September 26, 2026 Saturday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time or Optional Memorial of Saints Cosmas and Damian, Martyrs Gospel: Luke 9:43b–45
Today is Saturday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time. The Church today celebrates the Optional Memorial of the holy Martyrs Cosmas and Damian. The recently published Missal tells us: SS. Cosmas and Damian, according to tradition, whose historical details are not altogether certain, they were twin brothers who practiced medicine and were called the Anargyroi, “the silverness,” because they charged nothing for their care. By their healing they led many patients to Christ. Under the Diocletian persecution they were condemned to death, traditionally about the year 300, and suffered at Cirrhus in Syria. Their basilica in Rome, near the Colosseum, was built in the sixth century by Pope Felix IV; their names are listed in the Roman Canon (Eucharistic Prayer I).
Today, the passage from the holy Gospel according to Saint Luke continues to show us the crowd’s perception of Jesus during His time. Let us continue to understand.
First, Saint Luke tells us: While everyone was astonished at all that Jesus was doing, He said to His disciples, “Pay attention to what I am telling you. The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.” (cf. Luke 9:43b–44)
Perhaps we may feel puzzled by these words of Jesus, but if we contemplate the Eucharist with the eyes of faith, we can understand. For the bread and wine in the hands of the priest, through the consecration by the Holy Spirit, truly become the Sacred Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. In this way, our Lord Jesus Christ is handed over into human hands and becomes the true food and true drink of all brothers and sisters who have received the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ and the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
Today, Jesus reminds us: “Pay attention to what I am telling you. The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.” (cf. 9:44) This means: Having received my Baptism and become my disciples, you must listen carefully to my words. Only my words, only my teaching, can save you. He also tells us: We must willingly become the instruments He chooses to use, resembling Him in every way, and hand ourselves over into the hands of others, so that others, through our selfless love for them, may experience God’s love for them, and thus choose to receive the Baptism of Christ as we have, be united to Christ, receive the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and become His children, so that His love for the world may be continued through our living it out.
May you be magnified, O Lord, by the revered memory of your Saints Cosmas and Damian, for with providence beyond words you have conferred on them everlasting glory, and on us, your unfailing help. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
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