September 18, 2026
Friday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 447
Reading 1
Brothers and sisters:
If Christ is preached as raised from the dead,
how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead?
If there is no resurrection of the dead,
then neither has Christ been raised.
And if Christ has not been raised, then empty too is our preaching;
empty, too, your faith.
Then we are also false witnesses to God,
because we testified against God that he raised Christ,
whom he did not raise if in fact the dead are not raised.
For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised,
and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain;
you are still in your sins.
Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
If for this life only we have hoped in Christ,
we are the most pitiable people of all.
But now Christ has been raised from the dead,
the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (15b) Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be
full.
Hear, O LORD, a just suit;
attend to my outcry;
hearken to my prayer from lips without deceit.
R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me; hear my word.
Show your wondrous mercies,
O savior of those who flee
from their foes to refuge at your right hand.
R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
Hide me in the shadow of your wings,
But I in justice shall behold your face;
on waking, I shall be content in your presence.
R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus journeyed from one town and village to another,
preaching and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God.
Accompanying him were the Twelve
and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities,
Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,
Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza,
Susanna, and many others
who provided for them out of their resources.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091826.cfm
Commentary on 1
Corinthians 15:12-20
Although the core of the gospel proclamation was that Christ
had been raised from the dead, there were Christians in Corinth who did not
believe in the resurrection of the dead.
For Paul, Christ’s resurrection, of which the Apostles are
witnesses, is the decisive proof of the future resurrection of all—something
which the Old Testament early on suspects and hopes for, but eventually asserts
quite plainly. This is why the resurrection of Christ is the foundation of
faith. The risen Christ can be called the first-fruits, not only heralding, but
causing the resurrection of all Christians.
Paul throws down a strong challenge to the logic of the
Corinthians’ doubts. He makes eight points to show the falseness of their
position:
If there is no resurrection from the dead:
- then
Christ himself has not been raised;
- all
preaching of the gospel is therefore useless;
- as
is their faith in Christ, who, in this hypothesis, no longer exists.
- Paul
and his colleagues are guilty of telling terrible lies when they say they
have had a personal experience of the Risen Christ;
- and
the faith of the Corinthians has no basis whatever.
- They
are still in their sins which have not been forgiven when they were
baptised.
- All
their brothers and sisters who have died have gone into total oblivion.
- And
if faith in Christ is valid only for this life, then the Christians are
among the most to be pitied for enduring so much hardship and persecution
for something which ends in nothing.
None of this makes sense, concludes Paul. He categorically
states his conviction that Christ has been raised from the dead and he is the
‘first-fruits’ who leads the way for all others who die as his followers. It
was the custom for the Jews to offer the first sheaf of the harvest to the
Lord, as an acknowledgement that the whole harvest was his gift and would be
used by his people in his love and service.
Similarly, Christ is the first ‘sheaf’ of the great harvest
which will be gathered together by God to be with him forever. We too pray that
we may be included in that great harvest.
Commentary on Luke
8:1-3
This passage follows immediately from yesterday’s about the
sinful woman in the house of Simon the Pharisee. It is one of those summary
passages describing in general terms the work of Jesus.
He is accompanied by the chosen Twelve, his cooperators in
the preaching of the Word and the establishing of the Kingdom. And it is
precisely the Good News (the Gospel) about the Kingdom that they are preaching
in word and demonstrating in practice.
What is noteworthy here—and it is unique to Luke—is the
mention of many women also travelling in the company of Jesus. Some of them
were women who had been healed of evil spirits. One is mentioned by name:
Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone
out…
The number seven is not to be taken literally, but indicates
she had formerly been in a seriously immoral state. Mary of Magdala appears
very prominently in John’s Gospel as someone very close to Jesus and he
describes her as the first witness of the Resurrection. It is possible, too,
that the “sinful woman” in the house of Simon the Pharisee was also in the
group.
Some of the other women seem to be of more ample means and
higher social rank. One of them was Joanna, the wife of King Herod’s steward.
They helped Jesus and his disciples with their material needs. Once again,
Jesus is not embarrassed to travel in the company of these women; nor are they
uncomfortable in his.
We see here two roles being played by followers of Jesus. On
the one hand are the Apostles, whose function it is to proclaim the gospel and
establish the Kingdom by word and deed, by preaching and by the example of the
communal and shared life they are leading.
The other role is that of Jesus’ disciples, who are
materially better off and who support the work of proclaiming the gospel by
providing for the material and other needs of the evangelisers. The two roles
are complementary and both, taken together, form the evangelising work of the
Church.
A good example in our time are the Sisters of St Teresa of
Calcutta (Missionaries of Charity), who would never be able to take care of the
destitute dying without the generous help of many benefactors. And the same
statement applies for many other voluntary groups involved in looking after the
disadvantaged.
https://sacredspace.com/commentary
Friday,
September 18, 2026
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 8: 1-3
Jesus journeyed from one town and village to another,
preaching and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. Accompanying him
were the Twelve and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and
infirmities, Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,
Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, Susanna, and many others who
provided for them out of their resources.
Reflection
In today’s Gospel we have the
continuation of yesterday’s episode which spoke of the surprising attitude of
Jesus with regard to women, when He defends the woman who was known in the town
as a sinner, against the criticism of the Pharisee. Now at the beginning of
chapter 8, Luke describes Jesus who goes through the villages and towns of
Galilee, and the novelty is that He was not only accompanied by the disciples,
but also by the women disciples.
•
Luke 8: 1: The Twelve who follow Jesus. In one
phrase alone, Luke describes the situation: Jesus goes through towns and
villages preaching and proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God and the
Twelve are with Him. The expression “to follow Jesus” (cf. Mk 1: 18; 15: 41)
indicates the condition of the disciple who follows the Master, twenty-four
hours a day, trying to imitate His example and to participate in His destiny.
•
Luke 8: 2-3: The women follow Jesus. What
surprises is that along with the men there are also women “together with
Jesus.” Luke places both the men and the women disciples at the same level
because all of them follow Jesus. Luke has also kept some of the names of some
of these women disciples: Mary Magdalene, born in the town of Magdala. She had
been cured and delivered from seven demons; Joanna, the wife of Chuza, steward
of Herod Antipas, who was Governor of Galilee; Suzanne and several others. It
is said that they “served Jesus with their own goods” Jesus allows a group of
women “to follow” Him (Lk 8: 2-3; 23: 49; Mk 15: 41). The Gospel of Mark when
speaking about the women at the moment of Jesus’ death says, “There were some
women who were observing at a distance and among them Mary of Magdala, Mary,
the mother of James the younger and Joses, and Salome, who followed Him and
served Him when he was still in Galilee, and many others who had gone up with
Him to Jerusalem (Mk 15: 40-41). Mark defines their attitude with three words:
to follow, to serve, to go up to Jerusalem. The first Christians did not draw
up a list of these women disciples who followed Jesus as they had done with the
twelve disciples. But, in the pages of the Gospel of Luke the name of seven of
these women disciples are mentioned: Mary Magdalene, Joanna, wife of Chuza,
Suzanne (Lk 8: 3), Martha and Mary (Lk 10: 38), Mary, the mother of James (Lk 24:
10) and Anna, the prophetess (Lk 2: 36), who was eighty-four years old. Number
eighty-four is seven times twelve: the perfect age! The later Ecclesiastical
tradition does not value this fact about the discipleship of women with the
same importance with which it values the following of Jesus on the part of men.
It is also important to remember that women held a particular discipleship
apart from the men chosen by Jesus for the Twelve.
•
The Gospel of Luke has always been considered as
the Gospel of women. In fact, Luke is the Evangelist who presents the largest
number of episodes in which he underlines the relationship of Jesus with the
women, and the novelty is not only in the presence of the women around Jesus,
but also and, above all, in the attitude of Jesus in relation to them. Jesus
touches them and allows them to touch Him without fear of being contaminated
(Lk 7: 39; 8: 4445, 54). This was different from the teachers of that time,
Jesus accepts women who follow Him and who are His disciples (Lk 8: 2-3; 10:
39). The liberating force of God, which acts in Jesus, allows women to rise and
to assume their dignity (Lk 13: 13). Jesus is sensitive to the suffering of the
widow and is in solidarity with her sorrow (Lk 7: 13). The work of the woman
who prepares the meal is considered by Jesus like a sign of the Kingdom (Lk 13:
2021). The insistent widow who struggles for her rights is considered the model
of prayer (Lk 18: 1-8), and the poor widow who shares the little that she has
with others is the model of dedication and donation (Lk 21: 1-4). At a time
when the witness of women is not accepted as something valid, Jesus accepts
women and considers them witnesses of His death (Lk 23: 49), of His burial (Lk
22: 55-56) and of His resurrection (Lk 24: 1-11, 22-24).
Personal Questions
•
How are women considered in your community, in
your country, in your Church?
•
Does this consider the unique gifts each gender
is given, or does it treat each as just a "plug-in-replacement" for
the other?
•
Compare the attitude of our Church with the
attitude of Jesus, but not in a superficial or politically motivated way.
Concluding Prayer
God, examine me and know my heart, test me and know my
concerns.
Make sure that I am not on my way to ruin, and guide me on
the road of eternity. (Ps 139: 23-24)
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