The Word today, 26C
- Admin
- Sep 27
- 3 min read
September 29 - October 04, 2025
Sts Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, archangels
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. In the context, it points to Jesus’ opening the path to God for all.
St Jerome, priest, doctor and biblical scholar
Zechariah 8:20-23 Zechariah offers us a delightful portrait of faithful Jews attracting others to God. This is our calling as well today.
Luke 9:51-56 As Luke presents the story of Jesus, today’s reading represents a turning point in the story. Begins here in 9:51 and reaches a climax fully nine chapters later in 19:41. Luke uses this journey to bring together extensive and profound teaching on discipleship.
St Thérèse of the Child Jesus, virgin and doctor
Nehemiah 2:1-8 Continuing the theme of reconstruction, Nehemiah requests permission to return and to be involved. The attachment to the faith is very moving.
Luke 9:57-62 The Gospel reading is a warning: discipleship is costly, costing “not less than everything.” The absolute demand cut across deeply embedded cultural and human values, such as one’s duties to one’s family.
The Guardian Angels
Nehemiah 8:1-12 This scene is a very famous moment of reconsecration and renewal. Notice that Ezra gives the sense in Aramaic, evidently because the ordinary people no longer understood Hebrew.
Luke 10:1-12 The sending of the seventy(-two) is nowhere else reported in the Gospels, being unique to Luke. It is often thought to be an anticipation of the sending to the Gentiles, the second mission, in the Acts of the Apostles In any case, it is not too different from the sending of the Twelve, also empowered to do exactly what Jesus himself did.
Bl Columba Marmion, abbot
Baruch 1:15-22 (Baruch purports to be written at the time of the Exile by Jeremiah’s secretary. However, most scholars believe it was written in the second century BC.) Our reading today reflects back on the catastrophe of the Exile in Babylon. Consistent with other prophets, the people must take part the blame, even if outside forces—such as the mighty Babylonian Empire—were decisive. Something similar might be said about the church’s reaction to recent crises: there are indeed outside forces but also internal culpability.
Luke 10:13-16 Jesus—in full prophetic mode—utters a sharp condemnation to some towns, because the failed to recognise the time of salvation. Rather than leave it safely in the past, we could ask, what would Jesus say today to us?
St Francis of Assisi, religious
Baruch 4:5-12, 27-29 There are two voices in this reading. At the start and at the finish, God speaks encouragingly to Israel. In the middle, Jerusalem addresses her neighbours. Again, a degree of responsibility is openly accepted.
Luke 10:17-24 The Seventy-two return rejoicing. More important is the prayer of Jesus, an exclamation of praise, which sounds like it might come from John’s Gospel. The relationship may be the other way around: this “Johannine” moment may have given rise to the distinctive vocabulary of the Fourth Gospel.
References
-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2025cf, September 28). Twenty-sixth Sunday in ordinary time. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092825.cfm
-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings
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