Tuesday in the 26th Week of Ordinary Time, September 30, 2025

Luke 9, 51-56

When the days for Jesus to be taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem, and he sent messengers ahead of him. On the way they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his reception there, but they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village.

“When the days for Jesus to be taken up were fulfilled, etc.”  The Greek word translated here as “to be taken up” would be better translated as “to be raised up”, as in his crucifixion.  And his days “were completely filled up”, according to the Greek, a figure of speech indicating that there was no more room for any other word or action.  “He resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem.”  The Greek says, “He fixed his face firmly to journey to Jerusalem.”  This more graphically tells us that his manner changed, at this point.  He was no longer simply preaching repentance; he was preparing himself and his Apostles for the end.  

“He sent messengers ahead of him.”  These seem not to be any of the Apostles, but some of the disciples.  They would have announced the Lord’s coming as that of a king or conqueror.  And indeed, he comes as the conquering Messiah who will ultimately take Jerusalem — not by force of arms, but with his mercy.  “On the way they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his reception there.”  As the Lord was traveling from Galilee to Judea, it would be difficult to avoid Samaria.  The messengers would have preferred not to enter a Samaritan town, where they almost certainly would not be welcome.  Still, the Lord came to save all and so all would have the opportunity to know him and to accept him or reject him.  “But they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem.”  We can understand this verse spiritually as: hardened sinners do not listen to the Lord because he wants to lead them to heaven.  The sinner does not want to be told he is a sinner and that he has to live a different way lest he die.  The promised glories of heaven mean little to those resolved to sin, interested as they are only in short-term gain.

“When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, etc.”  The Lord Jesus called the sons of Zebedee the boanerges (cf. Mark 3, 17), Aramaic for “sons of commotion” or, according to St. Mark, “sons of thunder”.  The reason for our Lord doing so seems clear from their desire “to call down fire from heaven to consume them” [the Samaritans].  These two must have preached with great fire and been prepared for action at any moment.  Knowing this helps us to understand why Herod chose to put James to death (cf. Acts 12, 2-3).  Their impetuosity overruns their good sense, here.  Rather than waiting to see what Jesus will do in response to this rejection by the town, they want to force their own solution on their Lord.  We do this too.  “Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village.”  We are not told what Jesus said to them, and so he may have made his rebuke of them short though sharp.  The Lord never punished anyone for walking away from him or rejecting him.  He simply let people go their way, or walked away himself.  We see this in Luke 4, 30, when the people of his own town tried to kill him: “But he passing through the midst of them, went his way.”  And as happened after Jesus had fed the five thousand and explained to them that they needed to eat his Body and drink his Blood to be saved: “After this, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him” (John 6, 67).  In his mercy, the Lord lets them go or departs from them in peace so that they might have time to think, to repent, and to come back to him.  We see this most of all in how he allowed his Apostles to flee when he was arrested, and even to intervene for them so that they might not also be arrested.  And then, on Easter Sunday, he returned to them.

The Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels, 

Monday, September 29, 2025

Daniel 7, 9-10, 13-14

As I watched: Thrones were set up and the Ancient One took his throne. His clothing was bright as snow, and the hair on his head as white as wool; His throne was flames of fire, with wheels of burning fire. A surging stream of fire flowed out from where he sat; Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him, and myriads upon myriads attended him. The court was convened, and the books were opened. As the visions during the night continued, I saw One like a Son of Man coming, on the clouds of heaven; When he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him, He received dominion, glory, and kingship; nations and peoples of every language serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed. 

Traditionally, it is held that the rank of archangel comes between that of the angels and the principalities.  The word “archangel”, used only twice in the Scriptures, comes from a Greek word meaning “chief angel” or “ruling angel”.  We know the names of three archangels of the vast numbers of angels in this rank of the angelic hierarchy: Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael.  Previously, each was accorded his own feast day, but since the reform of the calendar after Vatican II, they are honored together on one day, that which formerly belonged to St. Michael alone.  The primary work of the archangels, as of all the angels, is to glorify Almighty God.  Secondarily, they are assigned to help humans to live the life of Faith, to practice the virtues, and to be saved so that we might glorify God in heaven with them.

The prayers of the Church invoke the choirs of angels and implore them to come to our aid, particularly at the end of our lives when we are most vulnerable to the temptation to despair.  The Archangel Michael, so strong in battle against Satan, delivers the holy soul who has just departed this world into heaven, safe from any hindrance of the devil and his cohort.  St. Michael is invoked during the traditional form of the Mass in the Confiteor (“I confess to Almighty God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Blessed Michael the Archangel, Blessed John the Baptist, the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and you, brethren, that I have sinned through my own fault, etc.”).  It is also thought that he is the angel spoken of in the Roman Canon when the priest prayers for God’s holy angel to take the Sacrifice on the altar to God’s altar in heaven.  Michael appears as the protector of God’s Chosen People in the Book of Daniel, and as the Church’s great protector in Revelation 12, 7-9.  

The Archangel Gabriel is best known for his appearances to Zechariah the priest in the Temple, announcing the birth of John the Baptist, and to the Virgin Mary, announcing the Conception and Birth of the Son of God.  Church writers from the Fathers onwards hold the opinion that it is Gabriel who speaks to St. Joseph in his various dreams.  Some have even held that he appeared as the star of Bethlehem, guiding the Magi to the newborn King.  He also appears in the Book of Daniel, explaining prophecies, as he would explain mysteries to Zechariah, Mary, and Joseph.

All that we know of the Archangel Raphael comes from the Book of Tobit.  He is instrumental in the safe travels of Tobias, his mission to recover money owed to his stricken father, the safe marriage of Tobias and Sarah after demons have killed her previous husbands, and the cure of Tobit’s blindness.  In light of these good works, Raphael is invoked as a patron of travelers and for healing.  Very memorably, at the end of the Book of Tobit, Raphael reveals himself with these words: “I am the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord” (Tobit 12, 15).  These “seven” include Michael and Gabriel.  They would seem to be the principal archangels who “stand before the Lord” interceding for the human race.

We marvel at those who stand before the Lord, “thousands upon thousands” ministering to him, and “myriads upon myriads” attending him.  Creation is so much more than the human race, and so much more than the measurable universe.  We inhabit but a tiny corner of it, a speck that will one day disappear.  Let us live lives worthy of heaven with the help of the Archangels so that we may one day stand before God with them.

The 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 28, 2025

Luke 16:19-31

Jesus said to the Pharisees: “There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores. When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and from the netherworld, where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.’ Abraham replied, ‘My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented. Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.’ He said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.’ But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ He said, ‘Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ Then Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”

The Lord vividly portrays the characters in this parable.  So much so that it begs the question of whether the events in the parable reflect actual events. Several of the Church Fathers believed this as well. They cite, for instance, the fact that the Lord never otherwise names the characters in his parables.  Because the Lord only names the poor man, whose name, perhaps, few would have known — and not the rich man — it seems as though he allows it gradually to dawn on his audience that he is speaking about people they knew.  The realization would have shaken the members of his audience and could have led them to rethink their own lives.

The characters are described in some detail.  The rich man dresses in “purple and linen” and dines “sumptuously” every day.  We learn from this portrayal that the man did not merely possess an abundance of money, but a super-abundance of money.  On the other hand, Lazarus was “covered with sores” and pined for the scraps that fell on the floor of the rich man’s dining room.  His condition rendered him so helpless that he could not even shoo away the dogs which came to lick his sores.  The dog, we recall, was abhorred by the people of the ancient Middle East, as it is in some countries there even today.  Dogs were seen as carrion and scavengers.  The Lord paints these two characters with marvelous consistency, so that when they have died, their souls carry on in much the same manner in which they lived on earth.  Lazarus, for instance, does not speak a word in the parable, not even when he is held close to the bosom of Abraham, and not even when the rich man is conversing with Abraham.  He does not gloat over the rich man’s damnation, he does not cast insults at him, he does not demand greater punishment for this man.  He is meek, has suffered dramatically, but without complaint.  If he ever regarded the rich man as winning against him, he has forgiven him.  He is completely at peace and at home in the arms of Abraham.  The rich man, by contrast, remains haughty and demanding.  Rather than ask Lazarus to help him, he asks Abraham to ask Lazarus.  He will not talk to this low beggar.  In addition, the rich man makes the exorbitant request that Lazarus be sent from the dead to his brothers.  Abraham closes the conversation by observing that the brothers have the Law of Moses to help them, and that if this did not, then a man raised from the dead would not help either.  

What sin led to the rich man’s damnation?  It is not a sin to be rich, but it is a sin to stand by and let others starve.  As it is written in the Letter of James 4, 17: “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”  Beyond his letting Lazarus (and how many others) starve, the rich man possessed a personality unfit for heaven: self-absorbed, addicted to displays of extravagance, given to self-indulgence.  Now, destitution is not itself a virtue, and Lazarus did not attain heaven because of it, but rather because of how he maintained his faith in the most terrible of circumstances, and suffered without rancor or vindictiveness.  He does not blame God for his situation, nor does he blame the rich man.  And so he passes from the company of flies and dogs to the company of Abraham, in the house of God.

We must correct our faults, and we must correct and reform our personalities so that they fit those of the saints.

Saturday in the 25th Week of Ordinary Time, September 27, 2025

Luke 9, 43-45

While they were all amazed at his every deed, Jesus said to his disciples, “Pay attention to what I am telling you. The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.” But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was hidden from them so that they should not understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

Jesus has just descended the mountain where he had been transfigured before his Apostles Peter, James, and John, and a man has brought his only son, who is possessed by a demon, to Jesus.  After Jesus exorcises the evil spirit, the boy is restored and the gathered crowd rejoices. St. Luke tells us that, “they were all amazed at his every deed.”  The Greek word has the meaning of “awestruck”.  It is at this point that the Lord begins to prepare his Apostles for his coming betrayal, arrest, Passion, Death, and Resurrection.  The journey to Jerusalem which they had now begun was to be the final one with their Master, and they could not believe their ears when he told them this.

In the midst of the acclamation by the crowd, the Lord said to them, “Pay attention to what I am telling you.”  He had often spoken solemnly on matters of the law, but here he speaks as a parent to a beloved child, warning him of some danger.  The peril of which he speaks pertains to him: “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.”  That is, he does not warn them of am imminent, physical danger to themselves, but only to him.  He warns them in this way because he knows that their faith will be sorely tested.  Indeed, if the Lord had not prepared them and told them what would happen beforehand, the Apostles might not have stayed in Jerusalem after the arrest but fled back to Galilee.  He tells them what they need to hear, that he will be “handed over to men”.  The literal meaning of the Greek is more urgent: The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.  Even if the Lord had said nothing more than this to them on this occasion, these words by themselves would have caused great alarm.  Already, shortly before the Transfiguration, to go by Luke’s chronology, the Lord had said to his Apostles, “The Son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and the third day rise again” (Luke 9, 22).  Now, he emphasizes that he is about to be “betrayed” into the hands of the rulers of the people.  

The Apostles were thunderstruck: “But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was hidden from them so that they should not understand it.”  Was Jesus speaking to them in a parable?  Was he quoting some obscure Scripture?  At the height of his success in Galilee, it seemed impossible that he could be speaking literally.  And if he meant some danger of which they had not heard, then surely he would be able to avoid it.  “Its meaning was hidden from them.”  Luke uses a figure of speech.  God is not “hiding” the meaning of these words from them, but allowing them to wonder about them or to ask Jesus what he meant by them.  But they do not ask: “They were afraid to ask him about this saying.”  

We are often in the position of the Apostles, concerned about what is happening to us or around us, and afraid to ask about it.  A friend of mine, a Harvard MBA, once told me that she was driving down the street in her car when suddenly a loud clanking erupted under the hood.  I asked her what did she do, and she told me that she simply turned up the volume of the radio. This can also happen to people when they notice some physical change in their bodies that might indicate the progress of a dangerous disease: some strange swelling or pain, perhaps.  Many people would go to the doctor to find out about it, but many would “turn up the volume” and hope that if they forgot about the problem it would go away by itself.  This can happen in the spiritual life as well.  A person feels the guilt of some unconfessed sin but always finds a reason for not confessing it.  Admitting the serious nature of the sin they have committed means recognizing a state about ourselves we may not care to see.  The Apostles would have benefitted from asking the Lord about the words he had spoken, but they preferred not to know.  We should not feel afraid to ask our Lord the important questions which we have: Who am I?  Who are you, O Lord? What am I to do with my life?  Let us not be so afraid of his answers that we keep quiet.

Friday In the 25th Week of Ordinary Time, September 26, 2025

Luke 9, 18-22

Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’” Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.” He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone. He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.”

“The Christ of God.”  This differs from St. Matthew’s recollection of Peter’s answer: “Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16, 16).  Luke‘s shortened version emphasizes that Jesus was the Messiah whom the Jews awaited.  Luke has already, throughout his Gospel, made it clear that Jesus was the Son of God.  It begins with his quote of the Archangel, “He will be called the Son of God” — a Hebrew idiom meaning, He is the Son of God. So now Luke means to show his Greek Christian readers how the Jews rejected and killed the very Messiah they had awaited. For the Gentiles, the fact that the Lord fulfilled the Scriptures, performed astounding miracles, and then rose from the dead, and the Jews still rejected him, was baffling.

We might be greatly puzzled by the fact that Jesus evidently did not want people to know that he was the Messiah, the Son of God.  In fact, the term Messiah had been adopted and modified in its meaning by the Pharisees in the century before Jesus was born.  It became identified with political independence, with the restoration of David’s kingdom.  And so Jesus, “the anointed” of God, refused to be known by the public by this title, preferring “the Son of Man”, the title given by The Prophet Daniel.  He did however want his Apostles to know him as Christ, and to see what this title truly meant — not for a restorer of an earthly kingdom but for the one who would restore the human race for the heavenly kingdom.

“The Son of Man must suffer greatly.” By omitting the promises made by Jesus to Peter which Matthew 16, 17-19 records, Luke directly ties the Lord’s identity as Messiah to his rejection by the Jews and their leaders and then his Death.  It is as though he were saying: Jesus was killed because he was the Messiah.  

We rejoice in the gift of faith by which we know that the Lord Jesus as our God and King, as our Savior from sin, and marvel at what he endured for our salvation.  Let us pray for the conversion of those who lack faith so that they may rejoice with us.

Thursday in the 25th Week of Ordinary Time, September 25, 2025

Luke 9, 7-9

Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying, “John has been raised from the dead”; others were saying, “Elijah has appeared”; still others, “One of the ancient prophets has arisen.” But Herod said, “John I beheaded. Who then is this about whom I hear such things?” And he kept trying to see him.

“Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening.”  St. Luke properly styles Herod as a terrace and not as a king as St. Mark does in Mark 6, 14.  This was Herod Antipas the son of Herod the Great, so-called, who had tried to kill the Infant Jesus.  The territory of Herod the Great was divided by the Romans into four parts and Herod Antipas received one of these, hence “tetrarch”.  He ruled over Galilee during the life of Jesus and eventually got his wish to see Jesus when Pilate sent Jesus to him, Herod being in Jerusalem at that time for the Passover.  Herod heard about Jesus and his miracles through travelers, friends — and spies, for Galilee was a tinderbox ever ready to blow up into revolt.  He put down more than one uprising during his reign.  

“He was greatly perplexed.”  The Greek word translated here as “was perplexed” means “was in difficulty, doubt, or trouble”.  That is to say, he was confused and deeply disturbed by what he heard.  Added to this, those who gave him news about Jesus gave their opinions that “John has been raised from the dead”, or that “Elijah has appeared”, or, more vaguely, “One of the ancient prophets has arisen.”  Herod was not a religious man although he made a show of piety to the people.  However, people who are not religious are very often superstitious though they may strenuously deny it, and Herod was that.  It is interesting that none of the reports Herod received mentioned that he was from Nazareth.  Herod, who had killed John the Baptist, might have feared the latter’s ghost taking revenge in some way.  If he did not know Elijah the Prophet he could have found out easily and would have been daunted by his opposition to the kings of the time.  No one seems to have identified him to Herod as possibly the Messiah who would overthrow Roman rule and reestablish the Kingdom of Israel under the House of David.  Herod would have seen him as a distinct threat in that case.   As far Herod’s actual feelings, they seem similar to those which he had when he listened to John the Baptist when he had imprisoned him: “When he heard him, he was much perplexed; and yet he heard him gladly” (Mark 6, 20).  He heard the truth about the Kingdom of heaven and the punishment of hell and it made sense to him and he wondered what it be like to live righteously, but he would do nothing to begin to do this.  He would rather be deeply disturbed.  

“John I beheaded. Who then is this about whom I hear such things?” And he kept trying to see him.”  Herod had silenced one voice that warned him of the wrath to come, but another voice, a greater one, was now speaking.  St. Luke tells us that Herod “kept trying to see him” but it does not seem likely that Herod actually made a serious effort, for thousands of people came from all over the region to find him and did.  He could also have sent for him if he feared to leave his fortress stronghold.  The Lord, for his part, did not respect Herod and called him “that fox” (Luke 13, 32), a predator that attacked the defenseless.  

Finally, Herod did see him on the last day of the Lord’s life.  He wanted Jesus to perform miracles for him to see but the Lord remained silent and still in his presence, not deigning to speak to him.  Herod had his chance.  He could have asked him who he was, where he was from, and what he taught.  But Herod did not use the opportunity he had been given.  

People can look salvation in the face and mock it, as Herod did.  We must be aware of the growing hostility to our Faith and to belief in another world and pray for the conversion of those who hold such views.

Wednesday in the 25th Week in Ordinary Time, September 24, 2025

Luke 9, 1-6

Jesus summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money, and let no one take a second tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there. And as for those who do not welcome you, when you leave that town, shake the dust from your feet in testimony against them.” Then they set out and went from village to village proclaiming the good news and curing diseases everywhere.

“Jesus summoned the Twelve.”  Luke phrases this very formally, as though a king or a general were summoning his emissaries for a mission.  Luke says “the Twelve” as though he were naming an official body of men.  The number seems important to him, and he is the Evangelist who informs us of how the Apostles added one to their membership after Judas hanged himself, thus preserving the number.  The Greeks to whom Luke was writing considered the number twelve a sign or even component of the cosmic order.  They recognized twelve constellations in the zodiac, counted twelve months in the lunar year, and worshipped the twelve gods of Olympus, who had overthrown their predecessors, the twelve Titans.  The number of the Apostles thus reflected for them the new cosmic order of the Gospel.

“And gave them power and authority.”  That is, the Lord shared his power with them; they did not possess power on their own, and the sharing lasted only for the duration of their mission.  He gave them both the power and the authority to use this power — he left its use to their discretion.  “Over all demons and to cure diseases.”  The demons possess varying levels of their own power according to their hierarchy.  The power and authority Jesus lends the Apostles takes in all of them.  These actions, exorcism and curing the sick, act as signs that God walks among men, that the kingdom of the devil is shattered, and for the forgiveness of sins.

“Take nothing for the journey.”  The Apostles are to go abroad as though they were fleeing from something, or fleeing to something.  They were hurrying without impediments just as a person drops everything he is holding in order to run and greet a long-lost loved one.  Nothing matters except seeing them again.  Their entering a town or village as travelers but without a staff, a second tunic, or sack would certainly have drawn people’s attention.  This kind of arrival would also contrast with the arrival of Pharisees or scribes, or any traveling preachers, who would attempt to impress the locals with their wealth, which would imply approbation.  The Apostles come as simple messengers.  “Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there.”  The better off denizens of the place would vie with one another to house the Apostles when they saw them perform miracles, but the Apostles had come not for their own benefit but to announce Christ.  They were not to accept honors of any kind.

“And as for those who do not welcome you, when you leave that town, shake the dust from your feet in testimony against them.”  To shake the dust off from one’s feet amounted to declaring that one would never return to that place, or to write off the place.  The Apostles were to show this sign to a town where they were not welcomed, that is, if they came to a town and began to preach and they were told to leave.  There will always be people who will reject the Gospel no matter how well it is preached or how many miracles support it.

“Then they set out and went from village to village proclaiming the good news and curing diseases everywhere.”  We see here the commitment of the Apostles.  They did not think of themselves merely as students of Jesus but as his messengers as well.  We should try to imagine how this looked, the Apostles tired and hungry from walking, arriving unannounced into a strange town with no money.  They might have begun to preach in the marketplace, announcing the coming of the kingdom of God and calling people to repent.  They probably lacked charisma and were not used to speaking in public, and they came without credentials — they were neither scribes nor Pharisees from Jerusalem.  They probably spoke of Jesus as the Messiah.  If they gained little hearing, they might have spotted a lame man lying in the shadows, or a child with a deformity, and then laid hands on them to cure them.  The man or child would have stood up healed instantly, and this would have caused a commotion, with a crowd surging around the Apostle to find out who he was.  Then the Apostle would have his audience.

You and I may not possess the power to cure, but we all have the power to perform charitable works.  These are the signs that will draw others to us.  May they see us and our good deeds and find Christ.

Tuesday in the 25th Week in Ordinary Time, September 23 2025

Luke 8, 19-21

The Mother of Jesus and his brothers came to him but were unable to join him because of the crowd. He was told, “Your Mother and your brothers are standing outside and they wish to see you.” He said to them in reply, “My Mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.”

According to St. Luke, the Lord’s Mother and brethren — male relatives and neighbors — came to him from Nazareth some time after he had been rejected and nearly killed by his fellow Nazarenes on his one visit there after he began his Public Life.  Luke does not tell us their purpose.  Mark 3, 21 tells us that “his friends . . . went out to lay hold on him. For they said: He is become mad.”  At the end of the chapter Mark 3, 31 says that “his Mother and his brethren came; and standing without, sent unto him, calling him.”  The relative proximity of this verses in the text might prompt us to think that it was Mary and his male relatives of friends who thought he had gone mad.  However, some time had elapsed between Mark ‘s mention of his “friends” and the arrival of his “Mother and brothers” and so these might well be different groups of people.  If so, we are left with no clue as to what purpose for the visit his Mother and brothers had in mind, other than “they wish to see you.”

“But were unable to join him because of the crowd.” The Evangelists tell us that wherever the Lord Jesus went, great multitudes gathered to hear him preach and to lay their sick before him in hope of a cure.  This happened even when he took pains to find secluded places to rest, as when his Apostles returned after he had sent them away on mission. When the Lord saw the people coming, knowing many of them had come from afar, he showed his Apostles that they must be attended to: “He had compassion on them: because they were distressed, and lying like sheep that have no shepherd” (Matthew 9, 36).  His service to those who came to him in their need came before his attention to anyone else, even his own family.  In this way he exemplifies his own teaching: “If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters, yea and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14, 26).

“They wish to see you.” The fact that word was sent to him through the crowd while he was in the midst of his teaching sounds importunate, as though his “brothers”, whoever they were, thought that at their coming he would dismiss the multitude listening to him in order to receive them.  This would not have been the will of his Mother, who, as a handmaid, knew that her place was to wait quietly until she was summoned. His male relatives and neighbors here show contempt not only for the crowd but also for the Lord.  Their attitude may be explained — without excusing it — if they really believed Jesus to be mad and that the crowd had gathered round to amuse themselves at his expense. We should recall that the citizens of Nazareth had wondered at him when he spoke to them in the synagogue.  In this case, they would have considered the crowds shameful for taking advantage of an obviously deranged man.

“My Mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.” If we look carefully, we can see the Lord revealing his divinity in these words.  He is saying that he recognizes as his Mother and brethren only those who do the will of God.  In this, he establishes himself as the perfect doer of the word of God.  He is prime, and everyone else can join the,selves to him but not surpass him in obedience to the Father’s holy will.  But who can carry out the will of God perfectly but God himself? And to be joined to him as through familial ties would certainly cause them to be blessed.  

In speaking this way, Jesus does not repudiate his Mother but rather shows that her holy state comes first due to her obedience to God’s will, and only secondarily from her physically giving birth to him.  That is, physical proximity to one who is holy does not make another holy: “We have eaten and drunk in thy presence: and thou hast taught in our streets. And he shall say to you: I know you not, whence you are. Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity” (Luke 13, 26-27).

We do not know whether Jesus spoke to his Mother and brothers on this occasion, after he had finished teaching and dismissed the crowds shameful in due course.  As far as we know, he only speaks to her once after the wedding at Cana, and then just a few words as he hung upon the Cross. In obedience to the Father he denied himself anything that might give himself pleasure so that he might devote himself entirely to the work set for him.  

Monday in the 25th Week of Ordinary Time, September 22, 2025

Luke 8, 16-18

Jesus said to the crowd: “No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a lamp stand so that those who enter may see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible, and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care, then, how you hear. To anyone who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he seems to have will be taken away.”

It seems that the three sayings contained in this reading from the Gospel of St. Luke are related only in terms of things appearing and not appearing, and that they are not related in terms of an overall meaning.  We see this practice of recording the Lord’s sayings in an apparently haphazard fashion throughout the first three Gospels, especially in that of St. Matthew, who sometimes seems to write things as they occur to him rather than as a connected series.

The first saying we have is, “No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a lamp stand so that those who enter may see the light.”  This can be understood as Almighty God giving the gift of faith to someone.  God gives this gift not as a reward for some action on the person’s part, but as a means of drawing others to the Gospel.  Each of us who believes in God is set “on a lamp stand” — public life — in order to shine into its darkness and to light the way to the Gospel.  Each of those who are thus “enlightened” are set on a lamp stand as well.  Groups of lights on lamp stands are the various Catholic churches throughout the world and constitute “golden candlesticks” among which the Lord Jesus is said to stand: “And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks: and in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, one like to the Son of Man” (Revelation 1, 12-23).

The second saying is: “For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible, and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light.”  This is a warning concerning the final judgment, particularly, and of God’s Providence, in general.  If we wait patiently, the causes of injustices are revealed even in this world.  Today, for instance, many “cold case” crimes are solved through DNA testing that could not have been done at the time these crimes were committed.  Hope had been given up that the perpetrators would ever be caught.  Surveillance of all kinds is now a regular fact in the world and this also aids in identifying criminals, although the privacy of innocent people may also be threatened by this.  But Jesus means that our own thoughts will be revealed at the end so that our intentions will be made known: “But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall render an account for it in the day of judgment” (Matthew 12, 36).  Also, Revelation 20, 13 can be interpreted this way: “And the sea gave up the dead that were in it.”  This is for the establishment of justice.  The hypocrisy of the wicked will be shown in broad daylight, as well as the hidden prayers and good deeds of the just.  Sufferings that people strove to hide will be made known to all.  All that happened to us in the world will finally make sense.

The third saying is, “Take care, then, how you hear. To anyone who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he seems to have will be taken away.”  This is mysterious until we realize that it is about faith.  The faith of those who have it will grow stronger as a result of its exercise, especially in perseverance.  Those whose faith is weak will lose it altogether in time of tribulation: “And he that received the seed upon stony ground, is he that hears the word, and immediately receives it with joy. 

Yet it has no root, but is only for a time: and when there arises tribulation and persecution because of the word, he presently falls away” (Matthew 13, 20-21).  Those whose faith is weak do not exercise it and at best consider the Gospel merely a private philosophy that need not influence their actions.  They bury their talent, as it were: “But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money” (Matthew 25, 18).

The Lord Jesus speaks so succinctly.  The richness of even his shorter sayings so abounds that only God could have said them.