October 3, 2026
Saturday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 460
Reading 1
Job answered the LORD and said:
I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be hindered.
I have dealt with great things that I do not understand;
things too wonderful for me, which I cannot know.
I had heard of you by word of mouth,
but now my eye has seen you.
Therefore I disown what I have said,
and repent in dust and ashes.
Thus the LORD blessed the latter days of Job
more than his earlier ones.
For he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels,
a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses.
And he had seven sons and three daughters,
of whom he called the first Jemimah,
the second Keziah, and the third Kerenhappuch.
In all the land no other women were as beautiful
as the daughters of Job;
and their father gave them an inheritance
along with their brothers.
After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years;
and he saw his children, his grandchildren,
and even his great-grandchildren.
Then Job died, old and full of years.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 119:66,
71, 75, 91, 125, 130
R. (135) Lord, let your face shine on me.
Teach me wisdom and knowledge,
for in your commands I trust.
R. Lord, let your face shine on me.
It is good for me that I have been afflicted,
that I may learn your statutes.
R. Lord, let your face shine on me.
I know, O LORD, that your ordinances are just,
and in your faithfulness you have afflicted me.
R. Lord, let your face shine on me.
According to your ordinances they still stand firm:
all things serve you.
R. Lord, let your face shine on me.
I am your servant; give me discernment
that I may know your decrees.
R. Lord, let your face shine on me.
The revelation of your words sheds light,
giving understanding to the simple.
R. Lord, let your face shine on me.
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
The seventy-two disciples returned rejoicing and said to
Jesus,
“Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name.”
Jesus said, “I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky.
Behold, I have given you the power
‘to tread upon serpents’ and scorpions
and upon the full force of the enemy
and nothing will harm you.
Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you,
but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.
”At that very moment he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and
said,
“I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows who the Son is except the Father,
and who the Father is except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”
Turning to the disciples in private he said,
“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.
For I say to you,
many prophets and kings desired to see what you see,
but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100326.cfm
Commentary on Job
42:1-3,5-6,12-17
Today we have Job’s final response to Yahweh, and the
restoration of his fortunes. The reading is in two parts. In the first we have
Job’s last words and they are his reply to the second speech of Yahweh (which
we have not read in the liturgy).
They are a final statement of total acceptance of everything
that God decides and of what happens to Job:
Job answered the Lord:
I know that you can do all things
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
Job now finally sees that God and his purposes are supreme
and are not to be questioned by him. He says an unconditional ‘Yes’ to his
Lord.
Job regrets his limitations, saying:
I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me that I did not know.
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you
He has been talking about things he did not really
understand. But now he has seen with his own eyes. This is not strictly
speaking an actual vision of God, but rather a graced insight into the nature
of God. Previously, Job had very conventional ideas about God, mainly derived
from others. But now he has had a direct experience of God’s mystery and
submits totally to the Almighty. His questions have not really been answered,
but he now understands that he cannot question what happens under God and that
there are deeper meanings to the realities of suffering and death. He can now
accept that his suffering, pain and loss are not incompatible with the wisdom
and power of God.
So, in his very last words, he expresses deep regret for all
the things he has said, especially his complaints against God for what he has
experienced. He says:
…therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.
The second part is the final paragraph in the book, and
(unlike the dialogues) is in prose form. The contest between God and Satan is
over. Job has not cursed God and has come triumphantly through the most painful
trials. Comments the NIV Bible:
“The cosmic contest with the accuser is now over, and Job is
restored. No longer is there a reason for Job to experience suffering—unless he
was sinful and deserved it, which is not the case. God does not allow us to
suffer for no reason, and even though the reason may be hidden in the mystery
of his divine purpose—never for us to know in this life—we must trust in him as
the God who does only what is right.”
Job’s fortunes are now restored; he gains back even more
than he lost. The number of animals is twice as many as he had before. His
seven (perfect number) sons and three daughters replace the children he lost in
the hurricane.
We do not know anything about the boys, but we are told the
names of the three daughters—Jemimah, which means “dove”; Keziah (or Cassia)
which means “cinnamon”; and Keren-happuch (“Mascara” in the Jerusalem Bible)
which means “container of antimony”. Antimony was a much-desired form of
eyeshadow. The girls were all outstanding in beauty and, contrary to normal
custom, would receive the same inheritance rights as their brothers—an
indication of Job’s great wealth. Normally daughters would only inherit if
there were no sons.
Finally, we are told that Job, in the tradition of the true
biblical patriarch, lived to be 140 years old and saw his descendants to the
fourth generation.
The Greek text of the book has two additions to the end of
the text (which do not appear in our reading). The first indicates that, from
very early on, the book of Job was thought to contain the idea of resurrection
after death:
It is written that he will rise again with those whom the
Lord will raise up.
The second tells us that Job lived “in the land of Ausitis
on the borders of Idumaea and Arabia” and identifies Ausitis with Jobab, a king
mentioned in Genesis (36:33).
The epilogue, in a way, seems to contradict the teaching of
the dialogues which challenge the conventional idea that the good are rewarded
and the evil punished in this life. Rather the lesson is that there is no
relationship between God’s wisdom and the experiences that we have in life.
Material blessings are not a guarantee of personal virtue
any more than material deprivation or sickness are punishments for sin. As St
Paul will say later:
We know that all things work together for good for those
who love God, who are called according to his purpose. (Rom 8:28)
Paul never saw his own sufferings and hardships as a
punishment from God, but rather as an opportunity and a grace to share somehow
in the sufferings of Jesus his Lord.
These ideas, of course, would not come until later. The
sufferings of Job are seen primarily by the biblical author as a test of Job’s
virtue. Once he has passed the test, there is now every reason for his wealth
to be returned to him. The idea of wealth as a concrete sign of God’s blessing
has not been altogether abandoned. This notion will be radically changed when,
to the astonishment of his disciples, Jesus says that:
…it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a
needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. (Matt
19:25)
His Kingdom is one where the “poor in spirit” will be among
the blessed.
For us, God’s blessings are seen not in our material
possessions, but in internal blessings like inner consolation, joy, peace and
shared fellowship.
Commentary on Luke
10:17-24
We saw at the beginning of chapter 10 how Jesus had sent his
72 disciples out to all the places where he himself would visit. Today we see
them returning full of joy and satisfaction:
Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!
They discovered that, in his name, they were able to do the
same things that Jesus did.
In reply, Jesus said to them:
I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of
lightning.
The power of evil is being reversed and this was partly the
doing of his disciples working in his name. And he further reassures them:
I have given you authority to tread on snakes and
scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will hurt you.
‘Snakes and scorpions’ more likely represent evil powers and
so the statement is not to be taken literally and still less to be tested (as
some obscure sects have tried to do with predictably tragic consequences!). It
is true that for the committed disciple nothing can really hurt them.
Physically, maybe, but not their real selves. Nothing, as Paul says, can
separate us from the love of God, that is, the love that God extends to us at
every moment of every day.
Then Jesus tells his disciples the real reason why they
should be happy. It is not because they have special powers over evil spirits,
but rather:
…rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
In other words, their blessedness comes not from what they
are able to do, but because they have been chosen as the instruments for God to
do his work, to make the Kingdom a reality. That is the origin of our
blessedness too.
Then follows a beautiful prayer of Jesus to the Father. He
thanks the Father because all that is coming into the world through Jesus is
being made known, not to the wise and great ones of this world, but to “the
little ones”, the people who, in the eyes of the majority, are of no account:
All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and
no one knows who the Son is except the Father or who the Father is except the
Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
And, since that day on the lake shore when Jesus called four
fishermen to be his followers, he has been calling very ordinary people to know
his identity, to hear his message and share his vision.
And so he can say truly to them:
Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell
you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see but did not see it
and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
All of this applies to so many of us too. We, for reasons
only known to God himself, have been given knowledge of the Son. We too, by
means of the Church, have been given a vision denied to so many—we have heard
the Word which is the Way to truth and life.
Whatever problems we may be facing right now, let us on this
day count our blessings and express our gratitude for them. And the only way to
do that is to say ‘Yes’ to Jesus and his gospel. Let us start doing that right
now.
https://sacredspace.com/commentary
Saturday,
October 3, 2026
Ordinary
Time
Opening Prayer
Father,
you show your almighty
power in your mercy and forgiveness.
Continue to fill us with your
gifts of love.
Help us to hurry towards
the eternal life your promise and come to share in the joys of your kingdom.
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 10: 17-24
The seventy-two came back rejoicing.
'Lord,' they said, 'even the devils submit to us when we use your name.'
He said to them, 'I watched Satan fall like lightning from
heaven. Look, I have given you power to tread down serpents and scorpions and
the whole strength of the enemy; nothing shall ever hurt you. Yet do not
rejoice that the spirits submit to you; rejoice instead that your names are
written in heaven.'
Just at this time, filled with joy by the Holy Spirit, He
said, 'I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these
things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to little children.
Yes, Father, for that is what it has pleased you to do. Everything has been
entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father,
and who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to
reveal him.'
Then turning to his disciples He spoke to them by
themselves, 'Blessed are the eyes that see what you see, for I tell you that
many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear
what you hear, and never heard it.'
Reflection
•
Context. Previously Jesus had sent 72 disciples.
They now return from their mission and give an account of it. The proof of the
success of their mission is due to the experience of the superiority and
supremacy of the name of Jesus in regard to the power of evil. The defeat of
Satan coincides with the coming of the Kingdom and the disciples have seen it
in their present mission. The diabolical forces have been weakened and the
demons have submitted to the power of the name of Jesus. Such a conviction
cannot be the foundation of their joy and the enthusiasm of their missionary
witness though. Joy has its last root or origin in the fact of being known and
loved by God. This does not mean that being protected by God through a
relationship with Him always places us in an advantageous situation in the face
of the diabolical forces. Here is inserted the mediation of Jesus between God
and us: “Look, I have given you power” (v. 19). The power of Jesus is one that
makes us experience success in regard to the devil’s power and He protects us.
Jesus has been present in the fall of Satan, even if he is not as yet
definitively defeated or overcome. Christians are called to hinder and be an
obstacle to the power of Satan on earth. They are sure of the victory in spite
of the fact that they live in a critical situation. They participate in
obtaining victory in the communion of love with Christ even though they may be
tried by suffering and death. Just the same, the reason for joy is not in the
certainty of coming out unharmed but of being loved by God. The expression of
Jesus, “your names are written in heaven” is a witness that being present to
the heart of God (memory) guarantees the continuity of our life in eternity.
The success of the mission of the disciples is the result of the defeat of
Satan. Now the benevolence of the Father is shown (vv. 21-22): the success of
the word of Grace in the mission of the seventy-two, seen as the design of the
Father and in the communion in the resurrection of the Son, begins with this
revelation of the benevolence of the Father. The mission becomes a space for
the revelation of God’s will in human time. This experience is transmitted by
Luke in the context of prayer. It shows on one side the reaction in heaven: “I
bless you Father”, (v. 21) and that on earth (vv. 23-24).
•
The prayer of rejoicing or exultation. In the
prayer that Jesus addresses to the Father, guided by the action of the Spirit,
the word “exults” expresses the openness of the Messianic joy and proclaims the
goodness of the Father. This is made evident in the little ones, in the poor
and in those who have no value because they have accepted the Word transmitted
by those sent and thus, they have access to the relationship between the Divine
Persons of the Trinity. Instead, the wise and the learned, on account of
feeling sure, are gratified because of their intellectual and theological
competence. But such an attitude prevents them from entering into the dynamism
of salvation given by Jesus. The teaching that Luke intends to transmit to
individual believers, as well as to the ecclesial communities, may be
synthesized as follows: Humility opens to faith. The sufficiency of one’s
assurance closes to pardon, to light, to God’s goodness. The prayer of Jesus
has its effects on all those who accept this and allow themselves to be wrapped
up by the goodness of the Father.
Personal Questions
•
The mission to take the life of God to others
implies a lifestyle that is poor and humble. Is your life permeated by the life
of God, by the Word of grace that comes from Jesus?
•
Do you have trust in God’s call and in his power
that asks to be manifested through simplicity, poverty and humility?
Concluding Prayer
Lord, you are kind and forgiving, rich in faithful love for
all who call upon you. Yahweh, hear my prayer, listen to the sound of my
pleading. (Ps 86: 5-6)
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