October 26, 2026
Monday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 479
Reading 1
Brothers and sisters:
Be kind to one another, compassionate,
forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.
Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love,
as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us
as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.
Immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you,
as is fitting among holy ones,
no obscenity or silly or suggestive talk, which is out of place,
but instead, thanksgiving.
Be sure of this, that no immoral or impure or greedy person,
that is, an idolater,
has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God.
Let no one deceive you with empty arguments,
for because of these things
the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient.
So do not be associated with them.
For you were once darkness,
but now you are light in the Lord.
Live as children of light.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (see Eph. 5:1) Behave like God as his very dear
children.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Behave like God as his very dear children.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Behave like God as his very dear children.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R. Behave like God as his very dear children.
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/102626.cfm
Commentary on
Ephesians 4:32—5:8
Having spoken about unity and the diversity of gifts in the
community, Paul now goes on to spell out more clearly how these qualities are
to become realities in the community’s life.
First of all, he calls for tolerance and mutual acceptance:
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.
And this forgiveness has to be extended as readily as God
has forgiven them (and us) so many times in Christ. So often we pray: “Forgive
us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” But does it
reflect our actual behaviour?
Compassion and forgiveness are the exact opposite of some of
the negative qualities Paul had mentioned earlier: bitterness, rage and anger,
brawling and slander.
Instead, members of the community are to become
imitators of God, precisely because they are his children. But how can one
imitate God? We do it by showing to each other the same love that Jesus showed,
most dramatically when he offered up his life as a “fragrant offering” to his
Father. In the Old Testament, the offering of a sacrifice that pleased the Lord
was described as having a “pleasing aroma”. We are to make the same kind of
offering of ourselves.
Through the concreteness of his humanity, Jesus offers us
the way to grow into the likeness of his Father by becoming as much like Jesus
as possible. We can imitate his compassion for the sinner and his readiness to
forgive our sins. The way we imitate our Lord is to act just as he did. Jesus,
offering his life for us to express God’s love for us, is not only the means of
salvation, but also an example of the way we are to live for the sake of
others.
People leading such a life, then, will strenuously distance
themselves from certain kinds of behaviour which Paul mentions
and, which one suspects, were not unknown among the Christians to whom he
was writing. He says:
…sexual immorality and impurity of any kind or greed must
not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints. Entirely
out of place is obscene, silly, and vulgar talk…
In this, Paul is moving from specifically sexual sins to
more general sins and other forms of objectionable behaviour.
Such behaviour should not be found among “saints” or a
people who are the temple of the Risen Christ. Instead, their voices should be
raised in thanksgiving to God for all they have received from him through Jesus
and the church.
Certainly people who consistently indulge in immoral sexual
behaviour, to the point that it almost becomes an object of worship (and that
is not unknown in our own times), cannot expect to enter and become members of
the Kingdom. One cannot at the same time worship God and sex. The “greed” Paul
mentions is apparently sexual greed in this context. Uncontrolled greed of this
kind treats others creatures with the worship due to God and so turns them into
idols.
Paul says:
…for because of these things the wrath of God comes on
those who are disobedient.
This happens not so much because immoral sexual behaviour
‘makes’ God angry, but rather such behaviour brings about moral and physical
corruption which, if adhered to, of its very nature distances us from God.
The Christians are not to be associated with such people.
Although the early Christians did live in normal social relationships with
others, as did the Lord Jesus, they were not to participate in the sinful
life-style of unbelievers. The same applies to us.
Paul says to the Ephesians, “once you were darkness”,
referring to their past life as Gentiles, as people without God. Now, because
of their conversion and baptism, they are in the light of Christ and are
“children of light”. It makes no sense for them to have come in from the
darkness and then, by their immoral behaviour, go back into it. As such, they
are not just living now in the light of God’s teaching, but they are also
called to be a light for those around them.
We can be tempted at times to have a very idealistic image
of the early Church, but it is very clear from the New Testament letters that
the early Christians were still infected with much of the immorality which
surrounded them.
Today we need to look into our own lives and see if there is
anything in our behaviour or attitudes which is not compatible with our
membership in Christ’s community. In particular, we might ask what role does
sexuality play in our lives? Is it debasing or is it enriching? Does it bring
us closer to Jesus or away from him? To what extent are we influenced by the
culture which surrounds us? And what are we doing to give effective witness to
the Christian Way?
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 a lector’s
attire while being totally oblivious to the Word of God being read—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 not 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.
https://sacredspace.com/commentary
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 year- 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 domination 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 every day 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 Satan. 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 parents and to the religious heads of
the 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 certain 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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