October 17, 2025
Memorial of Saint Ignatius of
Antioch, Bishop and Martyr
Lectionary: 471
Reading
1
Brothers and
sisters:
What can we say that Abraham found,
our ancestor according to the flesh?
Indeed, if Abraham was justified on the basis of his works,
he has reason to boast;
but this was not so in the sight of God.
For what does the Scripture say?
Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
A worker's wage is credited not as a gift, but as something due.
But when one does not work,
yet believes in the one who justifies the ungodly,
his faith is credited as righteousness.
So also David declares the blessedness of the person
to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven
and whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not record.
Responsorial
Psalm
R. (see 7) I
turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of
salvation.
Blessed is he whose fault is taken away,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt,
in whose spirit there is no guile.
R. I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the
joy of salvation.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
my guilt I covered not.
I said, "I confess my faults to the LORD,"
and you took away the guilt of my sin.
R. I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the
joy of salvation.
Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you just;
exult, all you upright of heart.
R. I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the
joy of salvation.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
May your kindness, O 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/101725.cfm
Commentary on Romans 4:1-8
Paul continues his
theme about the gratuitousness of God’s love and salvation for us. He
uses Abraham as an example. Abraham is the father of the Jewish people, the
great patriarch of the Jewish nation, the true example of a “justified” person,
but he also preceded the introduction of the Mosaic Law and knew nothing of
such a law. As much of what Paul is saying is directed to his fellow
Jews, his choice of Abraham, the ancestor of all God’s people, is not without
significance.
Could Abraham have
been “justified by works” by God merely on the basis of what he had achieved in
his lifetime? Actually, Jewish tradition, preoccupied with Abraham’s
loyalty and his fortitude under trial, had made him the outstanding example of
justification by works. The Jews believed his greatness was in what he
achieved. Paul agrees that Abraham certainly could have grounds for
making that claim. However, he asserts that this justification and these
works have their source in Abraham’s faith.
And Paul believes
that he has Scripture on his side. He quotes from Genesis:
Abraham
believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. (Gen 15:6)
There is no
mention here of his doing anything. He was rewarded purely for his
trusting faith in God. Abraham had kept no law (it did not yet exist),
rendered no service and performed no regular ritual that earned credit to his
account before God. It was his belief in God, who had made promises to
him, which was credited to him as righteousness.
There are three
ways in which the quotation can be understood:
- Because of his faith, Abraham was
regarded as an upright man, though in reality he was not.
- Because of his faith, God had
conferred on him an uprightness that was not his when he came to believe
(but may have come later).
- In God’s eyes faith and uprightness
are so interdependent that they are really inseparable.
Only the last of
these three would seem to be consistent with Paul’s teaching. A person
who has totally surrendered to Jesus and his Way in faith and trust is going to
be a good and loving person, or at least, be moving inevitably in that
direction.
The story of
Abraham gives several examples of this faith and trust. He was first
asked to leave his homeland and go to a distant land where his descendants
would live, and he did so. Although his wife was well beyond the age for
childbearing, God promised that Abraham’s descendants would be as numerous as
the stars in the skies or the grains of sand on the seashore. Abraham put
his trust in the Lord’s word and he did indeed have a son, Isaac.
Then, sometime
later, God—incredibly—asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son, the only
legitimate heir who could give him descendants, and Abraham proceeded to do the
Lord’s bidding, but once his faith was proved, God stopped him at the last
minute.
When a man works,
says Paul, his wages are not a gift; they are his due:
But to one who
does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned
as righteousness.
The man does
nothing, not because he is lazy, but because he knows only God can produce
results. On the other hand, as we have said, the person full of faith
will, by that very act, also be full of good works.
Paul finishes by
quoting words of David (Psalm 32:1-2) applied to “those to whom God reckons
righteousness apart from works”:
Happy are those
whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
It is as if God no
longer sees or does not want to see the bad that we have done, and removes from
us all guilt. But that does not mean we can just sit back and relax. “Why
worry? I just have to say ‘I believe in the Lord Jesus’ and God covers
over all my sins.” No, on my part, I need to open my heart to that loving
compassion of God that has been revealed by the pouring out of Jesus’ blood on
the cross. That has to have an effect on my behaviour.
I have to say a
big and unconditional ‘Yes’ to Jesus’ invitation actively to follow him, even
though it will happen only with his help all the way. It will mean saying
an equally big ‘No’ to many things which I know are in conflict with the Way of
Jesus.
It is important to
remember, too, that the root of the sin is not in the action, but rather in
one’s relationship with God. Once I am fully reconciled with Jesus by
throwing myself at his feet in faith and sorrow, he takes me back in exactly the
same way that the father of the Prodigal Son took his wayward son back. All is
forgotten; healing has taken place. The relationship is fully restored
even though the effects of my act may still endure. God only sees me as I
am here and now. And I respond to him in faith—now.
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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.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o1286g/
Friday,
October 17, 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 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 -- 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 their thousands so that they 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 see also 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 the rotten that is
inside. In this case, hypocrisy was like the apparent cover of the maximum
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 for themselves, but
they should diffuse them. One day, the masks will fall completely 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 and
therefore, will lead him 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 it 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 correct publicly the Law of God: “It has been said, but I tell
you...” The discovery made in the renewed contemplation of nature becomes for
him a very important light to reread history with a different look, and
discover lights which before were not perceived. 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)
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