TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Also Read: Mass Readings for 25 Spetember 2022
First Reading: Amos 6: 1, 4-7
6Who drink wine from bowls, and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!
7Therefore they shall now be the first to go into exile, and the revelry of the loungers shall pass away.
In continuation of last Sunday’s readings, we are reminded today about the necessity to care for the underprivileged. Joseph here could symbolize anyone who might be facing a challenge or pain in their lives. May we look around us with compassion and find the Lord, while we serve Him in our brethren.
Amen!
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 146: 7-10
9 The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. 10 The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord!
May we believe, take action, and be saved. Amen!
Second Reading: First Timothy 6: 11-16
12 Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
We must remember at all times that we are in fact in continuous war. -A spiritual war that is unseen physically but can be fought only under the power of the Holy Spirit of God Most High. We read in Ephesians 6: 10-20 how we must be armoured at all times. We need not worry, only believe in the Word of God! He has promised us help and we will find it. True, there may be some stumbling or distractions on the way. But take heart, holy men and women before us have led by their example.
Also as 1 John 4:4 says: “Little children, you are from God, and have conquered them; for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” Above all Christ Jesus has said in John 16:33: “I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!”
In Jesus’ name, Amen!
Gospel: Luke 16: 19-31
31‘He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
Let not our hearts be hardened. We have the law and the prophets and yet do we believe? The Ten Commandments were given to Moses and the books of the prophets from Isaiah to Malachi should be the compass for our lives. But do we follow the same? In a series of parables directed mainly toward the hard-hearted Pharisees, Christ highlights the need to be compassionate to our brethren in need. Unlike the Pharisees, we now know that Christ has risen from the dead. So how do we show that we believe? -Only by our actions. As St. James says in Jas 1:22 Let us be doers of the word. And he further explains how we can achieve this: “Faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” (Jas 2:17)
Let us preach and practice. Let us show mercy and be patient. Let us work in faith. Amen!
