October 5, 2025
Twenty-seventh Sunday in
Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 141
Reading
1
How long, O
LORD? I cry for help
but you do not listen!
I cry out to you, "Violence!"
but you do not intervene.
Why do you let me see ruin;
why must I look at misery?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and clamorous discord.
Then the LORD answered me and said:
Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets,
so that one can read it readily.
For the vision still has its time,
presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;
if it delays, wait for it,
it will surely come, it will not be late.
The rash one has no integrity;
but the just one, because of his faith, shall live.
Responsorial
Psalm
R. (8) If
today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
"Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works."
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Reading
2
Beloved:
I remind you, to stir into flame
the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice
but rather of power and love and self-control.
So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord,
nor of me, a prisoner for his sake;
but bear your share of hardship for the gospel
with the strength that comes from God.
Take as your norm the sound words that you heard from me,
in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
Guard this rich trust with the help of the Holy Spirit
that dwells within us.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
The word of the Lord remains forever.
This is the word that has been proclaimed to you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
The apostles said
to the Lord, "Increase our faith."
The Lord replied,
"If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you would say to this mulberry tree,
'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.
"Who among you would say to your servant
who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,
'Come here immediately and take your place at table'?
Would he not rather say to him,
'Prepare something for me to eat.
Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink.
You may eat and drink when I am finished'?
Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?
So should it be with you.
When you have done all you have been commanded,
say, 'We are unprofitable servants;
we have done what we were obliged to do.'"
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100525.cfm
Commentary on Habakkuk 1:2-3, 2:2-4; 2 Timothy 1:6-8,13-14; Luke
17:5-10
Sometimes
we must have the same feelings as the prophet in today’s First Reading. Why is
there so much injustice and tyranny and oppression everywhere? Why so much
outrage and violence? The prophet says:
Why do
you make me see wrongdoing
and look at trouble?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
Times have
hardly changed since those words were written. On one side we hear politicians
talking bullishly about ‘unity’ while on the other our news is filled day in
day out with one atrocity after another. The world looks on helplessly as
genocide takes place in some part of the world. Thousands die of starvation
amidst political corruption and communal turmoil. Members of the great
religions emerge from church, mosque or temple to slaughter all round them,
either members of ‘rival’ religions or even members of their own.
One might
begin to ask: Where is God in all this? Why does he not protect his children,
especially the most defenceless? Often, in these situations, people are reduced
to a sense of helplessness and hopelessness. We feel there is nothing we can
do; the only thing is to get out and go far away. There is an endless wave of
millions of refugees seeking sanctuary in a place that promises a modicum of
peace and security.
Message
of hope
But listen to the prophet again. He has a message of hope in the future:
For
there is still a vision for the appointed time;
it speaks of the end and does not lie.
Then he
continues:
If it
seems to tarry, wait for it;
it will surely come; it will not delay.
But this
vision is not for the fainthearted:
Look at
the proud!
Their spirit is not right in them,
but the righteous live by their faithfulness.
Whatever
the surrounding circumstances, the one who is not in touch with God wilts,
while the one who is full of God’s spirit lives. He believes that “it will
surely come; it will not delay.”
And so, in
the Gospel today, the disciples ask Jesus for an increase of faith. This prayer
may well reflect the feelings of some communities of early Christians, who saw
their future in very dark colours and who wondered whether, as a small minority
in a sea of hostility and even persecution, they had any future. And in all of
the ensuing centuries, many Christians have been overwhelmed with persecution
and the obliteration of their Church. It is a feeling that thousands of
Christians must have felt, and still feel in various parts of the world today.
But we need to have courage and not misjudge or underestimate the power of
Christian faith!
Faith
that is trust
The faith that is being asked for is not to have a better knowledge of our
catechism. What is being asked for is a much deeper and stronger trust and
confidence that our God is near us, even when he seems so far away, and that he
will take care of his own.
That does
not mean, however, that with such a faith Christian life will be free of all
hardship and difficulty. Being a Christian, taking the Gospel seriously, is
never going to be a tea party. God has promised his loving care, but he has
never promised a life free of pain, difficulties, suffering, or even sudden and
violent death. Let us not forget that he:
…did
not withhold his own Son but gave him up for all of us… (Rom 8:32)
What God
does promise is that, with a deep faith and trust in him, we can endure pain
and difficulties, that we can accept pain and suffering, if and when it comes,
for the sake of making the message of Jesus a reality in our world.
A reliable
servant
So Jesus goes on to compare the Christian disciple with a servant of his own
time, usually a slave. When the servant comes back from working hard in the
fields all day, he is not told, “Oh, come in, you must be tired! Sit down, have
your supper, put your feet up and watch TV!” No, he is much more likely to be
told, “It is about time you got back. I’m hungry. Hurry up and get my supper
ready. Then, and only then, can you have some time for yourself.”
Our
relationship with God is not about buying and selling, about giving and getting
in return, i.e. I give God so much and I can expect so much from him in return.
No, our relationship with him is one of total and unconditional love and
service. The joy and satisfaction is not in what we can do to squeeze favours
from God, but in what we can give and share of ourselves.
The reason
for this, of course, is that no matter what we do, we are ever in God’s debt.
The very energies with which we serve him are his gift to us. As the Gospel
puts it:
We are
worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!
We can
never do more than ‘our duty’. However much we give to God, it is a small
repayment for all that he has already showered us with.
Love
does not keep accounts
In any case, in a true love relationship one does not say, “Well, darling, I
have loved you for three hours; now it is your turn to love me back for three
hours.” If the loved one gets sick, one does not say, “Well, I’ll stop loving
you now because you cannot give me anything. When you get out of hospital and
can do things for me then I will begin loving again.”
In a true,
loving relationship, whether it be with God or another person, the joy and
satisfaction is in unconditional giving and sharing. Of course, in such a
relationship, we do not have to worry—our love will be returned, often on a
much richer level than what we have offered. But our emphasis is on the
unconditional giving, on the happiness of the loved one. As many sang in song a
long time ago. “I want to be happy, but I won’t be happy till I make you happy
too”.
So perhaps
it is time for us to stop thinking of our religion as something which entitles
us to ‘get things’ from God, as if somehow he is indebted to us for our being
Christians. It is time to stop our ‘supermarket’ approach where the church is a
place where I get the things I need. Then I find myself saying, “I don’t get
anything out of going to church, or to Mass.” Remember the elder son in the
story of the Prodigal Son who said:
For all
these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never
disobeyed your command, yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I
might celebrate with my friends. (Luke
15:29)
Let us
instead listen to the words from the Second Reading of today:
I
remind you to rekindle the gift [Greek, charisma] of
God that is within you through the laying on of my hands…
Our life
as Christians is not a compliment we make to God, but our inadequate response
to a precious gift made to us. Why me?—a good question.
Strong,
not weak
This gift of faith in Christ is “not a spirit of cowardice”, a spirit of
timidity and anxiousness about the future. It is:
…rather
a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.
Armed with
this Spirit, we are never to be “ashamed…of the testimony about our Lord”, even
if it means going against the tide of social expectations and running the risk
of losing material and social support and security. And even if we are not
suffering ourselves, we will not hesitate to express our solidarity with those
who do so for the sake of the gospel, even if it will entail personal loss for
ourselves. We cannot be ashamed of being linked with fellow-Christians, or
indeed any brothers and sisters, who are being intimidated by authorities of
any kind for witnessing to love, justice, human rights and authentic freedom.
Today’s
readings are highly relevant to our own lives today. On the one hand, we live
in a world where thousands suffer appallingly in the struggle for truth,
freedom and dignity. What support do we give? On the other hand, we live in a
world of ever-increasing material indulgence becoming available to more and
more people. The dream of being part of this can close our minds and hearts to
the cry of the poor, distressed and marginalised. The affluent society becomes
both a trap and an escape. Many like to blame God for many of the world’s ills,
but to be honest, the vast majority are of our own making.
“Increase
our faith”, O Lord, that we may see. Teach us to use the precious gifts you
gave us to serve you by being courageously at the service of all who are in
need.
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Sunday,
October 5, 2025
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Lord Jesus, send your Spirit to
help us to read the Scriptures with the same mind that you read them to the
disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible,
you helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of
your sentence and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope
became for them the source of life and of resurrection.
Create in us silence so that we may listen to voice in
Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor
and suffering. May your word guide us so
that we too, like the two disciples from Emmaus, may experience the force of
your resurrection and witness to others that you are alive in our midst as
source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of you, Jesus, son of
Mary, who revealed to us the Father and sent us your Spirit. Amen.
Gospel Reading – Luke 17: 5-10
A Key to the Reading:
The text of this Sunday’s liturgy is part of a long section
typical of Luke (Lk 9: 51 to 19: 28), which describes the slow ascent of Jesus
towards Jerusalem, where he will be made prisoner, sentenced and die. A large
part of this section is given to instructing the disciples. Our text is part of
this instruction to the disciples. Jesus teaches them how to live in community
(Lk 17: 1). A Division of the Text as a
help to its reading:
•
Luke 17: 5: The apostles ask Jesus to increase
their faith
•
Luke 17: 6: Living one’s faith the size of a
mustard seed
•
Luke 17: 7-9: Living one’s life at the free
service of God and neighbor
•
Luke 17: 10: Application of the comparison with
the useless servant The Text:
The apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith.' The Lord
replied, 'If you had faith like a mustard seed you could say to this mulberry
tree, "Be uprooted and planted in the sea," and it would obey you. 7
'Which of you, with a servant ploughing or minding sheep, would say to him when
he returned from the fields, "Come and have your meal at once"? 8
Would he not be more likely to say, "Get my supper ready; fasten your belt
and wait on me while I eat and drink. You yourself can eat and drink
afterwards"? 9 Must he be grateful to the servant for doing what he was
told? 10 So with you: when you have done all you have been told to do, say,
"We are useless servants: we have done no more than our duty." '
A Moment of Prayerful Silence
so that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten
our life.
Some Questions
•
What part of this text did I like best or struck
me most?
•
Faith in whom? In God? In the other? Or in
oneself?
•
Faith the size of a mustard seed: is my faith
like this?
•
To give one’s life in service without expecting
any return: am I capable of living thus?
A Key to the Reading
in order to delve deeper into the theme.
•
The
Historical Context of Our Text:
The historical context of Luke’s Gospel always has two
dimensions: the time of Jesus in the 30’s, when the things described in the
text took place, and the time of the communities to whom Luke addresses his
Gospel, more than 50 years after the events. When Luke reports the words and
actions of Jesus, he is not only thinking of what happened in the 30’s, but
rather of the life of the communities of the 80’s with all their problems and
concerns, and he tries to offer them some light and possible solutions (Lk 1:
1-4).
•
A Key to
the Reading: the Literary Context:
The literary context (Lk 17:
1-21) within which is our text (Lk 17: 5-10) helps us better understand Jesus’
words. In this text Luke brings together the words Jesus used to teach how one
should live in community.
•
Firstly (Lk 17: 1 -2), Jesus draws the attention
of the disciples to the little ones, that is those excluded from society. The
communities must hold these dear.
•
Secondly (Lk 17: 3-4), he draws attention to the
weak members of the communities. In their regard, Jesus wants the disciples to
feel responsible for them and to take an attitude of understanding and
reconciliation towards them.
•
Thirdly (Lk 17: 5- 6) (and here begins our
text), Jesus speaks of faith in God that must be the driving force of the life
of the communities.
•
Fourthly (Lk 17: 7-10), Jesus says that the
disciples must serve others with the greatest degree of self-denial and
selflessness, considering themselves to be useless servants.
•
Fifthly (Lk 17: 11-19), Jesus teaches them how
to accept the service of others. They must show gratitude.
•
Sixthly (Lk 17: 20-21), Jesus teaches them to
look at reality around them. He tells them not to run after the deceitful
propaganda of those who teach that the Kingdom of God, when it comes, will be
able to be seen by all. Jesus says the contrary. The coming of the Kingdom,
unlike that of earthly rulers, will not be able to be seen. For Jesus, the
Kingdom of God is already here! It is already in our midst, independently of
our efforts and merits. It is pure grace! And only faith can perceive it.
•
A
Commentary on the Text:
•
Luke 17: 5: The apostles ask Jesus for an
increase in faith
The disciples are aware that it
is not easy to possess the qualities that Jesus has just asked of them: care
for the little ones (Lk 17: 1-2) and reconciliation with the weakest of the
brothers and sisters of the community (Lk 17: 3-4). And with much faith! Not
just faith in God, but also faith in the possibility of regaining the brother
and sister. That is why they go to Jesus and ask him: “Increase our faith!”
•
Luke 17: 5-6: Living with faith the size of a
mustard seed
Jesus replies: “Were your faith the
size of a mustard seed you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and
planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” This statement of Jesus raises two
questions:
(1)
Is he insinuating that the apostles do not have
faith the size of a mustard seed? The comparison used by Jesus is strong and
insinuating. A grain of mustard seed is very small, as small as the smallness
of the disciples. But with faith, they can become strong, stronger than the
mountain or the sea! Were Jesus speaking today he might say: “Were your faith
the size of an atom, you could blow up this mountain.” That is, in spite of the
difficulty inherent, reconciliation among brothers and sisters is possible,
since faith can make that which seems impossible come true. Without the central
axle of faith, a broken relationship cannot be healed and the community desired
by Jesus cannot be realized. Our faith must bring us to the point where we are
able to move within ourselves the mountain of our preconceived ideas and throw
it in the sea.
(2)
With this statement, was Jesus referring to
faith in God or faith in the possibility of bringing back the weakest of the
brothers and sisters? Most probably it refers to both. As the love of God is
made concrete in the love of neighbor, so also faith in God must be made
concrete in faith in the brothers and sisters, in reconciliation and in
forgiving even up to seventy times seven! (Mt 18: 22) Faith is the remote
control of the power of God who acts and reveals himself in the renewed human
relationship lived in community!
•
Luke 17: 7-9: Jesus points out how we must
fulfil our obligations towards the community
To teach that in the life of a
community all must deny and be detached from their own selves, Jesus uses the
example of the slave. In those days, a slave could not merit anything. The
master, hard and demanding, wanted only their service. It was not usual to
thank a slave. For God we are like a slave before his master.
It may seem strange that Jesus
should use such a harsh example taken from an unjust social institution of his
times, to describe our relationship with the community. He does this on another
occasion when he compares the life of the Kingdom to that of a thief. What
matters is the aim of the comparison: God comes like a thief, without any
previous notice, when least we expect him; like a slave before his master so
also we cannot and must not obtain merits before our brothers and sisters in
the community.
•
Luke 17: 10: Application of the comparison of
the useless servant
Jesus applies this example to
life in community: as a slave before his master, so also must our attitude be
in community: we must not do things in order to merit support, approval,
promotion or praise, but only to show that we belong to God! “So with you, when
you have done all you have been told to do, say ‘We are merely servants; we
have done no more than our duty.’“ Before God, we do not merit anything.
Whatever we have received we have not merited. We live thanks to the gratuitous
love of God.
•
A
Deepening on Faith and Service:
•
Faith in God is made concrete in bringing back
brothers and sisters
First fact: During the Second World
war in Germany, it happened that two Jews, Samuel and John were in a
concentration camp. They were very badly treated and often tortured. John, the
younger, was annoyed. He vented his anger by cursing and using bad language
towards the German soldier who treated them badly and beat them. Samuel, the
older one, kept calm. One day, in a distracted moment, John said to Samuel:
“How can you keep calm when you are treated so brutally? Why is it that you
have so much courage? You should react and show your opposition to this absurd
regime!” Samuel replied: “It is more difficult to stay calm than to be
courageous. I do not seek courage, because I am afraid that, due to my anger,
he may switch off the last spark of humanity that lies hidden in this brutalized
soldier.”
Second fact: During the Roman
occupation of Palestine, Jesus was condemned to death by the Sanhedrin. Because
of his faith in God the Father, Jesus welcomes all as brothers and sisters, and
in acting thus, he challenges radically the system, which in the name of God,
keeps so many people marginalized. The sentence of the Sanhedrin is ratified by
the Roman Empire and Jesus is lead to be tortured on Mount Calvary. The
soldiers carry out the sentence. One of them pierces Jesus’ hands with nails. Jesus’
reaction is: “Forgive them Father for they know not what they do!” (Lk 23: 34).
Faith in God reveals itself in the pardon offered to those who are killing him.
•
The service to be offered to the people of God
and to humanity
In Jesus’ time, there was a great
variety of messianic expectations. According to the many interpretations of the
prophecies, there were those who expected a Messiah King (Lk 15: 9,32), a Holy
Messiah or High Priest (Mk 1: 24), a Warrior Messiah (Lk 23: 5; Mk 15: 6; 13:
6-8), a Doctor Messiah (Jn 4: 25; Mk 1: 22, 27), a Judge Messiah (Lk 3: 5-9; Mk
1: 8), a Prophet Messiah (Mk 6: 4;
14: 65). All, according to their own
interests or social class, expected the Messiah according to their wishes and
expectations. But it seems that no one, except the anawim, the poor of Yahweh, expected a Servant Messiah, proclaimed
by the prophet Isaiah (Is 42: 1; 49: 3; 52: 13). The poor often recalled the
messianic promise considered as a service offered to humanity by the people of
God. Mary, the poor of Yahweh, said to the angel: “Behold the handmaid of the
Lord!” It was from her that Jesus learnt the way of service. “The Son of Man
did not come to be served but to serve” (Mk 10: 45). The figure of the Servant
described in the four canticles of Isaiah (Is 42: 1-9; 49: 1-6; 50: 4-9; 52: 13
to 53: 12), did not point to an isolated individual, but to the people of the
captivity (Is 41: 8-9; 42: 18-20; 43: 10; 44: 1-2; 44: 21; 45: 4; 48: 20;
54:17), described by Isaiah as a people “oppressed, disfigured, without the
appearance of a person and without the least human condition, a people
exploited, ill-treated, reduced to silence, without grace or beauty, full of
suffering, avoided by all like a leper, condemned like a criminal, without
recourse or defense” (Cf. Is 53: 2-8). This is a perfect image of one third of
humanity today! This servant people “does not cry out, does not raise its
voice, will not be heard in the streets, will not break the crushed reed” (Is
42: 2). Persecuted but does not persecute; oppressed but will not oppress;
trodden under foot but will not tread on others. This people will not enter
into the abyss of violence of the empire that oppresses. This attitude of
resistance of the Servant of Yahweh is the root of justice that God wishes to see
planted in the whole world. That is why God asks the people to be his Servant
with the mission of making such justice shine brightly throughout the world (Is
42: 2, 6; 49: 6).
•
Jesus knows these canticles and in fulfilling
his mission he lets himself be guided by them. At the time of his baptism in
the Jordan, the Father entrusts him with the mission of Servant (Mk 1: 11).
When, in the synagogue of Nazareth, he explains his program to his own people,
Jesus publicly assumes this mission (Lk 4: 16-21). It is in this attitude of
service that Jesus reveals the face of God that attracts us and shows us the
way back to God.
Prayer: Psalm 72 (71)
Hope for all that the Messiah Savior may come God, endow
the king with your own fair judgement, the son of the king with your own saving
justice, that he may rule your people with justice, and your poor with fair
judgement.
Mountains and hills, bring
peace to the people! With justice he will judge the poor of the people, he will
save the children of the needy and crush their oppressors.
In the sight of the sun and the moon he will endure, age after
age.
He will come down like rain on
mown grass, like showers moistening the land. In his days uprightness shall
flourish,
and peace in plenty till the moon
is no more. His empire shall stretch from sea to sea, from the river to the
limits of the earth.
The Beast will cower before him, his enemies lick the dust;
the kings of Tarshish and the
islands will pay him tribute. The kings of Sheba and Saba will offer gifts; all
kings will do him homage, all nations become his servants.
For he rescues the needy who
calls to him, and the poor who has no one to help. He has pity on the weak and
the needy, and saves the needy from death.
From oppression and violence he
redeems their lives, their blood is precious in his sight.
Long may he live; may the gold of
Sheba be given him! Prayer will be offered for him constantly,
and blessings invoked on him all day. May wheat abound in the
land, waving on the heights of the hills, like Lebanon with its fruits and
flowers at their best, like the grasses of the earth.
May his name be blessed forever, and endure in the sight of
the sun.
In him shall be blessed every race in the world, and all
nations call him blessed. Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who alone works
wonders; blessed forever his glorious name.
May the whole world be filled
with his glory! Amen! Amen!
Final Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank for the word that has enabled us to
understand better the will of the Father. May your Spirit enlighten our actions
and grant us the strength to practice that which your Word has revealed to us.
May we, like Mary, your mother, not only listen to but also practice the Word.
You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever
and ever. Amen.
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