

We have become the taunt of our neighbours,

the mockery and scorn of those around us.

How long, O Lord?

Will you be angry forever?

Will your jealous anger burn like fire? 

Response: For the sake of the glory of your name, free us O Lord.

Do not remember against us

the guilt of former times.

Let your compassion hasten to meet us;

for we have been brought very low. 

Response: For the sake of the glory of your name, free us O Lord.

Help us, O God our saviour,

for the sake of the glory of your name.

Free us and forgive us our sins,

because of your name. 

Response: For the sake of the glory of your name, free us O Lord.

Alleluia

Psalm 95:8

Today, harden not your hearts but listen to the voice of the Lord.

Gospel

Luke 10:13–16

At that time: Jesus said, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

Reflection

Being rebuked, being condemned is not easy to accept; particularly if this rebuke, this condemnation comes from someone who matters. This someone is Jesus! But Jesus speaks strongly to the Galilean towns of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum for a reason. These towns have experienced the ‘mighty works’ (miracles, graces whatever) of Jesus; sadly, they don’t seem to have created the necessary impact. Jesus admonishes them saying if these mighty works had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, the people there would have repented long ago. We too constantly receive heavenly blessings: do they result in the necessary conversion in us? Are we prepared to share these blessings with others?  If not, we too may meet with the same fate as that of the people Jesus rebukes!

Two Ewalds Martyrs ( 695)

The Ewalds were Anglo-Saxon brothers from Northumbria and both were priests. Both of them being equally fervent and zealous, they could be differentiated largely by the colour of their hair—one was called Black Ewald, and the other, White Ewald!

Having specialized in sacred learning and in eloquence in Ireland, they went over to the country of old Saxony in Westphalia in 604 to preach the Gospel, after the example of St Willibrord who opened the spiritual harvest in Friesland. There they were met by a certain official, whom they desired to conduct them to his lord, because they had tidings for his advantage. The man invited them into his house and kept them there for several days. The missionaries passed the time in prayer, singing psalms and hymns, and daily celebration of the Mass.

But the local pagans, observing this, feared that the preachers might prevail on their chief to forsake their gods and religion, and thus resolved to murder them both. They felled White Ewald with one blow of the sword and tortured Black Ewald before slaying him before throwing their bodies in the Rhine. But when the Lord of the territory heard of what had happened, he was furious and had the murderers put to death and their villages burnt for their failure to report the two strangers to him and for having taken the law into their own hands.

Honoured as martyrs, their mortal remains were enshrined in the church of St Clement [now renamed St Cunibert] in the time of Pepin.

Reflection: “The kingdom of Heaven, O man, requires no other price than your self. The value of it is your self. Give yourself for it and you shall have it” (St Augustine).

October 02, 2025, Thursday

Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels

Reading 1

Exodus 23:20–23

Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I send an angel before you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice, do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression; for my name is in him. But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites, and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 91:1–2, 3–4, 5–6, 10–11

Response: For you has he commanded his angels, to keep you in all your ways.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High,

and abides in the shade of the Almighty,

says to the Lord, “My refuge,

my stronghold, my God in whom I trust!”.

Response: For you has he commanded his angels, to keep you in all your ways.

He will free you

from the snare of the fowler,

from the destructive plague;

he will conceal you with his pinions,

and under his wings you will find refuge.

His faithfulness is buckler and shield. 

Response: For you has he commanded his angels, to keep you in all your ways.

You will not fear the terror of the night,

nor the arrow that flies by day

nor the plague that prowls in the darkness,

nor the scourge that lays waste at noon. 

Response: For you has he commanded his angels, to keep you in all your ways.

Upon you no evil shall fall,

no plague approach your tent.

For you has he commanded his angels

to keep you in all your ways. 

Response: For you has he commanded his angels, to keep you in all your ways.

Alleluia

Psalm 103:21

Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his servants, who do his will.

Gospel

Matthew 18:1–5, 10

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me. See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.”

Reflection

Guardian Angels are special. The Lord’s spirit guarding us, caring for us and leading us so that one day we too like them reach heaven and see the face of the Father who is in heaven. We often use the word ‘angel’ in today’s parlance for someone good, kind, loving, caring, available, and protecting others. There are a whole range of qualities which are constitutive of an angel. A popular  1979 ABBA hit titled ‘I Have a Dream’ has these words “I believe in angels, something good in everything I see”. Today as we celebrate our Guardian Angels, let us remember that we too are called to be angels: to be good, and to do good and to overcome the hate and violence which engulf our world today!

Guardian Angels

The Angels, God’s first creation, are spiritual beings, considered immensely superior to man in natural gifts. Hebrews tells us that Christ is superior to all the angels. They serve him. “The truth is they are all spirits whose work is service, sent to help those who will be the heirs of salvation” (Heb 1:14). Clearly, then, though the notion of guardian angels, which is deeply embedded in longstanding Catholic tradition, is not an essential doctrine of the Faith, its validity as a proximate teaching of faith, based on Scripture and the teaching of the Fathers of the Church, cannot be denied. After all, did Jesus himself not say, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you their angels in heaven behold the face of my Father in heaven” (Mt 18:10)?

The word “angel” is derived from the Greek word aggelos, which in turn is a translation of the Hebrew word mal’akh, meaning messenger. In the light of this understanding, devotion to one’s guardian angel is considered noteworthy, for, as the Psalmist says, “To his angels he has given charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. Upon their hands they shall bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone” (Ps 90:11-12).

St Jerome avers that “so sublime is the dignity of the soul that from its birth there is appointed to each one a Guardian Spirit” whose role as is evident in Catholic theology is to enlighten, protect, guide and pray for the person entrusted to his care.

Reflection: “Revere your Guardian Angel! Be grateful for the care he bestows upon you. Have confidence in him, love him, and turn to him to entreat his protection in every difficulty, danger and temptation!” (St Bernard)

Daily Readings

October 01, 2025, Wednesday 

Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Reading 1

Isaiah 66:10–14c

“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her; that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious abundance.” For thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice; your bones shall flourish like the grass; and the hand of the Lord shall be known to his servants.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 131:1, 2, 3

Response: Keep my soul in peace at your side, O Lord.

O Lord, my heart is not proud,

nor haughty my eyes.

I have not gone after things too great,

nor marvels beyond me. 

Response: Keep my soul in peace at your side, O Lord.

Truly, I have set my soul

in tranquillity and silence.

As a weaned child on its mother,

as a weaned child is my soul within me. 

Response: Keep my soul in peace at your side, O Lord.

O Israel, wait for the Lord,

both now and forever.  

Response: Keep my soul in peace at your side, O Lord.

Alleluia

See Matthew 11:25

Blessed are you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have revealed to little children the mysteries of the kingdom.

Gospel

Matthew 18:1–5

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.

Reflection 

There are several qualities which a child embodies; these include spontaneity, simplicity, transparency, humility, and natural acceptance of the other. Jesus wants every disciple of his to change; however, to meaningfully change, one needs to radiate the qualities that belong to the ‘realm of children’. Jesus makes ‘becoming like children’ a prerequisite to entering the kingdom of heaven and humbling oneself is a fundamental step. We live in a world today in which pride and power, divisiveness and manipulation, hate and violence seem to have become the ‘new normal’. It is not easy to swim against the current. Jesus challenges us to be the change we want to see. Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus epitomized these qualities and courageously lived them!

Saint Therese of the Child Jesus (Virgin) (1873 -1897)

Marie Francoise Therese was the youngest of nine children of devout French parents, Louis and Zelie Martin, both of whom were canonized in 2015. She was barely 15 when she fulfilled her cherished dream of entering the Carmelites in 1888.

Sr Therese of the Child Jesus was favoured with signal graces, and advanced so rapidly in holiness that at the age of 22 she was appointed novice mistress. A childlike simplicity, utter humility, constant self-sacrifice, and a boundless love of God and trust in him were some of her most outstanding virtues as was evident from her now world renowned autobiography “The Story of a Soul”, which she wrote under obedience. Not to be conspicuous in anything, not to complain, not to reveal that she was ailing, to show a special friendliness towards those who were unsympathetic to her, and to answer pointed remarks with a winning smile—these were some of her axioms.

After a martyrdom of both mind and body, and having offered herself in sweet resignation and heroic patience as a victim of God’s merciful love, Therese died of consumption in 1897 at the age of 24. “There is just one thing to be done here below: to love Jesus and to save souls for him, so that he may be more loved!”

Canonized in 1925 and declared Doctor of the Church, she is the Patron Saint of aviators and of Russia, and with St Francis Xavier, of all Catholic missions.

Reflection: “What offends Jesus, what woun

ds him to the heart, is want of confidence” (St Therese).

Daily Readings

September 30, 2025

Memorial of Saint Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church

Reading 1

Shared from Daily Liturgy

Sept 30, Tue

Zechariah 8:20–23

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities. The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the favour of the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going.’ Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favour of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 87:1–3, 4–5, 6–7

Response: God is with us.

Founded by him on the holy mountain,

the Lord loves the gates of Sion,

more than all the dwellings of Jacob.

Of you are told glorious things,

you, O city of God!  

Response: God is with us.

Rahab and Babylon I will count

among those who know me;

of Tyre, Philistia, Ethiopia, it is told,

‘There was this one born.’

But of Sion it shall be said,

“Each one was born in her.”

He, the Most High, established it.  

Response: God is with us.

In his register of peoples the Lord writes,

“Here was this one born.”

The singers cry out in chorus,

“In you, all find their home.” 

Response: God is with us.

Alleluia

Mark 10:45

The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Gospel

Luke 9:51-56

When the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. But other people did not receive him, because his face was set towards Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. And they went on to another village.

Reflection 

When someone rejects us, we can either feel bad and offended or simply shrug it off and treat it as part of life. Jesus, who was refused entry into the Samaritan village, walked away without harbouring resentment. He did not disturb the people of Samaria and departed from them without leaving any ill feeling. We should not bite the bait of people who try to offend us or lure us into arrogance. Instead, we should take the higher road and extract much positivity out of negative situations. Remember that nobody is in charge of how we react in any given situation,  nor should we forget to look at the positive in every negative situation. Jesus’ deep faith in God is a testament to his trust. We should nurture our faith and trust daily, creating a foundation that will support and sustain us in need.

St Jerome Confessor, Doctor of the Church (c.341-420)

Sophronius Eusebius Hieronymus—the full form of the name Jerome—was born in Dalmatia (Yugoslavia), studied in Rome, and then travelled for years in a passionate search for knowledge: first to Treves (where St Athanasius had, some 30 years before, induced numerous men to follow the example of the Egyptian desert hermits, and the whole region was developing into a centre of Christian asceticism) for theology. Thence to Antioch, where he studied Greek and Holy Scripture; but, being warned by our Lord in a vision that he was “more of a Ciernonian than a Christian”, he withdrew for five years in the desert, practised penance, and studied Hebrew.

Ordained priest, he served the Pope for five years as secretary, revised the Bible, opened a library, and guided a group of pious Roman women in the study of the Scriptures. Among the latter were St Paula and her daughter St Eustochium, and when, after Pope St Damasus’ death, the ease-loving Roman clergy whom the outspoken Jerome had bitterly criticized, caused him to leave the half pagan city in disgust, these holy women followed him to Bethlehem. Here, besides governing a monastery and a school, he completed his prolific and monumental writings, especially the translation of the Bible. 

St Jerome used to conduct his controversies with great fierceness, but readily acknowledged his shortcomings; to the very end, he submitted his body to severe fasts and vigils until his death in 420. 

Reflection: “Always be doing something, so that whether God or the devil com

es to you, you may be found with your hands full” (St Jerome).

Daily Readings

September 29, 2025

Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels

Reading 1

Daniel 7:9–10, 13–14

“As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened. I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”

or

Revelation 12:7-12ab

War broke out in heaven;

Michael and his angels battled against the dragon.

The dragon and its angels fought back,

but they did not prevail

and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.

The huge dragon, the ancient serpent,

who is called the Devil and Satan,

who deceived the whole world,

was thrown down to earth,

and its angels were thrown down with it.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

"Now have salvation and power come,

and the Kingdom of our God

and the authority of his Anointed.

For the accuser of our brothers is cast out,

who accuses them before our God day and night.

They conquered him by the Blood of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony;

love for life did not deter them from death.

Therefore, rejoice, you heavens,

and you who dwell in them."

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 138:1–2a, 2bcd–3, 4–5 

Response: In the presence of the angels I praise you, O Lord.

I thank you, Lord, with all my heart;

you have heard the words of my mouth.

In the presence of the angels I praise you.

I bow down toward your holy temple.  

Response: In the presence of the angels I praise you, O Lord.

I give thanks to your name

for your merciful love and your faithfulness.

You have exalted your name over all.

On the day I called, you answered me;

you increased the strength of my soul.  

Response: In the presence of the angels I praise you, O Lord.

All earth’s kings shall thank you, O Lord

when they hear the words of your mouth.

They shall sing of the ways of the Lord,

“How great is the glory of the Lord!”  

Response: In the presence of the angels I praise you, O Lord.

Alleluia

Psalm 103:21

Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his servants, who do his will.

Gospel

John 1:47–51

At that time: Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree’, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Reflection

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of the Archangels, Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. The names of these three Archangels are evident in Sacred Scripture and have significant roles in the history of salvation. Michael is the “Prince of the Heavenly Host” and the leader of all the angels. He is mentioned four times in the Bible, including Daniel 10 and 12, the letter of Jude, and Revelation. Saint Michael is invoked for protection against Satan and evil spirits. Christian tradition recognizes four offices of Saint Michael: fighting against Satan, rescuing the souls of the faithful, being the champion of God’s people, and bringing men’s souls to judgment. Saint Gabriel, meaning “God’s strength”, is mentioned four times in the Bible and is believed to have appeared to the Blessed Mother, Saint Joseph and the shepherds. Saint Raphael is a travelling companion, who can help us not to be tempted to take the wrong step in our lives. The last verse of the Gospel mentions the presence of the angels in our lives. The angels are the carriers of grace between God and humanity. Let us seek their assistance in our day-to-day life.

Sts Michael, Gabriel and Raphael the Archangels

Today the Church celebrates the importance and significance of each of the three Archangels named in the Bible, i.e., Sts Michael, Gabriel and Raphael—each with a different mission: Michael protects, Gabriel announces and Raphael guides.

St Michael.

The name Michael in Hebrew signifies “who is like God”—

the battle cry of the good Angels who drove Satan from Heaven. In Holy Scripture he is shown to have been the guardian and comforter of the Chosen Race who prepared their return from captivity in Persia and insured the victory of the Maccabees. The early Christians entrusted to St Michael the care of their sick: all who bathed in his medicinal spring near Colossae, invoking him and the Holy Trinity, were healed; and near Constantinople the sick used to spend the night in his church in the hope of a cure. Catholic tradition assigns to this “great prince” these four offices: to fight against Satan, to rescue the souls of the faithful from his grasp, especially at death, to be the special Patron of Holy Church, and to bring men’s souls to judgement. St Michael’s was one of the “Voices” which instructed St Joan of Arc.

The 29 September is probably the date on which the ancient Roman Basilica to “St Michael and All Angels” at Gargano in Italy was dedicated in the 6th century, but that building disappeared over a thousand years ago. In England “Michaelmas Day” is one of the regular days on which quarterly rents and accounts are settled. St Michael is the Patron Saint of grocers, and the guardian of all mountain places. He is also held to be the special Guardian Angel of the Pope and, according to St Eutropius, of the Blessed Sacrament.

St Gabriel

The name Gabriel means “The Power of God” or “Hero of God” in Hebrew. He is one of the seven Angels who “Stand before God”, and he seems to be in a particular way the messenger of glad or consoling tidings. Thus, we read in the Book of Daniel (ch 8) that it was St Gabriel who explained the vision of the ram and foretold the fall of the Persian empire at the hands of Alexander the Great. The very next chapter records his prophecy concerning the coming of Christ after “70 weeks” of years. In the New Testament we are told of how he appeared to Zachary in the Temple and announced to him the coming birth of his son, St John the Baptist. But above all he is known as the “Angel of the Annunciation”—it was he who informed Mary that she had been chosen to become the Mother of the Incarnate Word.

In Jewish tradition, Gabriel was taken to be the Angel of judgement as at Sodom and against the army of Sennacherib, and it was he who was supposed to mark the foreheads of the elect. Christian tradition also attributes to St Gabriel the message given to the shepherds at Bethlehem and to St Joseph in connection with the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt, and believes that it was he who “strengthened” our Lord in the Garden of Olives on the night of His Betrayal.

Notably, Mohammed, in the Qu’ran, considered St Gabriel the head of all Angels, and claimed that he had received his revelations from him. In 1951, Pope Pius XII proclaimed him the patron of all communication arts, particularly television.

St Raphael

Raphael’s Hebrew name signifies “God has healed.” According to his own testimony to Tobias, even he is one of the seven Angels who always stand before the throne of the Almighty. In the Old Testament it is recorded how he cured the blindness of Tobit and acted as guide during his son’s trip to Media. St Raphael is in consequence revered as the Patron Saint of travellers, of the young and the innocent.

The day’s Gospel also identifies him with the Angel who used to come down at certain intervals to stir the water in the Probatica pool, which caused the cure of the first invalid who descended into the moving waters.

The Eastern Church has honoured St Raphael since the year 1000, but his cult was added to the universal calendar of the Church by Pope Benedict XV in 1921.

Reflection: "Make the holy Angels your friends

No matter how weak you may be, how sad your condition, or how great the perils which surround us, we have nothing to fear under the protection of such guardians!" (St Bernard)

Daily Readings

September 28, 2025

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1

Amos 6:1a, 4–7

Thus says the Lord almighty; “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria. Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory and stretch themselves out on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall, who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp and like David invent for themselves instruments of music, who drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph! Therefore they shall now be the first of those who go into exile, and the revelry of those who stretch themselves out shall pass away.”

Responsorial Psalm 

Psalm 146:6c–7, 8–9a, 9bc–10  

Response: Come, Lord, and save us.

It is the Lord who preserves fidelity forever,

who does justice to those

who are oppressed.

It is he who gives bread to the hungry,

the Lord who sets prisoners free. 

Response: Come, Lord, and save us.

It is the Lord who opens the eyes of the blind,

the Lord who raises up those

who are bowed down.

It is the Lord who loves the just,

the Lord who protects the stranger.  

Response: Come, Lord, and save us.

The Lord upholds the orphan and the widow,

but thwarts the path of the wicked.

The Lord will reign forever,

the God of Sion from age to age.  

Response: Come, Lord, and save us.

Reading 2

1Timothy 6:11–16

As for you, O man of God, pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time – he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honour and eternal dominion. Amen.

Alleluia

Cf. 2 Corinthians 8:9

Though Jesus Christ was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

Gospel

Luke 16:19–31

At that time: Jesus said to the Pharisees, “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not do so, and none may cross from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house – for I have five brothers – so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

Reflection 

The prophet Amos and our Saviour Jesus echo the same message today: Those who are unmindful and insensitive to the plight of the poor and the needy in this world will be severely punished in the next world. There will be a reversal of fortunes: “Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.” The poor who suffer hunger and pain in this world will be compensated or rewarded in the next. The rich man in today’s Gospel is so comfortable in his luxury that he does not notice the plight of the suffering Lazarus, who never even existed for him. Prophet Amos says of the rich: “Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory, stretch themselves out on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock.” According to Pope Francis, “If we truly wish to encounter Christ, we have to touch his body in the suffering bodies of the poor, as a response to the sacramental communion bestowed in the Eucharist” (Message for World Day of the Poor 2017, n  3).

St Wenceslaus, King, Martyr (907-929)

St Wenceslaus (or Vaclav) owed his thoroughly Christian education to his grandmother, St Ludmilla, who instilled in him a special devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. But when his father, a Christian, died, his mother, a pagan named Dragomir, became regent for the all-too-young Wenceslaus and started a violent pagan reaction in which the German missionaries were gradually expelled and St Ludmilla suffered martyrdom by strangulation. At this juncture, in 922, the people insisted on the growing prince wresting the regency out of his mother’s hands. Before long, Wenceslaus obliged. Recalling the German Priests from their banishment, and combining courage and energy with great kindness of heart, he did everything in his power to raise the religious, moral, and cultural standard of his subjects. 

He obtained from Emperor Otto I the title of King of Bohemia. But a number of nobles opposed his policies, and in this they were actively encouraged by Dragomir and by her second son, Boleslav, an apostate and a man of turbulent character. In the meanwhile, a son was born to Wenceslaus. Resentful at having lost his chance at succession to the throne, Boleslav plotted his murder and invited him to his home town where he murdered him at the church door of A1tBunzlau where he had gone, as was his wont, to pray before the Blessed Sacrament. 

St Wenceslaus is the Patron of Bohemia (Czechoslovakia).

Reflection: “While recognizing the autonomy of the reality of politics, Christians who are invited to take up political activity should try to make their choices consistent with the Gospel and, in the framework of a legitimate plurality, to give both personal and collective witness to the seriousness of their faith by effective and disinterested service of all people” (Paul VI).

Daily Readings

September 27, 2025

Memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul, Priest

Reading 1

Zechariah 2:1–5, 10–11a

I, Zechariah, lifted my eyes and saw, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand! Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” And behold, the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. And I will be to her a wall of fire all round, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.’” Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Sion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst.

Responsorial Psalm

Jeremiah 31:10, 11–12ab, 13 

Response: The Lord will keep us, as a shepherd keeps his flock.

Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,

and declare it in the coastlands far away;

say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him,

and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.  

Response: The Lord will keep us, as a shepherd keeps his flock.

For the Lord has ransomed Jacob

and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.

They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Sion,

and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord.  

Response: The Lord will keep us, as a shepherd keeps his flock.

Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,

and the young men and the old shall be merry.

I will turn their mourning into joy;

I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.  

Response: The Lord will keep us, as a shepherd keeps his flock.

Alleluia

See 2 Timothy 1:10

Our Saviour Christ Jesus abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

Gospel

Luke 9:43b–45

At that time: While they were all marvelling at everything Jesus was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

Reflection

The disciples were hesitant to ask Jesus about his statement that he would be delivered into the hands of men, possibly due to fear of danger, suffering, or the image of Jesus as a miracle worker and revolutionary leader. True discipleship involves suffering for Jesus and carrying our crosses with him. We should not be afraid to suffer for the sake of Jesus’ name, as there will always be something glorious after suffering. When facing difficult trials, we should never be afraid to ask questions to God but firmly hold onto our faith. Jesus’ disciples were prepared for the difficult journey ahead, but the meaning of his statement was hidden from them. Let us follow him, no matter what awaits our discipleship and mission.

St Vincent De Paul Confessor (c.1581-1660)

The third of six children in a Gascony (French) peasant family, St Vincent de Paul was educated by the Franciscans at Dax and ordained to the priesthood at 19. Five years later he was captured and enslaved by Turkish pirates but made good his escape after two years, together with his renegade Christian master whom he had converted. In 1619 King Louis XIII made him General Almoner, whereby he was able to improve the pitiful lot of the prisoners and of the slaves in the royal galleys; he established hospitals, and by way of bodily and spiritual ministrations won their hearts and converted many.

In 1626, he founded the Congregation of Priests of the Missions, whereby Vincent and a number of zealous secular priests bound themselves “to live in community and devote themselves to the salvation of poor country people.” The direction of seminaries which they undertook at the request of certain bishops proved so successful that at the outbreak of the French Revolution they were in charge of one third of all such institutions in France.

He started a foundling home, an old people’s home, an asylum for the insane, and an institution for the care of lepers. Breadlines and soup kitchens were established. “Those who have loved the poor will meet death without fear,” he maintained.

He was beatified in 1729, canonized in 1737 and declared patron of all societies devoted to works of charity by Pope Leo XIII.

Reflection: “Strive to live content in the midst of those things that cause your discontent. Free your mind from all that troubles you, God will take care of things… Trust in him, I beg you, and you will have the fulfilment of what your heart desires” (St Vincent de Paul).

Daily Readings

September 26, 2025

Friday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time

 

Reading 1

Haggai 2:1–9

 

In the second year of Darius the king, in the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet: “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 43:1, 2, 3, 4

 

Response: Hope in God; I will praise him yet again, my saving presence and my God.

 

Give me justice, O God, and plead my cause

against a nation that is faithless.

From the deceitful and the cunning

rescue me, O God. 

 

Response: Hope in God; I will praise him yet again, my saving presence and my God.

 

You, O God, are my strength;

why have you rejected me?

Why do I go mourning,

oppressed by the foe? 

 

Response: Hope in God; I will praise him yet again, my saving presence and my God.

 

O send forth your light and your truth;

they will guide me on.

They will bring me to your holy mountain,

to the place where you dwell. 

 

Response: Hope in God; I will praise him yet again, my saving presence and my God.

 

And I will come to the altar of God,

to God, my joy and gladness.

To you will I give thanks on the harp,

O God, my God. 

 

Response: Hope in God; I will praise him yet again, my saving presence and my God.

 

Alleluia

Mark 10:45

 

The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

 

Gospel

Luke 9:18–22

 

Now it happened that as Jesus was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” And they answered, “John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.” And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

 

Reflection

 

Jesus, in solitude and prayer, asked his disciples who they believed he was. They responded with answers such as John the Baptist, Elijah, or an ancient prophet. Jesus then asked who they thought he was. Today, Jesus invites us to consider who he is to us and how his presence impacts our lives. He desires a personal relationship with each of us, making him the centre of our lives. We must decide whether Jesus is just a figure in the Gospels or if he is someone we have opened our hearts to.  Jesus is waiting for us to choose. Psalm 34: 8 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him”. Let us continue to taste the goodness of the Lord, taking refuge in him, knowing him and loving him in our lives. Let us pray that he takes possession of us, forms us and enables us to love him above all else.

 

Sts Cosmas and Damian, Martyrs (-303)

 

Traditionally considered twins, Cosmas and Damian were devout Arabian Christians who practised their medical profession at the seaport of Aegae in Cilicia, Turkey. Their consistent refusal to accept any payment for their medical services earned them the epithet, “silverless ones”. This, combined with the fact that they were equally interested in mending the souls of their patients, as also their miraculous healing powers and their example of holy living, brought many pagans to the Faith.

 

When the Diocletian persecution broke out, they were immediately imprisoned as prominent Christians, subjected to various torments, and then beheaded. Their fame spread rapidly throughout Christendom, and many churches were dedicated to them, both in the East and the West. They are included in the Litany of the Saints, and were the last Saints to be added to the Canon of the Mass.

 

The famous Medici family of Florence adopted them as their Patrons, and so did a number of seaports where the plague was apt to be brought from time to time through commerce with the east. Druggists, barbers, physicians, surgeons and dentists regard the holy brothers as their patrons, and they are invoked against hernia and pestilence.

 

Reflection: “I adore your eternal and impenetrable plans; for love of you I submit to you with all my heart. I offer you the sacrifice of my entire being in union with that of Jesus, my divine saviour” (Blessed James Alberione).

Daily Readings

September 25, 2025

Thursday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1

Haggai 1:1–8

In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest: “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your panelled houses, while this house lies in ruins? Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 149:1b–2, 3–4, 5–6a and 9b

Response: The Lord takes delight in his people.

Sing a new song to the Lord,

his praise in the assembly of the faithful.

Let Israel rejoice in its Maker;

let Sion’s children exult in their king. 

Response: The Lord takes delight in his people.

Let them praise his name with dancing,

and make music with timbrel and harp.

For the Lord takes delight in his people;

he crowns the poor with salvation. 

Response: The Lord takes delight in his people.

Let the faithful exult in glory,

and rejoice as they take their rest.

Let the praise of God be in their mouths.

This is an honour for all his faithful. 

Response: The Lord takes delight in his people.

Alleluia

John 14:6

I am the way, and the truth, and the life, says the Lord no one comes to the Father except through me.

Gospel

Luke 9:7–9

At that time: Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen. Herod said, “John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he sought to see him.

Reflection

Herod’s curiosity about Jesus’ identity stems from his desire to know if John, who was killed by his order, had risen. Jesus’ arrival on the scene makes Herod suspect and fear that the one he had beheaded has come back to life to haunt him. He is weighed down by his guilt and consequently lacks peace and joy in life. He seeks to see Jesus only to rule out the possibility that it is John. We should also be curious about Jesus, not out of guilt and fear, but for a deeper intimacy with Him, leading to a deeper faith and love. Through grace, we can know Jesus in prayer which is like communicating with a friend. We should pray to recognize Jesus in moments of grace, challenges, and obstacles, and be open to seeing Him in others we serve.

St Ceolfrid, Abbot, Confessor (642-716)

St Ceolfrid, whose name is the Teutonic form of “Geoffery”, was a Northumbrian (English) nobleman before becoming a Benedictine monk and priest at Ripon under St Wilfrid. On account of his outstanding sanctity and humility, he was sent to assist St Benedict Biscop who was then founding the new abbey of Wearmouth. There he became Prior, and when the second monastery was founded at nearby Jarrow in 681, he became its first Abbot.

St Benedict, on his deathbed, designated St Ceolfrid as his successor, who, during his 26-year rule was able to bring many of his predecessors’ plans to happy fruition. The venerable St Bede was one of his monks. St Ceolfrid had a surpassing interest in studies, which led him to nearly double the set of his two monastery libraries.

At 74, he resigned his office and went on a pilgrimage to Rome, taking with him, as an offering to the Pope, the famous Codex Amiatinus, which still exists. Probably written at Wearmouth or Jarrow (c.700) during the time that he was Abbot, it is the best and one of the oldest texts which we have of St Jerome’s Vulgate.

St Ceolfrid died on a journey through France on 26 September 716; his relics have been translated to Wearmouth-Jarrow.

Reflection: “He that is great among you shall be your servant” (Mt 23:11).

Daily Readings

September 24, 2025

Wednesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading I

Ezra 9:5–9

At the evening sacrifice I, Ezra, rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God, saying: “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today. But now for a brief moment favour has been shown by the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery. For we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, but has extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection in Judea and Jerusalem.”

Responsorial Psalm 

Tobit 13:1b–2, 3–4a, 6efgh, 6ij, 8  

Response: Blessed is God who lives for ever.

Blessed is God who lives for ever,

and blessed is his kingdom,

because he chastises, and he shows mercy;

he leads down to Hades below the earth,

and he himself raises up again

from great devastation,

and there is nothing that can escape

his hand. 

Response: Blessed is God who lives for ever.

Acknowledge him, O sons of Israel,

before the nations;

for he himself has scattered you among them,

and he has shown you his greatness

even there.  

Response: Blessed is God who lives for ever.

And now see what he has done with you;

acknowledge him with your full voice,

and bless the Lord of righteousness

and exalt the King of the ages.  

Response: Blessed is God who lives for ever.

I acknowledge him

in the land of my captivity,

and I show his power and majesty

to a nation of sinners.  

Response: Blessed is God who lives for ever.

Let all people speak

and acknowledge him in Jerusalem.  

Response: Blessed is God who lives for ever.

Alleluia

Mark 1:15

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

The kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the Gospel.

Gospel

Luke 9:1–6

At that time: Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. And he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics. And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

Reflection 

Jesus gives his disciples power and authority to cure diseases and sends them to proclaim the Kingdom of God and heal the sick. Jesus instructs the disciples to travel light, relying on the providence of God and the kindness and generosity of the people they serve. They were warned that their message might not be welcomed by everyone they encountered. To truly journey with Jesus, we must travel light. We should ask ourselves what we truly need and what we can let go of, including our physical belongings and emotional baggage. Today, we ask Jesus to give us the wisdom to choose what to let go of, as it may be difficult but will ultimately lead to feeling freer and lighter.

Our Lady of Ransom

The Order of Our Lady of Mercy, which was founded at Barcelona (Spain) in 1233 by St Peter Nolasco, St Raymond of Penyafort and King James of Aragon, for the ransoming of Christians from Saracen captivity, instituted this feast in thanksgiving to Our Lady. It was gradually adopted in Spain and France, and in 1696 was promulgated by Pope Innocent XIII for observance in the Universal Church.

Mary is particularly invoked under the title of “Our Lady of Ransom” or “Our Lady of Mercy” for the re-conversion of England (“Our Lady’s Dowry”), from false religious teaching. She is also the compassionate ransomer of living sinners from Satan’s grasp, and of the suffering souls in Purgatory.

Reflection: “Mary is our Spiritual Mother, and the mother always understands her children . . . . . Then, she has that specific mission to love us, received from Jesus on the Cross, to love us only and always, so as to save us! Mary consoles us above all by pointing out the Crucified One and Paradise to us!” (John Paul II)

Daily Readings

September 23, 2025, Tuesday

Memorial of Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest

 

Reading 1

Ezra 6:7–8, 12b, 14–20

 

In those days: Darius the king wrote to the governors of the province Beyond the river, “Leave the work on this house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site. Moreover, I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God. The cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River. “I Darius make a decree; let it be done with all diligence.” And the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia; and this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. They offered at the dedication of this house of God one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel twelve male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. And they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their divisions, for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses. On the fourteenth day of the first month, the returned exiles kept the Passover. For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were clean. So they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 122:1–2, 3–4ab, 4cd–5

 

Response: Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

 

I rejoiced when they said to me,

“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”

And now our feet are standing

within your gates, O Jerusalem. 

 

Response: Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

 

Jerusalem is built as a city

bonded as one together.

It is there that the tribes go up,

the tribes of the Lord. 

 

Response: Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

 

For Israel’s witness it is

to praise the name of the Lord.

There were set the thrones for judgment,

the thrones of the house of David. 

 

Response: Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord

 

Alleluia

Luke 11:28

Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.

 

Gospel

Luke 8:19–21

 

At that time: His mother and his brothers came to Jesus, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”

 

Reflection

 

Today’s short Gospel passage teaches us the profound truth of who is the true kindred of Jesus. Mary carried out the will of God all her life, starting with her consent at the Annunciation. She accepted the angel’s message as the will of God for her. She not only became the mother of God’s Son but groomed him for the supreme sacrifice on Calvary and accompanied him all along. Her spiritual kinship with Jesus in carrying out the will of God is greater than her biological motherhood. She was the first to “hear the word of God and do it”. We become a brother/sister of Jesus by hearing the word of God and practising it in our lives.

 

St Pio de Pietrelcina, Priest, Stigmatic (1887 – 1968)

 

Born in Pietrelcina, Italy, Francois took the name of Pio at his investiture on 22 January 1903 at the Capuchin Friary at Morcone. He made his solemn profession in 1907 and was ordained priest in 1910. Such was his depth of piety and his love of God and neighbour that, as early as in 1910, the Lord singled him out for that most significant of graces, the stigmata, i.e., a representation of his wounds.

 

A man of deep piety, prayer and prudence, he had a special charism for spiritual direction and sacramental reconciliation and helped bring the touch of God’s forgiving love to the aching heart of suffering, sinful humanity. His awe-inspiring manner of celebrating the Eucharist was considered the pinnacle of his apostolic activity.

 

Padre Pio was widely believed to have been the recipient of numerous mystical experiences such as visits from our Blessed Mother, bilocation, i.e., being seen in two different places at one and the same time, communication with angels, the gifts of prophecy and healing, etc. However, he was not without his share of anguish and suffering, brought about by the doubts and suspicions harboured and expressed by many as regards the authenticity of his stigmata. Yet, the good padre took it all in his stride in the true Franciscan spirit of resignation.

 

Reflection: “The life of a Christian is nothing but a perpetual struggle against self; there is no flowering of the soul to the beauty of its perfection except at the price of pain” (St Padre Pio de Pietrelcina).

Daily Readings

September 22, 2025

Monday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1

Ezra 1:1–6

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel – he is the God who is in Jerusalem. And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.” Then rose up the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem. And all who were about them aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 146:6c–7, 8–9a, 9bc–10  

Response: Come, Lord, and save us.

It is the Lord who preserves fidelity forever,

who does justice to those

who are oppressed.

It is he who gives bread to the hungry,

the Lord who sets prisoners free. 

Response: Come, Lord, and save us.

It is the Lord who opens the eyes of the blind,

the Lord who raises up those

who are bowed down.

It is the Lord who loves the just,

the Lord who protects the stranger.  

Response: Come, Lord, and save us.

The Lord upholds the orphan and the widow,

but thwarts the path of the wicked.

The Lord will reign forever,

the God of Sion from age to age.  

Response: Come, Lord, and save us.

Alleluia

Matthew 5:16

Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Gospel

Luke 8:16–18

At that time: Jesus said to the crowds, “No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”

Reflection 

The purpose of lighting a lamp is to dispel darkness and brighten up the area. This is possible if the lighted lamp is kept on a lamp stand. Light exposes everything around it. Jesus tells us: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (Jn 8:12). Jesus is the light that brightens up our lives and leads us to the light of life, that is, eternal life. Each of us is called to be a bearer of the light of Christ so that “those who enter may see the light”.

St Thomas of Villanova, Bishop, Confessor (1486 -1555)

Born at Fuentellana in Castille, Spain, Thomas got the suffix “Villanova” by virtue of the close proximity of his own birthplace to that of his parents, i.e., Villanueva de los Infantes. This “Almsgiver” and “Father of the Poor”, was raised in the virtue of practical charity by his father, a miller, who gave away in alms all he earned.

At 16, he joined the Hermits of St Augustine at Salamanca. After his Ordination he gained fame as a learned lecturer of Theology and was much in demand all over Spain for his preaching. Emperor Charles V had great reverence for his personal sanctity and made him his court preacher and councillor of state.

As Provincial of his congregation, he sent out the first band of Augustinian missionaries to Mexico. As Archbishop of Valencia, he laboured at reforming the morals of both clergy and laity and did away with underground prisons. A money gift which he received from the cathedral chapter for use in his palace, he used instead for rebuilding the fire-gutted general hospital; he founded a college for young clergy, another for poor students and an orphanage for foundlings and children of indigent parents; and for the benefit of working people, Masses were offered at very early hours of the morning.

The epitome of utter simplicity and poverty, Thomas mended his own clothes and gave away two thirds of his Episcopal revenues in alms. He also healed the sick and converted hardened sinners. His writings on mystical theology have seen over 20 editions.

He died in 1555, was beatified in 1618 and canonized in 1658.

Reflection: “The highest wisdom is the science of right living. If you posses

s this wisdom you are the wisest man” (St Thomas Villanova).

Daily Readings

September 21, 2025

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

Reading 1

Amos 8:4–7

 

Hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end, saying, “When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances, that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat?” The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: “Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.”

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 113:1bc–2, 4–6, 7–8

 

Response: Praise the Lord, who raises the poor from the dust.

 

Praise, O servants of the Lord,

praise the name of the Lord!

May the name of the Lord be blest both now and forevermore! 

 

Response: Praise the Lord, who raises the poor from the dust.

 

High above all nations is the Lord,

above the heavens his glory.

Who is like the Lord, our God,

who dwells on high,

who lowers himself to look down upon heaven and earth? 

 

Response: Praise the Lord, who raises the poor from the dust.

 

From the dust he lifts up the lowly,

from the ash heap he raises the poor,

to set them in the company of princes,

yes, with the princes of his people. 

 

Response: Praise the Lord, who raises the poor from the dust.

 

Reading 2

1 Timothy 2:1–8

 

Beloved: First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarrelling.

 

Alleluia

Cf. 2 Corinthians 8:9

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Though Jesus Christ was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

 

Gospel

Luke 16:1–13

 

At that time: Jesus said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful with the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

 

Reflection

 

The steward in today’s Gospel is irresponsible in dealing with his master’s goods, and also dishonest in asking his master’s debtors to rewrite their account to benefit his future life. Can such a dishonest, irresponsible person be taken as a model of prudence and wisdom? Of course not! The master only approves his foresight without approving his behaviour. Jesus uses this story to teach us the need for foresight, prudence and wisdom in working out our salvation and in building up the Kingdom of God. “…For the sons of this world are wiser in their generation than the sons of light.” We need to be wise and prudent in our priorities, choices, behaviour and relationships so that we reach our ultimate destiny – eternal life. The First Reading tells how unwise the rich are in their cruelty towards the poor. The Lord warns, “Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.” The Second Reading teaches us that God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all.” True wisdom and prudence lie in accepting Christ Jesus as Saviour and living according to his teachings.

 

St Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist (1st century)

 

Matthew was a collector of customs duties for King Herod Antipas at Capernaum, when our Lord called him to follow him. Also known as Levi, the publican, he was so overjoyed at his new calling that he spread a great feast in his home for the Master and his disciples, even inviting his fellow tax-gatherers. Jesus, to the amazement of the Pharisees, comfortably dined with the very people the leaders of Israel despised as extortionists and traitors, and would not even think of ever eating with.

 

Levi, the son of Alphaeus (Mk 2:14), obviously had a certain amount of education, for he knew Aramaic as well as Greek and was accustomed to writing. The name Matthew (Mattija or “Gift of Jahweh”) was probably given him by Christ himself. He was one of the first Apostles to be chosen to set down in writing the essential events of our Lord’s life and discourses as he himself had witnessed them and as they were being orally taught by all the Apostles. It is assumed that, when writing his Gospel, Matthew had before him his own collection of Jesus’ discourses in Aramaic, the language widely used as the lingua franca by the Jews and others in the time of Christ.

 

Using his gift of story-telling, he groups together all acts and precepts of a similar nature, and stresses particularly that Jesus completely fulfilled all the familiar prophecies concerning the Messiah and that the Jewish nation as a body was to be excluded from the Messianic Kingdom because of its obstinate unbelief and its rejection of the Messiah.

 

Reflection: “Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth: where rust and moth consume, and where thieves break in and steal” (Mt 6:19).

Daily Readings

September 20, 2025

Memorial of Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Priest, and Paul Chong Ha-sang, and Companions, Martyrs

 

Reading I

1 Timothy 6:13–16

 

Beloved: I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time – he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honour and eternal dominion. Amen.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 100:1–2, 3, 4, 5

 

Response: Come before the Lord, singing for joy.

 

Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth.

Serve the Lord with gladness.

Come before him, singing for joy. 

 

Response: Come before the Lord, singing for joy.

 

Know that he, the Lord, is God.

He made us; we belong to him.

We are his people, the sheep of his flock. 

 

Response: Come before the Lord, singing for joy.

 

Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with songs of praise.

Give thanks to him, and bless his name. 

 

Response: Come before the Lord, singing for joy.

 

Indeed, how good is the Lord,

eternal his merciful love.

He is faithful from age to age. 

 

Response: Come before the Lord, singing for joy.

 

Alleluia

See Luke 8:15

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Blessed are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

 Gospel

Luke 8:4–15

 

At that time: When a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to Jesus, he said in a parable, “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand’. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.”

 

Reflection

 

Life is meaningful when lived within the love of God. A life without God becomes meaningless, even with material wealth. Jesus’ parable of the seeds, falling on four different surfaces illustrates the importance of having good and productive soil of godliness. Being connected to Jesus, like the branches of a tree are connected to the trunk of the tree, is the key to becoming good and productive citizens in this world. Without the connection to the giver of the real meaning of life, wisdom and productivity are impossible. Being connected to Jesus is the good soil that everyone should strive to achieve in life. Our life in Christ allows us to grow in wisdom and become productive citizens in this temporal world.

 

Sts Andrew Kim, Paul Chong and Companions Korean Martyrs (1839, 1846, 1862, 1867)

 

The Christian Faith first sprouted in Korea when Yi Sung-hun started to study Christian doctrine by himself and was eventually baptized as Peter in 1784. In the beginning, because of their belief in God, the early Korean Christians were constantly persecuted, rejected by their own families, and subjected to loss of not only their social rank but even their fundamental human rights. Nevertheless, the Faith continued to spread.

 

The Christian community in Korea which had begun without any priestly ministers finally got the assistance of two Chinese priests. But their ministry was short-lived, and another forty years passed before the Paris Foreign Mission Society began its work in Korea with the arrival of Fr Maubant in 1836. Until then the Christian community consisted only of lay people.

 

In the meantime, moved by an ardent desire for the graces of the sacraments, the Christian community of Korea appealed to the Bishop of Peking and to the Holy Father in Rome to send them bishops and priests. Serious dangers awaited those missionaries who dared enter Korea. More than 10,000 martyrs died in persecutions which extended over 100 years. They included 103 martyrs, consisting of 11 priests and 92 lay people, who were canonized in 1984 by Pope John Paul II, foremost among these being Andrew Kim Tae-gon and Paul Chong Ha-Sang.

 

Among the 103 martyrs were 15 virgins. Similarly, the martyr John Yi Kwang-hyol also lived a celibate life.

 

Reflection: “Whether or not my parents betrayed is their affair. As for us, we cannot betray the Lord of Heaven whom we have always served” (Agatha Yi).

Daily Readings

September 19, 2025

Friday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

 

Reading 1

1 Timothy 6:2c–12

 

Beloved: Teach and urge these things. If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 49:6–7, 8–10, 17–18, 19–20

 

Response: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 

Why should I fear in evil days

the malice of the foes who surround me,

those who trust in their wealth,

and boast of the vastness of their riches? 

 

Response: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 

No man can ransom a brother,

nor pay a price to God for his life.

How high is the price of his soul!

The ransom can never be enough!

No one can buy life unending,

nor avoid coming to the grave. 

 

Response: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 

Then do not fear when a man grows rich,

when the glory of his house increases.

He takes nothing with him when he dies;

his glory does not follow him below. 

 

Response: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 

Though he flattered himself while he lived,

“People will praise me for all my success,”

yet he will go to join his forebears,

and will never see the light anymore. 

 

Response: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Alleluia

See Matthew 11:25

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have revealed to little children the mysteries of the kingdom.

 

Gospel

Luke 8:1–3

 

At that time: Jesus went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.

 

Reflection

 

The Gospel depicts Jesus travelling through Palestine, preaching the kingdom of God, accompanied by the twelve apostles. A group of women supported Jesus and his apostles’ missionary activities. Despite the existence of a patriarchal society, where women had no civil rights or public stature, Jesus had women travelling with him and participating in his mission. This indicates that Jesus, in his ministry, gave equal status and dignity to women as he did to his male disciples. Women have made significant progress since then, with universal suffrage, gaining the opportunity to serve in various offices, and holding high positions in public and private companies. In the Church, women direct retreats, give lectures, guide study groups, and contribute to social action plans. It is hoped that the talents and experiences of women will continue to be utilized by society and the Church alike.

 

St Januarius, Bishop, Martyr (-c.305)

 

Next to nothing is historically known about the life and death of St Januarius, but he is believed to have been Bishop of Beneventum in southern Italy and to have suffered for the faith under Diocletian. Legend has it that, he, together with a number of Deacons and Lectors, was thrown to wild bears and then decapitated.

 

His relics in the cathedral of Naples are famous for the regularly recurring Miracolo di San Gennaro. Here, in a silver and glass reliquary, are enshrined two hermetically sealed phials of the holy Bishop’s blood, traditionally believed to have been collected by a certain Eusebia. Normally appearing as a dark solid mass, 18 times on three public occasions during the year, when this reliquary is brought near the silver bust which encases the Saint’s head, defying all scientific explanation it liquefies, turning a bright ruby red, and frothing and bubbling as though it were just shed, while at the same time it increases in volume and, as has been ascertained by scientific measurements, also in weight.

 

Observations carried on for over 100 years prove that the temperature in the church has no effect on the blood, nor has the moving of the reliquary or the number of spectators. Written records show that the liquefaction of the blood was known to have first occurred in c.1389, i.e., over 7 centuries ago.

 

St Januarius is Patron of Naples and its protector against the eruptions of nearby Mt Vesuvius.

 

Reflection: “The Church……admits…….that scientific culture today requires Christians to have a mature faith, an openness toward the language and to the questions of the learned, a sense of the orders of knowledge and of differing approaches to truth.” (Pope Saint John Paul II)

Daily Readings

September 18, 2025

Thursday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

 

Reading 1

1 Timothy 4:12–16

 

Beloved: Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practise these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 111:7–8, 9, 10

 

Response: Great are the works of the Lord. (Or: Alleluia).

 

His handiwork is justice and truth;

his precepts are all of them sure,

standing firm forever and ever,

wrought in uprightness and truth. 

 

Response: Great are the works of the Lord. (Or: Alleluia).

 

He has sent redemption to his people,

and established his covenant forever.

Holy his name, to be feared. 

 

Response: Great are the works of the Lord. (Or: Alleluia).

 

The fear of the Lord

is the beginning of wisdom;

understanding marks all who attain it.

His praise endures forever! 

 

Response: Great are the works of the Lord. (Or: Alleluia).

 

Alleluia

Matthew 11:28

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, says the Lord.

 

Gospel

Luke 7:36–50

 

At that time: One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.” “A certain money-lender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning towards the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

 

Reflection

 

Forgiveness is a crucial aspect of love, as it helps to overcome bitterness and hatred. It is an intentional and voluntary process wherein one changes his/her feelings and attitude towards an offender, overcoming negative emotions like resentment and vengeance. God forgives us through His Son, Jesus, to allow us to enjoy a relationship with Him. Forgiveness cannot be granted without giving, and it is a choice to love regardless of the other person’s actions. In today’s gospel, Jesus offers forgiveness to a woman who was known for adultery and prostitution. Jesus demonstrates his love towards this woman despite her being a sinner. If we have received forgiveness from God through Christ, we must love much by forgiving others because forgiving others shows God’s presence in us.

 

St Joseph of Cupertino, Confessor (1603 -1663)

 

Baptized Joseph Desa, this son of a poor shoemaker in Cupertino, near Brindisi (Italy), started having ecstatic visions as early as at the age of 8, so that his schoolmates dubbed him “open-mouthed”. When, at 17, he sought admission first to the Franciscan Conventuals and then to the Capuchins, he was refused for lack of intelligence and because his frequent ecstasies rendered him unfit for work. Finally the Franciscans at La Grotella took him in as a tertiary and gave him work as a stable-hand. Here his exemplary life of penance, humility and obedience saw him accepted for ordination to the priesthood in 1628. He was then 25 and was hardly able to read, but by infused knowledge he could solve the most intricate theological questions.

 

Joseph possessed the gift of prophecy and of healing, besides the ability to recognize the faces of sinners — their faces appeared black to him while people who lived in impurity were known to him by a disagreeable odour. But he is especially remembered for his extraordinary power of levitation, whereby he was witnessed to have flown over the heads of the congregation from the church door to the altar, or up to a branch of an olive tree where he remained for half an hour in meditation, while the branch was not deflected by any apparent weight upon it.

 

He was canonized in 1767.

 

Reflection: “Love God! He in whom this love reigns is rich although he does not perceive it” (St Joseph of Cupertino).

Daily Readings

September 17, 2025

Wednesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1

1 Timothy 3:14–16

Beloved: I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 111:1b–2, 3–4, 5–6

Response: Great are the works of the Lord.

I will praise the Lord with all my heart,

in the meeting of the just and the assembly.

Great are the works of the Lord,

to be pondered by all who delight in them.  

Response: Great are the works of the Lord.

Majestic and glorious his work;

his justice stands firm forever.

He has given us a memorial of his wonders.

The Lord is gracious and merciful.  

Response: Great are the works of the Lord.

He gives food to those who fear him;

keeps his covenant ever in mind.

His mighty works he has shown to his people

by giving them the heritage of nations.  

Response: Great are the works of the Lord.

Alleluia

See John 6:63c, 68c

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Your word, Lord, are Spirit and life; you have the words of eternal life.

Gospel

Luke 7:31–35

At that time: Jesus said, “To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the market-place and calling to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’ For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.”

Reflection 

Jesus expresses his disappointment at the stubbornness and lack of openness on the part of the people of his time. Because they had the opportunity to see and listen to both John the Baptist and Christ the Saviour, they were the most privileged generation. However, like children, they have one excuse or another for not accepting their teachings and changing their lives. They find fault with the messengers to reject the message. Thus they miss out on the opportunity to welcome the Saviour into their lives. Attitudes of pride, stubbornness, ingratitude and lack of openness are serious blocks to our salvation. The man who receives one talent has many excuses for not multiplying it (Mt 25:24-25). But those who take the risk of multiplying the talents given to them are rewarded with more.

St Robert Bellarmine

Robert was born of ancient, noble lineage. He joined the Jesuits at 18 and in 1569 was sent to Louvain, Belgium, the bulwark of Catholicism, to complete his studies. Familiarizing himself at close range with the Protestant heresies he gained a reputation as a controversialist. In 1576 he was called to Rome by Pope Gregory XIII to train the German and English seminarians for the spiritual battles which they would face in their homelands.

Robert’s systematic approach to an issue, his amazing memory and familiarity with the works of the Church Fathers, his knowledge of foreign languages, all combined to attract great audiences. His lectures continued for twelve years and resulted, even before their publication under the title De Controversiis, in their circulation throughout England and Germany, in transcriptions; his  catechism, translated into 60 languages, is still in use in Italy today.

In 1592 he was made rector of the Roman College, in 1595 Provincial of Naples and in 1599 Cardinal by Pope Clement VIII who affirmed: “The Church has not his equal in learning.” He played a prominent role in the examination of Galileo’s writings. His famous treatise on the true relation between Church and State, to the effect that all authority comes from God but is vested in the people and that they entrust it to their rulers as they see fit, is the democratic concept on which the constitutions of many nations have been founded.

In the spirit of self-sacrifice, Robert Bellarmine, an ardent devotee of Francis d’Assisi, practised poverty to the hilt. He was canonized in 1930 and declared doctor of the Church the following year.

Reflection: “Charity is that with which no man is lost, and without which no man is saved” (St Robert Bellarmine).

Daily Readings

September 16, 2025

Memorial of Saints Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs

 

Reading 1

1 Timothy 3:1–13

 

Beloved: The saying is trust worthy: If anyone aspires to the office of bishop, he desires a noble task. Therefore a bishop must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 101:1–2ab, 2cd–3ab, 5, 6 

 

Response: I will walk with blameless heart.

 

I sing of merciful love and justice;

I raise a psalm to you, O Lord.

I will ponder the way of the blameless.

O when will you come to me? 

 

Response: I will walk with blameless heart.

 

I will walk with blameless heart

within my house;

I will not set before my eyes

whatever is base. 

 

Response: I will walk with blameless heart.

 

Whoever slanders a neighbour in secret

I will bring to silence.

Proud eyes and haughty heart

I will never endure. 

 

Response: I will walk with blameless heart.

 

My eyes are on the faithful of the land,

that they may dwell with me.

The one who walks in the way

of the blameless shall be my servant. 

 

Response: I will walk with blameless heart.

 

Alleluia

Luke 7:16

 

A great prophet has arisen among us, and God has visited his people.

 

Gospel

Luke 7:11–17

 

At that time: Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

 

Reflection

 

Today’s Gospel highlights Jesus’ compassion for the widow who lost her son. Out of compassion, Jesus brings him back to life. He saw the woman’s pain and was moved with pity. At times of great pain and loss, it may be difficult to trust in Jesus. We question why God allows tragedies and loss. However, it is important to pray with faith and trust to help ourselves overcome these difficult times. The widow’s unexpected encounter with Jesus at Nain replaced her feelings of loneliness and emptiness with hope and optimism. We all experience loneliness and emptiness, but Jesus understands us and comes to rekindle our hope and optimism. We must trust in Him, who gives us everlasting hope amidst life’s struggles and desperation.

 

St Cornelius (Pope, Martyr) (- 253) and  St Cornelius (Pope, Martyr) (- 253)

 

About a year after Pope St Fabian’s martyrdom, the Decian persecution was sufficiently relaxed due to the Emperor’s absence from Rome, so that 16 Bishops were able to assemble and elect Cornelius Pope (c.March 251). He reigned for two years, and during this time excommunicated the first anti-Pope, Novatian, and his followers because of their excessively rigid stand which denied readmission under any condition to all who had apostatized under the strain of the persecution, no matter how sincere their repentance. This would have been placing a limit on God’s mercy. We are told that at that time there were in Rome a limited number of clergy caring for some 50,000 Christians, among whom were 1,500 minors wholly dependent on charity. With the renewal of the persecution of 253, St Cornelius was exiled to Civitavecchia, where he died either of exhaustion or decapitation.

 

St Cyprian, the famous orator of Carthage, Africa, was a man of considerable wealth, and endowed with remarkable energy and administrative ability. He was in his fifties when a chance encounter with an old priest named Caecilian convincingly exposed him to the truth of Christianity. As a result, he embraced Christianity and sold his properties for the benefit of the poor. Within a few years he was ordained Priest and, on popular insistence, consecrated Bishop of Carthage, at that time the very centre of the Church in Africa. Then came the Decian persecution, and Cyprian, in order to ensure that the organization of the Church remained intact, governed his See from a hiding place. When the persecution abated during the following year, he returned to Carthage; but his compassionate leniency in readmitting to communion, under certain conditions, some sincerely contrite penitents (lapsi) who had apostatized under the terrible tortures, was attacked by the Priest Novatian and even created a schism.

 

In 257 a new persecution broke out under Valerian, and St Cyprian was beheaded on 14 September 258. The detailed official account of his fearless profession of faith before the Roman judge and of his condemnation and death that has come down to us throws abundant light upon Catholic practice of the day. Sixty-two of his letters are still extant.

 

Reflection: “We have solemnly renounced the world and therefore, whilst we continue in it, we should behave like strangers and pilgrims” (St Cyprian).

Daily Readings

September 15, 2025

Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows

 

Reading 1

Hebrews 5:7–9

 

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 31:2–3a, 3bc–4, 5–6, 15–16, 20

 

Response: Save me, O Lord, in your merciful love.

 

In you, O Lord, I take refuge.

Let me never be put to shame.

In your justice, set me free;

incline your ear to me,

and speedily rescue me.

 

Response: Save me, O Lord, in your merciful love.

 

Be a rock of refuge for me,

a mighty stronghold to save me.

For you are my rock, my stronghold!

Lead me, guide me,

for the sake of your name. 

 

Response: Save me, O Lord, in your merciful love.

 

Release me from the snare they have hidden,

for you indeed are my refuge.

Into your hands I commend my spirit.

You will redeem me, O Lord,

O faithful God. 

 

Response: Save me, O Lord, in your merciful love.

 

But as for me, I trust in you, O Lord;

I say, “You are my God.

My lot is in your hands, deliver me

from the hands of my enemies

and those who pursue me.” 

 

Response: Save me, O Lord, in your merciful love.

 

How great is the goodness, Lord,

that you keep for those who fear you,

that you show to those who trust you

in the sight of the children of men. 

 

Response: Save me, O Lord, in your merciful love.

 

Sequence (Optional)

At the cross her station keeping,
Stood the mournful Mother weeping,
Close to Jesus to the last.

Through her heart, his sorrow sharing,
All his bitter anguish bearing,
Now at length the sword had passed.

Oh, how sad and sore distressed
Was that Mother highly blessed
Of the sole begotten One!

Christ above in torment hangs,
She beneath beholds the pangs
Of her dying, glorious Son.

Is there one who would not weep,
'Whelmed in miseries so deep,
Christ's dear Mother to behold?

Can the human heart refrain
From partaking in her pain,
In that mother's pain untold?

Bruised, derided, cursed, defiled,
She beheld her tender Child,
All with bloody scourges rent.

For the sins of his own nation
Saw him hang in desolation
Till his spirit forth he sent.

O sweet Mother!  font of love,
Touch my spirit from above,
Make my heart with yours accord.

Make me feel as you have felt;
Make my soul to glow and melt
With the love of Christ, my Lord.

Holy Mother, pierce me through,
In my heart each wound renew
Of my Savior crucified.

Let me share with you his pain,
Who for all our sins was slain,
Who for me in torments died.

Let me mingle tears with you,
Mourning him who mourned for me,
All the days that I may live.

By the cross with you to stay,
There with you to weep and pray,
Is all I ask of you to give.

Virgin of all virgins blest!
Listen to my fond request:
Let me share your grief divine.

Let me to my latest breath,
In my body bear the death
Of that dying Son of yours.
Wounded with his every wound,
Steep my soul till it has swooned
In his very Blood away.

Be to me, O Virgin, nigh,
Lest in flames I burn and die,
In his awful judgment day.

Christ, when you shall call me hence,
Be your Mother my defense,
Be your cross my victory.

While my body here decays,
May my soul your goodness praise,
Safe in heaven eternally.
Amen.  (Alleluia)

Alleluia

R.    Alleluia, alleluia.

Blessed are you, O Virgin Mary; without dying you won the martyr’s crown beneath the Cross of the Lord.

 

Gospel

John 19:25–27

 

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

 

Reflection

 

Our Blessed Mother found strength and courage in her Son, Jesus, despite all the contradictions and the fact that a sword of sorrow pierced her soul at his crucifixion.  We too can find strength and courage in Jesus during our sorrowful moments, asking for the same strength and courage as  Mother Mary received when she looked up at the cross. The cross symbolises suffering, salvation, death, life, fall, and redemption. As Christians, we are challenged by Jesus to carry our cross, willingly undergoing sacrifices in our ordinary existence. By re-examining the cross, we can deepen our faith and relationship with God. We pray to Jesus for strength and courage to face our sorrows, trusting Him more than we trust ourselves. Mary, like a true mother, never asked anything for herself, and her simplicity, humility, and maternal nurturing spirit should serve as a constant reminder that she was given as a mother to all of us.

 

Our Lady of Sorrows

 

As on the Friday in Passion Week, so again in mid-September, Holy Church especially commemorates Our Lady’s great sorrows. The seven principal ones were: the prophecy of the aged Simeon in the Temple, the 300 mile flight into Egypt with the Infant, the loss of Jesus in Jerusalem when he was a boy of 12, Mary’s encounter with her Divine Son on his way to Calvary, his crucifixion, the taking down of his body from the Cross and his burial. Today’s feast was first granted to the Servites in 1668, and when Pope Pius VII came out of exile in 1814, he extended it to the Universal Church in gratitude.

 

Reflection: “For if he could die in body, could she not die with him in spirit? He died in body through a love greater than anyone had known. She died in spirit through love unlike any other since his” (St Bernard).

 

Daily Readings

September 14, 2025

Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

 

Reading 1

Numbers(21:4-9)

 

In those days: The people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 78:1bc-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38

 

Response: Never forget the deeds of the Lord!

 

Give ear, my people, to my teaching; incline your ear to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable and utter hidden lessons of the past.

 

Response: Never forget the deeds of the Lord!

 

When he slew them, then they sought him, repented and earnestly sought God. They would remember that God was their rock, God the Most High their redeemer.

 

Response: Never forget the deeds of the Lord!

 

Yet they deceived him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues. For their hearts were not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant.

 

Response: Never forget the deeds of the Lord!

 

Yet he who is full of compassion forgave them their sin and spared them. So often he held back his anger, and did not stir up all his rage.

 

Response: Never forget the deeds of the Lord!

 

Reading 2

Philippians (2:6-11)

 

Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

 

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you; because by your Cross you have redeemed the world.  

 

Gospel

John (3:13-17)

 

At that time: Jesus said to Nicodemus: “No one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

 

Reflection

 

Saint Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, went to Jerusalem early in the fourth century in search of the holy places of Christ’s life. When St Helena arrived in Jerusalem, there was a pagan temple to the Roman goddess Venus over Calvary which her son, the Emperor Constantine, ordered to be destroyed. As the workers dismantled the structure and reached the foundation, they broke into a cistern which contained three crosses, one of which was determined to be the True Cross. Legend has it that the one on which Jesus died was identified when its touch healed a dying woman. Subsequently, two Churches were built, the Basilica of the Anastasis over the tomb of Jesus to honour his Resurrection and the Basilica of the Martyrium over Calvary to honour the crucifixion. On 14 September 335, the True Cross was lifted by Bishop Macarius before the crowd, and her son Constantine built the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher on that spot.

 

The cross immediately became an object of veneration. At a Good Friday celebration in Jerusalem towards the end of the fourth century, according to an eyewitness, the wood was taken out of its silver container and placed on a table together with the inscription Pilate ordered placed above Jesus’ head: Then “all the people pass through one by one; all of them bow down, touching the cross and the inscription, first with their foreheads, then with their eyes; and, after kissing the cross, they move on.” The Eastern Churches, Catholic and Orthodox alike, celebrate to this day, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on the anniversary of the basilica’s dedication. The feast entered the Western calendar in the seventh century after Emperor Heraclius recovered the cross from the Persians, who had carried it off in 614, fifteen years earlier. According to the story, the emperor intended to carry the cross back into Jerusalem himself, but was unable to move forward until he took off his imperial garb and became a barefoot pilgrim.

 

“Being Christian”, Pope Benedict XVI wrote, “is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event”. God wants to enter into a relationship of love with everyone. This is offered in His Son, Jesus, lifted up on the Cross.

 

Lifting up our gaze to God expresses a very important truth: we are invited to enter back into relationship with Him. We cannot remain neutral regarding the Cross of Jesus. Either we are with Him or we are against Him. A choice is made before every action, for the actions of a Christian are none other than the testimony of how “God has loved us so much that he gave His only Son, Jesus.”

 

The feast was formerly known as the Triumph of the Cross, but it has been renamed the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. “Exaltation” means “to lift up,” and for centuries Christians have elevated crosses so they can be clearly seen and venerated by genuflection, kneeling, a profound bow, singing, dancing, and other expressions of respect and reverence. The Cross is the primary symbol of the Christian faith. It represents Jesus himself, his suffering, his immeasurable love for us, his victory over sin and death, and our redemption. In the Cross is our salvation.

(Source: The Sunday Liturgy)

 

 Exaltation of the Holy Cross

 

The Paschal Mystery, i.e., the life, passion, death and resurrection of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, is the source and promise of eternal life. The ultimate and abiding symbol of this glorious of all Mysteries is the Cross, on which hung the world’s salvation! The victory of the cross over sin and death was total. And it is the totality of this victory, this joyful triumph that the Church celebrates in this feast.

 

The lifting up of the Cross on Calvary Hill that fateful Friday had involved much suffering and shame. Yet, it was a sacrifice for the love of the Father, and for the love the Father bore all humankind. Raised high up, Jesus made the cross a pulpit whence he preached, by word and example, the most stirring sermon of his entire ministry on earth — he forgave and he gave. Out of every one of his wounds flowed grace. From his side was born the Church. And before he breathed his last he gave to all humankind the gift of his own mother, Mary. The cross is indeed the sign of his triumph, the vertical beam linking man to God; the horizontal beam that stretches across the vertical, linking man to man and inseparably to God.

 

As on Good Friday the Cross divided those present on Calvary into two groups, so too when on the last day, “the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven” (Mt 24:30), all of us shall know whether our place is on the left or on the right.

 

Reflection: “Behold the wood of the Cross, on which our Saviour hung; come, let us adore!” (Good Friday Liturgy)

Daily Readings

September 13, 2025

Memorial of Saint John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

 

Reading 1

1 Timothy 1:15–17

 

Beloved: The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 113:1–2, 3–4, 5a and 6–7

 

Response: May the name of the Lord be blest for evermore.

 

Praise, O servants of the Lord,

praise the name of the Lord!

May the name of the Lord be blest

both now and forevermore! 

 

Response: May the name of the Lord be blest for evermore.

 

From the rising of the sun

to its setting,

praised be the name of the Lord!

High above all nations is the Lord,

above the heavens his glory. 

 

Response: May the name of the Lord be blest for evermore.

 

Who is like the Lord, our God,

who lowers himself to look down

upon heaven and earth?

From the dust he lifts up the lowly,

from the ash heap he raises the poor. 

 

Response: May the name of the Lord be blest for evermore.

 

Alleluia

John 14:23

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, says the Lord; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him.

 

Gospel

Luke 6:43–49

 

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’, and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”

 

Reflection

 

Jesus teaches his disciples about bearing fruit and building a house on solid rock. A strong foundation prevents the house from being shaken by floods, while a weak foundation can collapse. Jesus invites us to examine our inner foundation and assess if there has been erosion or if we strive to keep it solid and secure. Regular monitoring of our inner foundation is crucial to avoiding potential disasters like inner floods or downstream erosions. A deep friendship with Jesus helps us remain strong even during the lowest points of life. Life is never permanent, and we may face moments of loneliness and happiness, but we survive because we have Christ in our lives. We should pray for a deeper encounter with Jesus and invite him into our lives to remain serene and calm amidst trials and turbulence.

 

St John Chrysostom (Bishop, Confessor, Father and Doctor of the Church) (349-407)

 

St John Chrysostom was the son of a pagan father and a Greek mother. At 23, his friend St Basil, and St Meletius, Bishop of his native Antioch, turned him away from Greek classical studies to the study of Scripture. Two years later he was baptized, ordained a “lector” and thereafter lived for several years as an anchorite in a cave.

 

Ordained priest in 386, John became the very “eyes, ears and hands of his Bishop”, and turned more and more to the writing of treatises and books, his greatest asset being the spiritually deep content of his preaching, which came to influence life throughout the East, earning him, in the process, the Greek suffix, Chrysostom, meaning “golden-mouthed”.

 

After he had spent 12 years in priestly ministry, John was consecrated Bishop of the great Eastern metropolis of Constantinople. He immediately began to correct abuses and to initiate much needed ecclesiastical reform. He reduced radically the expenses of his Episcopal household even as he, himself, continued to live in utter simplicity, purging the clergy of unworthy elements and tightening monastic discipline.

 

In the 5th year of his episcopate, he was deposed and sent into exile. But the temper of the people ensured that he was recalled almost immediately. As soon as things had calmed down, however, and after two failed attempts on his life, John was again banished to Armenia where he passed away.

 

Reflection: “There is nothing which so much aids to keep the soul in tranquillity and calm as meekness and modesty” (St John Chrysostom).

Daily Readings

September 12, 2025

Friday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Reading I

1 Timothy 1:1–2, 12–14

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Saviour and of Christ Jesus our hope, To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 16:1–2a and 5, 7–8, 11

Response: It is you, O Lord, who are my portion.

Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord.

O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup;

you yourself who secure my lot.  

Response: It is you, O Lord, who are my portion.

I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel,

who even at night directs my heart.

I keep the Lord before me always;

with him at my right hand,

I shall not be moved.  

Response: It is you, O Lord, who are my portion.

You will show me the path of life,

the fullness of joy in your presence,

at your right hand, bliss forever.  

Response: It is you, O Lord, who are my portion.

Alleluia

See John 17:17b, 17a

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Your word, O Lord, is truth; sanctify us in the truth.

Gospel

Luke 6:39–42

At that time: Jesus told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye’, when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

Reflection 

The Gospel passage of today emphasizes the importance of a heart check and not just an eye check. It encourages us to be aware of our thoughts and be conscientious about our actions, as judgment can often come without conscious awareness on our part. Jesus warns us against being judgemental and focusing on others’ faults without recognising our shortcomings. To follow Jesus’ steps, we should seek to grow without judgement and use the spirit of faith to search for God’s will, and his unconditional love. To succeed in our healthy relationships and friendships, it is essential to avoid a judgemental mindset. It is crucial to have the courage and humility to point the accusing finger at ourselves, rather than focusing on the faults of others. We must follow Jesus wholeheartedly and reach out to people in need without judgment.

St Guy (- 1033)

St Guy, called the Poor Man of Anderlecht, was born in the country near Brussels (in Belgium) of poor but virtuous and, consequently, content parents. They could not afford to give their son a school education, but this did not hinder them from instructing him early in life in Christian virtue and the practice of the Christian Faith. They would often repeat to him the lesson which old Tobias gave his son— “We shall have many good things if we fear God.”

Happily enough, young Guy loved poverty and learned to live ever contentedly, bearing all hardships. The charity which he had for his neighbour was no less active. He divided his pittance with the poor, and often fed them whilst he himself fasted.

A wanderer in his youth, Guy, arrived at Laeken, near Brussels, where he showed such devotion before the shrine of Our Lady that the priest there besought him to stay on and serve the church. Thenceforth, his happiness lay largely in being always in the church, sweeping the floor, dusting the ceiling, polishing the altars and cleansing the sacred vessels, and still finding both time and means to befriend the needy. His almsgiving became so famous that a merchant of Brussels came to Laeken and offered him a share in his business. Guy could not bear the thought of having to leave the church premises; but the offer seemed providential, the scope for charity bright, and he at last accepted it.

About 1033, sensing his imminent end, he returned to his own country where he was hospitalized because of exhaustion and illness brought on by the fatigue of his journeys and other hardships

Reflection: “To God glory ... to my neighbour happiness .... to me hardship” (St Bertilla).

Daily Readings

September 11, 2025

Thursday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1

Colossians 3:12–17

Brethren: Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Responsorial Psalm

 Psalm 150:1b–2, 3–4, 5–6  

Response: Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! (Or: Alleluia).

Praise God in his holy place;

praise him in his mighty firmament.

Praise him for his powerful deeds;

praise him for his boundless grandeur. 

Response: Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! (Or: Alleluia).

O praise him with sound of trumpet;

praise him with lute and harp.

Praise him with timbrel and dance;

praise him with strings and pipes. 

Response: Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! (Or: Alleluia).

O praise him with resounding cymbals;

praise him with clashing of cymbals.

Let everything that breathes

praise the Lord! 

Response: Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! (Or: Alleluia).

Alleluia

1 John 4:12

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

Gospel

Luke 6:27–38

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Reflection 

Jesus invites us Christians to respond to the challenges of loving our enemies, doing good to those who hate us, bless and pray for those who abuse us. This divine call is not a rational but a Christian way and the only way for a Christian. Forgiving an enemy and wishing good for him/her is a decision and a process, and the path may take time. Jesus encourages us not only to free the individual who wounded us but also to free ourselves from pain, anger, and hurt. He is patient and persistent, and we must plead with him to change our hearts and transform them into merciful hearts like his. Let us spend this day pondering, how he has been merciful to us even when we are sinful and ungrateful.

St Paphnutius the Great Bishop, Confessor (-c.350)

St Paphnutius was an Egyptian who spent some years under St Anthony’s direction in the desert and was then appointed to a bishopric in the Upper Thebaid. During the persecution of the tyrant Maximinus Thrax he was, with many others, condemned to have his right eye torn off and his left knee mutilated, and then sent to work in the mines. With the return of peaceful conditions, he was able to take up again the administration of his See and proved himself an unswerving opponent of Arianism.

At the great Council of Nicaea he was conspicuously honoured by the friendship and esteem of Constantine the Great, who would often consult him in private and then, when seeing him off, would reverently kiss the place where his eye had been pulled out. It is perhaps due to his influence that the Council left to the discretion of Priests who had been married before ordination, the question of continence. It was decreed, however, that all clergy who had been celibate at ordination, would continue to observe continence. In 335 Paphnutius also attended the Synod of Tyre in the company of St Athanasius, and there defended him vigorously against his Arian adversaries.

Reflection: “God is love, and he that dw

ells in love dwells in God and God in him” (1 Jn 4:16).

Daily Readings

September 10, 2025

Wednesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1

Colossians 3:1–11

Brethren: If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 145:2-3, 10-11, 12-13ab 

Response: How good is the Lord to all.

I will bless you day after day,

and praise your name forever and ever.

The Lord is great

and highly to be praised;

his greatness cannot be measured.  

Response: How good is the Lord to all.

All your works shall thank you, O Lord,

and all your faithful ones bless you.

They shall speak of the glory of your reign,

and declare your mighty deeds.  

Response: How good is the Lord to all.

To make known your might

to the children of men,

and the glorious splendour of your reign.

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;

your rule endures for all generations.  

Response: How good is the Lord to all.

Alleluia

Luke 6:23ab

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Rejoice and leap for joy, says the Lord, for behold, your reward is great in heaven.

Gospel

Luke 6:20–26

At that time: Jesus lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.”

Reflection 

The Gospel of the day highlights the reality that those who are blessed are often the ones who are rejected and hated by the world. We are blessed when we do not compromise on principles, but follow Jesus with undivided loyalty. Jesus emphasizes that riches and poverty are not the criteria to evaluate one’s true blessing or curse, but rather, it is determined by one’s relationship with him. Riches are God’s blessings given to us for proper distribution as stewards, and so they should not lead to greed or selfishness. Jesus was a defender of the poor, and his followers should strive to be defenders of the poor. Christian living requires availability and cooperation in the mission of Jesus.

St Nicholas of Tolentino, Confessor (1245 -1305)

St Nicholas of Tolentino owes his baptismal name to the fact that he was born in response to the prayer of his parents, Campagnone and Amata de Guarutti, to St Nicholas of Bari, his mother at that time being already well advanced in age. 

As a child he was such a model of holiness that he was made Canon of Tolentino in Italy at 17 while still a student. But moved by a sermon of a certain Fr Reginaldo on the text 1 John 2:15-17 (“Do not love the world…….), he soon resigned this dignity, however, renouncing all prospects of Ecclesiastical eminence and joined the austere Hermits of St Augustine among whom he came to be known for his remarkable devotion, angelic meekness, and sincere striving after perfection. Ordained a priest, he resolved to preach the word of God daily and soon gained renown for his eloquence and an extraordinary gift of miracles.

Nicholas had a deep concern for the poor and his ardent charity for the holy souls in Purgatory earned him the title of “Advocate of the souls in Purgatory”. Repeatedly it was shown him in a vision during Mass how he had gained the release of a soul by offering the Holy Sacrifice for it. 

Nicholas was canonized in 1446.

Reflection: “Let us not forget the maxim of the Saints, which warns us that every day we must feel that we begin our perfection; and if we bear this well in mind we will not be astonishe

d at the misery we find in ourselves”’ (St Francis de Sales).