Wednesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time Luke 9: 1-6 To be a disciple is to heal
In today’s Gospel, Jesus gathers the Twelve and sends them out with a mission: to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal. This scene reminds us that to be a disciple is never a solitary experience.
He summons. Jesus calls, gathers, and unites. Every day He calls you by name—sometimes in prayer, sometimes in the midst of work, sometimes in the quiet of the evening. Discipleship is not about walking alone or shining as a star. Jesus reminds us that we belong to a team, his team, the Church. Each of us is different, with our own gifts and weaknesses, but together we are one in Him, and one for others.
He gives power. The authority Jesus gives is not the power of command or privilege, but the power to serve. It is the power to heal wounds, to restore dignity, to lift up the discouraged, to bring hope where there is despair. True Christian power is not about being treated as important—it is about bending down to wash the feet of others. That is the power Christ shares with His disciples.
He provides. Jesus tells his disciples to take nothing for the journey. Why? To teach us to rely on God’s providence. And how true this is in our lives: along the road of discipleship, God always sends people to walk with us—friends, companions, even strangers who become angels in flesh and blood. He never abandons us.
To be a disciple, then, is to hear His call, to live in communion, to serve with love, and to trust in His providence. And above all, it is to heal: to be instruments of God’s mercy in a world so wounded.
Memorial of Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest Luke 8: 19-21 True Kinship in Christ
In today’s Gospel (Luke 8:19–21), Jesus reminds us that His true family are those who hear the Word of God and put it into practice. This must have been difficult for His relatives to hear, especially since the Gospels tell us that, at times, His own family misunderstood Him and even thought Him mad (cf. Mk 3:21). But Jesus points us to a deeper truth: the bonds of the Spirit are stronger than the bonds of blood.
The deepest relationships are not based on family name or heritage, but on shared faith, shared love, and shared obedience to God’s will. The Kingdom of God is precisely this: a community where men and women strive to align their lives with the Father’s will. That is why Jesus can say, with full authority, that His mother and brothers are those who do God’s will.
This is not a rejection of human family, but a radical widening of the heart. Jesus calls us to belong to a family as wide as the world, bound together not by blood but by grace. When we say, “Thy will be done,” and mean it, we step into that true kinship with Christ.
Padre Pio lived this mystery in a remarkable way. His life was marked by suffering, misunderstanding, and even suspicion from within the Church. Yet he never stopped doing God’s will. Through prayer, obedience, and the sacrificial offering of his life, he became a brother, father, and spiritual companion to countless souls. His wounds, united to Christ’s, were a sign of that radical belonging to the family of God.
Today, we are invited to walk the same path. Loyalty to Christ may sometimes demand letting go of other attachments, to things, places or people. But it also brings the great gift of communion with brothers and sisters across the world, and even across time. To do God’s will is to find our truest family in Christ.
Monday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time Luke 8: 16-18 Living in the Light
In today’s Gospel (Luke 8:16–18), Jesus gives us three sayings, each one a gentle warning and invitation.
First, He tells us that no one lights a lamp and then hides it. The Christian life is meant to shine. Yet, how often do we hide our faith out of fear of being different? Even animals reject what stands out, and human society can be just as harsh. But Jesus calls us to show our colours. However humble our life may seem, we are invited to say with joy: “I belong to Christ.” Faith is not a burden to conceal, but a light to share.
Second, Jesus reminds us that nothing remains hidden. We may try to hide things from ourselves, pretending not to see the consequences of our actions. We may try to hide things from others, but secrets weigh heavily. We may even think we can hide from God, yet He is the “God who sees” (Gen 16:13). True freedom comes when we live in the light, with nothing to conceal.
Finally, Jesus gives us a simple but profound truth: to those who have, more will be given; to those who do not, even what they have will be taken away. Life does not stand still. The heart that seeks will grow; the heart that stops seeking will shrink. Just as muscles strengthen with use, so too faith deepens when practiced. But if we grow lazy or indifferent, we risk losing even the little we have.
This Gospel invites us to let our faith shine, to live transparently in God’s light, and to keep growing day by day in trust and love. The lamp of faith was lit in us not to be hidden, but to brighten the world.
全属于祢 
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