October 13, 2025
Monday of the Twenty-eighth
Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 467
Reading
1
Paul, a slave of
Christ Jesus,
called to be an Apostle and set apart for the Gospel of God,
which he promised previously through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,
the Gospel about his Son, descended from David according to the flesh,
but established as Son of God in power
according to the Spirit of holiness
through resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Through him we have received the grace of apostleship,
to bring about the obedience of faith,
for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles,
among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ;
to all the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Responsorial
Psalm
R. (2a) The
Lord has made known his salvation.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
While still more
people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them,
"This generation is an evil generation;
it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it,
except the sign of Jonah.
Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites,
so will the Son of Man be to this generation.
At the judgment
the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation
and she will condemn them,
because she came from the ends of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon,
and there is something greater than Solomon here.
At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation
and condemn it,
because at the preaching of Jonah they repented,
and there is something greater than Jonah here."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101325.cfm
Commentary on Romans 1:1-7
Today we
return to the New Testament and begin reading Paul’s Letter to the
Romans. This is one of the most important of his letters and one of the
key books of the New Testament. It is listed first among the Pauline
letters not only because of its importance, but because it is also the longest
(the Pauline letters are listed according to their length and not in
chronological order).
We will
spend the whole of the next four weeks on this letter, up to the end of Week
31. The letter seems to have been written in Corinth or nearby Cenchrea (in
southern Greece) about the year 57 AD. By this time, the Christians in
Rome were mainly Gentile with Jewish Christians in a minority.
Apparently,
Paul was planning a missionary journey to Spain (then a Roman colony) with the
intention of using Rome as his headquarters. He had not yet been to Rome,
but must have been informed about the Christian situation there and he must
have been known to them. The principal theme of the Letter is the relationship
between Christianity and Judaism, a question which is also dealt with in the
Letter to the Galatians. While there is a more urgent tone in the
Galatian letter, the Letter to the Romans treats the question in a more
measured way.
Paul was a
strong advocate of the freedom from the Law which Christianity brought, and
constantly opposed the efforts of some Jewish Christians to re-impose the
requirements of the Law, including circumcision. It is under this heading
that the great issue of “justification by faith” is discussed and whose
interpretation became the great dividing issue during the Reformation.
In the
usual way of the time the letter begins with greetings, with Paul identifying
himself and the church to which he is writing. But as is usual with Paul,
his words are always much more than the banalities that normally accompany the
beginnings of letters (including our own). The very opening words are
almost a battle cry:
Paul, a
servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of
God…
- As a “servant” (Greek, doulos)—The
word literally means a ‘slave’, someone who belongs completely to his
owner, but it also means ‘servant’, someone who willingly chooses to serve
a master.
- As someone “called to be an
apostle”—The word ‘apostle’ means someone sent on a special mission. It is
used in the Gospel narratives for the Twelve followers Jesus chose to
continue his mission. Paul regarded himself as an Apostle because,
like the Twelve, he had seen the risen Christ (on the road to Damascus),
and had been given a special mission to bring the gospel to the Gentiles.
- As someone “set apart for the
gospel”—His mission was not something he had decided on himself.
Jesus had specially chosen him for a special mission to proclaim the
gospel of the Kingdom. Every one of us is called in this way.
How would I describe my vocation?
In a way,
every baptised Christian can say the same in some degree. We are all servants
of Jesus, putting ourselves totally at his disposal for his work. We are
all called to be apostles, in the sense that each of us has a mission in our
own particular way to proclaim the gospel message. We have all been set apart
for the gospel of God, that is, the euanggelion, or “good news”
that God brings to the world through Jesus Christ and through each one of his
members. How would I describe my unique vocation? In what way can I
share the gospel with others?
It is
interesting that Paul uses the word “gospel” because the four Gospels in the
form in which we know them were not yet in existence. But the idea was
already present. The “Good News” about Jesus was already being
proclaimed. It is a gospel, as Paul implies, which did not just drop out
of the sky, but which had long been prepared for by the prophets and teachers
of the Hebrew Testament (remember the words of Jesus to the two disciples on
the way to Emmaus as he explained the Old Testament to them). In his opening
greeting Paul often adds in his own Christian point of view and even
anticipates some of the themes of his letter. In Romans, these themes
are:
- God’s freedom to choose his
people;
- the connection between faith
and being made ‘holy’;
- salvation through Christ’s
death and resurrection;
- the harmony of the two
Testaments—the Old and the New.
He now
describes the gospel he is going to write about:
…the
gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh
and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of
holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord…
Here we
have the elements of the Incarnation described and the link between Old and New
Testaments.
In human
terms, Jesus was born a descendant of David, but because God raised him to life
through the Holy Spirit, Christ is established in glory as Lord (Kyrios),
and meriting in virtue of his work as Messiah-Redeemer King the name he had
from all time—”Son of God”.
And it is
through Jesus Christ that:
…we
have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among
all the gentiles for the sake of his name…
To be with
and under Christ is both a ‘grace’, a totally unmerited gift, and a
responsibility to be partners with Jesus in bringing peoples everywhere to
faith and personal commitment to Christ and the gospel he proclaims. This
is where life in its truest form is to be found.
The
Christians of Rome, to whom Paul is writing, are included among these ‘graced’
ones called to live and proclaim the gospel because:
…for
the sake of his name…you who are called…belong to Jesus Christ…
Our
mission, too, is to spread his name to all those who do not know him, inviting
them to submit themselves in faith and trust to Jesus as Lord, as the Way, the
Truth and the Life.
Then there
comes the end of the initial salutation:
To all
God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
In calling
them God’s “beloved” people and “called to be saints”, he is saying that they
are ‘holy’, not that they are ready for canonisation. The word ‘holy’ (hagios)
really means ‘set apart’ and is applied to the Christians in general. All
Christians are ‘saints’ in that they are ‘set apart’ by God and are
experientially being made increasingly holy by the Holy Spirit working in
them. This ‘setting apart’ is not to be understood as removing themselves
from surrounding society; on the contrary they are to be fully inserted in
society as Jesus was.
Only in
this way can they be the “salt of the earth” or “the yeast in the dough” or
“the light of the world”. And Paul wishes them “grace” and “peace”—grace and
peace that only God and his Son can give. “Grace” can be understood as
the tangible experience of God’s love in my life and “peace” is that inner
sense of wholeness and harmony with God, with other people, with oneself and
one’s whole environment. Could one have more precious gifts or could one
wish more precious gifts on another person?
Let us
remember today our calling as servants, as apostles and as a people set apart
for a very special work, witnessing to Christ and his gospel through the
particular circumstances of our lives.
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Commentary on Luke 11:29-32
Jesus has
just said (last Saturday’s reading):
Blessed
rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it! (Luke 11:28)
Now, with
large crowds pressing around him, he throws out a warning which indicates that
not many are hearing the word in the sense of accepting and following it:
This
generation is an evil generation…
Why? Jesus
says this generation is evil because it keeps asking for a sign by which he can
prove his credentials. Today he says the only sign they will be given is the
“sign of Jonah”.
Jonah was
a sign from God to the people of Nineveh, a pagan city which heard his message,
repented and was reconciled to God. Jesus too comes on a mission from God (“as
the Father has sent me”) and he will find a hearing—not from many of his own
people, but from Gentiles.
So, Jesus
says, the “queen of the south will rise in judgement” on the present generation
for she, a gentile outsider, came from a long distance to listen to the wisdom
of Solomon. But Jesus, who now faces this generation, is far greater than
Solomon. The “queen of the south” is the queen of Sheba, whose visit to Solomon
is recorded in the First Book of Kings (1 Kgs 10:1-10).
Similarly,
the people of Nineveh, the great pagan and wicked city, will stand in judgement
over the present generation because “they repented at the proclamation of
Jonah”. But Jesus is greater than Jonah, and now they refuse to listen to him.
There is
always a danger that we take our faith for granted. Worse, we may even feel we
are in a superior and safer position than others not of our faith or
denomination. The fact that we carry the name ‘Catholic’ is not enough. Baptism
and the reception of the other sacraments is not by itself a guarantee of our
salvation. What counts is that we hear, understand, accept and assimilate the
word of Jesus and carry it out at every moment of our lives.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o1282g/
Monday,
October 13, 2025
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 11: 29-32
The crowds got even bigger and Jesus addressed them, 'This is
an evil generation; it is asking for a sign. The only sign it will be given is
the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so
will the Son of man be a sign to this generation.
On Judgement Day the Queen of the South will stand up against
the people of this generation and be their condemnation, because she came from
the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, look, there is
something greater than Solomon here.
On Judgement Day the men of Nineveh will appear against this
generation and be its condemnation, because when Jonah preached, they repented;
and look, there is something greater than Jonah here.
Reflection
The Gospel today presents a very hard accusation of Jesus
against the Pharisees and the Scribes. They wanted Jesus to give them a sign,
because they did not believe in the signs and in the miracles which he was
working. This accusation of Jesus continues in the Gospels of the following
days. In meditating on these Gospels, we have to be very attentive not to
generalize the accusation of Jesus as if it were addressed to the Hebrew
people. In the past, the lack of this attention, unfortunately contributed to increase
anti- Semitism in us Christians, which has caused so much harm to humanity
throughout the centuries. Instead of pointing out the finger against the
Pharisees of the time of Jesus, it is better to look at ourselves in the mirror
of the texts to discover in them the Pharisee which lives hidden in our Church
and in each one of us, and who merits this criticism from Jesus.
•
Luke 11: 29-30: The sign of Jonah. “At that
time, the people crowed and Jesus began to say: This is an evil generation; it
is asking for a sign. The only sign it
will be given is the sign of Jonah.” The Gospel of Matthew
says that it was the Scribes and the Pharisees who were asking for a sign (Mt
12: 38). They wanted Jesus to work a sign for them, a miracle, in such a way
that they could become aware if he was the one sent by God, as they imagined.
They wanted Jesus to submit himself to their criteria. They wanted to fit him
in to the framework of their own idea of the Messiah. In them there was no
openness for a possible conversion. But Jesus did not submit himself to their
request. The Gospel of Mark says that Jesus, before the request of the
Pharisees, Jesus sighed profoundly (Mk 8: 12), probably because he was upset
and sad in the face of such blindness; because it serves nothing to try to show
a beautiful picture to a person who does not want to open the eyes. The only
sign that will be given is the sign of Jonah. “For just as Jonah became a sign
to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of man be a sign to this generation.”
How will this sign of the Son of man be? The Gospel of Matthew responds: “For
as Jonah remained in the belly of the sea-monster for three days and three
nights, so will the Son of man be in the heart of the earth for three days and
three nights” (Mt 12: 40). The only sign will be the resurrection of Jesus.
This is the sign which will be given in the future to the Scribes and the
Pharisees. Jesus, who was condemned to death by them and to death on the cross,
will rise from the dead by God and will continue to resurrect in many ways in
those who believe in him. The sign which converts is not the miracles but the
witness of life!
•
Luke 11: 31: Salomon and the Queen of the South.
The reference to the conversion of the people of Nineveh associates and recalls
the conversion of the Queen of the South: “The Queen of the South will stand up
against this generation and be their condemnation; because she came from the
ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and look, there is something
greater than Solomon here.” This reminder almost occasional of the episode of
the Queen of the South who recognizes the wisdom of Solomon, shows how the
Bible was used at that time. It was by association. The principal rule for the
interpretation was this one: “The Bible is explained by the Bible.” Up until
now, this is one of the more important norms for the interpretation of the
Bible, especially for the Reading of the Word of God, in a climate of prayer.
•
Luke 11: 32: And look there is something greater
than Solomon here. After the digression on Solomon and on the Queen of the
South, Jesus returns to speak about the sign of Jonah: “The men of Nineveh will
appear against this generation and be its condemnation, because when Jonah
preached, they repented.” The people of Nineveh were converted because of the
witness of the preaching of Jonah and he denounces the unbelief of the Scribes
and of the Pharisees. Because “something greater than Jonah is here.” Jesus is
greater than Jonah, greater than Solomon. For us Christians, he is the principal
key for Scripture (2Co 3: 14-18).
Personal Questions
•
Jesus criticizes the Scribes and the Pharisees
who managed to deny the evidence, rendering themselves incapable to recognize
the call of God in the events. And we Christians today, and I, do we deserve
the same criticism of Jesus?
•
Nineveh was converted because of the preaching
of Jonah. The Scribes and the Pharisees were not converted. Today, the calls of
reality cause changes and conversions in people in the whole world: the
ecological threat, urbanization that dehumanizes, consumerism which
standardizes and alienates, injustice, violence, etc. Many Christians live far
away from these calls of God which come from reality.
Concluding Prayer
Praise, servants of Yahweh, praise the name of Yahweh.
Blessed be the name of Yahweh, henceforth and forever. (Ps
113: 1-2)
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