October 31, 2026
Saturday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 484
Reading 1
Brothers and sisters:
As long as in every way, whether in pretense or in truth,
Christ is being proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.
Indeed I shall continue to rejoice,
for I know that this will result in deliverance for me
through your prayers and support from the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
My eager expectation and hope
is that I shall not be put to shame in any way,
but that with all boldness, now as always,
Christ will be magnified in my body,
whether by life or by death.
For to me life is Christ, and death is gain.
If I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me.
And I do not know which I shall choose.
I am caught between the two.
I long to depart this life and be with Christ,
for that is far better.
Yet that I remain in the flesh is more necessary for your benefit.
And this I know with confidence,
that I shall remain and continue in the service of all of you
for your progress and joy in the faith,
so that your boasting in Christ Jesus may abound on account of me
when I come to you again.
Responsorial Psalm
R. My soul is thirsting for the living God.
As the hind longs for the running waters,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
R. My soul is thirsting for the living God.
Athirst is my soul for God, the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
R. My soul is thirsting for the living God.
I went with the throng
and led them in procession to the house of God.
Amid loud cries of joy and thanksgiving,
with the multitude keeping festival.
R. My soul is thirsting for the living God.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
On a sabbath Jesus went to dine
at the home of one of the leading Pharisees,
and the people there were observing him carefully.
He told a parable to those who had been invited,
noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table.
“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet,
do not recline at table in the place of honor.
A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him,
and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say,
‘Give your place to this man,’
and then you would proceed with embarrassment
to take the lowest place.
Rather, when you are invited,
go and take the lowest place
so that when the host comes to you he may say,
‘My friend, move up to a higher position.’
Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table.
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,
but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/103126.cfm
Commentary on
Philippians 1:18-26
Today we are given a marvellous and inspiring testimony of
commitment to Jesus and the work of the gospel.
Paul is in prison, but in spite of that, “Christ is
proclaimed”. One senses here a throwing down of the gauntlet—no one can stop
the preaching of the gospel. The work of spreading the gospel will always go
on. And that makes Paul happy, especially if, as may well be the case, he has
been imprisoned by people who wanted to prevent him evangelising.
Just before our reading begins, he mentions people who are
preaching in competition with him and are envious of him. These, he says, are
preaching from “selfish ambition” and hoping to cause trouble for Paul while he
is in prison. But for Paul, this is not a big issue.
As long as the gospel of Christ is preached, he is not too
worried about some people’s motives. As our reading begins, he says:
What does it matter? Just this, that Christ is proclaimed
in every way, whether out of false motives or true, and in that I rejoice.
In the long run, the continued preaching of the true gospel
will be for Paul’s own good too. He is confident it will bring about his
release (which clearly did happen).
Much of this Paul attributes to the prayers of the
Philippians on his behalf, and the help and support he received from the Spirit
of Jesus who is, of course, also the Spirit of the Father.
In a magnificent statement he says that his one great hope
is that he will never be overcome by adverse circumstances to abandon his
belief in God or his commitment to the gospel. But rather, his desire is that
he may always have the courage and boldness for Jesus and the gospel to be
glorified through his words and actions, whether this happens by his living or
dying. He fears that the circumstances of imprisonment, with all its attendant
suffering and oppression, could constitute a real temptation for him to abandon
the gospel and his resolute service for Christ.
The the Jerusalem Bible comments:
“By baptism and eucharist, a Christian is so closely united
to Christ that his life, sufferings and death can be attributed mystically to
Christ living in him and being glorified in him. This union would be
particularly close in the case of an Apostle like Paul.”
Then follows one of the most inspiring passages in Paul’s
letters and indeed in the whole New Testament. Paul presents himself with a
choice which most of us would probably make very quickly. It arises from his
opening words:
For to me, living is Christ and dying is
gain.
Jesus is the totality of his life; outside of Christ,
everything else is relative.
On the one hand, death would mean so much more, an intimate
and never-ending closeness to his beloved Lord. And yet, by staying alive, he
would be able to carry on the work for the gospel and the building up of the
Christian community, which is proving so fruitful.
He genuinely does not know which to choose; he does not know
which would be the better thing for himself, for the work of the gospel and for
the glory of God. His dilemma is that for himself, it would be so much better
to die and be united with his Lord. It would spell the end of all his pains and
sufferings, difficulties and disappointments. But for the sake of his beloved
Philippians and all his converts, staying alive is clearly the greater need.
In fact, he is convinced (and he was right) that he would
survive and be able to be with them for the greater increase of their faith and
joy. (This is quite a different situation from his tearful farewell to the
Christians at Ephesus, which is recorded in Acts 20:17-38.)
We have here an extraordinary example of what, in Ignatian
spirituality is called ‘indifference’. ‘Indifference’ in this context does not
at all have the meaning we give it in normal usage—a sense of not caring, of
having no interest. ‘Indifference’ here involves—as it clearly does in Paul’s
case—a great deal of concern. The concern is to conform as perfectly as
possible to God’s will, but to be willing to follow unconditionally wherever
that will leads me.
As St Ignatius described in his Spiritual Exercises,
such a person does not ask for a long or a short life, for health or sickness,
for wealth or poverty, but only that God be praised, loved and served in all
things.
This is exactly Paul’s position. His first passion is the
love and service of Jesus, and he is perfectly willing to accept either life or
death, whichever brings him closer to his Lord and pleases him. Probably, most
of us are still some distance from such a level of commitment, but let us pray
that we gradually grow into the wonderful degree of freedom which Paul’s words
reveal.
For, let us be clear, we are dealing here with freedom and
choice and not some kind of passive fatalism. Paul is not saying that he does
not care what happens to him. On the contrary, he passionately wants what his
Lord wants and he positively accepts what his Lord will ask of him. His desire
is that his will and God’s will coincide perfectly.
That is the ultimate goal of our lives. It is worth
pursuing. It results in great freedom and brings true happiness.
Commentary on Luke
14:1,7-11
Previously, we saw how Jesus was invited to have a Sabbath
meal in the house of a Pharisee. We saw how the religious leaders present
watched him to see if he would heal a sick man who was placed in front of him
so that they could accuse him of breaking the Sabbath law. The man was healed
and Jesus’ accusers were reduced to silence.
The story continues with Jesus commenting on the behaviour
of the guests, each of whom vies for the honour of occupying the best places at
the table. Speaking to them in the form of a parable, Jesus urges them to do
the very opposite.
When invited to a wedding feast, it is quite dangerous, says
Jesus, to go and take one of the best places because your host may come and ask
you to give the place to someone else and you will lose a lot of face. On the
contrary, says Jesus, make a point of going to the lowest place so that your
host will come and say:
Friend, move up higher…
Because then:
…you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at
the table with you.
Of course, for someone with the mindset of the Pharisees, it
was a risky thing to do as one might be left sitting at the bottom table!
Luke may not only have been thinking of Pharisees. It is
possible that maneuvering for the places nearest to Jesus may have been a
problem, even at the Last Supper. Recall that Luke says:
A dispute…arose among them [his Apostles] as to
which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. (Luke 22:24)
Jesus concludes with a general principle:
For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those
who humble themselves will be exalted.
It is another way of saying what Jesus has taught earlier,
namely, that the greatest in the Kingdom of God is the one who puts himself at
the disposal of others, who uses his gifts in serving the well-being of others
and who has no interest whatever in titles, dignity, or status.
True Christians put their self-value in the kind of person
they are for others, and not in some purely external trappings. They do not
pretend to be something they are not. They do not compromise their behavior to
conform to other people’s expectations or opinions. They live their lives
authentically as followers of Christ.
https://sacredspace.com/commentary
Saturday,
October 31, 2026
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 14: 1, 7-11
It
happened that on a Sabbath day Jesus had gone to share a meal in the house of
one of the leading Pharisees and they watched Him closely. He then told the
guests a parable because He had noticed how they picked the places of honor. He
said this: "When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take your
seat in the place of honor. A more distinguished person than you may have been
invited, and the person who invited you both may come and say, "Give up
your place to this man." And then, to your embarrassment, you will have to
go and take the lowest place.
No, when you are a guest, make
your way to the lowest place and sit there, so that when your host comes, he
may say, "My friend, move up higher." Then, everyone with you at the
table will see you honored.
For everyone who raises himself
up will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be raised up."
Reflection
Context. The Word of grace that Jesus
visibly rendered with His teaching and the cures He worked runs the risk of
being suppressed. For Jesus, the event of death is always closer, like all the
prophets who have preceded him. Such a reality which Jesus is going toward
shows not only God’s patience, but man’s rejection b. By rejecting Jesus as the
one sent, the Father’s only Word of grace, man condemns himself and closes the
possibility that the Father has given him access to salvation. However, hope is
not extinguished. It is possible that someday man will recognize Jesus as “the
one” who comes from the Lord and that will be a reason to rejoice. Therefore,
the conclusion of chapter 13 of Luke’s Gospel makes us understand that salvation
is not a human enterprise but can only be received as an absolutely gratuitous
gift. Let us see, then, how this gift of salvation is fulfilled while always
keeping in mind this rejection of Jesus as the only one sent by God.
The invitation to lunch. In the face
of the danger of being reduced to silence it might have been suggested to Jesus
that He flee. Instead, He accepts the invitation to lunch. The attitude of
Jesus makes one understand that He does not fear the attempts of aggression
against His person, they Him. Inviting Him is “one of the heads of the
Pharisees,” a person who has authority. The invitation takes place on a
Saturday, an ideal day for a festive lunch which was usually taken around noon
after all had participated in the liturgy in the Synagogue. During lunch, the
Pharisees “were observing him” (v. 11): an act of supervision and control that
refers to the suspicion regarding His behavior. In other words, they observe
Him, expecting that He will do some inappropriate action regarding their law.
Finally, they corner Him, not to safeguard the observance of the law, but
rather to catch Him in some gesture of His. In the meantime, on Saturday,
having cured the one suffering from dropsy before the Pharisees and the Doctors
of the Law, He expresses two reflections on how it is necessary to accept an
invitation to table and in the spirit in which the invitation is to be given
(vv. 12-14). The first one Luke calls a “parable,” that is to say, an example,
a model or a teaching to be followed. Above all, it is necessary to invite with
gratuity and with freedom of spirit. Frequently, men go ahead and ask to be
invited instead of waiting to receive an invitation. For Luke, the point of
view of God is the contrary. It is that of humility: “He has pulled down
princes from their thrones and raised high the lowly.” The call to participate
in the “great supper” of the Kingdom has, as a result, an improvement in the
level of life for the one who is capable to accept the invitation of salvation
with gratitude.
The last place. It is true that to cede or give up one’s own
place to others is not gratifying. It could be humiliating and is a limitation
of one’s pride. It is even more humiliating and a reason to feel embarrassed
when one has to move to the last place because it is a dishonor in the eyes of
all. Luke thinks of all those humiliating and painful situations of shame in
which the believer can find himself, in the place reserved for one who lives
these events before the eyes of God and His Kingdom. The proud, those who seek
to have first places, and the important gratify themselves because of their
social position. On the contrary, when Jesus came to live among us, “there was
no place for him” (2: 7) and He decided to remain, choosing a place among the
poor and humble people. This is why God raised Him and exalted Him. From here
comes the precious suggestion to choose His attitude, considering the last
place as a privilege. The reader may remain disturbed by these words of Jesus
that undermine the utilitarian and egoistic sense of life, but in the long run
His teaching reveals itself to be necessary to ascend on high and the way of
humility that leads to glory.
Personal Questions
•
In your friendships with others, does the
calculation of interest and the expectation to receive something in exchange,
prevail?
•
In your relationship with others, is there
always and everywhere your “I”, even when you do something for the brothers and
sisters? Are you ready to give yourself in what you are?
Concluding Prayer
I thirst for God, the living God;
when shall I go to see the face of
God? I have no food but tears day and night, as all day long I am taunted,
"Where is your God?" (Ps 42: 2-3)
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