September 24, 2026
Thursday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 452
Reading 1
Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth,
vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!
What profit has man from all the labor
which he toils at under the sun?
One generation passes and another comes,
but the world forever stays.
The sun rises and the sun goes down;
then it presses on to the place where it rises.
Blowing now toward the south, then toward the north,
the wind turns again and again, resuming its rounds.
All rivers go to the sea,
yet never does the sea become full.
To the place where they go,
the rivers keep on going.
All speech is labored;
there is nothing one can say.
The eye is not satisfied with seeing
nor is the ear satisfied with hearing.
What has been, that will be;
what has been done, that will be done.
Nothing is new under the sun.
Even the thing of which we say, “See, this is new!”
has already existed in the ages that preceded us.
There is no remembrance of the men of old;
nor of those to come will there be any remembrance
among those who come after them.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 90:3-4,
5-6, 12-13, 14, 17bc
R. (1) In every age, O Lord, you have been our
refuge.
You turn man back to dust,
saying, “Return, O children of men.”
For a thousand years in your sight
are as yesterday, now that it is past,
or as a watch of the night.
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
You make an end of them in their sleep;
the next morning they are like the changing grass,
Which at dawn springs up anew,
but by evening wilts and fades.
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
Prosper the work of our hands for us!
Prosper the work of our hands!
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord;
no one comes to the Father except through me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening,
and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying,
“John has been raised from the dead”;
others were saying, “Elijah has appeared”;
still others, “One of the ancient prophets has arisen.”
But Herod said, “John I beheaded.
Who then is this about whom I hear such things?”
And he kept trying to see him.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092426.cfm
Commentary on
Ecclesiastes 1:2-11
Today we begin reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes,
another Wisdom book which follows immediately in our Bible after Proverbs. The
word “Ecclesiastes” is a Greek translation of the original Hebrew title of the
book, Qoheleth—a word which means ‘Teacher’, one who conducts an
assembly or a school. As the Greek word for ‘assembly’ is ekklesia, that
explains the title we use.
The book is presented as being written by Solomon, a king
famous for his wisdom, and this gave it weight as a ‘wisdom’ book. However, scholars
are agreed that the book was not written by Solomon, but comes from a much
later period when the Jews, back from exile and in Jerusalem, were under the
empire of the Persians.
The book teaches wisdom by highlighting the emptiness of
most human pursuits: “All is vanity.” The language often sounds negative and
cynical. Even so, according to the Harper Collins Bible: “in the face of
death and ‘vanity’, Qoheleth repeatedly urges humans to embrace life and its
goods—food, drink, love, work, and play—as gifts from God.”
In the face of the emptiness and vanity of life, the Teacher
makes two positive points:
- Near
the very end of the Book, he tells his reader to:
Fear God, and keep his commandments, for that is the
whole duty of everyone. (Eccle 12:13)
- As
humans have no really effective control over their environment and spend
much of their time chasing the illusory, the real good is to enjoy life as
a gift of God, and it is in the area in which they find themselves that
they are to find him.
The theme of the whole book is expressed in the opening
words of today’s reading: “All is vanity.” The original meaning of the Hebrew
word translated ‘vanity’ was ‘mist’ or ‘breath’. It is one of a group of
traditional images (e.g. water, shadow, smoke) used in Hebrew poetry to
describe the transitory nature of human life. It is used thirty-five times
altogether in this book, but in Qoheleth the word has lost its usual meaning.
For him, ‘vanity’ signifies the illusory nature of things, and hence the
delusions to which the human family is subjected. The basic thrust of
Ecclesiastes is that all of life is meaningless, useless, hollow, futile and
vain, if it is not rightly related to God. Only when based on God and his word
is life worthwhile.
The reading says:
What do people gain from all the toil
at which they toil under the sun?
It reminds one of the words of Jesus to his disciples:
For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and
forfeit their life? (Mark 8:36)
A life without God and the values we identify with God,
however much energy is put into it, is meaningless.
The second part of the reading is full of a kind of
weariness and pessimism about the experience of life that many, if not most
people have endured at some time. The world by itself seems to have
no inner meaning. It goes on and on repeating the same cycles again and again.
There is a terrible determinism and inevitability about everything. Yet, Job,
who had his fair share of troubles, looking at the same world is filled with
wonder and adoration. To quote a well-used verse:
“Two men looked out through prison bars, one saw mud and one
saw stars.”
Of course, the author of Ecclesiastes was writing in a world
which had far less control over its environment than we have, but even in our
day there are still situations where we are basically helpless. Freak weather
conditions, droughts and floods, earthquakes and volcanoes, deadly viruses, the
breakdown of our bodies (often the result of our own indulgences and excesses
in work and play), our recklessness with mind-altering substances (nicotine,
alcohol, and other drugs), and the unforeseeable breakdown and/or mishandling
of our technologies (e.g. car and plane crashes)—all of these can bring the
most dazzling of human achievements to nothing, sometimes in a split second.
Meanwhile, as the Teacher says, “the earth remains forever”,
meaning the world goes on just as before without us. Generations come and
generations go; the sun rises and sets; the wind blows from the north today and
from the south tomorrow and back again; and rivers keep flowing into the sea,
but the sea is not full. The world seemingly goes on indefinitely, but human
life can disappear very quickly.
The cycles of life are repeated again and again:
…there is nothing new under the sun.
This is a phrase the Teacher will use twenty-nine times in
his book. It could be heard as very cynical, but it also has a genuinely
positive meaning.
We may feel that in our exciting technological world, new
things are constantly appearing. ‘New’ is a word constantly shouted at us by
products in our commercials and media. Yet, the deeper experiences of life
repeat themselves again and again. Maybe we understand them a bit better, but
the experiences themselves and the fragility of life have not changed since the
Teacher’s days.
Jesus put this in another way when he reminded us that we
did not know the day nor the hour when our life would come to an end. There is
not a single person, however rich or however powerful, who knows when that hour
will take place. The purpose of such a reflection, then, is not to fill people
with fear and discouragement, but with a realistic awareness of the ultimate
purpose of living.
What is the quality and purpose of my life at this time? Is
my day spent in seeking and finding God or am I in search of something else
which I have no guarantee of either finding or keeping? Or, on the other hand,
am I so in touch with my Lord that, no matter when it happens, I will be ready
to answer his call and run to him full of desire for perfect unity with him?
Commentary on Luke
9:7-9
Today we have a short interlude which is leading to some
very special revelations. Herod the Tetrarch is hearing stories about what
Jesus is doing. ‘Tetrarch’ means the ruler of one-fourth part of a kingdom.
This one, Herod Antipas, was one of several sons of Herod the Great, whose
kingdom was divided among four of them. Herod Antipas ruled over Galilee and
Perea from 4 BC to 39 AD. Although not strictly speaking a ‘king’, he is called
that in Matthew and Mark following popular usage.
Herod is puzzled because he is being told that Jesus is John
the Baptist risen from the dead. At the same time others are saying that Elijah
(whose expected return would signal the arrival of the Messiah), or one of the
ancient prophets has reappeared. Herod has recently beheaded John the Baptist,
and the superstitious king is filled with a mixture of fear and curiosity. He
kept trying to ‘see’ Jesus.
Luke does not actually record the death of John and, in this
short passage, he prepares the reader for the later meeting of Herod with Jesus
(Luke 23:8-12). So Herod’s wish will be partially fulfilled at a later date,
though under very unexpected circumstances, and in a way that Herod will find
very unsatisfactory. He is hoping that Jesus, like some circus dog, will do
some ‘tricks’ or ‘miracles’ for him.
Herod’s desire was almost entirely one of curiosity;
it was the desire of the hedonist and the seeker of novelty. It can only
happen to those who have the eyes of faith, and who can see in the person of
Jesus the presence and power of God. We may recall the request of some ‘Greeks’
who told Philip they wanted to see Jesus, and the reply that Jesus gave about
the grain of wheat falling into the ground and dying (John 12:20-26). We have
not seen Jesus if we do not know him in his suffering and dying as his way to
new life.
Let us ask to see Jesus today, a seeing that leads to a
total acceptance of his way of life and following him all the way, through the
cross and beyond to a life that never ends.
https://sacredspace.com/commentary
Thursday,
September 24, 2026
Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Father,
guide us, as You guide creation
according to Your law of love. May we love one another and come to perfection
in the eternal life prepared for us.
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 9: 7-9
Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he
was greatly perplexed because some were saying, "John has been raised from
the dead"; others were saying, "Elijah has appeared;” still others,
"One of the ancient prophets has arisen." But Herod said, "John
I beheaded. Who then is this about whom I hear such things?" And he kept
trying to see him.
Reflection
Today’s Gospel
presents a reaction from Herod listening to the preaching of
Jesus. Herod does not know how
to place himself before Jesus. He had killed John the Baptist and now he wants
to see Jesus close to him. It is always threatening.
•
Luke 9: 7-8: Who is Jesus? The text begins with
the exposition of the opinion of the people and of Herod on Jesus. Some
associated Jesus to John the Baptist and to Elijah. Others identified Him with
a Prophet, that is, with a person who speaks in the name of God, who has the
courage to denounce injustices of those in power and who knows how to give hope
to the little ones. He is the Prophet announced in the Old Testament like a new
Moses (Dt 18: 15). These are the same opinions that Jesus received from the
disciples when He asked them: “Who do people say I am?” (Lk 9: 18). People
tried to understand Jesus starting from things that they knew, thought and
expected. They tried to set Him against the background of the familiar criteria
of the Old Testament with its prophecies and hopes, and of the tradition of the
ancients with their laws. But these were insufficient criteria; Jesus could not
enter into them, He was much bigger!
•
Luke 9: 9: Herod wants to see Jesus. But Herod
said: “John, I beheaded him; so who is this of whom I hear such things?” “And
he was anxious to see him.” Herod, a superstitious man without scruples,
recognizes that he was the murderer of John the Baptist. Now, he wants to see
Jesus. Luke suggests thus that the threats begin to appear on the horizon of
the preaching of Jesus. Herod had no fear to kill John. He will not be afraid
to kill Jesus. On the other hand, Jesus does not fear Herod. When they tell Him
that Herod wanted to take Him to kill Him, He sent someone to tell him: “You
may go and give that fox this message: Look, today and tomorrow I drive out
devils and heal, and on the third day I attain My end.” (Lk 13: 32). Herod has
no power over Jesus. When at the hour of the passion, Pilate sends Jesus to be
judged by Herod, Jesus does not respond anything (Lk 23: 9). Herod does not
deserve a response.
•
From father to son. Sometimes the three Herods,
who lived during that time, are confused, then the three appear in the New
Testament with the same name: a) Herod, called the Great, governed over the
whole of Palestine from 37 before Christ. He appears at the birth of Jesus (Mt
2: 1). He kills the new-born babies of Bethlehem (Mt 2: 16). b) Herod, called
Antipas, governed in Galilee from the year 4 to 39 after Christ. He appears at
the death of Jesus (Lk 23: 7). He killed John the Baptist (Mk 6: 14-29). c)
Herod, called Agrippa, governed all over Palestine from the year 41 to 44 after
Christ. He appears in the Acts of the Apostles (Ac 12: 1, 20). He killed the
Apostle James (Ac 12: 2).
•
When Jesus was about four years old, King Herod,
the one who killed the newborn babies of Bethlehem died (Mt 2:16). His
territory was divided among his sons. Archelaus would govern Judea. He was less
intelligent than his father, but more violent. When he assumed the power,
approximately 3000 persons were massacred on the square of the Temple! The
Gospel of Matthew says that Mary and Joseph, when they learned that Archelaus
had taken over the government of Galilee, were afraid and returned on the road
and went to Nazareth, in Galilee, which was governed by another son of Herod,
called Herod Antipas (Lk 3:1). This Antipas governed over 40 years. During the
thirtythree years of Jesus there was no change of government in Galilee. Herod,
the Great, the father of Herod Antipas, had constructed the city of Caesarea
Maritime, inaugurated in the year 15 before Christ. It was the new port to get
out the products of the region. They had to compete with the large port of
Tyron in the North and, thus, help to develop trade and business in Samaria and
in Galilee. Because of this, from the time of Herod the Great, the agricultural
production in Galilee began to orientate itself no longer according to the
needs of the families, as before, but according to the demands of the market.
This process of change in the economy continued during all the time of the
government of Herod Antipas, another forty years, and found in him an efficient
organizer. All these governors were ‘servants of power.’ In fact, the one who commanded
in Palestine, from the year 63 before Christ, was Rome, the Empire.
Personal Questions
•
It is well always to ask ourselves: Who is Jesus
for me?
•
Herod wants to see Jesus. His was a
superstitious and morbid curiosity. Others want to see Jesus because they seek
a sense for their life. Others seek Him out of earthly wants. What motivation
do I have which moves me to see and encounter Jesus?
Concluding Prayer
Each morning fill us with Your faithful love, we shall sing
and be happy all our days; let our joy be as long as the time that You
afflicted us, the years when we experienced disaster. (Ps 90: 14-15)
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