October 27, 2025
Monday of the Thirtieth Week
in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 479
Reading
1
Brothers and
sisters,
we are not debtors to the flesh,
to live according to the flesh.
For if you live according to the flesh, you will die,
but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body,
you will live.
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
but you received a spirit of adoption,
through which we cry, "Abba, Father!"
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God,
and if children, then heirs,
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,
if only we suffer with him
so that we may also be glorified with him.
Responsorial
Psalm
Psalm 68:2 and 4, 6-7ab, 20-21
R. (21a) Our
God is the God of salvation.
God arises; his enemies are scattered,
and those who hate him flee before him.
But the just rejoice and exult before God;
they are glad and rejoice.
R. Our God is the God of salvation.
The father of orphans and the defender of widows
is God in his holy dwelling.
God gives a home to the forsaken;
he leads forth prisoners to prosperity.
R. Our God is the God of salvation.
Blessed day by day be the Lord,
who bears our burdens; God, who is our salvation.
God is a saving God for us;
the LORD, my Lord, controls the passageways of death.
R. Our God is the God of salvation.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Your word, O Lord, is truth;
consecrate us in the truth.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus was teaching
in a synagogue on the sabbath.
And a woman was there who for eighteen years
had been crippled by a spirit;
she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect.
When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said,
"Woman, you are set free of your infirmity."
He laid his hands on her,
and she at once stood up straight and glorified God.
But the leader of the synagogue,
indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath,
said to the crowd in reply,
"There are six days when work should be done.
Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day."
The Lord said to him in reply, "Hypocrites!
Does not each one of you on the sabbath
untie his ox or his ass from the manger
and lead it out for watering?
This daughter of Abraham,
whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now,
ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day
from this bondage?"
When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated;
and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102725.cfm
Commentary on Romans 8:12-17
Paul continues his
comparison between being “in the flesh” and being “in Christ”. He focuses today
especially on baptised Christians, to whom his letter is mainly addressed.
Paul begins by
repeating what he has already said about the difference between living in the
“flesh” and living in the Spirit. Now that we are in Christ, there is no
obligation to be ruled by our lower human nature, our sensual selves. To live
that way leads to self-destruction. On the other hand, if, by the power of the
Spirit of God working in us, we can overcome the habits which originate from
the body, then we will truly live. By the power of the Spirit, we can nullify
the pull of our lower nature and experience life in its fullness—physical,
moral, social and spiritual.
Because, he says:
…all who are
led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
Actually, the Holy
Spirit is much more than one who inwardly guides; he is the very principle of a
truly divine life. As Paul said of himself:
…it is no
longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.
(Gal 2:20)
He emphasises
elsewhere that the whole community is the Body of the Risen Christ, in whom
Christ is really present.
In a general
sense, of course, God is the Father of every single person, to whom he extends
his love and providential care. That is what we mean when we pray ‘Our’
Father—and that ‘our’ cannot exclude a single person. But when we identify
ourselves with Christ as Lord through faith and accept his gospel message as
our Way, then we become children in a special sense. Then we are children not
merely by accident of birth, but by faith, thus setting up a special positive
relationship.
And, as children,
we:
…do not receive
a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but…a spirit of adoption.
This enables us to
cry out “Abba, Father!” These words seem partly addressed to those Jewish
Christians who want to bring back the Law as their way of life. To live under a
law in this way is a kind of slavery and it engenders fear, an ongoing anxiety
that the law is not being perfectly observed.
On the contrary,
through faith, we have been adopted into the family of Christ, who is our
Brother, with God as our Father. Adoption was common among the Greeks and
Romans, who granted the adopted son all the privileges of a natural son,
including inheritance rights. We Christians are adopted children by grace;
Christ himself, however, is God’s Son by nature.
It was in the
garden on the Mount of Olives that Jesus called out:
Abba, Father,
for you all things are possible… (Mark
14:36)
‘Abba’ is a
universal term found all over the world for a child to address his or her
father with intimacy, love and affection. In English, we might say, ‘Papa’ or
‘Daddy’. The Chinese term sounds almost exactly the same as Abba—”Ah Ba”. Now
we, too, can address our God in the same words and with the same feelings. For
the traditional Jew or Muslim this would be unthinkable, where the name of God
is held in such respect that it can hardly be mentioned. Even Matthew, in many
parts of his Gospel, goes out of his way to avoid directly using the name of
God.
Furthermore, Paul
says:
…it is that
very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God…
When it is clear
from all our behaviour that we are filled with the Spirit of God and Christ,
when our spirit and the Spirit of Christ merge as one in us, then we know that
we are truly his adopted children.
From this, Paul
draws another conclusion:
…and if
children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if we in fact
suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
As adopted
children of God, we share also in the inheritance that comes to Jesus. We are
heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. The glory that is Jesus’ will also be
ours, provided we share in his suffering.
It is presumed
that we accept from God all the experiences, some of which may be very painful,
that may come in living our faith openly, in publicly identifying with Christ
and his Way and in giving witness to the Kingdom. We are not only heirs; we
need to act like heirs, with our co-heir, Jesus, as our model.
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Commentary on Luke 13:10-17
Last Saturday we
saw Jesus telling people that they should not be distracted from their own
obligations by getting caught up in tragedies which happened to others. Rather
than wonder about the eternal salvation of others, they should pay more
attention to their own situation. Today we have an example of people so busy
criticising what others are doing that they are totally unaware of the emptiness
in their own lives.
We are told that
Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on a sabbath day. In the congregation was a
woman who was suffering from what seems to be curvature of the spine for 18
years. There is a certain symbolism in the fact that she was badly stooped and
was not able to stand up straight. Spiritually speaking, is that not also our
problem too? So many of us are bowed down with the burdens and worries of our
lives.
In fact, nearly
all the healings done by Jesus can be seen as symbolic of deeper afflictions
from which all of us can suffer, and even at the same time! For example, we
might be deaf (we can’t hear God speaking to us), blind (we cannot see the
truth or understand the Word of Jesus in the Gospel), mute (we can’t or won’t
proclaim our faith), or paralysed and have other crippling afflictions (we are
not able to do the things we ought to be doing). We might suffer from leprosy
(we are cut off from relating with others or we cut other people off), or be
possessed by evil spirits (in the grip of various compulsions and addictions).
Jesus saw the
woman, called her to him and told her she was free from her affliction. Her
affliction was seen as caused by an evil spirit and Jesus had liberated her. He
laid his hand on her and immediately she stood up straight and began thanking
God.
One might expect
that everyone present would also start thanking and praising God for what had
happened to the poor woman. But alas no, the chief of the synagogue was
indignant that the healing had taken place on the Sabbath because medical
services were not allowed on the day of rest. He said, “There are six days on
which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured and not on the
Sabbath day.”
The ruler of the
synagogue was not a priest. He was responsible for conducting services,
inviting people to read the Scriptures and preach, and in general maintaining
order. He was a layman who also had administrative duties such as taking care
of the building. Normally, only one person held this post, but sometimes it
could be simply an honorary position.
In a way, of
course, the ruler was perfectly right. A woman who had lived with this kind of
ailment for 18 years could easily have waited for just one more day to be
cured. But that was not the point, as Jesus made perfectly clear. He accused
the synagogue head and his like of pure hypocrisy:
Does not each
of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it to
water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for
eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day?
They put the needs
of animals before that of a human being. All the synagogue head could see was
the letter of the law. He could not marvel at the healing power of Jesus and
the deep compassion behind it. He could not see that he was in the presence of
God’s very power.
It would be like
someone at Mass criticising the brevity of a lector’s dress while being totally
oblivious to the Word of God she was reading—perhaps this very text!
There is also the
sinister possibility, which was the case on other similar occasions, that the
woman had been put there deliberately to see whether Jesus would violate the
Sabbath. It was not the Sabbath that some of the religious leaders were
concerned about, but rather the gathering of evidence to convict Jesus of
heresy. The story is an example of taking the beam out of our own eye before
dealing with the speck in someone else’s, or of none being so blind as those
who refuse to see.
In the end, we are
told that Jesus’ critics were “put to shame”, while the ordinary people, often
with far more insight than their religious leaders were:
…rejoicing at
all the wonderful things being done by him.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o1302g/
Monday,
October 27, 2025
Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Almighty and ever-living God, strengthen our faith, hope
and love. May we do with loving hearts what you ask of us and come to share the
life you promise.
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 13: 10-17
One Sabbath day Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues,
and there before him was a woman who for eighteen years had been possessed by a
spirit that crippled her; she was bent double and quite unable to stand
upright. When Jesus saw her he called her over and said, 'Woman, you are freed
from your disability,' and he laid his hands on her. And at once she
straightened up, and she glorified God.
But the president of the
synagogue was indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, and he
addressed all those present saying, 'There are six days when work is to be
done. Come and be healed on one of those days and not on the Sabbath.'
But the Lord answered him and
said, 'Hypocrites! Is there one of you who does not untie his ox or his donkey
from the manger on the Sabbath and take it out for watering? And this woman, a
daughter of Abraham whom Satan has held bound these eighteen years -
- was it not right to untie this bond on the Sabbath day?'
When he said this, all his adversaries were covered with
confusion, and all the people were overjoyed at all the wonders he worked.
Reflection
The Gospel today describes the cure of a woman who was
crippled. It is a question of one of the many episodes which Luke narrates,
without too much order, in describing the long journey of Jesus toward
Jerusalem (Lk 9: 51 to 19: 28).
•
Luke 13: 10-11: The situation which brings about
the action of Jesus. Jesus is in the synagogue on a day of rest. He keeps the
Law respecting Saturday and participating in the celebration together with his
people. Luke tells us that Jesus was teaching. In the Synagogue there was a
crippled woman. Luke says that she had a spirit which crippled her and
prevented her from straightening up. This was a way in which the people of that
time explained sicknesses. It was already eighteen years that she was in that situation.
The woman does not speak, does not have a name, she does not ask to be cured,
she takes no initiative. One is struck by her passivity.
•
Luke 13: 12-13: Jesus cures the woman. Seeing
the woman, Jesus calls her and says to her: Woman, you are freed from your
disability!” The action of freeing is done by the word, addressed directly to
the woman, and through the imposition of the hands. Immediately, she stands up
and begins to praise the Lord. There is relation between standing up and
praising the Lord. Jesus does things in such a way that the woman stands up, in
such a way that she can praise God in the midst of the people meeting in the
assembly. Peter’s mother-in-law, once she was cured, she stands up and serves
(Mk 1: 31). To praise God is to serve the brothers!
•
Luke 13: 14: The reaction of the president of
the Synagogue. The President of the Synagogue became indignant seeing Jesus’
action, because he had cured on Saturday: “There are six days when work is to
be done. Come and be healed in one of those days and not on the Sabbath.” In
the criticism of the President of the Synagogue, people remember the word of
the Law of God which said: “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. For six
days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath for
Yahweh your God. You shall do no work that day”, (Ex 20: 8-10). In this
reaction is the reason why the woman could not participate at that time. The
dominion of conscience through the manipulation of the law of God was quite
strong. And this was the way of keeping the people submitted and bent down,
crippled.
•
Luke 13: 15-16: The response of Jesus to the
President of the Synagogue. The President condemned persons because he wanted
them to observe the Law of God. What for the President of the Synagogue is observance
of the Law, for Jesus is hypocrisy: "Hypocrites, is there one of you who
does not untie his ox or his donkey from the manger on the Sabbath and take it
down for watering? And this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan has held
bound these eighteen years – was it not right to untie this bond on the Sabbath
day?” With this example drawn from everyday life, Jesus indicates the
incoherence of this type of observance of the Law of God. If it is permitted to
untie an ox or a donkey on Saturday to give it water, much more will it be
permitted to untie a daughter of Abraham to free her from the power of evil.
The true sense of the observance of the Law which pleases God is this: to
liberate persons from the power of evil and to make them stand up, in order
that they can render glory to God and praise him. Jesus imitates God who
sustains those who are unsteady or weak and lifts those who fall (Ps 145: 14;
146: 8).
•
Luke 13: 17: The reaction of the people before
the action of Jesus. The teaching of Jesus confuses his enemies, but the crowds
are filled with joy because of the wonderful things that Jesus is doing: “All
the people were overjoyed at all the wonders he worked.” In Palestine, at the
time of Jesus, women lived crippled, bent, and submitted to the husband, to the
parents and to the religious heads of her people. This situation of submission
was justified by the religion. But Jesus does not want her to continue to be
crippled, bent. To choose and to liberate persons does not depend on a
determinate date. It can be done every day, even on Saturday!
Personal Questions
•
The situation of women has changed very much
since that time, or not? Which is the situation of women in society and in the
Church? Is there any relation between religion and oppression of women?
•
Did the crowds exult before the action of Jesus?
What liberation is taking place today and is leading the crowd to exult and to
give thanks to God?
Concluding Prayer
How blessed is anyone who rejects
the advice of the wicked and does not take a stand in the path that sinners
tread, nor a seat in company with cynics, but who delights in the law of Yahweh
and murmurs his law, day and night. (Ps 1: 1-2)
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