Tuesday in the 28th Week of Ordinary Time, October 13, 2026

Luke 11, 37-41

After Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal. The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.”

While I was making a holy hour in the gorgeous Blessed Sacrament Chapel here, at three o’clock, the sisters sang their mid afternoon office.  Their chapel is on the other side of a wall so they cannot he seen, but they can be heard.  I listened to them chanting their love song to God.  Old and young chant together the ancient psalms, having abandoned everything for the sake of the only One who matters.

In the Gospel reading for today’s Mass, St. Luke recounts how a Pharisee invited Jesus to dine at his house.  We might remember how on one such occasion the Pharisee did not provide the normal amenities for the Lord, anointing his head, having his feet washed, and so, but that is not the case here.  After Jesus has been properly welcomed and it is time to dine, water and bowls and towels are provided the guests to wash in.  But Jesus declines this, and “the Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal.”  To understand this, we have to remember that the Pharisees had their own customs, and over time they had confused their customs with the Jewish Law so that they seemed one and the same.  The custom of washing is prescribed for the temple or the tent where the Ark of the Covenant was kept, and this was done by the priests.  The Pharisees interpreted the Law in their own way so that this was to be done households as well.  Jesus clearly wants to teach the Pharisee that this washing is not of the Mosaic Law: it is a mere “human precept”.  

The Lord also takes advantage of the situation to teach a more personal lesson: “oh you Pharisees!  Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil.”  This “plunder and evil” is insisting that all the Jews must adopt their interpretation of the Law in order to be “true” Jews.  “You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?”  That is to say, of course a potter would have made the whole vessel.  It would be impossible to only make the outside and not make an inside to it.  Here, we have to keep in mind that this washing is ceremonial — it has nothing to do with hygiene.  Why, then, Jesus is asking, do you only cleanse the outside? Why not cleanse the inside as well?  Or, why bother cleansing the vessel at all?  Of course, Jesus is also speaking of how the Pharisees cultivated a certain “look”, a certain appearance or style: “They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge their fringes” (Matthew 23, 5).  At the same time, by insisting on others going by their unsupported understanding of the Law “they bind heavy and insupportable burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders” (Matthew 23, 4).

The Pharisees made their mistake because it is an easy mistake to make.  We Christians need to know what the Church actually teaches, what the Bible truly says, and not to substitute our own ideas for them instead.  And we ought not to decorate ourselves fancily, to deliberately draw attention to ourselves by what we wear or how we speak.  Rather, like the Lord, people should say about us, “there was no comeliness, that we should be desirous of him” (Isaiah 53, 2).  But let our kindness and generosity, such rare traits these days, win people over.

Monday in the 28th Week of Ordinary Time, October 12, 2026

Luke 11, 29-32

Jesus seems to speak of the “sign of Jonah” more than once during the course of his public life.  On another occasion when he does, he points to the three days and nights during which Jonah resided within a great fish, eventually to be spewed onto the land.  Then, the Lord meant the sign to refer to his time among the dead before his Resurrection.  Here, he indicates Jonah as a sign to the Ninivites.  What did the Ninivites see?  What caused them to convert?  When Jonah came among them, he was a foreigner speaking a foreign language.  He came as an ordinary man, not as one who stood out in any way, except perhaps by his clothing.  As one man, though, he took upon himself the enormous task of going through the whole city of Nineveh, which took days to cross on foot, crying out to the people to repent, or the city would be destroyed.  Perhaps God enabled Jonah to speak Assyrian for this purpose.  At any rate, the people, and most importantly, the king, understood the message and took it to heart.  Indeed, they acted so quickly that it was almost as though they were predisposed to look for a prophet who would speak to them in this way.  Now, Nineveh was the capital of a great empire st the time.  It was girded by thick walls and filled with commerce of all kinds.  The people worshipped many gods and the king was thought to be semi-divine himself.  It was the Rome of its time. (The city of Rome was founded at about this time).  

Jesus compares himself, for the sake of the Jews, with Jonah.  Jesus, too, came amongst the people to whom he was sent as a foreigner — from heaven — but he appeared as one of them, even speaking their language.  He, too, preached repentance, but whereas the Ninivites repented st the word of a stranger who did not worship their gods, the Jews resisted repenting at the word of one of their own who did worship their God and claimed to speak for him.  And while a message of repentance would have sounded strange to the people of Nineveh, the Jews had a long history of prophets calling them back to their covenant with God.  Also, Jonah performed no miracles to underscore and confirm his message.  Jesus had performed many miracles, even raising the dead as signs that God had ratified his.  And yet the Jews resisted, rejected, and ultimately killed the Lord Jesus.  The Lord’s invoking Jonah is a striking indictment of the Jews of his time.  

The message for us is to be as the Ninivites, who acted as one would have expected the Jews to have done.  With the word of God ringing in our ears at the very least on Sunday at Mass, with the knowledge of our religion which most of us have learned from childhood, with truth about God fully revealed to us in Jesus Christ, we have far less excuse than the ancient Jews to resist the Lord’s urgent message for us to repent.  

The 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 11, 2026

Matthew 22, 1-14

Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and the elders of the people in parables saying, “The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come. A second time he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those invited: “Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast.”’ Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then the king said to his servants, ‘The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.’ The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to meet the guests he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. He said to him, ‘My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?’ But he was reduced to silence. Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’ Many are invited, but few are chosen.”

“The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.”  We ought to notice that Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king.  Jesus does not say that it may be likened to a feast made by the king.  He likens it to a king.  What sort of king?  To a king “who gave a wedding feast for his son”, that is, to a generous father, a father excited for his son, a king who wanted to honor people in his kingdom by making a feast for them on the occasion of his son’s marriage.  Jesus does not describe the kingdom of heaven as a place.  As in the parable which precedes this one in St. Matthew’s Gospel, he likens it to a person.  In the earlier parable, he likened it to a landowner who was generous in paying his workers.  Here, to a king.  Jesus reminds us that the Church is not a place, either, nor is heaven.  It is the faithful in union with Christ.  Because it is a “union”, it transcends the physical, the geographical.  Thus, Jesus can say to Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world.”   St. Thomas Aquinas comments that Jesus himself is the kingdom of heaven.  In these parables about the kingdom of heaven, Jesus tells us about himself.

The invited guests react strangely to the invitation the king issues them through his messengers.  In fact, even if they disliked the king personally, they should have attended the feast simply because it was in their best interest to do so.  The Lord tells us that some of the invited guests acted as though they had not heard the invitation.  One went to his business, one to his farm.  These people so belonged to the world that they could not imagine living in a different way, or seeing their larger responsibilities in life.  For very many people today, the main matters of life consist of health, career, finances, and sex.  The idea of religion never arises for them.  It does repel others: “The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them.”  These folks saw in the king’s invitation a threat to their freedom to do as they wished.  If they agreed to go to the feast, they would have to wash and dress for it, and then act with decency and polite behavior throughout the meal, which was for the king’s son and his bride.  The king’s subsequent destruction of the “city” inhabited by these bad subjects signifies the consequence of their actions, which is death.  To reject God through sin is to die, that is, to lose God’s grace and friendship.  

“The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike.”  Those who first heard the Lord tell this parable, particularly the Scribes and Pharisees, would have understood they were the unworthy invited guests, and that the “bad and good” who filled the hall were the Gentiles.  We can also see here that the membership of the Church is open to sinners who repent.  Jesus himself tells us that he came not for the righteous but for sinners (cf. Luke 5, 32).  That is, all who recognize themselves as sinners and in need of grace.

“My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?” The king may seem here to expect too much of a guest who has just been brought in without much notice.  The fact is that all the other guests are apparently wearing wedding garments.  Either they put on their own garments and came to the wedding feast already dressed, or garments would have been provided for those who came without them.  This man in his normal clothing is showing contempt to the king and the guests, and his refusal to answer the king’s question confirms this.  He signifies one who attempts to benefit from Christ’s promises without seeking the sacraments, or, having received them, without believing in or living out all of his teachings.

“Many are invited, but few are chosen.” That is, few choose to accept the invitation from the King. They reject the feast and the one who prepared it for them in order to continue with their lives as they were living them — for the pathetic pleasures that promised to delight them. If many did accept the invitation, certainly they would be chosen. Let us accept with fervent gratitude the invitation of the Lord God Almighty by living according to the simple commandments he gives us.

Saturday in the 27th Week Of Ordinary Time, October 10, 2026

Luke 11, 27-28

While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

The wedding ceremony went well.  My sister’s daughter shone with her beauty (which, as I informed my sister, comes from my side of the family) and the groom was handsome.   

The woman who “raised her voice” as the Greek says, is filled with excitement, even elation, at the words Jesus says but still more at his very Person.  She does not cry out in praise of his words, but in praise of him.  Or, it is more than praise.  She may feel love for the first time in her life and expresses her rapture in her blessing of his Mother.  She sees the Mother in the Son and blesses her to bless him.  While she uses a figure of speech to honor Jesus, she also does bless the Virgin Mary.  In this, we begin to see how Mary’s words, “All generations will call me blessed” begin to be fulfilled.  The Lord accepts the woman’s words for himself and his Mother and reveals their full meaning.  The Greek text has: “Indeed, blessed those who hear the word of God and keep it.”  The word translated as “rather” in the lectionary has the primary meaning of “indeed” and “truly”, strengthening the statement it precedes.  Here, the Lord identifies his Mother as blessed in her obedience to God’s will in hearing him, and in her continuous obedience to God’s law and his call throughout her life.  Speaking in this way, he calls this anonymous woman herself to share in this blessedness through her own obedience to God.  Those who place themselves at God’s disposal in this way will hear Jesus say, on the last day: “Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25, 34).

Friday in the 27th Week of Ordinary Time, October 9, 2026

Luke 11, 5-13

Jesus said to his disciples: “Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,’ and he says in reply from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’ I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

So much of our time is spent on the phone, trying to reach a live person at a company, hospital, or government office.  We may have to wait for hours after our call is placed on hold for someone to pick up.  Some offices seem to be designed in such a way as to keep clients, customers, or anyone else from reaching someone that could perhaps help them.  I know of some parish offices like that.  We wait and wait because we are attempting to fulfill a legal requirement or obtain service for some pressing need.  But very often we run out of time or patience and we give up, outlasted by organizations that are supposed to be at our service.

When the Lord Jesus speaks to us about the need to persevere in prayer in the Gospel reading for today’s Mass, it may seem that even he is telling us to stay on the line and our prayer will be answered in the order it was received.  That would be a misapprehension, however.  Almighty God is all-knowing and all-powerful, and he loves us with a love beyond all telling, as we are reminded whenever we look upon a crucifix.  He is more willing to grant us what we need than we are to receive it.  So why does the Lord tell us to persevere?  And he does.  His meaning could not be made more plain: “I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.”  The Lord teaches us to persevere and to pray continually not because he needs to know our desperation, but in order to submit ourselves to his Providence.  Unlike some human in a customer service or government office, the Lord does not serve us when he is good and ready: he serves us when we are good and ready.  He gives us that which will assist us here and which will will us to life hereafter in the way and at the time that is best suited for us.  Indeed, the main object of our prayers ought to be for our salvation and for that of members of our families and of our friends.  We ought to pray throughout our lives for this and for the conversion of the world.  We should pray for good health and all that makes for a stable life, too.  We may pray for loved ones who have gotten into trouble, through their own fault or otherwise, though any of the people we pray for possess free will and can resist or reject the graces God offers them.  Perseverance is necessary in our prayers for them as well so that God may persevere, as it were, in offering these graces.  The story of St. Monica’s prayers for the conversion of her stubborn son Augustine is well-known to us, but very many of us can also cite instances in our own experience of some wayward soul returning to sanity and the Faith after years of wandering aimlessly.  The history of the Church abounds with accounts of wastrels like Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone becoming great saints: in this case, St. Francis of Assisi.  While Francis himself had to respond to the grace God offered, the fact that it was offered is the sign of the effect of the prayers offered by men and women religious in their monasteries, poor widows, suffering martyrs, and ordinary Christians living out their lives in accord with God’s will for them.  Those who won for Francis these offered graces probably never knew of him.  And yet, praying constantly for the conversion of sinners, they assisted Francis in changing his life.

We might ask why God, if he is going to answer a prayer, makes us wait for the answer. To understand this we should first recall that everything God does in our lives (and in the lives of those for whom we pray) for both his own greater glory and for our salvation. He answers our prayers in the way and at the time that is best for these purposes. Often he does not give us the exact answer we want because it does not lead us to salvation and instead gives us something far better that will. And while “nothing is impossible for God” (Luke 1, 37), people may use their free will to reject what he offers them, and so it may seem that our prayers go unanswered. God never forces his gifts upon us, but bestows greater gifts than we can imagine on those who will receive them: “Good measure and pressed down and shaken together and running over shall they give into your bosom” (Luke 6, 37).

Thursday in the 27th Week of Ordinary Time, October 8, 2026

Luke 11, 5-13

Jesus said to his disciples: “Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,’ and he says in reply from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’ I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.  And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

The Evangelists portray the Lord Jesus as all-powerful, and they also show him earnestly entreating the Apostles to pray to his Father in heaven, asking in his name for what they need.  Far from being miserly with his power, the Lord Jesus describes his Father as more willing to grant answers to prayers than anyone is to pray to him.  Indeed, Jesus shows the Father’s generosity through his own: if the Son is generous, curing all who desire to be cured, casting out demons, raising the dead, feeding crowds, how much more so his Father must be.  And by teaching us to call Almighty God our “Father”, the Son further encourages us to ask for gifts, for fathers bestow gifts on their children.  

In today’s Gospel reading, the Lord tells a parable in order to teach his followers how they are to ask for gifts in prayer.  He speaks of a man who has a midnight visitor.  This situation would have arisen now and then in that time and place.  A traveler in those days would most likely have made short journeys from one town to another on foot, and would have slept by the side of the road most of the time, since lodgings existed only in and near the cities.  Jesus alludes to this practice when he says that, “Foxes have dens and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head” (Luke 9, 58).  For some reason, this visitor decides to come to his friend’s door at a late hour rather than wait for morning.  But when the visitor arrived, long-held custom dictated that his beast, if he had one, be watered, and that he himself be fed.  Since the visitor catches the householder without even bread ready, he goes to his neighbor, rouses him, and asks him to get out of bed and give him some.  Naturally, the neighbor is irritated.  It is midnight, he was in bed, and could not his importunate neighbor have used some foresight to keep some loaves overnight in case he did have a late visitor?

The man does not give up: he must provide the customary hospitality for his visitor.  People of the Ancient Near East took this responsibility very much to heart.  The neighbor therefore knows that the man would not give up calling to him, and so he relents.  Luke quotes Jesus as saying, “Because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.”  The friendship enables the man to go to his neighbor for help, and his persistence wins him the bread.  Now, the Greek word is actually much stronger here: it is not so much “persistence” as “shamelessness”, or “shameless persistence”.  The man with the unexpected guest throws self-respect to the wind and begs and pleads for the bread.  The rest of the neighborhood can probably hear him making a fool of himself, but nothing matters except procuring bread.  He does not hold back even knowing he will have to face these people in the morning.  Propriety means nothing to him.

Jesus urges us to act in the same way with the Father: to beg, plead, entreat shamelessly and endlessly.  It is not that the Father is tight with his gifts, but that we must deeply acknowledge our utter dependence on him for them.  Many gifts he gives us and we are hardly aware of it, but for some gifts we must make this acknowledgment, and learn as thoroughly as we can that all that we have comes only from his liberality.  But not only is our God generous to us, but he is surpassingly wise and knows that some of the things we ask for are not good for us.  We ask for “snakes” and “scorpions” that would end up harming us.  So many dangerous things are wrapped up in bright packages.  So instead of giving us the snake that we unwittingly ask for, he gives us the fish that will really do us good.  This too is part of his generosity.  

“How much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”  The Holy Spirit grants the gift of faith and the other virtues and also the graces we need in order to use the virtues, in order to do good, in order to be saved.  How much the Father wants us to come to him in heaven!  He does everything for us.  All we have to do is to ask for his spiritual gifts and receive them when they come.  The Son himself is the way for us, and he has unbolted the gates of heaven for us with his Cross acting as their key.  We see the generosity of the Father in the Son’s abundant miracles and in his sending his Son to die for us.  Let us be generous in our turn with what we receive so that in the end we may be received into heaven.

Wednesday in the 27th Week of Ordinary Time, October 7, 2026

The Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary

Luke 11:1-4

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” 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 in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.”

“Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, etc.”  from reading the Gospels, we know that Jesus preferred to pray on hills, mountains, and the wilderness.  We see him rising early to pray in the wilderness after all evening curing the people of and around Capernaum (cf. Mark 1, 35).  We see him praying on a mountain all night before choosing the Apostles (cf. Luke 6, 12).  We also remember that the Lord prayed on the Mount of Olives before he was arrested, and that his last words, a prayer, were uttered on the hill of Golgotha.  We can surmise from this that at the time indicated by today’s Gospel reading, Jesus had spent considerable time in prayer outside the towns and villages.  Refreshed by his time spent with his Father, he returns to his followers, one of whom had a request — a prayer — presumably speaking for all: “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”  To this point, Jesus has prayed with his Apostles, but not in a particular way.  He has not taught them a way of praying that would brand them as members of his following, “as John taught his disciples.”  John the Baptist, in teaching his disciples to pray, probably emphasized prayers for the coming of the Messiah, and for recognizing him when he came.  After all, the reason John was sent into the world was to prepare the world for the Messiah’s coming.  The Pharisees and various roving rabbis would also have taught their disciples to pray in a way of their own.  We might ask why Jesus had not taught his own disciples to pray shortly after choosing them.  He seems to have waited for them to ask him before doing so.  Perhaps he waited in order to draw the request out of them, letting them realize that they needed from him both the words to pray and the grace to pray the words with.  This notion presupposes that before this time, the Apostles were simply not ready to learn from him how to pray.  This tells us that it is a gift to learn from the Lord himself how we ought to pray.  

The Lord Jesus answered this prayer directly: “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come.”  The Greek verb would be better translated as “may your name be sanctified”.  This is an important distinction.  “Hallowed by your name” is a statement of fact.  “May your name be sanctified”, with the verb in the subjunctive, is a prayer.  The prayer here is that we lowly servants may be granted the grace to sanctify the Lord’s name.  We are able to do this through our words and actions since we bear the name of his Son, Christ, as Christians.  Coupled with this, “May your Kingdom come” tells us what the prayer is about: that God the Father’s name may be glorified by our entrance into the Kingdom that will come at the end of the present world,

“Give us each day our daily bread.”  The Greek has: “Give us bread sufficient for the day.”  The use here of “daily bread” differs from the Greek word, which we can translate as “super-substantial”, used by St. Matthew to stand in for the Aramaic word Jesus used.  In fact, “super-substantial” is a word made up to express the word Jesus actually said and is not a proper Greek word.  Luke seems to use the word “daily” in order to avoid using the portmanteau word that would have made little sense to his Greek audience.  “Daily bread” gives the sense that the follower of Jesus lives from day to day, dependent on the Lord for all things.  The one who prays this knows his own unworthiness and does not dare to ask for more than what he needs for the day.  This “daily bread” can also mean the grace necessary for the day’s Christian work as well as for the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.  

“Forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us.”  As St. Matthew recalled in his Gospel, the Lord explained, “For if you will forgive men their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you also your offenses. But if you will not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your offenses” (Matthew 6, 14-15).  “Do not subject us to the final test.”  This “test” or “trial” was a severe temptation against the Faith such as one would suffer during persecution.  “Do not subject us” is better understood as “Do not allow us to be subjected.”

While this prayer pertains to the end-times, it begins, significantly, with the word “Father”.  This is what makes the prayer distinctively Christian, that God is called “Father”.  This was the same manner of address as the Son used, reminding us that through baptism we are adopted children of God and co-heirs of eternal life.  We ought to rejoice in this whenever we pray this prayer.

We celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary today. The Our Father is recited at the head of each mystery of the rosary. Let us pray this prayer with especial attention and reverence as we recite the holy rosary, meditating on the ,ysteries which have brought us salvation.