October 1
Wednesday

26th Week in Ordinary Time
Thérèse of the Child Jesus

First Reading: Job 9:1-12, 14-16

Then Job answered:
Very well I know that it is so.
But how can a mortal be just before God?
If one were to contend with him,
not once in a thousand times would he answer.
His power is vast, his wisdom profound.
Who has resisted him and come out unharmed?
He moves mountains before they are aware;
he overturns them in his rage.
He makes the earth tremble
and its pillars quake.
He commands the sun, and it does not shine;
he seals off the light of the stars.
He alone stretches out the skies
and thread on the waves of the seas.
He made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and every constellation.
His wonders are past all reckoning,
his miracles beyond all counting.
He passes by, but I do not see him;
he moves on, but I do not notice him.
If he snatches away, who can stop him?
Who can say to him, "What are you doing?"
How then can I answer him
and find words to argue with him?
If he does not answer when I am right,
shall I plead with my judge for mercy?
Even if I appealed and he answered,
I do not believe that he would have heard.

Responsorial Psalm:
Ps 88:10bc-11, 12-13, 14-15
Let my prayer come before you, Lord.

Gospel Reading: Lk 9:57-62

As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."
To another Jesus said, "Follow me." But he answered, "Let me go back now, for first I want to bury my father." And Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their dead; as for you, leave them and proclaim the kingdom of God."
Another said to him, "I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say goodbye to my family." And Jesus said to him, "Whoever has put his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God."

Commentary
There is immediacy in Jesus' call. The Lord's invitation is direct and requires of us an immediate response. We cannot put off until tomorrow the task of following Jesus, nor can we ask Him to wait on us to make up our minds.
The opportunities that we have today to serve the Lord might never pass again. This day we have the opportunity to do so many great and wonderful things to help other people. Let us be resolved to do those things today. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Today. For the opportunities of this day might never pass again.

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October 2
Thursday

26th Week in Ordinary Time
Guardian Angels

First Reading: Ex 23:20-23

See, I am sending an Angel before you to keep you safe on the way and bring you to the place I have made ready.
Be on your guard in his presence and listen to him; do not resist him for he will not pardon your wrong-doing, for my name is in him.
If you listen to him and do what I say, I will be enemy to your enemies and the opponent of your opponents. My Angel will go before you and bring you to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; all these I will destroy.

Responsorial Psalm:
Ps 91:1-2, 3-4ab, 4c-6, 10-11
The Lord has put angels in charge of you, to guard you in all your ways.

Gospel Reading: Mt 18:1-5, 10

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked him, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"
Then Jesus called a little child, set the child in the midst of the disciples, and said, "I assure you that unless you change and become like little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes lowly like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and whoever receives such a child in my name receives me.
"See that you do not despise any of these little ones, for I tell you: their angels in heaven continually see the face of my heavenly Father."

Commentary
Do you believe in angels? The Bible and the Church are clear in teaching not only the existence of angels, but of their constant, loving presence in our world. The angels are God's messengers, and offer to us more help each day than we can possibly imagine.
God's ways are not our ways, and the Lord often acts in ways that we perceive only by looking back and realizing that without God's help we would never have made it through a difficult situation. May we offer thanks this day for our guardian angel, that spiritual creature who communicates God's personal interest in our lives.

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October 3
Friday

26th Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading: Job 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5

Then Yahweh answered Job out of the storm:
Have you ever commanded the morning,
or shown the dawn its place,
that it might grasp the earth by its edges
and shake the wicked out of it,
when it takes a clay color
and changes its tint like a garment;
when the wicked are denied their own light,
and their proud arm is shattered?
Have you journeyed to where the sea begins
or walked in its deepest recesses?
Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of Shadow?
Have you an idea of the breadth of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.
Where is the way to the home of light,
and where does darkness dwell?
Can you take them to their own regions,
and set them on their homeward paths?
You know, for you were born before them,
and great is the number of your years!

Job said:
How can I reply, unworthy as I am!
All I can do is put my hand over my mouth.
I have spoken once, now I will not answer;
oh, yes, twice, but I will do no further.

Responsorial Psalm:
Ps 139:1-3, 7-8, 9-10, 13-14ab
Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.

Gospel Reading: Lk 10:13-16

Jesus said, "Alas for you Chorazin! Alas for you Bethsaida! So many miracles have been worked in you! If the same miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would already be sitting in ashes and wearing the sackcloth of repentance. Surely for Tyre and Sidon it will be better than for you on the Judgment Day. And what of you, city of Capernaum? Will you be lifted up to heaven? You will be thrown down to the place of the dead.
"Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me; and he who rejects me, rejects the one who sent me."

Commentary
The word repentance translates the Greek word that means to change one's mind. Believing in the Lord and following in His footsteps requires of us daily change in the way in which we live. So often we tend naturally toward selfishness and immediate gratification of the senses. The Lord tells us that we are better than that. In fact, St. Paul would put it thus, "Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind."
Being a follower of Jesus means acting in a manner different from the way others act. May we dare to be different.

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October 4
Saturday

26th Week in Ordinary Time
Francis of Assisi

First Reading: Job 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17

This was the answer Job gave to Yahweh:
I know that you are all powerful;
no plan of yours can be thwarted.
I spoke of things I did not understand,
too wonderful for me to know.
My ears had heard of you,
but now my eyes have seen you.
Therefore I retract all I have said,
and in dust and ashes I repent.
Yahweh blessed Job's latter days much more than his earlier ones. He came to own fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-donkeys. He was also blessed with seven sons and three daughters. The first daughter he named Dove, the second Cinnamon, and the third Bottle of Perfume. Nowhere in the land was there found any woman who could compare in beauty with Job's daughters. Their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.
Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. He died old and full of years.

Responsorial Psalm:
Ps 119:66, 71, 75, 91, 125, 130
Lord, let your face shine on me.

Gospel Reading: Lk 10:17-24

The seventy-two disciples returned full of joy. They said, "Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we called on your name." Then Jesus replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. You see, I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the Enemy, so that nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, don't rejoice because the evil spirits submit to you; rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven."
At that time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit and said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and made them known to the little ones. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. I have been given all things by my Father, so that no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and he to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."
Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said to them privately, "Fortunate are you to see what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings would have liked to see what you see but did not, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it."

Commentary
The disciples' joy sprang from their realization that they could accomplish such wonderful things when they used Jesus' name. On their own they could do nothing, but with Him their accomplishments were astounding. Their joy was sincere as they gave to the Lord the glory and honor that was His due. With His help there was no end to the good that they could do.
That same joy is ours when we express thanks to God for all of the blessings He has bestowed upon us. Gratitude is the womb of joy, for a person cannot be both grateful and unhappy at the same time.

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October 5
Sunday

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

First Reading: Is 5:1-7

Let me sing for my beloved the love song of my beloved about his vineyard.
My beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up, cleared the stones, and planted the choicest vines. He built there a watchtower and hewed out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only wild grapes.
Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do that I have not done for my vineyard? Good grapes was the yield I expected, why did it yield only sour grapes?
Now I will let you know what I am going to do with my vineyard: I will remove its hedge and it will be burned; I will break down its wall and it will be trampled on. I will make it a wasteland, I will neither prune nor hoe it, and briers and thorns will grow there. I command the clouds, as well, not to send rain on it.
The vineyard of Yahweh Sabaoth is the people of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant vine. He looked for justice, but found bloodshed; He looked for righteousness but heard cries of distress.

Responsorial Psalm:
Ps 80:9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20
The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.

Second Reading: Phil 4:6-9

Brothers and sisters, do not be anxious about anything. In everything resort to prayer and supplication together with thanksgiving and bring your requests before God. Then the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters, fill your minds with whatever is truthful, holy, just, pure, lovely and noble. Be mindful of whatever deserves praise and admiration. Put into practice what you have learned from me, what I passed on to you, what you heard from me or saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you.

Gospel Reading: Mt 21:33-43

Jesus said to the chief priests and elders, "There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a hole for the winepress, built a watchtower, leased the vineyard to tenants and then went to a distant country. When harvest time came, the landowner sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the harvest. But the tenants seized his servants, beat one, killed another and stoned another.
"Again the owner sent more servants, but they were treated in the same way.
"Finally, he sent his son, thinking: 'They will respect my son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they thought: 'This is the one who is to inherit the vineyard. Let us kill him and his inheritance will be ours.' So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
"Now, what will the owner of the vineyard do with the tenants when he comes?" They said to him, "He will bring those evil to an evil end, and lease the vineyard to others who will pay him in due time."
And Jesus replied, "Have you never read what the Scriptures say? The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing; and we marvel at it. Therefore I say to you: the kingdom of heaven will be taken from you and given to a people who will yield a harvest."

Commentary
How foolish of the tenants to think that they could get away with such actions! No court of law would recognize their claims upon the land of the owner, yet the ground ran with blood because of their presumption.
We presume upon the mercy of God when we are allured by the seductive whisper of the Evil One, the One who tells us of our sins "It's not so bad," and "Don't worry, everyone does it." How foolish we are when we allow ourselves to be convinced by the one whose promises are empty and whose aim is only to destroy our souls.

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October 6
Monday

27th Week in Ordinary Time
Bruno

First Reading: Gal 1:6-12

I am surprised at how quickly you have abandoned God who called you according to the grace of Christ, and have gone to another gospel. Indeed, there is no other gospel, but some people who are sowing confusion among you want to turn the Gospel of Christ upside down.
But even if we ourselves were giving you another gospel different from the one we preached to you, or if it were an angel from heaven, I would say: let God's curse be on him! As I have said I now say again: if anyone preaches the Gospel in a way other than you received it, fire that one. Are we to please humans or obey God? Do you think that I try to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, that the Gospel we preached