The Word today, 25C
- Admin
- Sep 20
- 3 min read
September 22 - September 27, 2025
Ezra 1:1-6 Ezra (and Nehemiah) worked at the time of the return from the Exile in Babylon. The book opens with the permission to return, granted by the Persian king, Cyrus the Great.
Luke 8:16-18 The first part of this reading is plain, especially if you consider that a lamp, in those days, meant a naked flame! The second part of more difficult, but certainly a warning again any hint of complacency or sitting on our “laurels”!
St Padre Pio, priest and religious
Ezra 6:7-8, 12, 14-20 The rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem was a huge event for the Israelites. Chiefly, it allowed worship to take place again. The prophet Haggai was involved and from Thursday onwards we read from his book.
Luke 8:19-21 It is remarkable that this passage was remembered because it shows Jesus in an apparently unfavourable light. It is likely, on that account, to be historical. The central teaching is super clear: My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice.
Ezra 9:5-9 The context for the prayer in this reading helps. After the return from Exile, there was a risk of intermarriage and Ezra was very much against that, thinking it would bring another national disaster. Hence, penance and prayer.
Luke 9:1-6 The Twelve are empowered to do exactly what Jesus did. Just like him, they are to depend on the providence of God and the kindness of strangers. Shaking off the dust is a prophetic gesture of judgement and rejection (cf. Luke 10:11; Acts 13:51; 18:6).
St Finbarr, bishop
Haggai 1:1-8 The prophet Haggai was active just after the return from the great Exile. The reading gives a very exact date, the year 520. Haggai preaches the rebuilding of the Temple, because the prosperity of the nation depends on it.
Luke 9:7-9 The Herod here is not Herod the Great, as he was long since dead. Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, ruled from 4 BC to AD 39, sharing the rule of his father’s realm with his two brothers. He makes a unique appearance in Luke’s Gospel (only) at the trial of Jesus. Today’s story catches nicely the callousness of the powerful, combined with the inevitable effect of Jesus, even on such unlikely people.
Sts Cosmas and Damian, martrys
Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 Daniel has a vision of the heavenly throne, including angels. The passage is very important for understanding Jesus’ use of the expression “Son of Man.”
John 1:47-51 Two important hints are buried in this reading. Firstly, in rabbinic tradition, the tree of knowledge was understood to be have been a fig tree (being the first species mentioned). In a transferred sense, sitting “under a fig tree” meant reading the Torah, that is, already on the spiritual quest. The heavens opened with the angels ascending and descending evokes Jacob’s ladder in Genesis 28:10-19. Jacob recurs in John 2-4, perhaps a later echo of restoration of Israel (= Jacob) going back to Jesus.
St Vincent de Paul, priest and religious
Zechariah 2:5-9, 14-15 Zechariah wrote at roughly the same time as Haggai and faced the same problem of reconstruction. Using engineering language, the prophet assures the inhabitants that God will be the “measure” of the city.
Luke 9:43-45 The vain temptation to complacent admiration never really goes away. It like likely that whenever the church enjoys uncritical admiration that it is not at its most gospel.
References
-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2025cd, September 21). Twenty-fifth Sunday in ordinary time. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092125.cfm
-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings
Comments