September 16, 2025
Memorial of Saints Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Bishop,
Martyrs
Lectionary: 444
Reading 1
Beloved, this saying is trustworthy:
whoever aspires to the office of bishop desires a noble task.
Therefore, a bishop must be irreproachable,
married only once, temperate, self-controlled,
decent, hospitable, able to teach,
not a drunkard, not aggressive, but gentle,
not contentious, not a lover of money.
He must manage his own household well,
keeping his children under control with perfect dignity;
for if a man does not know how to manage his own household,
how can he take care of the Church of God?
He should not be a recent convert,
so that he may not become conceited
and thus incur the Devil's punishment.
He must also have a good reputation among outsiders,
so that he may not fall into disgrace, the Devil's trap.
Similarly, deacons must be dignified, not deceitful,
not addicted to drink, not greedy for sordid gain,
holding fast to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.
Moreover, they should be tested first;
then, if there is nothing against them,
let them serve as deacons.
Women, similarly, should be dignified, not slanderers,
but temperate and faithful in everything.
Deacons may be married only once
and must manage their children and their households well.
Thus those who serve well as deacons gain good standing
and much confidence in their faith in Christ Jesus.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm
101:1b-2ab, 2cd-3ab, 5, 6
R.(2) I will walk with blameless heart.
Of mercy and judgment I will sing;
to you, O LORD, I will sing praise.
I will persevere in the way of integrity;
when will you come to me?
R. I will walk with blameless heart.
I will walk with blameless heart,
within my house;
I will not set before my eyes
any base thing.
R. I will walk with blameless heart.
Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret,
him will I destroy.
The man of haughty eyes and puffed up heart
I will not endure.
R. I will walk with blameless heart.
My eyes are upon the faithful of the land,
that they may dwell with me.
He who walks in the way of integrity
shall be in my service.
R. I will walk with blameless heart.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
A great prophet has arisen in our midst
and God has visited his people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus journeyed to a city called Nain,
and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him.
As he drew near to the gate of the city,
a man who had died was being carried out,
the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.
A large crowd from the city was with her.
When the Lord saw her,
he was moved with pity for her and said to her,
“Do not weep.”
He stepped forward and touched the coffin;
at this the bearers halted,
and he said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!”
The dead man sat up and began to speak,
and Jesus gave him to his mother.
Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming,
“A great prophet has arisen in our midst,”
and “God has visited his people.”
This report about him spread through the whole of Judea
and in all the surrounding region.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091625.cfm
Commentary on 1
Timothy 3:1-13
When Paul wrote this Letter to Timothy, the early Church was
still developing the leadership and pastoral structures with which we are now
familiar. Paul today has advice for “bishops” and “deacons” and lays down the
criteria on which they are to be chosen. The actual structure of ‘bishop’,
‘priest’ and ‘deacon’ as we know it now had not yet taken form.
The Jerusalem Bible has a useful overview
of the situation:
“The word episkopos (‘overseer’,
‘supervisor’ or ‘president’) had not yet acquired the same meaning as ‘bishop’
and seems sometimes to overlap with the presbuteros (‘elder’).
In the earliest days each Christian community was governed by a body of elders
(‘presbyters’, from which comes the English word ‘priests’), who were prominent
and respected people in the community. This was the case both in Jerusalem and
in the Diaspora (the communities scattered through East Asia and to the west)
and it merely continued both the ancient practice of the Old Testament and the
more recent practice of the Jews.”
These episkopoi who are not yet ‘bishops’
in our modern sense and who are mentioned in connection with the diakonoi (servants,
attendants, assistants, deputies, ministers, ‘deacons’) seem, in some passages,
to be identical with the elders. The Greek word episkopos (taken
over from the pagan world probably as an equivalent for a semitic title)
indicated the duty of an administrative officer, while presbuteros indicated
the status or dignity of the same officer. The episkopoi in
the college of presbyters may have taken turns to carry out their official
duties of administration and leadership.
It is quite certain that Christian presbuteroi or episkopoi were
not merely concerned with the practical side of organising things: they had to
both teach and govern. They were appointed by the Apostles or their
representatives by the imposition of hands; their powers derived from God and
were charismatic. The word episkopos eventually replaced
analogous titles like proistamenos (official), poimen (pastor
or shepherd), hegoumenos (guide or leader).
These heads of the local community who developed into our
priests (presbuteroi) and bishops (episkopoi) were helped
by diakonoi (deacons). The transformation of a local assembly
ruled by a body of bishops or presbyters, into an assembly ruled by a single
bishop set over a number of priests (a stage reached by the time of Ignatius of
Antioch, who died, about 107 AD) must have involved an intermediate stage. This
would have been when a single episkopos in each community was
given the same powers over that local community which had previously been
exercised over several communities by the Apostles or their representatives
like Timothy or Titus.
The overseers/elders were carefully chosen by the
communities, and hands were laid on them to indicate their appointments were
blessed by the Holy Spirit. This is the beginning of the sacrament of Holy
Orders. Paul himself was not a bishop; he was an Apostle and evangeliser. And
it is not certain that Timothy was a bishop; his work seems to have been more
similar to that of Paul, an animator and visitor of communities scattered over
the whole of the eastern Mediterranean.
In this Letter and in the whole New Testament there is as
yet no mention of ‘priests’ as we know them now. As we saw, the word ‘priest’
is a corruption of the Greek word presbuteros or ‘elder’. We
see these elders mentioned as leaders of their communities and even presiding
at the celebration of the Eucharist. It would not be quite accurate to call them
‘laymen’ as distinct from ‘clergy’, because in the Church at this time neither
term would have been used. The distinction between ‘clergy’ and ‘laity’ simply
did not exist.
However, there was another type of priest represented by the
Greek word hiereus, from which comes our word ‘hier-archy’
(meaning, rule by priests). This was a word applied to temple priests, whether
of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem or the many thousands of temples scattered
throughout the Greek and Roman world. In the beginning, the Church did not have
this type of priest, nor did it want to. And the reason was clear.
For the early Christians, there was only one Priest in this
sense and that was Jesus Christ himself. He was both the Priest (hiereus and
not presbuteros) and the Victim of the sacrifice made on the cross,
a sacrifice which in its infinite value replaced all other sacrifices before
and after, a sacrifice that need never again be repeated. This is all
beautifully laid out in the Letter to the Hebrews (see Heb 5:1-10).
Our Eucharistic celebration is a representation of that
unique sacrifice on the cross, which was sacramentally anticipated at the Last
Supper. The one who presides is now called a ‘priest’, of which the Latin
translation is sacerdos, the equivalent of hiereus. But
it is the bishop who is now regarded as having the fullness of priesthood.
These developments took place in the Church over the course of centuries.
In today’s reading, Paul gives Timothy a detailed
character-sketch of what the presiding bishop and the deacon should be. Many,
but not all, of the requirements are just as valid today.
Regarding the ‘bishop’ or presiding elder, Paul says that to
desire to fill this role is a noble thing and that is why he (it was always a
man) had to be of impeccable character. He then lists the desired
qualifications, of which, first and foremost was:
…a bishop must be above reproach, married only once…
This was to preclude any violation of God’s marriage law,
whether through polygamy or marital unfaithfulness. As the bishops were, by
definition, chosen from the older men of the community, Paul assumed they
already would be married and have children. But an otherwise qualified
unmarried man was not necessarily barred. It is also improbable that the
standard forbade an bishop to remarry if his wife died. The most likely meaning
is simply that a faithful monogamous married life must have been maintained.
The chosen man must also be:
…temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, an
apt teacher, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, and not a
lover of money.
He must also:
…manage his own household well, keeping his children
submissive and respectful in every way, for if someone does not know how to
manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church?
Furthermore, the prospective bishop:
…must not be a recent convert, or he may be puffed up
with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.
And finally:
…he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may
not fall into disgrace and the snare of the devil.
It is quite a demanding list of qualities, even by today’s
standards, and one that many bishops and priests might find it hard to meet.
Next comes the list of qualifications for a ‘deacon’ (diakonos).
The word ‘deacon’ refers to someone who serves the community and in general is
seen on a lower level than the presbuteros (priest, elder)
or episkopoi (bishop). Authority and ministry in the community
is always seen in terms of service rather than control. Jesus himself had said
he came to serve and not to be served (Mark 10:45). ‘Minister/ministry’, from
the Latin minister/ministerium means one who serves and is the
equivalent of the Greek diakonos/diakonia.
The men chosen in Acts 6:1-6 were probably not only the
first deacons mentioned in the New Testament, but also the first to be
appointed in the Church. Generally, their service was meant to free the leaders
to give full attention to prayer and the ministry of the word (see Acts 6:2,4).
As a person with responsibility in the community, the deacon
(diakonos), too, has to meet certain standards. Paul says they:
…must be serious, not double-tongued, not indulging in
much wine, not greedy for money; they must hold fast to the mystery of the
faith with a clear conscience. And let them first be tested; then, if they
prove themselves blameless, let them serve as deacons.
Women too are mentioned at this point, but it is not clear
whether Paul is referring to women deacons, as some would hold, or only
speaking about the deacon’s wife. Paul in his Letter to the Romans writes:
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the
church at Cenchreae… (Rom 16:1)
However, it is also disputed as to what exactly her status
was.
In any case, these women, deaconesses or deacons’ wives, are
to be:
…serious, not slanderers, but temperate, faithful in all
things.
Returning then to the deacon, Paul says he, like the
‘bishop’, must:
…be married only once, and let them manage their children
and their households well…
Finally, says Paul,
…those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for
themselves and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
In more recent times, and especially since the Second
Vatican Council, the concept of ministry has been broadened in our Church. It
had become largely confined to the bishop and the priest. Now the order of
deacon has been enhanced and certainly also includes married deacons. And there
does not seem to be any intrinsic objection why women could not also be
deacons, but some sadly see this as the thin end of the wedge leading to women
priests.
In addition, other ministries have been introduced on a
non-clerical level, such as Scripture readers (lectors) and ministers of the
Eucharist. Paul speaks of a wide range of ministries by which people could
actively contribute to the life and work of the community and this vision is
being restored.
It is for every Christian and every parishioner to ask
themselves how they can actively and constructively contribute to the service
of their community or parish. This is what gives life to a parish and draws
people into it. And we need to pray and work for enlightened and practical
solutions to the critical shortage of pastoral leadership in so many parts of
the Church today.
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Commentary on Luke
7:11-17
This story is only found in Luke’s Gospel. It is one of only
three stories in the Gospel where Jesus is described as bringing a dead person
to life. The most dramatic is the story of Lazarus told in John’s Gospel. There
is the also the story of the synagogue leader’s daughter (Luke 6:40-56; Mark
5:21-43; Matt 9:18-26), although it is not categorically certain that she had
actually died. She might have been in a coma or catatonic state.
In the thinking of the time, today’s scene is particularly
sad. A woman, who has already lost her husband, has now lost her only son—her
only means of support. She is on the way to bury him.
The lot of the widow in those days—often a relatively young
woman—was particularly difficult in a society where the married woman was no
longer the responsibility of her own family, and who, after the death of
husband and children, was no longer the responsibility of her husband’s family
either. She was largely left to her own devices in a society where social
welfare of any kind was unknown.
Jesus himself is deeply moved at her plight. At this point,
for the first time, Luke refers to Jesus as “Lord”, a title reserved for God
himself. He approaches the litter (not a coffin as we know it) carrying the
dead man and touches it, causing the bearers to stop. He then says:
Young man, I say to you, rise!
As in other similar stories, the word used for “rise” is the
same as that used when describing the resurrection of Jesus, for he:
…came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
(John 10:10)
The reaction of the people around is one of awe and
admiration:
Fear seized all of them, and they glorified God, saying,
“A great prophet has risen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”
They had no doubts about the origin of what they had seen
taking place; it was the work of God. Not surprisingly, the story spread like
wildfire all through Judea and beyond. The episode prepares the way for Jesus’
response to the disciples of John the Baptist a little later (not included in
our Mass readings during this time).
This story should help us to look at our own situation and
see, first of all, how alive we really are. Let us look around and see how many
people need to be lifted up and helped to find new life. Maybe we can do
something for them.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o1243g/
Tuesday,
September 16, 2025
Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Almighty God, our creator and guide, may we serve you
with all our hearts and know your forgiveness in our lives. We ask this through
our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Luke 7: 11-17
It happened that soon afterwards
Jesus went to a town called Nain, accompanied by his disciples and a great
number of people.
Now when he was near the gate of the town
there was a dead man being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was
a widow. And a considerable number of the townspeople was with her.
When the Lord saw her he felt
sorry for her and said to her, ‘Don’t cry.’ Then he went up and touched the
bier and the bearers stood still, and he said, ‘Young man, I tell you: get up.’
And the dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him to his mother.
Everyone was filled with awe
and glorified God saying, ‘A great prophet has risen up among us; God has
visited his people.’ And this view of him spread throughout Judaea and all over
the countryside.
Reflection
Today’s Gospel presents the episode of the resurrection
of the son of the widow of Nain. The literary context of this episode of the
VII chapter of Luke helps one to understand. The Evangelist wants to show that
Jesus opens the road, revealing the novelty of God which is presented to us in
the announcement of the Good News. And in this way the transformation and
openness take place: Jesus accepts the request of a foreigner, a non-Jew (Lk 7:
1-10) and resurrects the son of a widow (Lk 7: 11-17). The way in which Jesus
reveals the Kingdom surprises the Jewish brothers who were not accustomed to
such great openness. Even John the Baptist is surprised and orders to go and
ask: “Are you the one who is to come or are we to expect someone else?” (Lk 7:
18-30). Jesus denounces the incoherence of his patricians: “They are like
children shouting to one another without knowing what they want!” (Lk 7:
31-35). And finally, there is the openness of Jesus toward women (7: 36-50).
•
Luke 7: 11-12: The meeting of the two processions. “Jesus went to a town called
Nain. His disciples and a great crowd were going with him. When he was close to
the gate of the town, there was a dead man being carried out to the cemetery, the
only son of his mother and she was a widow.” Luke is like a painter. With few
words he succeeds to paint a very beautiful picture on the encounter of the two
processions: the procession of death which is going out
of the city and accompanies the widow
who is taking her only son towards the cemetery; the procession of life which
enters the city and accompanies Jesus. The two meet in the small square at the
side of the gate of the town of Nain.
•
Luke 7: 13: Compassion
begins to act here. “When the Lord saw her, he felt sorry for her and said
to her: “Do not cry!” It is compassion which moves Jesus to speak and to act.
Compassion signifies literally: “to suffer with,” to assume or make ours the
suffering of the other person, identifying oneself with the person, feeling the
pain, the suffering. It is compassion which puts into action the power of
Jesus, the power of life over death, the creative power.
•
Luke 7: 14-15: “Young man, I tell you, get up!”
Jesus gets near the bier and says: “Young men, I tell you, get up!” And the
dead man sat up and began to talk; and Jesus gave him to his mother.”
Sometimes, at the moment of a great sorrow caused by the death of a loved
person, people say: “In Jesus’ time, when he walked on this earth there was
hope not to lose a loved person because Jesus could resurrect her.” These
persons consider the episode of the resurrection of the son of the widow of
Nain as an event of the past which arouses nostalgia and also certain envy. The
intention of the Gospel, instead, is not, that of arousing nostalgia or envy,
but rather of helping us to experience better the living presence of Jesus in
our midst. It is the same Jesus, who continues alive in our midst, capable of
overcoming death and the sorrow of death. He is with us today, and in the face
of the problems of sorrow which strike us, he tells us: “I tell you, get up!”
•
Luke 7: 16-17: The repercussion. “Everyone was filled with awe and glorified God
saying: ‘A great prophet has risen up among us; God has visited his people.”
The fame of these events spread throughout Judaea and all over the
countryside.” It is the prophet who was announced by Moses (Dt 18: 15). It is
God who comes to visit us and the “Father of orphans and protector of the
widows” (Ps 68: 6: Judith 9: 11).
Personal Questions
•
Compassion moves Jesus to resurrect the son of
the widow. Does the suffering, the sorrow of others produce in me the same
compassion? What do I do to help the others to overcome the sorrow and to
create a new life?
•
God visited his people. Do I perceive the many
visits of God in my life and in the life of the people?
Concluding Prayer
Serve Yahweh with gladness,
come into his presence with songs of joy! Be sure that
Yahweh is God, he made us, we belong to him, his people, the flock of his
sheepfold. (Ps 100: 2-3)
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