October 6, 2026
Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 462
Reading 1
Brothers and sisters:
You heard of my former way of life in Judaism,
how I persecuted the Church of God beyond measure
and tried to destroy it,
and progressed in Judaism
beyond many of my contemporaries among my race,
since I was even more a zealot for my ancestral traditions.
But when he, who from my mother’s womb had set me apart
and called me through his grace,
was pleased to reveal his Son to me,
so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles,
I did not immediately consult flesh and blood,
nor did I go up to Jerusalem
to those who were Apostles before me;
rather, I went into Arabia and then returned to Damascus.
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to confer with
Cephas
and remained with him for fifteen days.
But I did not see any other of the Apostles,
only James the brother of the Lord.
(As to what I am writing to you, behold,
before God, I am not lying.)
Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
And I was unknown personally to the churches of Judea
that are in Christ;
they only kept hearing that “the one who once was persecuting us
is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”
So they glorified God because of me.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm
139:1b-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15
R. (24b) Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
O LORD, you have probed me and you know me;
you know when I sit and when I stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
with all my ways you are familiar.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
Truly you have formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
My soul also you knew full well;
nor was my frame unknown to you
When I was made in secret,
when I was fashioned in the depths of the earth.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are those who hear the word of God
and observe it.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus entered a village
where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
She had a sister named Mary
who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.
Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,
“Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?
Tell her to help me.”
The Lord said to her in reply,
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
There is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part
and it will not be taken from her.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100626.cfm
Commentary on
Galatians 1:13-24
Paul takes up where he left off yesterday. He continues to
answer the charge that, by waiving the need for Gentiles to be circumcised
after their conversion, he was being ‘soft’ on them.
On the contrary, Paul reminds the Galatians, before his own
conversion, he had been absolutely totally committed to Judaism. By this he
meant the Jewish faith and way of life that had developed during the late
period between the Old and New Testament times. The term is derived from Judah,
the southern kingdom that came to an end in the sixth century BC with the exile
into Babylonia. As a devout Jew and a Pharisee, Paul had been ruthless in
trying to wipe out the “church of God”, the assembly (Greek, ecclesia)
of God’s people which he now identifies with the Christian community—the New
Testament counterpart of the Old Testament assembly.
In fact, so loyal was he to his Jewish traditions, that Paul
stood out among his fellow Jews for the zeal with which he attacked the
followers of Jesus. These traditions, also called in the Gospel the “tradition
of the elders” (Matt 15:2), refer to traditions orally transmitted from
generation to generation and are to be distinguished from the written law that
came through Moses. According to the NIV Bible:
“After the Babylonian captivity, the Jewish rabbis began to
make meticulous rules and regulations governing the daily life of the people.
These were interpretations and applications of the law of Moses, handed down
from generation to generation. In Jesus’ day, this ‘tradition of the elders’ was
in oral form. It was not until about AD 200 that it was put into writing in the
Mishnah.”
Paul, before his conversion, saw the ‘Christians’ (who were
then, of course, all Jewish) as a dangerous deviation from the Jewish
traditions and had to be stopped at all costs.
But then a great change came over Paul. Like some of the
earlier prophets (Isaiah and Jeremiah), Paul had been chosen by God long before
his birth for a very special mission. He was given the special grace and
blessing of first having Jesus the Son revealed to him so that then he might
share with Gentiles (i.e. foreigners or non-Jews) the Good News that Jesus
brings.
As if to emphasise the direct nature of the revelation he
received, he stresses that at this time, he did not discuss his experience with
anyone, nor was he in contact with any of the Apostles still in Jerusalem—which
was both the religious centre of Judaism and the birthplace of Christianity. He
wants to emphasise that his change of heart was the result of the direct
influence of God, and not due to persuasive arguments from human beings.
Instead Paul went off to “Arabia”. This probably indicates
the desert kingdom of the Nabataean Arabs on the east side of the Jordan River
which stretched from Damascus to Suez. Damascus was (and is) the capital of
Syria and was, of course, also the scene of Paul’s (Saul’s) dramatic
conversion.
We do not know how long Paul stayed in the desert, but three
years later he tells us he was in Jerusalem and stayed with Peter (Cephas
in Aramaic) for about two weeks. The word Cephas (or Kephas) comes from the
Aramaic word for ‘stone’ or ‘rock’ (see Matt 16:18). In the Greek, Peter is petros
and ‘rock’ is petra. The name designates a like quality in the bearer
(see John 1:42). However, in the Gospels, Peter is anything but a rock; he is
impulsive and unstable. But in Acts, he is a pillar of the early church and
clearly its recognised leader. Jesus named him not for what he was, but for
what, by God’s grace, he would become.
Except for James, who seems to have been the leading elder
in the Jerusalem church at the time, Paul says he did not see anyone else.
Clearly, the only effective influence on his new life at this time was Jesus
himself.
After this visit, he went back to Syria and then on to
Cilicia, a Roman province in southern Turkey. We know he actually went to
Tarsus, the main city of Cilicia and Paul’s place of birth.
He was still relatively unknown to the Christians in the
Jerusalem area. Paul writes that they only knew:
The one who formerly was persecuting us is now
proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy. And they glorified God because
of me.
But it is clear enough that Paul was not yet quite ready to
become part of the Christian mission.
Let us reflect today on our calling for we, too, were chosen
before our birth to be followers of Jesus. Why us and not others is a mystery
we will never be able to answer. As we go through life we may receive other
callings and I could ask myself today to what kind of service is Jesus calling
me at this time in my life? Let us recall and give thanks to God also for the
very many people who, directly or indirectly, have brought and continue to
bring a deeper understanding of Christ into our lives.
Commentary on Luke
10:38-42
Today we find Jesus in the home of the sisters, Mary and
Martha. We also know that they have a brother named Lazarus. We meet the
sisters again (showing the same characteristics as in this story) in John’s
account of the raising from death of their brother (John 11:1-44). They lived
in Bethany, a village about 3-4 km from Jerusalem and it seems that Jesus was a
familiar visitor to the house and a friend, for at the time of Lazarus’
illness, Jesus is told:
Lord, he whom you love is ill. (John 11:3)
The story of Martha and Mary is, in a way, a contrast to the
previous story about the Good Samaritan. It restores a balance in our following
of Christ. The story about being a neighbour could lead us to think that only
if we are doing things are we loving God.
Martha was a ‘doer’ to the point of being a fusspot. Martha,
we are told:
…was distracted by her many tasks…
Serving others is something that Jesus himself did
constantly, and he urged his followers to do the same. But it should not be a
burden or distraction. And, after Martha had complained about her sister, Jesus
told her:
…you are worried and distracted by many things…
A true servant does not experience anxiety and worry because
that signifies a lack of peace.
Because Mary seemed to be doing nothing, Martha saw her as
idling and even selfish. Martha must have been somewhat surprised when Jesus
said that:
Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken
away from her.
What was that better part? Wasn’t Mary just sitting at the
feet of Jesus and doing nothing? No! We are told that she:
…listened to what he was saying.
Listening to his message is something Jesus tells his
disciples and the crowd they need to be doing all the time. And we have mentioned
before that listening involves understanding, accepting and assimilating that
message so that it becomes part of our very selves.
If we do not spend time listening to him, how can we know
that our activity is properly directed? It is easy for us Christians to be very
busy, but are we busy about the right things?
To answer that question we have to stop to listen, to
discern and to pray. And, ultimately, the highest form of activity in our lives
is contemplation—being in conscious contact with God and his Word. If I find
myself saying that I do not have time to give some time to prayer or
contemplation each day, then there is a serious imbalance in my priorities and
in my understanding of what it means to love and serve my God.
This story blends nicely with the parable of the Good
Samaritan which went before it. Taken together they express what should be the
essence of Christian living—action for others that is guided by what we learn
in contemplation. This was the pattern of Jesus’ own life—he spent long hours
bringing healing to people’s lives (being a neighbour), but also retired to
quiet places to be alone in communion with his Father. The same pattern must be
ours too. We call it being ‘contemplatives in action’.
https://sacredspace.com/commentary
Tuesday,
October 6, 2026
Ordinary
Time
Opening Prayer
Father,
your love for us surpasses all our
hopes and desires. Forgive our failings, keep us in your peace and lead us in
the way of salvation.
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: 38-42
In the course of their journey He came
to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.
She had a sister called Mary, who sat
down at the Lord's feet and listened to Him speaking.
Now Martha, who was distracted
with all the serving, came to Him and said, 'Lord, do you not care that my
sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help
me.'
But the Lord answered, 'Martha, Martha,' He said,
'you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only
one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part, and it is not to be taken from
her.'
Reflection
•
Context. The journey of Jesus, undertaken in 9,
51, is surrounded by particular encounters, among the doctors of the Law (10:
25-37), that precede the encounter with Martha and Mary (vv. 38-42). Above all,
there is a doctor of the Law who asks Jesus a question and, for the reader, it
becomes a convenient occasion to discover how eternal life is inherited or
gained in intimacy with the Father. One can have access to eternal life by
participating in the mission of Jesus, the first one sent who has shown us
fully God’s mercy (v. 37). In Jesus, the Father has become close to men and has
shown his paternity in a tangible way. At the end of the encounter, the
expression that Jesus addresses to the Doctor of the Law and to every reader is
crucial: “Go and do the same yourself” (v. 37). To become a neighbor, to get
close to others as Jesus did, makes us become instruments to show, in a living
way, the merciful love of the Father. This is the secret key to enter into
eternal life.
•
Listening to the Word. After this encounter with
an expert of the Law, while He is on the way, Jesus enters a village and is
welcomed by old friends: Martha and Mary. Jesus is not only the first one sent
by the Father, but He is also the one who gathers together men, and in our
case, the members of the house of Bethany in so far as He is the only Word of
the Father. If it is true that there are many services to be carried out, in
welcoming attention to the needs of others, then even more is it true that what
is irreplaceable is listening to the Word. The account that Luke gives is a
real episode and at the same time an ideal. It begins with the welcome of
Martha (v. 38). Then it sketches Mary with an attitude typical of the disciple,
sitting at the feet of Jesus and totally attentive to listening to his Word.
This attitude of Mary is extraordinary because in Judaism at the time of Jesus
it was not permitted for a woman to go to the school of a teacher, a master. Up
until now we have a harmonious picture: the welcome of Martha, the listening of
Mary. But soon the welcome of Martha will be transformed into super activism:
the woman is “pulled”, divided by performing multiple services. She is so
absorbed that she is unable
to control the domestic services.
The great amount of activities, understandable for such a guest, becomes so
disproportionate as to prevent her living what is essential, precisely in the
time that Jesus is present in her house. Her worry or concern is legitimate but
then it becomes anguish, a state of mind that is not convenient when a friend
is welcomed.
•
Relate service to listening. Her service of
acceptance, of welcome, is very positive but it is detrimental because of this
state of anxiety with which she carries it out. The Evangelist makes the reader
glimpse at this to show that there is no contradiction between the ‘diaconia’ of the table and that of the
Word, but He wants to suggest that the service should be related to listening.
Because she did not relate the spiritual attitude of service to that of
listening, Martha feels that she has been abandoned by her sister. Instead, of
dialoguing with Mary, she complains with the Master. Trapped in her solitude
she goes against Jesus who seems to be indifferent to her problem (“Lord do you
not care ...”) and then with the sister, (“that my sister is leaving me to do
the serving all by myself?”). In his response, Jesus does not reproach her, nor
criticize her, but He tries to help Martha to recover that which is essential
at that moment: listening to the Master. He invites her to choose that part,
unique and a priority, that Mary has spontaneously taken. The episode invites
us to consider a
danger which is always frequent in the life of Christians: anxiety, worry,
super activism that can isolate us from communion with Christ and with the
community. The danger is more underhanded because frequently the material concerns
or worries carried out with anxiety are those we consider a form of service.
What presses Luke is that in our communities the priority that should be given
to the Word of God, and to listen to it, should not be neglected. Before
serving the others, the relatives, and the ecclesial community, it is necessary
to be served by Christ with His Word of grace. And thus immersed in the daily
tasks like Martha, we forget that the Lord desires to take care of us... It is
necessary, instead, to place in Jesus and in God all our concerns and worries.
Personal Questions
•
Do you know how to relate service to listening
to the Word of Jesus? Or rather do you allow yourself to be taken up by anxiety
because of the multiple things to be done?
•
Have you understood that before serving you have
to accept to be served by Christ? Are you aware that your service becomes
divine only if previously you will have accepted Christ and his word?
Concluding Prayer
Yahweh, you examine me and know
me, you know when I sit, when I rise, you understand my thoughts from afar. You
watch when I walk or lie down, you know every detail of my conduct. (Ps 139:
1-3)
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