October 19, 2026 Monday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time or Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues or Saint Paul of the Cross, Priest Gospel: Lk 12:13-21
Today is Monday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time. Today the Church celebrates the optional memorial of the martyrdom of Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues and their companions, and of Saint Paul of the Cross, Priest. The newly published Roman Missal tells us:
St. John de Brébeuf (1593-1649), St. Isaac Jogues (1607-1646) and their six companions were originally from France and were Jesuit missionaries, dedicating their lives to preaching the Gospel among the indigenous peoples of North America. St. John de Brébeuf was captured by the Iroquois, fastened to a stake, tortured to death and then partly eaten, near Midland, Ontario, Canada. St. Isaac Jogues had already suffered slavery and mutilation during his missionary work, but returned to Canada from France. He was seized by the Mohawks, who thought he was a sorcerer, and tomahawked to death near Auriesville, New York in 1646.
St. Paul of the Cross (Paolo Francesco Danei) (1694-1775) was born in Piedmont, Italy. Following a spiritual conversion, he founded a congregation of missioners with a special devotion to the Lord’s Passion and death (the Passionists). The first house was founded on Monte Argentario. Despite facing many problems, by the time of his death there were twelve Passionist Retreats (community houses) as well as a community of nuns. He had a special interest in England and regularly prayed for its conversion.
Today, the passage from the Gospel of Saint Luke presents to us a man in the crowd who asked Jesus to divide an inheritance for him, and the parable that Jesus told because of this. Let’s try to understand.
Today, in the world in which we live, there are truly many cases of people asking the court to divide inheritance. People often follow the standards of this world to measure their own gains and losses. Recently I saw on a certain short-video platform that there was a rich man who had three children. After he died, his lawyer read the will to his three children. The eldest son received all the valuable notes under his father’s name; the second son received all the houses under his father’s name, while the youngest son only got his father’s car and nothing else. All three children felt it was unfair, so they went to court and asked the court to redistribute their father’s estate.
I think that at the beginning of today’s Gospel, the man in the crowd who asked Jesus to divide the inheritance was probably in a similar situation. (cf. Lk 12:13) Because in his view, he seemed to have suffered injustice, and what he pursued was absolute fairness. Therefore, he adopted the common practice of the Jews at that time, inviting a person of reputation to divide the property for him.
Similarly, we would follow our own will and try every means to accumulate more of everything belonging to this world for ourselves. In their view, only by accumulating more wealth in this world can one gain more security. When their sense of security is basically satisfied by everything they possess in the secular world, they will exhaust all means to accumulate more for themselves, thus forgetting God who created all these things. Even sometimes, we too will be influenced by them, like the rich man called a fool in the parable told by Jesus today, falling into the trap set for us by the master of this world and its agents.
Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord! Even if we accumulate more wealth in this world and gain great fame, when we end this present life, these riches and fame can only remain in this world. Everything we now possess cannot earn eternal life for us. After we depart, people may remember that we once existed in this world, but after a period of time, people will forget us. But God of infinite majesty will not forget us. When we end this present life and come before Him for judgment, what is presented before Him is not how much wealth we accumulated in the world. What He is concerned with is how we make good use of everything He has bestowed upon us, fulfilling His holy will in life at every moment, and making the world created by God more beautiful through everything we do in our daily lives.
Almighty ever-living God, grant that we may always conform our will to yours and serve your majesty in sincerity of heart. 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
October 18, 2026 Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time Gospel: Mt 22:15-21
Today is the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The passage from the Gospel of Saint Matthew tells us about the dialogue between the disciples of the Pharisees and the disciples of the Herodians with Jesus.
We know that in the time of Jesus, the Pharisees were the “Rabbis” of the Israelites, teaching the people by way of parables. When interpreting the Law, they included the precepts of the ancestors and customs, that is, what they called the traditions of the ancestors—following the logic of this world. This logic told them: if they gave something to others, they must receive in return something equivalent to what they had given. Therefore, they only invited those who seemed to be close relatives to share lunch and dinner with them. The scribes were some kind of biblical scholars. Like the Pharisees, they interpreted Scripture as they pleased, considering themselves as the mouthpiece of God, and regarded themselves as righteous and most holy. The Herodians were an emerging heresy, claiming that Herod was the Christ, and that the Kingdom of Judah had already perished.
Today, the disciples of these two factions came together to trap this Teacher from Galilee. We often, in our lives, act like those Pharisees who designed to ensnare Jesus in His words (cf. Mt 22:15-17), making human rules according to our own will, or to satisfy our personal interests, and intending to impose these rules upon God who created us with His abundant love. For in our eyes, we seem to be more learned than God, and even surpass Him in some respects. At times, we even think that those brothers and sisters who are sent by God to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom before us seem to speak of a God according to their own understanding of the divine will, rather than God speaking to us through His Church built upon Saint Peter (cf. Mt 16:18), continuing to reveal to us the truth about the Kingdom.
In fact, living in this changing world, we are often tempted by the enemy—the devil—just as Saint Peter taught: “Your enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, prowls around seeking someone to devour; you should resist him with firm faith, and should know that your brothers in the world are suffering the same hardships.” (cf. 1 Pt 5:8-9) If we continue to follow our own selfish desires and passions and obey the guidance of the flesh in our lives, we still live under the dominion of death. Thus, although our bodies have received the Baptism of Christ and belong to Christ, our souls still remain under the dominion of sin and death, still living in darkness. But if we rely on the Holy Spirit of God to mortify the rash impulses of the flesh, we shall live forever.
Almighty ever-living God, grant that we may always conform our will to yours and serve your majesty in sincerity of heart. 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
October 17, 2026 Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Antioch Gospel: Lk 12:8–12
Today is Saturday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time. The Church today celebrates the Memorial of the martyrdom of Saint Ignatius of Antioch. According to the recently published Roman Martyrology: Saint Ignatius (martyred c. AD 107) succeeded Saint Peter as Bishop of Antioch, and during the persecution of Emperor Trajan, was thrown to wild beasts in Rome (possibly at the Colosseum). On his way to Rome, he wrote seven epistles, which clearly depict the Christian faith and practice about a century after Christ’s birth. His name is mentioned in the Roman Canon.
Today, the Scripture passage from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke continues to present to us the teaching that Jesus gave to His disciples on His final journey to Jerusalem. Let us understand.
In many films and television works, we often see scenes of giving testimony. For example: when a government official, before taking office, needs to take an oath; or when a witness appears in court, he also takes an oath, to prove that everything he states is true and credible. But all this is based on one’s own understanding of things and is conducted according to human-made laws.
In fact, for us who have been baptized into Christ and belong to Christ, we too, like those born of flesh and blood, once professed our faith before God and the whole Church. Every year, on Easter Vigil, we join with those brothers and sisters about to be baptized to profess our faith: that in order to live the free life of children of God, we renounce sin; we believe in Almighty God the Father, Creator of heaven and earth; we believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered, died, and rose again, and now enjoys glory in heaven; we believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Like the adults among them, after receiving the Baptism of Christ, we immediately received the Holy Spirit, becoming children of God, and together with Christ, heirs of God’s promise.
Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord! Since we have been reborn in Christ through water and the Holy Spirit, how is our conduct? How do we live in daily life? If we follow the instructions of the Savior and accept His teaching, and like the glorious martyr we celebrate today—Saint Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch—generously dedicate our whole life and bravely profess our faith before the world, then because of the faith we boldly profess before others, we will be acknowledged by the Son of Man (cf. Lk 12:8–9), and thus through this profession of faith, receive the crown of martyrdom. Whenever our thoughts, words, and deeds fully conform to Christ’s teaching, we will no longer feel fear, because then we no longer live for ourselves, but live in Christ. When we bear witness to Christ before others, the Holy Spirit will certainly “help us in our weakness, interceding for us with sighs too deep for words” (cf. Rom 8:25–26). This Holy Spirit is the one of whom Jesus Christ, before His passion, said to His disciples: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come” (cf. Jn 16:13). Whenever we follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God and rely on His help to put to death the impulses of the flesh, we shall live (cf. Rom 8:13). Our thoughts, words, and deeds, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, will reach perfection, becoming true disciples of Christ, always cherishing the desire for eternal happiness, making good use of each day’s life, so that when that day comes, we may together with the heavenly saints praise and glorify the name of the Lord in the presence of God, forever and ever. Today is the Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Antioch. Let us, together with this glorious martyr, offer our prayer to God:
Almighty ever-living God, who adorn the sacred body of your Church with the confessions of holy Martyrs, grant, we pray, that, just as the glorious passion of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, which we celebrate today, brought him eternal splendor, so it may be for us unending protection. 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.
您必须登录才能发表评论。