Saturday in the 29th Week of Ordinary Time, October 24, 2026

Luke 13, 1-9

Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. He said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them— do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!”  And he told them this parable: “There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’ He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’ ”

The literal Greek, “And there were present, at that very time, some that told him of the Galileans, etc.”, indicates that those who told the Lord of this event had witnessed it themselves.  The event sounds horrendous in these words, yet no contemporary outside reference is found for it.  Many scholars assume that this corresponds with a massacre that the Jewish historian Josephus describes, but the many differences in detail between the two makes this very unlikely.  It seems as if this massacre took place while the Lord traveled to Jerusalem for the last time.  From what we are told here, a group of Galileans — pointedly, not Judeans — were slaughtered in the Temple area as they were bringing their sacrifices to the altar or while the sacrifices were proceeding.  No explanation for the killing is given.  This raises the questions of why Pilate’s forces in the Temple area at all, and whether the murders were committed by Pilate’s direct order.  At least one of the Fathers, Cyril of Alexandria, thought that the Galileans here were followers of Judas the Galilean, mentioned in Acts 5, 37.  There may be something to this.  Judas began an uprising around the time of the Lord’s Birth in reaction to the census of Quirinius.  He did not engage the Romans directly, but only those whom he considered to collaborate with them — by registering for the census, for instance.  It is not clear when he died, but his sons were said to have been killed in 46 AD.  Josephus blames the Jewish insurrection against the Romans on the movement he founded.  Cyril postulates that those who told Jesus about the massacre were in fact trying to see how he would react.  It seems also possible that Pharisees were telling him this, seeking to enrage him at this slaying of his fellow countrymen so that he would lead his followers in an attack the Romans in vengeance, but before he was fully ready to do so, as they supposed.  They would have thought to rid themselves of Jesus easily in this way.

The Lord seizes on this news in order to teach, not to stage an uprising.  “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?  By no means!”  Far from praising or even condoning the actions of the Galileans, whatever they might have done, Jesus refers to them as “sinners”.  He could be approaching the subject from the Jewish point of view that something as terrible as this could have happened only to sinners.  Whatever the case, he does not speak of the Romans or Pilate, but of the Galileans.  He points out that they were no different, in terms of sin, than other Galileans.  This could have happened to anyone, in essence.  Then he says, “But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!”  He teaches about spiritual death by speaking of physical death.   He seems to indicate here that the Galileans in some way could have avoided getting killed, for he tells the crowd that if they repent of their sins, they may yet escape damnation.

“Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them.”  The fact that Luke recounts the episode of the Galileans and this one with the tower of Siloam in such detail tells us that these events must have still been remembered and talked about at the time he was writing his Gospel.  Since he was writing it for Gentiles in Syria, the effects of these catastrophes must have been felt beyond Israel.  We have no information of the disaster involving the tower.  It may have been part of a fortress, but not even its location in Jerusalem is certain.  While the killing of the Galileans was murder, an accident seems to account for this loss of life.  The Lord’s point remains the same: we are all sinners and we must all repent or suffer eternal death. 

Luke informs us that the Lord next told a parable, and it directly connected to what he has just taught.  He speaks of a farmer who went out to a fig tree which he owned, and: “He came in search of fruit on it but found none.”  The farmer knows when it is the season for figs, and so he went to the tree in full expectation that he would find some hanging on the tree’s branches.  He then registers his frustration with a handy employee, who is actually a vine-dresser, not a “gardener”: “For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none.”  He gives a command: “So cut it down.”  By way of explanation, the farmer says, “Why should it exhaust the soil?” which literally means, from the Greek: “Why does it bring the earth to nought?”  That is, the tree fights against the purpose of the earth, which is to bring forth fruit.  Why does it do this?  In the farmer’s mind, it seems to have deliberately chosen to thwart the purpose for the earth’s creation.  

“Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it.”  The vine-dresser, who has no stake in the existence of the fig tree, intercedes on its behalf.  He will take on additional work in order to attempt to get fruit on it.  He will dedicate himself to this.  He lays out for the farmer the specific measures he will take.  It may bear fruit in the future.  If not you can cut it down.”  The Greek says, “You shall cut it down”.  The vine-dresser is not telling the farmer what he can or cannot do; he is saying what he knows he will do.  The farmer is the Lord Jesus.  The vine-dresser is the Church of the Gentiles.  The fig tree signifies the Jewish people, just as the cedar tree signifies the people of Lebanon.  The Lord is saying that for three years he has searched for “fruit” — faithful people — among the Israelites and has found “none” (a slight hyperbole, since a few — the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, the Apostles, and others — followed him).  The Gentile Church pleads with the Lord to give it time to preach to the Jews.  We do not hear from Jesus what the “farmer” decided, but we know from history that this was the case.  Gentile Christians like Luke did preach to the Jews, but to little avail.

We can learn from these verses how necessary repentance is for our salvation, and that we must repent now while we can, for we do not know how long we have.  The fig tree was utterly oblivious to how close it came to its absolute end, and that only earnest pleading saved it — for a short time, unless it changed.

Friday in the 29th Week of Ordinary Time, October 23, 2026

Luke 12, 54-59

Jesus said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west you say immediately that it is going to rain–and so it does; and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south you say that it is going to be hot–and so it is. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky; why do you not know how to interpret the present time?  Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate, make an effort to settle the matter on the way; otherwise your opponent will turn you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the constable, and the constable throw you into prison. I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”

The Gospel reading for today’s Mass continues with St. Luke quoting the Lord Jesus regarding the end of the world.  

“When you see a cloud rising in the west you say immediately that it is going to rain–and so it does.”  Now the Lord proposes a very ordinary example of how we predict the weather.  All his hearers could relate to this, not just the erudite, but even slaves.  The weather pattern was stable and predictable.  A cloud rising in the west, from the Mediterranean Sea, meant rain.  Similarly, “when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south you say that it is going to be hot–and so it is.”  That is, the air mass coming up from the desert.  Awareness of the signs of the weather was very necessary for a people dependent on locally grown grown crops and locally raised sheep, goats, and cattle.  And these were not the only signs the people knew to look for.  The key for us in understanding Jesus here is that people of all kinds were on the look-out for changes in the wind direction or the clouds.  In many cases, their survival depended on this.

“You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky; why do you not know how to interpret the present time?”  The Lord launches out against those who do not look for the signs of the end of the world, when their eternal souls would be at risk.  We must look at this word “hypocrite”.  It does not mean in the Gospels what we think it means.  It comes from a Greek word that translates a Hebrew word that means “the faithless”, or, “the godless”.  If we reread this passage we can see that the modern meaning of “hypocrite” does not make sense in it.  It makes quite a lot of sense if we understand it as describing people who could keep an eye out for the signs of the present time but do not.  They are conscious of their lives and property, but not of their souls, though they should be.  We should note that in his accusation, the Lord implies that it is easier to understand the signs of the present times than of the weather, which ought to give us all pause.  What are these signs of the present time, that we should watch for them?  The Lord, in Matthew 24, gives signs for the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans and for the coming of the judgment.  We are to especially watch for false prophets and a fierce, world-wide persecution.  We might also consider a breakdown in society not only of law and order but of the belief that there is such a thing as right and wrong, as is the case today.

“Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?”  This begins a new saying which is not a continuation of the above, but is related to it.  “If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate, make an effort to settle the matter on the way.”  That is, if you have sinned against someone and you fear the final judgment, ask for forgiveness now.  “Otherwise your opponent will turn you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the constable, and the constable throw you into prison.”  Our real “opponent” is not the person we sinned against but our own pride, sloth, and intransigence.  We cannot rightly hope to enter heaven while dressed in these rags.  “You will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”  That is, until the fine has been paid, restitution made, or the debt made good, whatever the case may be.  The fact that a person might be released at some point, after a period of suffering in prison, refers to purgatory.  While we think of purgatory as a particularly Catholic doctrine, we can see its roots in Jewish apocryphal books written around the time of Jesus.  The phrase “If you are to go with your opponent” may be translated literally thus: “While you are going with your opponent.”  The distinction is important because we must know that we are currently going with our opponent to the magistrate — that is, that we are at the moment free but also aware that every step we take brings us closer to that judgment.  This, then, is the instant we must shed everything that holds us back from confessing our sins and seeking absolution and forgiveness.

Thursday in the 29th Week of Ordinary Time, October 22, 2026

Luke 12, 49-53

Jesus said to his disciples: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

“I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!”  The Lord Jesus speaks dramatically and passionately here.  He himself is Fire that the Father has sent to the earth, and he longs to set it ablaze.  Now, he does not mean “the earth” in terms of the planet, but human beings who are formed from the dust of the earth.  He yearns painfully to “blaze” in us, with his love so that we might love him and one another.  In this way, he makes us “children of light” (1 Thessalonians 5, 5).  We should note how he says, “How I wish” it were burning now.  As Fire, he can hardly contain himself, but roars and lashes out with flame as though to increase.  We see this again in his next sentence: “There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!”  From fire he turns to water.  The Greek word translated as “baptize” may not have the primary meaning we understand today — that is, as referring to the sacrament — but rather as a washing, a pouring on of water, even a purging with water, as fire also purges in its own way.  This pouring of water can be understood as watering crops, so that the faithful, watered by the grace of God, may grow and bring forth fruit — converts.  But we can also understand this as meaning the Sacrament of Baptism, that the Lord is pained until the whole world receives his teaching and is converted.  “How great is my anguish!” the Lord cries.  Literally, he is saying, “How I am confined”, or, “compressed”, or “afflicted” until this is accomplished.  We see what he means in his relentless pursuit of souls up and down Judea and Galilee, with a few excursions into Samaritan and Gentile territory.  He hardly slept and only paused to eat when he was invited to do so by some follower or a curious (or scheming) Pharisee.  The Apostles were reduced to eating the heads of grain as they followed him from town to town, even on the Sabbath.  There was nothing he would not do, no place where he would not go, in order to save a soul.

“Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?”  As he has lived, so he expects his followers to live.  Their zeal for holiness and the spread of the Gospel would disrupt the comfortable routines of worldly people.  They would pose troubling questions to them about their lives and goals.  The effect of a saint on them would cause the people of the world to say, “He is grievous unto us, even to behold: for his life is not like other men’s, and his ways are very different” (Wisdom 2, 15).  If we think about it, the act of gardening or farming is a violent one, for the ground is torn up, fertilizer is put into it, and then seed, and plants not native to that soil grow from it.  This can be understood in the spiritual sense of a human person or of the world: the “tearing up” meaning repentance inspired by the word of the Gospel; grace being poured into the person or the world; the sowing of the “seed” as the full reception and acceptance of the Lord’s teachings; and the growth of the plants as living the holy life while remaining in the world, surrounded by temptations.  “No, I tell you, but rather division.”  The Greek word translated here as “division” might be better translated as “a breaking-up”, since Jesus means here the result of an act of violence, whereas “division” implies a clean separation.  The Lord seems to say that he came in order to cause a breaking, but this can also be understood that his coming inaugurates a breaking, but is not directly causative of it.  That is, the Lord does not break up families, but families break up as a result of some members following him and some rejecting him.

“From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three.”  The Lord uses an uneven number, five, in order to show the nature of the break.  It is not an even, smooth division, but a jagged one.  A person must do violence against himself in order to be his follower (cf. Matthew 16, 24), and this has ramifications for a family as well as for a society.  Let us imagine if a very large number of people in our society sold their possessions in order to follow Christ, whether as laity or consecrated religious.  Our consumer-based economy would be sorely affected.  But ultimately this would work for the good of souls.  It might lead to a re-humanizing of our economy and society.

Wednesday in the 29th Week of Ordinary Time, October 21, 2026

Luke 12, 39-48

Jesus said to his disciples: “Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”  Then Peter said, “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” And the Lord replied, “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. Truly, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, then that servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish the servant severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”

The Lord Jesus preached that the kingdom of God was approaching and so it was necessary for all who hoped to enter it to repent.  The Gospels tell us that this was the primary message of his preaching.  All that they report him as saying is related to this theme.  Even when he teaches about himself, it is for the purpose of validating his teaching about the kingdom.  His teaching on the coming of the kingdom intensified as he drew nearer to Jerusalem on his last tourney there, and especially after he entered it.  His very dying on the Cross makes it possible for us to be washed from the sins of which we have repented so as to be saved in it.

In the Gospel reading for today’s Mass, we hear the Lord speaking earnestly about his return for judgment.  He does this out of his own ferocious love for the people of this world, not out of a desire to terrify them or to set them up for failure.  He appeals to his hearers using familiar terms: “Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.”  He denigrates himself in this verse, comparing himself to a thief.  (Indeed, he was crucified in the midst of two thieves as though he were their chief).  The Lord is saying here that if the owner of the house knew the exact hour for the break-in, he would be ready; how much more he should be ready at all times if he knew of the break-in beforehand but did not know the exact hour.  “At an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”  The Lord implies here that the reason the time of his coming for judgment was withheld was so that the faithful might be “prepared” for him at all “hours” of their lives — refraining from sin and performing good works.  “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?”  Peter asks an odd question.  He seems to think that the Lord Jesus would reveal the time of his coming to his Apostles, who would be needed for the establishment of the kingdom at that time, to his earthly way of thinking.  Jesus provides an answer in the form of a parable: “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time?”  The Apostles (and their successors) are to be the stewards.  They, as “faithful” and “prudent”, are to distribute the food ration at the “proper time” to the ordinary servants, the faithful: that is, to offer the Mass for them, to administer the sacraments to them, to preach to them — to provide for their spiritual nourishment.  They are to do these things at “the proper time”, regularly, throughout the days and the years.  They are not to lie around until the Master comes back and then suddenly spring into action.  If a steward plans to do this, his Master “will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish the servant severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful.”  He is sent to the unfaithful because he has acted unfaithfully.  To the steward who is vigilant and feeds the servants as he is charged to do, the Master “will put him in charge of all his property.”  That is, he will reign with the Master.

“That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely.”  The Lord makes a distinction between the servant who knew his Master’s will and the one who did not.  In the first case we have the leaders of our religion who have studied the Gospels and the Lord’s law so that they know his will for those who are called to be “stewards”.  In the second case, we have everyone else, the bulk of the faithful, who depend on the stewards to feed them so that they might know the Master’s will for them and have the strength to carry it out.  If the stewards do not perform their duty as they know they are supposed to do, they “shall be beaten severely”.  But those whose knowledge is lesser and “acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly”.  Their ignorance does not save them entirely because they act against their consciences in their actions, performing deeds which they did not need special instruction to know they were sinful.  These punishments could refer to those administered either in purgatory or in hell, depending upon whether they committed their sins with malice or simply through weakness.

“Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”  The stewards — popes, bishops, priests, teachers — are entrusted with authority and the responsibility to lead the faithful to heaven.  The higher in office the steward is, the greater the graces given for carrying out these tasks, and so the greater the punishment for failing in them.  In this way, the Lord answers Peter’s question.  

Much is given to us all for living holy lives.  Let us never fail to sanctify ourselves through reception of the Sacraments and charitable works.

Tuesday of the 29th Week in Ordinary Time, October 20, 2026

Ephesians 2, 12-22

Brothers and sisters: You were at that time without Christ, alienated from the community of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the Blood of Christ. For he is our peace, he made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his Flesh, abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims, that he might create in himself one new person in place of the two, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile both with God, in one Body, through the cross, putting that enmity to death by it. He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

The city of Ephesus was a major population and cultural center in the Ancient Near East, founded by the Greeks.  St. Paul spent some time there preaching first to the Jews, and then to the Gentiles.  The church there consisted mainly of Gentile converts although there were some Jewish converts too.  His Letter to the church at Ephesus helps the new Christians there to understand their relationship with the Jews, and also to appreciate what it meant to be a member of the Church, the Body of Christ.  

“You were at that time without Christ, being alienated from the community of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world.”  St. Paul reminds the Ephesians of their “hopeless” situation before Christ was preached to them.  At least the Chosen People could hope for Christ's coming, in the long centuries before he came.  The Ephesians were “without God” and could live only for the passing things of this world, very often enduring painful existences simply because death was worse.  For virtually all people in the ancient world, there was no hope to make one's lot better.  The slave would always be a slave.  A family struggling to get a living out of the soil would always struggle.  The Book of Ecclesiastes provides a good picture of man's state before Christ’s Redemption.

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the Blood of Christ. For he is our peace, he made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his Flesh, abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims, that he might create in himself one new person in place of the two, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile both with God, in one Body, through the cross, putting that enmity to death by it.”  Paul here sets before the Ephesians a view of God's providence so that they might understand their relationship with the Chosen People.  This helps answer the question of how could they be saved if Jesus was a Jew, and the ones who preached Christ to them were Jewish  in origin and race.  Would the Ephesians not need to become Jews as well, so as also to be chosen?  Paul answers that it is a fact that the Ephesians were Gentiles, and a people distinct from the Jews -- “far off” from them.  But the Death of Christ redeems all men, both Jews and Gentiles.  It is in his Blood that the Ephesians become “chosen”, not through exterior works such as undergoing circumcision.  Paul also may have been conscious, in writing in this way, of the pagan understanding that the gods were localized.  A god worshipped in Edom would not necessarily have power in Moab.  In this case the Ephesians may have wondered how the God of the Jews in Judea could save Gentiles living in Asia Minor.

“He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.”  He came and “preached peace to you”.  That is, Christ came through his Church, or, in the person of his Church.  Paul had been deeply impressed when the Lord identified himself with the Church which he was at that time persecuting: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9, 4).  It is essential to keep this in mind when studying his teachings on the nature of the Church.  “Peace”, that is, a harmony between the Gentiles and the Jews, who tended to live a very segregated life, which caused tension.  “Far off”: the Gloss points out that they were distant not in terms of geography, but in terms of morality.

“For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.”  Not only is there peace between Gentiles and Jews, but they now exist in unity through the baptism they have received.  While two persons or two peoples may live near each other peacefully in the natural world, only the Spirit may create the unity that affects inner realities.

“So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God,”  Roman citizenship was much prized in the ancient world.  A person could have it through birth, through purchase, or through military service.  Paul himself could boast of his citizenship, which allowed him to appeal his legal case to Caesar.  Citizenship conferred a number of privileges on the holder, making him very different before the law from non-citizens.  To be a fellow citizen “with the holy ones” meant to have the same “access” to the Father as the holy prophets, apostles, and martyrs.

“Built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord.”  Walafrid of Strabo comments in his Gloss: “There is no one so perfect that he is not able to grow”, meaning that our growth into the temple of God ought to be continuous.

“In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”  Paul seems to contrast this temple with the great temple to Artemis in the city's center.  Magnificent, rich, and renowned though it was, it remained a dead building. The Church, on the other hand, was constructed of living stones, the cornerstone of which was the Christ who had redeemed mankind and pleaded for it before the Father.  The very foundations consisted of the prophets and apostles, more solid and dependable than any cement or stone.  This reminds of the saying of Jesus that: “He who hears my words and does them is like a wise man who builds his house upon a rock” (Matthew 7, 24).  Nor is it an empty structure, with these foundations and walls, for God himself dwells in it: “For the Lord God Almighty is the temple thereof, and the Lamb” (Revelation 22, 21).

Monday in the 29th Week of Ordinary Time, October 19, 2026

Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” He replied to him, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” Then he said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”  Then he told them a parable. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.”

“Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” A man, a property owner, has died. According to Deuteronomy 21:17, the eldest son received a double share — twice the amount of any other individual son — of the property. He also becomes head of the family. Supposing the brother who comes to Jesus is the only other brother, he would receive a third of the property as his inheritance. Here we see him petitioning Jesus for justice, leading to the conclusion that the elder brother has taken all of the property for himself. We should not assume that he is wronged, for if he was known in his family as unreliable or unstable, the older brother could have been protecting him from himself. Whatever the case, he comes to Jesus. Now, perhaps the local judge had ruled in his brother’s favor or the younger brother had not asked him for a judgment, and he thinks that an emotional appeal to Jesus would work in his favor. But the Lord refuses to be drawn into a dispute of this kind. His reply to the brother, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” seems to point him back to the duly established officials. (The Greek word translated here as “friend” actually means “man”: Man, who appointed me, etc.)

The Lord Jesus seizes this opportunity to teach about greed, that relentless destroyer of families and individual souls: “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”  The Lord teaches us to be on the watch so as to “guard” ourselves from “every kind” of greed. That is to say, to be vigilant, for our human condition practically invites an insecurity to take its seat within us, driving us on to covet anything that appears to strengthen or fulfill us. The devil sees how useful this covetousness is and drives it on so that it absorbs and finally ruins the person who does not fight against it.

We fight against greed with gratitude to God for granting us the necessities of life. We make a careful survey of what he have and realize that it all comes from God and that without unmerited grace we would have nothing. Psalm 127, 2: “Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it. Unless the Lord keep the city, he watches in vain who guards it.” Out of love for us the Lord shares his bounty with us. We must keep this in mind and not think that we deserve anything, with a mind contrary to that of the rich landowner in the parable.

“The things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?” All things belong to God and that which he shares with us is to be put to good use. The landowner fails because he does not plan to use his overabundant harvest in God’s service. Let us keep in mind, then, the Lord’s warning in Luke 12, 48: “Unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required.” 

Monday in the 29th Week of Ordinary Time, October 19, 2026

Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” He replied to him, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” Then he said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”  Then he told them a parable. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.”

“Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” A man, a property owner, has died. According to Deuteronomy 21:17, the eldest son received a double share — twice the amount of any other individual son — of the property. He also becomes head of the family. Supposing the brother who comes to Jesus is the only other brother, he would receive a third of the property as his inheritance. Here we see him petitioning Jesus for justice, leading to the conclusion that the elder brother has taken all of the property for himself. We should not assume that he is wronged, for if he was known in his family as unreliable or unstable, the older brother could have been protecting him from himself. Whatever the case, he comes to Jesus. Now, perhaps the local judge had ruled in his brother’s favor or the younger brother had not asked him for a judgment, and he thinks that an emotional appeal to Jesus would work in his favor. But the Lord refuses to be drawn into a dispute of this kind. His reply to the brother, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” seems to point him back to the duly established officials. (The Greek word translated here as “friend” actually means “man”: Man, who appointed me, etc.)

The Lord Jesus seizes this opportunity to teach about greed, that relentless destroyer of families and individual souls: “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”  The Lord teaches us to be on the watch so as to “guard” ourselves from “every kind” of greed. That is to say, to be vigilant, for our human condition practically invites an insecurity to take its seat within us, driving us on to covet anything that appears to strengthen or fulfill us. The devil sees how useful this covetousness is and drives it on so that it absorbs and finally ruins the person who does not fight against it.

We fight against greed with gratitude to God for granting us the necessities of life. We make a careful survey of what he have and realize that it all comes from God and that without unmerited grace we would have nothing. Psalm 127, 2: “Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it. Unless the Lord keep the city, he watches in vain who guards it.” Out of love for us the Lord shares his bounty with us. We must keep this in mind and not think that we deserve anything, with a mind contrary to that of the rich landowner in the parable.

“The things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?” All things belong to God and that which he shares with us is to be put to good use. The landowner fails because he does not plan to use his overabundant harvest in God’s service. Let us keep in mind, then, the Lord’s warning in Luke 12, 48: “Unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required.” 

The 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time, October 18, 2026

Matthew 22, 15–21

The Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap Jesus in speech. They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion, for you do not regard a person’s status. Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” Knowing their malice, Jesus said, “Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? Show me the coin that pays the census tax.” Then they handed him the Roman coin. He said to them, “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” They replied, “Caesar’s.” At that he said to them, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”

“Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion, for you do not regard a person’s status.”  The Pharisees and the Herodians know this is not true of themselves, and do not therefore think it true of anyone.  This is precisely why they think they can trip up the Lord Jesus with the question they are about to ask.  Still, despite themselves, they do speak the truth about the Lord: he was a truthful man teaching the way of God in accordance with the truth, and who was not concerned with anyone’s opinion.  So many of us and so many of our teachers and authorities calculate and measure out our opinions and positions based not on truth but on what others will say or do in response.  Our bishops, for instance, seem to employ whole banks of public relations people who write out scripts for them to deliver.  Whenever there is a need for them to speak out, their remarks are sculpted and polished as though meaning and sincerity has been quite prohibited.  But most of us do this as well, whether at work, for fear of losing our jobs, or in other public places, for fear of losing friends or positions of trust.  Now, we must be prudent in how we deliver the truth so that we speak it without hope of personal gain or Sheryl out of a desire to hurt someone, but whether we speak in a whisper or shout from a rooftop, we need to speak the truth, and the truth needs to serve God.

“Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?”  The problem here was not the paying of money.  Paying this tax meant an acceptance of Rome’s rule.  The Pharisees certainly grumbled against it, while the Herodians, whose legitimacy depended upon Roman support, supported it.  Ironically, the Pharisees who squirmed under Roman rule and thought of it as standing in the way of a new, restored Kingdom of Israel, would later show their obeisance to it in bringing the Lord Jesus before the .roman procurator Pilate.  Pretended sincerity always comes out in the open.  A lie is a very hard thing to keep alive.

“Show me the coin that pays the census tax.”  Interestingly, Jesus calls for one of them to show him a coin, rather than to have Judas, who held the common purse give him a coin.  This also shows the hypocrisy of his questioners: if they rejected the Roman tax, they would also reject the Roman coins, Roman currency.  They would not touch it.  “Whose image is this and whose inscription?”  The Lord acts as a teacher of children here.  He begins with the very fundamentals: What is this everyday thing that I have in my hand?  What does it look like?  Where does it come from?  Whose is it?  The mention of the image on it may remind us that the Jews were forbidden by the law from making any “graven image”.  In fact, we do not have depictions of people made by the ancient Israelites.  Statues or other images exist of the great Assyrian and Babylonian kings, of the Egyptian pharaohs, of the great and even humble Romans.  But there are no contemporary portraits of Kings David or Solomon, and no portrait of the Lord Jesus made during his lifetime — not even a bit of description of him in the Gospels.  The Lord may have intended to warn the Pharisees of their coming exposure as hypocrites in this way.  At this point they should have taken their cue from the incident involving the woman caught in adultery and suddenly melted away.  They were about to get caught in their own snare: “He has opened a pit and dug it; and he is fallen into the hole he made” (Psalm 7, 15).  

They replied, “Caesar’s.” At that he said to them, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”  If Caesar’s image is on the coin, then it is his coin, and rendering it back to him does not morally affect or implicate the giver.  We also think of the Lord saying, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasure on earth . . . but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven” (Matthew 6, 19-20).  The possession of money does not advance a person in grace.  Jesus, by treating Caesar’s coin and his image with contempt in this way shows up the Pharisees as those who pay attention to “a person’s status”.  The Lord answers them by saying, How is this even a question for you?  And by telling them, to pay “to God what belongs to God”, he implies that they are not doing this.  

We must be men and women of integrity, worthy of respect but uninterested in having it.  And we must also recognize that what we lawfully give to “Caesar” here, that is, to our rulers, pales in comparison with what we should be giving to God.  We have to keep in mind during these days of political acrimony that we cannot subvert what belongs to God by giving it to Caesar.  We cannot vote for politicians supporting abortion, for instance, and think that this is a purely legal matter.  When political or legal opinion conflicts with God’s law, the Christian does not work against God’s law.  The Christian sees that the question posed to Jesus is also posed to us.  Do we give ourselves to Caesar, or to God?