October 25, 2025
Saturday of the Twenty-ninth
Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 478
Reading
I
Brothers and
sisters:
Now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus
has freed you from the law of sin and death.
For what the law, weakened by the flesh, was powerless to do,
this God has done:
by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh
and for the sake of sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
so that the righteous decree of the law might be fulfilled in us,
who live not according to the flesh but according to the spirit.
For those who live according to the flesh
are concerned with the things of the flesh,
but those who live according to the spirit
with the things of the spirit.
The concern of the flesh is death,
but the concern of the spirit is life and peace.
For the concern of the flesh is hostility toward God;
it does not submit to the law of God, nor can it;
and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
But you are not in the flesh;
on the contrary, you are in the spirit,
if only the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
But if Christ is in you,
although the body is dead because of sin,
the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
the one who raised Christ from the dead
will give life to your mortal bodies also,
through his Spirit that dwells in you.
Responsorial
Psalm
R.
(see 6) Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
The LORD’s are the earth and its fullness;
the world and those who dwell in it.
For he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?
He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your
face.
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks for him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, says the Lord,
but rather in his conversion that he may live.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Some people told
Jesus about the Galileans
whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.
He said to them in reply,
“Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way
they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!
Or those eighteen people who were killed
when the tower at Siloam fell on them—
do you think they were more guilty
than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!”
And he told them
this parable:
“There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard,
and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none,
he said to the gardener,
‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree
but have found none.
So cut it down.
Why should it exhaust the soil?’
He said to him in reply,
‘Sir, leave it for this year also,
and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it;
it may bear fruit in the future.
If not you can cut it down.’”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102525.cfm
Commentary on Romans
8:1-11
Paul continues to discuss the conflicting forces that we
find in ourselves—that of the “flesh” and that of the Spirit of Jesus Christ:
…there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from
the law of sin and of death.
Those who are truly in Christ Jesus, not just nominally by
saying so, but in a way that influences their behaviour, can never be under
condemnation. The law of Christ’s Spirit is life-giving. When one lives under
the “law of sin and death”, one is living under a system that sees sin
everywhere, that focuses on punishment for every violation, irrespective of
motive. Paul says:
…what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and to deal with sin, he
condemned sin in the flesh so that the just requirement of the law might be
fulfilled in us…
All the Law could do was to demand external observance of
its stipulations. This was not life-giving; in fact, it could have the opposite
effect. It could not be an inward source of salvation and wholeness. The Law
was powerless because it depended solely on one’s own efforts to observe it. As
we can see in the case of the Pharisee, it could lead to a superficial and
external ‘holiness’ which only concealed the corrupt influences of the flesh
actively at work. Jesus spoke cuttingly of “whitewashed tombs”—bright and clean
on the outside and full of corruption within.
Christ the Son of God, however, was sent by the Father and
took on exactly the same human nature as every sinner so that he might, as one
of us, sacrifice himself in love for us and thus remove the sin and alienation
from our human nature. God became Man that man might share in the divine life.
That is what we mean by calling Jesus the Mediator, the Pontifex (Latin,
meaning ‘bridge-builder’); he linked together what had become broken by the sin
of Adam. Man, formerly carnal, is now, through union with Christ, spiritual,
sharing in the Spirit of Christ.
Now, in Christ, we can fulfil the Law’s requirements by
walking:
…not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
God’s aim in sending his Son was that believers might be
enabled to embody the true and full intentions of the law. And, in Christ, the
Law can be summed up in one single sentence:
Just as I have loved you, you also should love one
another.
(John 13:34; see also Gal 5:14)
In keeping that commandment, everything else is taken care
of. Note that God is not mentioned in this commandment, but that is the point;
the only way I can effectively love God is by loving him in and through those
around me.
People then can be divided into two kinds: those who live
according to the ‘flesh’ and those who live according to the Spirit:
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds
on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set
their minds on the things of the Spirit.
Those who live according to the instincts of sinful human
nature look forward to nothing but death. This is a disordered human nature
opposed to God, because it does not and cannot submit to God’s law, and so can
never please God. But those who are in the Spirit can look forward to life and
peace.
The Roman Christians, however, are not living by their
natural inclinations, but in the Spirit, who has made his home in them. Paul
says:
Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not
belong to him. But if Christ is in you, then the body is dead because of sin,
but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Even the body of a Christian is subject to physical death,
seen as the consequence of sin (death came with the sin in the Garden, just as
life comes from him who rose to life in a garden—see John 19:41 and 20:8-9,15).
But because of being ‘justified’ (made ‘righteous’) by the grace that comes from
faith in Christ, the Christian’s spirit is alive with an unending life. The
body is doomed to physical death and can be the instrument of spiritual death
also, but the Spirit is life, a power of resurrection.
Paul concludes:
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead
dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your
mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.
The final resurrection of the Christian, spirit and body, is
intimately dependent on that of Christ.
It is by the same power and the same gift of the Spirit,
that the Father will raise them to life in their turn. This operation is
already being prepared: a new life is making the Christians into sons in the
likeness of the Son himself, and they are being incorporated into the risen
Christ by faith and baptism. It is important to note that the word “flesh” in
this passage means much more than the body. The body in itself is not bad, as
some philosophers in Paul’s time maintained. For us, the body has been
sanctified by the Incarnation, when God’s Son took on a human body and redeemed
us through it.
‘Flesh’ also refers to what we might call today our ‘lower
instincts’, the tendency, sometimes seemingly irresistible, which we have to
follow urges which are selfish and self-centred, which want to satisfy our
appetites, be they for food, for sex, for possessions, for anger, revenge,
jealousy or violence. Left to ourselves we are likely to follow these
instincts, often mistakenly thinking that our happiness lies there. But total
indulgence in any or all of these leads only to personal degradation and
self-destruction.
All that Paul says we can verify by our own experience. When
we let our lower instincts guide us we know that, although there may be
temporary pleasure and satisfaction, they are dragging us down—spoiling both
our inner peace and the quality of our relationship with others, not to mention
distancing us from God. It is difficult, if not impossible, to lead that kind
of life and be people of prayer. On the other hand, when we—however patchily we
do so—really try to live out the gospel spirit in our relationships with
ourselves, with others and with God, we know that we experience a deep-down
satisfaction which increases our sense of freedom and peace.
The chances are that most of us are not altogether in the
flesh or altogether in the Spirit, but somewhere in between. Some are more in
the flesh and give the odd salute to the Spirit, e.g. by doing the absolute
minimum that their ‘religious obligations’ require. Others are trying to live
fully in the Spirit, but know that from time to time, the flesh asserts itself.
That is no great harm. It helps us to realise that we do not make much progress
without God’s help:
…because apart from me you can do nothing. (John
15:5)
But if we keep at it, that is, if we keep ourselves open to
the influence of the Spirit, we will experience that the power of the Spirit
does become dominant and living in the Spirit becomes easier and the seductions
of the flesh become easier to resist. To do this, though, we do need to keep in
contact with the ways in which the Spirit comes to us, e.g. through our
participation in the life of the Christian community, its prayer life, its
evangelising life, its sharing of its resources with those in need, its
sacramental life and its constant listening to the Word. These are the
essential channels by which the Spirit flows into our hearts and help us to
live in Christ.
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Commentary on Luke
13:1-9
Catastrophes or accidents which take people’s lives
constantly force people to ask, Why? or Why them? Why did that young mother die
giving birth to her child? Why did that young father die of cancer and leave
behind a family struggling to survive? Why did my father die at the age of 66
while my mother lived to be 92?
Today, Jesus mentions two apparently recent incidents in
which lives were lost. In one case, Pilate, the Roman governor, had some
Galileans executed in the Temple precincts. It is not clear as to why; perhaps
the Galileans had violated some Roman regulation about public order. In the
other, eighteen people were killed when a tower in Siloam, inside the
south-east section of Jerusalem’s wall, fell on top of them. There is no other
record in history of either of these two events. However, the first is regarded
as typical of Pilate’s administration.
The New American Bible carries the
following note:
The slaughter of the Galileans by Pilate is unknown outside
Luke; but from what is known about Pilate from the Jewish historian Josephus,
such a slaughter would be in keeping with the character of Pilate. Josephus
reports that Pilate had disrupted a religious gathering of the Samaritans on
Mt. Gerizim with a slaughter of the participants and that on another occasion
Pilate had killed many Jews who had opposed him, when he appropriated money
from the temple treasury to build an aqueduct in Jerusalem. (edited)
It seems that some people at the time were saying that this
was a punishment of God on these people for moral wrongs they had done. Jesus
disagrees:
Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in
this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?
Jesus asserts:
No, I tell you, unless you repent you will all perish as
they did.
The sins of the victims were not the cause of their death,
but they are certainly warnings to the rest of us to see if we are ready for
such a certain eventuality. And Jesus goes on to illustrate his meaning with a
parable:
A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came
looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the man working the
vineyard, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig
tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’
He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put
manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good, but if not, you can
cut it down.’
The story can be linked to what Jesus has just said. In a
sense, the people he has been talking to are like fig trees that have not borne
fruit. The three years mentioned in the story may refer to the length of Jesus’
own ministry. However, they still have a chance to turn their lives around, a
chance which was not given to those who had died in those two incidents.
We, too, are being given a chance—for a day? A month?
Several years? The fact is that we have no idea. What is clear is that there is
no time to waste; we have to start today. For God, the past is not what counts
or the future, but only the present. As long as I am with him now,
I have nothing to worry about.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o1297g/
Saturday,
October 25, 2025
Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Almighty and everlasting God,
our source of power and inspiration, give us strength and joy
in serving you as followers of Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Luke 13: 1-9
It was just about this time that
some people arrived and told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had
mingled with that of their sacrifices. At this he said to them, 'Do you suppose
that these Galileans were worse sinners than any others, that this should have
happened to them? They were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent you will
all perish as they did. Or those eighteen on whom the tower at Siloam fell,
killing them all? Do you suppose that they were more guilty than all the other
people living in Jerusalem?
They were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent you will
all perish as they did.' He told this parable, 'A man had a fig tree planted in
his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it but found none. He said to
his vinedresser, "For three years now I have been coming to look for fruit
on this fig tree and finding none. Cut it down: why should it be taking up the
ground?" "Sir," the man replied, "leave it one more year
and give me time to dig round it and manure it: it may bear fruit next year; if
not, then you can cut it down." '
Reflection
The Gospel today gives us
information which is only found in Luke’s Gospel and there are no parallel
passages in the other Gospels. We are meditating on the long journey from
Galilee to Jerusalem and which takes almost half of Luke’s Gospel, from chapter
9 to chapter 19 (Lk 9: 51 to 19: 28). In this part Luke places most of the
information which he obtains on the life and teaching of Jesus (Lk 1:
1-4).
•
Luke 13: 1 - The event which requires an
explanation. “At that time some people arrived and told Jesus about the
Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with that of their sacrifices.” When
we read the newspaper or listen to the news on TV, we receive much information,
but we do not always understand all its meaning. We listen to everything, but
we really do not know what to do with so much information and news. There are
terrible news such as the tsunami, terrorism, the wars, hunger, violence,
crime, the attacks, etc. This is how the news of the horrible massacre which
Pilate, the Roman Governor, had ordered with some Samaritan pilgrims reached
Jesus. Such news upset us, throw us off. And one asks: “What can I do?” To calm
down their conscience, many defend themselves and say: “It is their fault! They
do not work! They are lazy people!” At the time of Jesus, people defended
themselves saying: “
•
Luke 13: 2-3 - Jesus’ response. Jesus has a
different opinion. “Do you suppose that those Galileans were worse sinners than
any others that this should have happened to them? I tell you No, but unless
you repent you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen on whom the tower
at Siloam fell, killing them all? Do you suppose that they were more guilty
than all the other people living in Jerusalem? I tell you, No, but unless you
repent you will perish as they did. He seeks to invite to conversion and to
change.
•
Luke 13: 4-5 - Jesus comments another fact. Or
those eighteen on whom the tower of Siloam fell, killing them all; do you
believe they were more guilty than all the other people in Jerusalem?
It must have been a disaster which was greatly commented in
the city. A thunderstorm knocked down the tower of Siloam killing eighteen
persons who were protecting themselves under it. The normal comment was
“Punishment from God!” Jesus repeats: “I tell you No, but unless you repent you
will perish as they did." They were not converted, they did not change,
and forty years later Jerusalem was destroyed and many people died, being
killed in the Temple like the Samaritans and many people died under the debris
or ruble of the walls of the city. Jesus tried to warn them, but the request
for peace was not accepted: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem!” (Lk 13: 34). Jesus teaches
to discover the calls of the events of life of every day.
•
Luke 13: 6-9 - A parable in such a way as to
make people think and discover God’s project. “A man had a fig tree planted in
his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it but found none. He said to
his vinedresser, for three years now I have been coming to look for fruit on
this fig tree and finding none. Then he said to the vinedresser: Cut it down;
why should it be taking up the ground? Sir, the man replied, leave it one more
year and give me time to dig round it and manure it, it may bear fruit next
year; if not, then you can cut it down.” Many times, the vine is used to
indicate God’s affection for his people, or to indicate the lack of
correspondence of the people to God’s love (Is 5: 1-7; 27: 2-5; Jr 2: 21; 8:
13; Ex 19: 10-14; Ho 10: 1-8; Mi 7: 1; Jn 15: 1-6). In the parable, the
landlord of the vine is God, the Father. The vinedresser who intercedes in
behalf of the vine is Jesus. He insists with the Father to extend the space,
the time of conversion.
Personal Questions
•
God’s People, God’s vineyard. I am part of this
vineyard. I apply this parable to myself. What conclusion do I draw?
•
What do I do with the news that I receive? Do I
seek to have a critical opinion, or do I continue to have the opinion of the
majority and of mass media, of means of communication?
Concluding Prayer
Who is like Yahweh our God? His throne is set on high,
but he stoops to look down on
heaven and earth. He raises the poor from the dust,
he lifts the needy from the
dunghill. (Ps 113: 5-7)
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