October 4, 2025
Memorial of Saint Francis of
Assisi
Lectionary: 460
Reading
1
Fear not, my people!
Remember, Israel,
You were sold to the nations
not for your destruction;
It was because you angered God
that you were handed over to your foes.
For you provoked your Maker
with sacrifices to demons, to no-gods;
You forsook the Eternal God who nourished you,
and you grieved Jerusalem who fostered you.
She indeed saw coming upon you
the anger of God; and she said:
"Hear, you neighbors of Zion!
God has brought great mourning upon me,
For I have seen the captivity
that the Eternal God has brought
upon my sons and daughters.
With joy I fostered them;
but with mourning and lament I let them go.
Let no one gloat over me, a widow,
bereft of many:
For the sins of my children I am left desolate,
because they turned from the law of God.
Fear not, my children; call out to God!
He who brought this upon you will remember you.
As your hearts have been disposed to stray from God,
turn now ten times the more to seek him;
For he who has brought disaster upon you
will, in saving you, bring you back enduring joy."
Responsorial
Psalm
R. (34) The
Lord listens to the poor.
"See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.
Let the heavens and the earth praise him,
the seas and whatever moves in them!"
R. The Lord listens to the poor.
For God will save Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah.
They shall dwell in the land and own it,
and the descendants of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall inhabit it.
R. The Lord listens to the poor.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
The seventy-two
disciples returned rejoicing and said to Jesus,
"Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name."
Jesus said, "I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky.
Behold, I have given you the power
'to tread upon serpents' and scorpions
and upon the full force of the enemy
and nothing will harm you.
Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you,
but rejoice because your names are written in heaven."
At that very moment he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said,
"I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows who the Son is except the Father,
and who the Father is except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him."
Turning to the disciples in private he said,
"Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.
For I say to you,
many prophets and kings desired to see what you see,
but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100425.cfm
Commentary on Baruch 4:5-12,27-29
In this passage,
Jerusalem is personified as a widow, both lamenting and consoling her children
in captivity. It is a message of encouragement and hope.
Take courage,
my people, who perpetuate Israel’s name!
Israel was
originally the name given to Jacob, but later was applied to the people who
were his descendants. All the Israelites were traditionally descended from
Jacob’s twelve sons, each one of them becoming the patriarch of a tribe bearing
their name. Israel had been sold to foreign nations not with the idea of their
extermination, but as the result of their provoking their God. They had angered
their Creator:
…by sacrificing
to demons and not to God.
The whole history
of Israel, especially after settling in Canaan, was a long record of idolatry,
following the religious practices of their pagan neighbours and indulging in
all kinds of immoral behaviour. They entirely forgot the God who had reared
them and brought sorrow on Jerusalem who had nurtured them.
When Jerusalem saw
God’s anger falling on her children and saw them being taken away into
captivity in Babylon, she went into mourning:
God has brought
great sorrow upon me, for I have seen the exile of my sons and daughters, which
the Everlasting brought upon them.
It was God’s
punishment for their countless infidelities. Jerusalem had nurtured them so
carefully and now:
I sent them
away with weeping and sorrow.
But it was the
result of their own choices. Experiencing the terrible loneliness of a widow
deserted by her own children (a terrible thing to happen in those times), she
begs her neighbours not to gloat over her:
Let no one
rejoice over me, a widow and bereaved of many; I was left desolate because of
the sins of my children, because they turned away from the law of God.
In the last part
of the reading, Jerusalem urges her children to call again on God’s name:
Take courage,
my children, and cry to God, for you will be remembered by the one who brought
this upon you.
It was by their
own choice that they had strayed far from God; let them now turn back and
search for him with all their might. The same God who brought such disasters on
them because of their sin, will—if they turn back:
…bring you
everlasting joy with your salvation.
We always pay the
price for our sinfulness when, like the Prodigal Son, we wander off in our
futile search for happiness in pleasure. The suffering that comes from sin,
which is always a violation of our nature, is not God’s direct will. It is the
natural outcome of words and acts which are evil, bringing hurt to ourselves
and others. But the Father is always waiting, always ready to reconcile. We
have only to turn back and the warmest of welcomes is waiting for us.
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Commentary on Luke 10:17-24
We saw at the
beginning of chapter 10 how Jesus had sent his 72 disciples out to all the
places where he himself would visit. Today we see them returning full of joy
and satisfaction:
Lord, in your
name even the demons submit to us!
They discovered
that, in his name, they were able to do the same things that Jesus did.
In reply, Jesus
said to them:
I watched Satan
fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.
The power of evil
is being reversed and this was partly the doing of his disciples working in his
name. And he further reassures them:
I have given
you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the
enemy, and nothing will hurt you.
‘Snakes and
scorpions’ more likely represent evil powers and so the statement is not to be
taken literally and still less to be tested (as some obscure sects have tried
to do with predictably tragic consequences!). It is true that for the committed
disciple nothing can really hurt them. Physically, maybe, but not their real
selves. Nothing, as Paul says, can separate us from the love of God, that is,
the love that God extends to us at every moment of every day.
Then Jesus tells
his disciples the real reason why they should be happy. It is not because they
have special powers over evil spirits, but rather:
…rejoice that
your names are written in heaven.
In other words,
their blessedness comes not from what they are able to do, but because they
have been chosen as the instruments for God to do his work, to make the Kingdom
a reality. That is the origin of our blessedness too.
Then follows a
beautiful prayer of Jesus to the Father. He thanks the Father because all that
is coming into the world through Jesus is being made known, not to the wise and
great ones of this world, but to “the little ones”, the people who, in the eyes
of the majority, are of no account:
All things have
been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the
Father or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses
to reveal him.
And, since that
day on the lake shore when Jesus called four fishermen to be his followers, he
has been calling very ordinary people to know his identity, to hear his message
and share his vision.
And so he can say
truly to them:
Blessed are the
eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired
to see what you see but did not see it and to hear what you hear but did not
hear it.
All of this
applies to so many of us too. We, for reasons only known to God himself, have
been given knowledge of the Son. We too, by means of the Church, have been
given a vision denied to so many—we have heard the Word which is the Way to
truth and life.
Whatever problems
we may be facing right now, let us on this day count our blessings and express
our gratitude for them. And the only way to do that is to say ‘Yes’ to Jesus
and his gospel. Let us start doing that right now.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o1267g/
Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Father, you show
your almighty power in your mercy and forgiveness.
Continue to fill
us with your gifts of love.
Help us to hurry
towards the eternal life your promise and come to share in the joys of your
kingdom.
We ask this
through our Lord Jesus Christ, Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Luke 10: 17-24
The seventy-two
came back rejoicing. 'Lord,' they said, 'even the devils submit to us when we
use your name.'
He said to them,
'I watched Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Look, I have given you power
to tread down serpents and scorpions and the whole strength of the enemy;
nothing shall ever hurt you. Yet do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you;
rejoice instead that your names are written in heaven.'
Just at this time,
filled with joy by the Holy Spirit, he said, 'I bless you, Father, Lord of
heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever
and revealing them to little children. Yes, Father, for that is what it has
pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one
knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the
Son and those to
whom the Son chooses to reveal him.'
Then turning to
his disciples he spoke to them by themselves, 'Blessed are the eyes that see
what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what
you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.'
Reflection
Context.
Previously Jesus had sent 72 disciples, now they return from their mission and they
give an account of it. One can prove that the success of the mission is due to
the experience of the superiority or better the supremacy of the name of Jesus
in regard to the power of evil. The defeat of Satan coincides with the coming
of the Kingdom: the disciples have seen it in their present mission. The
diabolical forces have been weakened: the demons have submitted to the power of
the name of Jesus. Such a conviction cannot be the foundation of their joy and
the enthusiasm of their missionary witness; joy has its last root or origin in
the fact of being known and loved by God. This does not mean that being
protected by God and the relationship with him always places us in an
advantageous situation in the face of the diabolical forces. Here is inserted
the mediation of Jesus between God and us: “Look, I have given you power” (v.
19). The power of Jesus is one that makes us experience the success in regard
to the devil’s power and he protects us. A power that can be transmitted only
when Satan is defeated, Jesus has been present in the fall of Satan, even if he
is not as yet definitively defeated or overcome; Christians are called to
hinder, to put an obstacle to the power of Satan on earth. They are sure of the
victory in spite of the fact that they live in a critical situation: they
participate to obtain victory in the communion of love with Christ even though
they may be tried by suffering and death. Just the same, the reason for joy is
not in the certainty of coming out unharmed but of being loved by God. The
expression of Jesus, “your names are written in heaven” is a witness that being
present to the heart of God (memory) guarantees the continuity of our life in
eternity. The success of the mission of the disciples is the consequence of the
defeat of Satan, now is shown the benevolence of the Father (vv. 21-22): the
success of the word of Grace in the mission of the seventy-two, seen as the
design of the Father and in the communion in the resurrection of the Son, is,
beginning now, the revelation of the benevolence of the Father; the mission
becomes a space for the revelation of God’s will in human time. Such experience
is transmitted by Luke in a context of prayer: it shows on one side the
reaction in heaven (“I bless you Father,” (v. 21) and that on earth (vv.
23-24).
The prayer of
rejoicing or exultation. In the prayer that Jesus addresses to the Father,
guided by the action of the Spirit, it is said that “exults”, expresses the
openness of the Messianic joy and proclaims the goodness of the Father. This is
made evident in the little ones, in the poor and in those who have no value
because they have accepted the Word transmitted by those sent and thus they
have access to the relationship between the Divine Persons of the Trinity.
Instead, the wise and the learned, on account that they feel sure, are
gratified because of their intellectual and theological competence. But such an
attitude prevents them from entering in the dynamism of salvation, given by
Jesus. The teaching that Luke intends to transmit to individual believers, not
less to the ecclesial communities, may be synthesized as follows: Humility
opens to faith; the sufficiency of one’s assurance closes to pardon, to light,
to God’s goodness. The prayer of Jesus has its effects on all those who accept
to allow themselves to be wrapped up by the goodness of the Father.
Personal Questions
• The mission to take the life of God to
others implies a life style that is poor and humble. Is your life permeated by
the life of God, by the Word of grace that comes from Jesus?
• Do you have trust in God’s call and in his
power that asks to be manifested through simplicity, poverty and humility?
Concluding Prayer
Lord, you are kind
and forgiving, rich in faithful love for all who call upon you. Yahweh, hear my
prayer,
listen to the
sound of my pleading. (Ps 86: 5-6)
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