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
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