October 16, 2026
Friday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 471
Reading 1
Brothers and sisters:
In Christ we were also chosen,
destined in accord with the purpose of the One
who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will,
so that we might exist for the praise of his glory,
we who first hoped in Christ.
In him you also, who have heard the word of truth,
the Gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him,
were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
which is the first installment of our inheritance
toward redemption as God’s possession, to the praise of his glory.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (12) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to
be his own.
Exult, you just, in the LORD;
praise from the upright is fitting.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten-stringed lyre chant his praises.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
For upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
From heaven the LORD looks down;
he sees all mankind.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
May your kindness, LORD, be upon us;
who have put our hope in you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
At that time:
So many people were crowding together
that they were trampling one another underfoot.
Jesus began to speak, first to his disciples,
“Beware of the leaven–that is, the hypocrisy–of the Pharisees.
“There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.
Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness
will be heard in the light,
and what you have whispered behind closed doors
will be proclaimed on the housetops.
I tell you, my friends,
do not be afraid of those who kill the body
but after that can do no more.
I shall show you whom to fear.
Be afraid of the one who after killing
has the power to cast into Gehenna;
yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one.
Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins?
Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God.
Even the hairs of your head have all been counted.
Do not be afraid.
You are worth more than many sparrows.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101626.cfm
Commentary on
Ephesians 1:11-14
Today we continue our reading of God’s plan of salvation at
the beginning of the Letter. As Paul continues his panoramic vision of God’s
plan for the whole human race and the whole of creation, he speaks today first
of the Jews, his own people, and then of the Gentiles or ‘pagans’ (that is,
non-Jews) who had responded to God’s call.
Paul begins:
In Christ we have…obtained an inheritance…
In using the word “we”, Paul speaks to his fellow-Jews. He
tells them that Christ is at the centre of God’s plan. Whether we speak of the
whole of creation or the individual, it is only in relationship to Christ that
there is a meaningful future destiny. Christ is the paradigm for all creation,
the visible ‘re-presentation’ of God himself among us. He is the Alpha and the
Omega. However, Paul goes on now to speak, not of the whole of creation, but of
those who have responded to God’s call in Jesus.
In saying “we have…obtained an inheritance” (in some
translations, “We were claimed as God’s own…”), he speaks of the Jewish people,
who were called in a special way to be his witnesses to the coming of the
Messiah. The completion of their call would only take place in Jesus, who, of
course, was also a Jew, a descendant of David and a son of Abraham (see the
genealogies of Matthew: 1:1-17 and Luke: 3:23-38).
Paul writes that the Jews:
…were the first to set [their] hope on Christ.
That is to say, it was among the Jews that God would become
incarnate and it was they who gave witness over the centuries to the hope of a
saviour Messiah. A number of Jews would recognise that hoped-for Messiah in the
person of Jesus, but many others would not. These latter still live in the hope
of a Messiah yet to come.
Paul continues:
In him [i.e. Christ] you also, when you had heard
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation…believed in him…
Paul, in saying “you also” is speaking to the Gentiles—very
likely the majority of his readers—who have heard the message of the gospel,
have accepted it and have become followers of Jesus.
They, like their Jewish brothers and sisters, have been
“marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit”. Paul completes his
trinitarian account of God’s plan with the Spirit, since the giving of the
Spirit shows the plan has reached its final stage. The Gentiles, too, are
called to share exactly the same salvation as the Jews. The proof of this is
the clear evidence that the Spirit has come upon them and made them his own.
They also share in that special kind of freedom that Christ gives to those who
are truly his own, and which puts an end to the moral slavery they experienced
during their pre-Christian life.
Nevertheless, though this gift has already begun, it is only
given in a hidden way while the unspiritual world lasts, and will only be given
fully when the Kingdom of God is complete and Christ comes in glory.
There is a great wealth of ideas in this magnificent
presentation of what God has planned for his people through the saving work
begun by his incarnate Son and carried out by the Spirit. These words are
addressed as much to us as they were to the original readers of this letter.
They can provide an endless source for prayer, reflection, praise and
thanksgiving when we ponder the kind of God we believe in.
Let us, too, ask him to help us live up to the calling which
has come from him—a calling going back to long before we were even thought of.
Commentary on Luke
12:1-7
After his confrontation with the Pharisees and scribes,
Jesus now turns to the crowds. We are told that they were gathering round him
by the thousands, so densely packed that they were trampling on each other.
Clearly they were hungry to hear a man who had spoken in such extraordinary and
daring ways to their religious leaders.
But Jesus begins by speaking first to his own disciples.
Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, their
hypocrisy.
The fermenting characteristic of yeast is seen by the Jews
as a corrupting agent. That is why they only use unleavened bread at the
Passover.
The corrupting agent in the Pharisees was their hypocrisy.
On the outside they pretended to be what they were not on the inside:
Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered and
nothing secret that will not become known.
It can mean that the hypocrisy of the Pharisees will
ultimately be laid bare. In contrast, the followers of Jesus must practice
transparency. And although much of the teaching that the disciples receive is in
private, ultimately all will have to come out into the open.
The Church is not a secret society, although it has its
‘mysteries’, its special teachings and rituals, which are only fully understood
by those who are ‘inside’. The Church is of its very essence evangelical. Its
purpose is to share the vision of Christ with the whole world. This is crucial
to the setting up of the Kingdom, the accepted reign of God in the world.
Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be
heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be
proclaimed from the housetops.
This, of course, will involve dangers. The gospel will be
resisted; it will be seen as a dangerous threat to other views of life.
Christians will die and, in fact, thousands have sacrificed their lives simply
because they were followers of Jesus.
But physical death is not the worst enemy—it is the
consequence of living. It is an end we will all have to face one day, sooner or
later, one way or the other. But Paul says:
I will show you whom to fear: fear the one who, after
killing, has authority to cast into hell.
Only God as the Supreme Judge has this power. Of course, the
only person God “casts into hell” is one who has chosen to separate himself or
herself definitively from God.
Hell (in Hebrew ge-hinnom meaning the ‘Valley of
Hinnom’ or ge-ben-hinnom, ‘Valley of the Son of Hinnom’) refers to an
area situated to the southwest of Jerusalem. In the time of the kings it had
been the centre of a cult in which children were sacrificed (see 2 Kings 23:10
and Jeremiah 7:31), and hence was seen as a place of abomination. The Hebrew is
transliterated into Greek as gaihenna, which appears in some
translations of the New Testament as gehenna.
The punishment of sinners by fire after death first appeared
in Jewish apocalyptic literature, but the name gehenna for this
punishment only appears in the New Testament. The term is only used in Matthew,
Mark, the Letter of James and here. The word is not to be confused with Hades,
which was a general name for the place of the dead.
The one we are really to fear is the one who can make us
deny Christ and all that Christ means, and to die in a state of denial. But
whatever threats hang over us, we are not to fear. We have the example of many
before us who have gone to their deaths in peace and without hesitation. They
knew they had no other choice: either death or Truth. Jesus says:
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one
of them is forgotten in God’s sight. But even the hairs of your head are all
numbered. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
So our duty is clear: to proclaim the good news of the
gospel with openness and integrity and not to fear the consequences. We are not
alone.
https://sacredspace.com/commentary
Friday,
October 16, 2026
Ordinary
Time
Opening Prayer
Lord, our help and guide, make
your love the foundation of our lives.
May our love for you express itself in our eagerness
to do good for others. You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Luke 12: 1-7
Meanwhile the people had gathered
in their thousands so that they were treading on one another. And Jesus began
to speak, first of all to his disciples. 'Be on your guard against the yeast of
the Pharisees and their hypocrisy. Everything now covered up will be uncovered,
and everything now hidden will be made clear. For this reason, whatever you
have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have
whispered in hidden places will be proclaimed from the housetops.
'To you my friends I say: Do not
be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. I will tell
you whom to fear: fear Him who, after He has killed, has the power to cast into
hell. Yes, I tell you, He is the one to fear.
Can you not buy five sparrows
for two pennies? And yet not one is forgotten in God's sight. Why, every hair
on your head has been counted. There is no need to be afraid: you are worth
more than many sparrows.
Reflection
Today’s Gospel presents a last
criticism of Jesus against the religious authority of his time.
Luke 12: 1ª: Thousands were looking for Jesus. “At that time
people had gathered in the thousands and were treading on one another,” This
phrase allows to have a glimpse of the enormous popularity of Jesus and the
desire of the people to encounter Him (cf. Mk 6: 31; Mt 13: 2). It makes us
also see the abandonment in which people found themselves. “They are like sheep
without a shepherd,” said Jesus on another occasion when He saw the crowds get
close to Him to listen to his words (Mk 6: 34).
Luke 12: 1b: Attention with hypocrisy.
“Jesus began to speak first of all to his disciples: “Be on your guard against
the yeast of the Pharisees – their hypocrisy.” Mark had already spoken of the
yeast of the Pharisees and of the Herodians and had suggested that it was a
question of the mentality, or of the dominant ideology of that time, which
expected a glorious and powerful Messiah (Mk 8: 15; 8: 31-33). In this text
Luke identifies the yeast of the Pharisees with hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is an
attitude which turns upside down or overturns the values. It hides the truth.
It shows a beautiful cloak or cape which hides and falsifies what is rotten
inside. In this case, hypocrisy was like the apparent cover of the extreme
fidelity to the word of God which hid the contradiction of their life. Jesus
wants the contrary. He wants coherence and not that which remains hidden.
Luke 12: 2-3: That which is hidden
will be revealed. “Everything now covered up will be uncovered, and everything
now hidden will be made clear. For this reason, whatever you have said in the
dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in hidden
places will be proclaims from the housetops.” It is the second time that Luke
speaks about this theme (cf. Lc 8: 17). Instead of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees
which hides the truth, the disciples should be sincere. They should not be
afraid of truth. Jesus invites them to share with the others the teachings
which they learn from Him. The disciples cannot keep these to themselves, but
they should spread them. One day, the masks will fall completely away and
everything will be clearly revealed and will be proclaimed on the housetops (Mt
10: 26-27).
Luke 12: 4-5: Do not be afraid. “Do
not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. I will
tell you whom to fear: fear Him who after He has killed has the power to cast
into hell. Yes, I tell you, He is the one to fear.” Here Jesus addresses
himself to his friends the disciples. They should not be afraid of those who
kill the body, who torture, who trample on and make one suffer. Those who
torture can kill the body, but they cannot kill liberty and the spirit. Yes,
they should be afraid that fear of suffering may lead them to hide or to deny
the truth will lead them to offend God,; because he who separates himself from
God will be lost forever.
Luke 12: 6-7: You are worth more than many sparrows. “Can
you not buy five sparrows for two pennies? And yet not one is forgotten in
God’s sight. For every hair on hour head has been counted. Do not fear you are
worth more than many sparrows.” The disciples should not be afraid of anything,
because they are in God’s hands. Jesus asks them to look at the sparrows. Two
sparrows are sold for a few pennies and not one of them falls to the ground
without the will of the Father. Even the hair on your head is counted. Luke
says that not one hair falls from your head without the permission of the
Father (Lk 21: 18). And so many hairs fall from our head! This is why, “Do not
fear, you are worth more than many sparrows.” This is the lesson that Jesus
draws from the contemplation of nature (cf Mt 10: 29-31).
The contemplation of nature. In the Sermon on the Mountain,
the most important message Jesus takes is from the contemplation on nature. He
says: “Have you heard that it was said, love your neighbor and hate your enemy;
but I say: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you
may be children of your Father in heaven, for He causes his sun to rise on the
bad as well as the good, and sends down rain to fall on the upright and the
wicked alike. For if you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do
not even the tax collectors do as much? And if you save your greetings for your
brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Do not even the gentiles do as
much? You must therefore set no bounds to your love, just as the Heavenly
Father sets non to his” (Mt 5: 43-45, 48). The observation of the rhythm of the
sun and the rain lead Jesus to make that revolutionary affirmation: “Love your
enemies.” The same thing is valid concerning the invitation to look at the
flowers of the fields and the birds of the sky (Mt 6: 25-30). This
contemplative and surprising attitude before nature led Jesus to criticize
truths apparently eternal. Six times, one after another, He had the courage to
publicly correct the Law of God: “It has been said, but I tell you...” The
discovery made in the renewed contemplation of nature becomes a very important
light to reread history for Him. A different look which discovers lights that
were not perceived before. Today there is new vision of the universe which is
circulating. The discoveries of science concerning the immensity of the
macro-cosmos and of the micro-cosmos are becoming sources of a new
contemplation of the universe. Many apparently eternal truths are now beginning
to be criticized.
Personal Questions
•
What is hidden will be revealed. Is there in me
something which I fear that it be revealed?
•
The contemplation of the sparrows and of the
things of nature lead Jesus to have a new and surprising attitude which reveals
the gratuitous goodness of God. Do I usually contemplate nature?
Concluding Prayer
The word of Yahweh is straightforward, all He does springs
from his constancy.
He loves uprightness and justice; the faithful love of
Yahweh fills the earth. (Ps 33: 4-5)
