October 16, 2026 Friday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time or Optional Memorial of Saint Hedwig, Virgin or Optional Memorial of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque Gospel: Lk 12:1–7
Today is Friday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time. The Church today celebrates the Optional Memorial of two saints. Let us get to know these two saints:
St. Hedwig (c. 1174–1243) was born into a princely family at Andechs in Germany; indeed, her niece was St. Elizabeth of Hungary. At the age of twelve, she married Henry the Bearded, who later succeeded as Duke of Poland, and bore him seven children (including Henry the Pious and Conrad the Curly). She led a life of piety, caring for the poor and the sick, and after her widowhood, retired to the Cistercian monastery of Trebnitz, which she had founded.
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647–1690) was born at Verosvres in Burgundy, France, and joined the Order of the Visitation at Paray-le-Monial. She received mystical revelations concerning the Sacred Heart of Jesus and, with the help of her Jesuit confessor, St. Claude de la Colombière, spread this devotion throughout the world. She was canonized in 1920.
Today, the passage from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke continues to present Jesus’ teaching to His disciples on His final journey to Jerusalem. Let us understand.
First, Saint Luke tells us: At that time, a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another. Jesus began to speak, first saying to His disciples, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.” (cf. Lk 12:1–3)
In daily life, we often see yeast. Yeast is a kind of leavening agent. It is usually used in producing wine, baking bread, and even as a cleaning agent. Therefore, it has a communicative and interactive quality, able to blend and multiply various cells effectively.
Today, Jesus asks us to beware of the yeast of the Pharisees because the Pharisees often used their bad example to influence the people of God at that time. Those with weak faith, under their influence, also became outwardly pious but inwardly full of deceit and hypocrisy. Today, among us, there are also many brothers and sisters in the Lord who resemble the Pharisees. On the surface, they appear very devout, spending much time in service to the Church. In the eyes of the parish priest, they are zealous faithful; no deceit is found in their speech, and their words and deeds fully conform to the teachings of Jesus. They even care more about parish affairs than the parish priest himself. Yet when the parish priest is not around, they whisper among themselves, even forming cliques and living within their own circles, so that they rarely go out to proclaim the Gospel. This is precisely what Saint John describes as those who love darkness. John says, “They loved darkness more than light, for their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” (cf. Jn 3:19–20)
In this Gospel passage, Jesus also asks us to beware of the one who kills the body and has authority to cast a person into hell (cf. Lk 12:4–7). Clearly, this refers to the devil, who can destroy our bodies and cause us to fall into hell; it also refers to the worldly mindset of this passing age, which tempts us to turn away from the kingdom of God that Jesus spoke of, and to the body itself, which can blind the eyes of our faith. When faced with all this, at first we may be very afraid, even at a loss. But if we imitate St. Hedwig, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, and the patron saints of each of us, relying on the Holy Spirit and obeying the Holy Spirit, we will find the way and means to overcome all this. For we know that wherever the Gospel of Jesus reaches, the devil and all forces opposed to Him cannot stand.
May your grace, O Lord, we pray, at all times go before us and follow after and make us always determined to carry out good work. 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 15, 2026 Teresa of Avila (Teresa of Jesus) Gospel: Luke 11:47-54
Today is Thursday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time. The Church celebrates the Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus today. According to the recently published Roman Martyrology: St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) was born in Avila (Spain). She joined the Carmelite convent in Avila, and after twenty-five years as a nun, began to reform the Order with the help of St. Peter of Alcantara and St. John of the Cross. She founded seventeen reformed houses in Spain, and despite her busy life of administration, reached the highest “mansions” of union with God. Her outstanding works of ascetical and mystical theology led her to be declared a Doctor of the Church in 1970.
Today, the text taken from the Gospel of Luke continues to show us Jesus’ condemnation of the Pharisees and the religious leaders of that time. Let us continue to reflect.
St. Luke tells us: The Lord said: “Woe to you who build memorials for the prophets killed by your ancestors. Therefore, you testify to what your ancestors did, and your act of building is an approval of your ancestors killing the prophets. Therefore, the wisdom of God says: ‘I will send them many prophets and apostles, some of whom will be killed and some persecuted, so that the blood of all the prophets shed from the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who died between the altar and the temple, will be charged to them. Truly, I say to you: this generation will bear the guilt of their blood.'” (cf. Luke 11:47-51)
Sometimes, we are also like the Pharisees, intending to eliminate God’s Word, and those who proclaim God’s Word to us. The reason we do this is that we find it hard to agree with the ideas of those brothers and sisters who faithfully fulfill the mission entrusted to them by God. Those brothers and sisters who faithfully fulfill the mission entrusted to them by God, like Teresa of Avila, they love to listen to God’s Word, that is, all the words spoken from the mouth of Jesus. In their view, God’s Word will make them no longer follow all the rules of this world that is passing away as they did before, but to follow the world of God proposed by Jesus. The core meaning of all the rules of this world that is passing away is: focusing on and preserving one’s own interests is the most important thing, as for the interests of others, we need not pay attention. However, the world of God proposed by Jesus is a world full of love, where there is only the God who loves people, and people who are loved by God, where God’s Word is always with us, and He teaches us personally.
Today, let us not learn from those Pharisees, do not hinder the spread of God’s Word, and even more so do not set up evil examples to hinder others from approaching Christ who loves us, but imitate Saint Teresa of Jesus, bearing witness to the true Way with good words and deeds. Now, let us pray to God together:
O God, who through your Spirit raised up Saint Teresa of Jesus to show the Church the way to seek perfection, grant that we may always be nourished by the food of her heavenly teaching and fired with longing for true holiness. 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. Amen.
October 14, 2026 Wednesday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time or Pope Saint Callistus I, Martyr Gospel: Lk 11:42-46
Today is Wednesday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time. The Church celebrates today the Optional Memorial of the martyrdom of Pope Saint Callistus I. The Roman Martyrology tells us that Pope Saint Callistus (+222) was a former slave who became Bishop of Rome in 217. He fought heresy and preached God’s mercy for repentant sinners, despite meeting the criticism of rigorists such as Tertullian. He is perhaps best remembered as a martyr, although the manner of his death is uncertain.
Today, the passage from the Gospel of Saint Luke continues to show us Jesus’ condemnation of the Pharisees. Let’s try to understand.
First, Saint Luke tells us that the Lord said: “Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint, rue, and every garden herb, but you disregard justice and the love of God. These you should have done, without omitting the others.” (Lk 11:42)
We know that the Law given by Moses to the Israelites clearly stipulates: “All tithes of the land, whether from the grain of the field or the fruit of the trees, belongs to the LORD; they are sacred to the LORD. If someone wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he must add one-fifth to it. For every tenth animal of the herd or flock that passes under the shepherd’s rod, the tenth one shall be sacred to the LORD. He shall not inspect whether it is good or bad, nor shall he make any substitution. If he makes a substitution, both the original animal and its substitute shall be sacred; it cannot be redeemed.” (cf. Lv 27:30-33) The Pharisees went beyond the limits of the Law, because they also tithed the plants in their fields and gave them to the Lord. They thought that by doing so, they were loving God.
Today, among us, there are also such brothers and sisters in the Lord. They strictly observe the Ten Commandments, the Five Precepts of the Church, and various regulations established by the Church in accordance with the will of the Savior. Every time they come to church to participate in Mass, they make an offering, thereby showing their love for the Church. They often scramble for places of honor in Christian communities, in their parishes, in their religious orders, and in their seminaries, and they like to receive greetings from people. The reason they do this is that they view themselves according to the standards of this world. The standard of this world is: the strong prevail over the weak; the higher one’s social status, the more powerful one is; the more attention and greetings one receives, the more important one is. Obviously, these are people who live according to the values of this present age, and the values they follow are completely different from those taught by Jesus.
Jesus tells us: We have received His baptism and have died and been buried with Him and are united with Him. Therefore, we must never measure ourselves by the standards of this world, as the Pharisees did. Because we belong to Him, we must view ourselves according to the standards He taught us. The standard He taught us is this: the more humble we are in life, the more we live according to the spirit of God’s Word, the more we live out the spirit of the Gospel preached by Jesus, the more we can love those who live with us day and night, and the more we can discover those who are in urgent need of help. When we follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit and act according to the will of the Holy Spirit, we become a smooth path for others to attain holiness. If we do not follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, do not act according to God’s will, but act according to the desires of the flesh, we will be like those Pharisees, causing those who live with us to fall into eternal perdition together with us.
On this Optional Memorial of Pope Saint Callistus I, let us unite our hearts and minds and offer our prayers to God:
O God, who raised up Pope Saint Callistus the First to serve the Church and attend devoutly to Christ’s faithful departed, strengthen us, we pray, by his witness to the faith, so that, rescued from the slavery of corruption, we may merit an incorruptible inheritance. 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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