23 September 2026 - what we leave and what we bring

  

Today's Readings
(Audio)

 

Take nothing for the journey,
neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money,
and let no one take a second tunic.

It is a potential pitfall of any missionary endeavor that we focus on the programmatic and logistical aspects more than the core message. Jesus wished to spare his disciples the temptation to become distracted by resource management. But the consequence of this was that they would need to depend more on God than would have otherwise been the case. Only if they put their trust in him would they be better off without the worldly encumbrances weighing them down. If not, they would always be worrying about from where their next meal would come. Sometimes we are called to put the Kingdom first and trust in God even those things we would normally attempt to prudentially provide for ourselves. Not always. But sometimes he does give us the opportunity, as he did for his disciples, to show that we trust him. This only works in practice when we remember that what he did give us for the journey, "power and authority", are of greater value than what he told us to leave at home. He does want us to have the experience of needing to depend on his wisdom and grace more than the resources we might otherwise bring to bear. Not always. But if the Lord does seem to be making such a call at some point in our lives it is important not to panic. He himself didn't need great wealth or other resources proclaim the Gospel. We should therefore realize that he is able to ensure our own mission as long as we remain faithful to his word.

Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there.

Another potential pitfall of our attempts to proclaim the Kingdom of God is that we have a tendency to always look for a situation that is even slightly better. We let the ideal or the perfect become the enemy of the good. What's more, by perfect, we often mean perfect for us. That is, we mean that we seek situations that are not only dynamic for the proclamation of the Gospel but also comfortable and convenient for ourselves. We could stay in whatever house we first enter and use that as our base of operations. But what if they make a better breakfast elsewhere? In the context of mission the main point is not to find a five-star B&B. It is the message, which is served just as well from anywhere that meets our basic needs. Jesus wanted his disciples to come to terms with such temptations in order to overcome them.

And as for those who do not welcome you,
when you leave that town,
shake the dust from your feet in testimony against them.

A third potential pitfall of missionary activity is the fear of rejection. Now, one might have assumed that the disciple of Jesus would never face rejection provided that they adhered closely enough to his instructions. But we can see in these very instructions that it was not the case. Rejection was part of the plan. Jesus sent his disciples to villages populated by people with free will. The invitation was meant to be made not only to those who would accept it, but also to those who would not. The point was not merely to officially seal their condemnation. It was rather that God desired all to be saved, to the degree that he desired to invite everyone, even knowing that some would refuse him. From this we can learn that we should not be too focused on communicating the message of Jesus only to those who seem likely to respond. In the mystery of grace even initial rejection is not the end of the story. And everyone has a right to hear the invitation.

Add nothing to his words,
lest he reprove you, and you will be exposed as a deceiver. 

 

We can discern a final temptation from our reading from Proverbs. We sometimes wish to add or subtract from the word of God to make it more congenial to our audience. This we must not do. It is not that we recommended the use shock tactics or suggesting that we ought to present the most extreme and hard to accept parts of the Gospel first. But we do no service to anyone if we neglect such realities as sin, judgment, and the last things. Without the full picture people may assume we are only presenting a spirituality that could serve as an interesting hobby for people who resonate with it. But it is a weightier thing than that. It is a vital thing. It is the one thing necessary, without which we don't really have anything else.

The word of Jesus gives us strength and comfort when we give it a central place in our hearts and in our lives, when we let it speak to us and direct us, just as Jesus directed his disciples in today's Gospel. With the psalmist, let us remember and repeat: "Your word, O Lord, is a lamp for my feet".

 

 

Amy Grant - Thy Word

 

22 September 2026 - flip it and reverse it

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

He was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside
and they wish to see you.”

They told him this because they thought it ought to preempt his mission and take precedence over preaching the Kingdom. There was little that they could imagine that was more important than honoring one's parents, the first commandment of the second tablet of the law pertaining to one's neighbor. And Jesus did not say such bonds were not important. He did, however, say that the he and the Kingdom must come first. He said, "loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me" (see Matthew 10:37). At the same time he said that those who did put the Kingdom first would receive "a hundredfold" "brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands" (see Mark 10:30). There was a new principle at work in the Kingdom that took precedence over ties of blood since, as Paul wrote to the Galatians, "those of faith who are the sons of Abraham" (see Galatians 3:7). With this John the Evangelist also agreed, when he wrote that "to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" (see John 1:12). 

He said to them in reply, “My mother and my brothers 
are those who hear the word of God and act on it.”

In today's Gospel Jesus gives us a pithy summary of all that we have already said. The Kingdom was a reversal in which, among other things, faith and spiritual bonds took precedence over human wisdom and mere blood relations. None of this was actually a sleight to Mary who was doubly related to Jesus, both as his mother in the natural order, but also in the order of grace, in which she received and consented to the word of God as conveyed to her by the archangel Gabriel. She had no additional agenda that she desired to impose on the life of her Son. She didn't always understand his plan or act in perfect synchronicity with it. But she remained humble and docile enough to be redirected and even reshaped whenever it was necessary. Thus, if she came to see Jesus and there wasn't presently a spare moment to do so, we can't imagine that she took offense. More probably, she happily joined with the crowds in listening to his wisdom. It was, after all, a greater wisdom than that of which we read in the Proverbs of Solomon. Even more than Solomon was the heart of Jesus, the true King of kings, a stream in the hand of the Lord. It was a stream of living water capable of imparting the Holy Spirit to those who heard, just as the woman at the well discovered.

The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life (see John 4:14).

When we are tempted to take offense at some reversal the Lord has said let us be aware of the human tendency to assume we're always right, that although "the ways of a man may be right in his own eyes" "it is the LORD who proves hearts". We don't know our world or its purpose as well as does its creator. We don't even know our own hearts or their deepest and most intrinsic desires as does the one who shaped them all. Whenever we submit to the will of God his ways are eventually vindicated and our mistakes become gradually evident. Let us learn from Mary to maintain a posture of humble docility that is willing to at least entertain the idea that the Lord might be right this time too, and to be redirected by the current of grace that is gushing forth from the heart of Christ.

Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water (see John 7:38).

Andy Park - The River Is Here

 

21 September 2026 - in need of the divine physician

Today's Readings

(Audio)

  

He said to him, "Follow me."
And he got up and followed him.

Jesus called us to follow him and we did follow, but not nearly so immediately and wholeheartedly as did Matthew. He continues to call us to follow him more closely, but we continue to hesitate and second guess his call. The way we experience encountering Jesus must be qualitatively quite different from the way Matthew experienced it. Jesus upended everything Matthew thought he knew about who he was and his place in the world. But somehow we don't receive the invitation from Jesus with similar power. We can see from Scripture that not everyone did. For some people the invitation was revolutionary and transformational. But others found reasons to ignore or reject it. It seems that we may be trying to straddle the issue, with one foot in and one foot out. We may not fully trust Jesus or his intentions if we believe too much of the world tells us about him. Is he really good? Does he really want want is best for us? Yet the hardest part of believing his call can sometimes be the fact that he would call us specifically. We believe ourselves to be unworthy of his love. We may wonder what of value we have to contribute to his Kingdom project. 

The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples,
"Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

Jesus did not come to call those who were already worthy of him. He came to give us the grace to make us worthy. He did not come to call those already equipped, but rather to equip those whom he called. As Paul explained to the Ephesians, "he gave some as Apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the Body of Christ". But many of us put up a false pretense of worthiness and skill that prevent us from receiving all that Jesus has for us. We are like the Pharisees in this way. Even if we may recognize that our situation is imperfection and needs improvement we imagine our need to be mild and incremental. We don't realize that we stand in the same desperate need as any tax collector or sinner. We've been projecting this aura of competence because the world all but insists upon it. Unfortunately we often come to believe it to one degree or another We think that if we need Jesus at all we need him just a bit, in some measure, but that much of our lives are fine without him. Thus we try to slot him in to specifically religious segments of our schedules. But Jesus is not willing to play the role of our life enhancer. He wants to be our lord and our king. To experience this we may have to tear the band-aids off of our wounded hearts, revealing the full truth of who we are to him, so that we can receive the healing and transformation that he so longs to give us.

Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.

We do need the healing hands of the divine physician in our own lives. We are doing ourselves a disservice when we pretend otherwise. But this does not apply only to ourselves. It means there are many people who are merely pretending, though perhaps they themselves believe, that they are fine, complete, needing nothing and no one. The more people insist on this the more suspicious the claim becomes. Obviously the point is not that we should attack them, shouting 'You're just as pathetic as the rest of us', or something like that. Rather we should be sympathetic and willing to put the invitation of Jesus in front of them even if they don't seem interested. They may not appear to be on the surface. But somewhere inside every person is interested. We are made to be so.

Not a word nor a discourse
whose voice is not heard;
Through all the earth their voice resounds,
and to the ends of the world, their message.

 

  

David Crowder Band - How He Loves

 

 

20 September 2026 - not our ways

Today's Readings

(Audio)

  

And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying,
'These last ones worked only one hour,
and you have made them equal to us,
who bore the day's burden and the heat.'

Although the Jews had been the Lord's people since the beginning of history it was no violation of justice for God to share his benefits with the Gentiles as well. This had in fact been his plan the whole time. Though they had been idle while the Jewish people had been in the vineyard of the Lord it did not imply that they should receive less as a result. It wasn't as though God truly needed the involvement of either people. Rather he involved them both in different ways and at different times to demonstrate his generosity and his mercy through them. Part of the lesson was precisely the gratuitous nature of the gift. God did not need anyone, was in fact able, "from these stones to raise up children for Abraham" (see Matthew 3:9).

What was true about periods of history and the difference between the other nations and Israel was also true about the calling of different people at different times in their lives. Whether one is called in youth, in middle age, or repented like the good thief on the cross moments before death, the fundamental reward was still the same: eternal life. Yet it is also true that there is a sense in which some were rewarded more than others, but it requires a reversal of assumptions to understand it. Only when we come to see that the work in the vineyard is a privilege and not a mere obligation do we begin to see how those who are able to show greater love and mercy while still in this life, and perhaps in spite of great suffering, are actually uniquely privileged. It seems clear to us that the landowner sees things this way. He is borderline obsessed with putting as many people to work as possible, going again and again to find any he might have missed on earlier visits. He seems to do this, not so much because he needs the help, since, after all, how much will it really contribute to have people working the last hour of the day? But he appears to sense the indignity endured by those who were standing around idle and without purpose. They are, he knows, meant for more.

'Why do you stand here idle all day?'
They answered, 'Because no one has hired us.'
He said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard.'

This is good news for those of us who have turned to the Lord later in life. But it is also good news for those who have labored long in the Lord's vineyard. We can see something of this attitude in Paul, who would have been content to receive the reward of eternal life common to all, which is, in one sense, incomparable. But he did not begrudge the importance of the ongoing work he could do in the vineyard during his mortal life.

For to me life is Christ, and death is gain. 
If I go on living in the flesh,
that means fruitful labor for me. 

A more selfish man who was similarly convinced of his eternal destiny and in love with Jesus might have been less willing to put up with longer years of suffering and service before seeing him face to face. But not Paul. He wanted what the landowner wanted. He knew that human ways were different from God's ways and he decided to relinquish his own right to preference when it came to the God's judgment.

Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. 
For to me life is Christ, and death is gain. 

 

Randy Rothwell - Salvation Belongs To Our God

 

19 September 2026 - sown and raised

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Those on the path are the ones who have heard,
but the Devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts
that they may not believe and be saved.

The opportunity to receive the word of God is fairly abundant in our world today. But we know that there is a difference between the abstract possibility of receiving it and actually doing so. There is so much set against our reception of the word. The general cultural view of Christianity is that it is a myth that has given way to a more enlightened scientific understanding. Among Christians there are many who claim to adhere to the word of God but who have not allowed it to significantly change their lives. The Devil is highly invested in preventing people from receiving the word and in taking it from those who do begin to receive it. As a liar and the father of lies, we should not be surprised that he does this by spreading false rumors and partial truths about Christianity. These tend to prevent people from receiving the seed in the first place. But they can also weaken the potency of what is received such that is unable to take deep enough root. If the Devil managed to make the Corinthians believe in a false and limited view of the resurrection it would have meant that their beliefs were less able to resist worldly temptations, and more subject to their passions, such anxiety, pleasure, and the pursuit of wealth.

The antidote to the lies of the Devil is the truth, since, as Jesus tells us, "you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (see John 8:32). We fight the spiritual battle against the Devil in a variety of ways. But one way is by making sure he doesn't steal from us our Christian birthright of access to the truth, the fullness of divine revelation contained in the word of God and the Sacred Tradition as expressed authentically through the magesterium of the Bride of Christ. This implies understanding the resurrection, which in turn means understanding what Jesus did for us, how it applies to us now, and how it will apply to us in the future. Far from an abstraction, it helps us see that this world is not ultimate and death is not the end. This does prepare us for the harvest, but it also motivates us from the long haul since we know that our efforts are not hopeless. We "embrace it [the word] with a generous and good heart" and bear fruit here and now precisely because we know that we are meant to live now in a way that embraces we hope our eternal destiny will be. We live now by the power of the Spirit because we hope to one day receive resurrection in which all that we are, including our physical bodies, will be fully transformed by the Spirit into something glorious. If there is a resurrection then no love is ever wasted. But if the resurrection is a myth, or something that happened to Jesus as a one time unique event, then it is only natural to infer that it doesn't have much to do with us. What is left but anxiety, riches, and pleasure in that case?

It might seem like a stretch to imagine a future so different from the present world we know. But this present world is only the beginning. It is still in the mold shaped and left to us by Adam, full of the heritage of sin and death that taints ourselves and everything around us. This was allowed to be the beginning precisely so that something better and more lasting could meaningfully supersede it. The happy fault of Adam was permitted because God saw that he could bring from it an even greater good. He gave life and breath to humans through Adam. But he gave us his Spirit through Christ Jesus, and through that same Spirit he will one day raise us up. 

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you (see Romans 8:11).

So let us treasure the precious seed of the word of God, knowing that there is a real opponent out there doing all he can to make us second guess what we believe. Let us seek to learn how to make it a true root, one that can anchor us even in the face of real world difficulties, and help us resist the allure of worldly temptations. We begin to bear fruit in this life, love, joy, peace, and the rest. But it does not end here.

So also is the resurrection of the dead.
It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible.
It is sown dishonorable; it is raised glorious.
It is sown weak; it is raised powerful.
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.

Kutless - Word Of God Speak

 

18 September 2026 - accompanying him

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Accompanying him were the Twelve
and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities

We too are called to accompany Jesus, to provide for him from out of our resources, and to serve him with our talents. We are called to do so regardless of our social standing, and are not disqualified by our past, whatever it may have been. Even for those of us who did not have lifestyles of debauchery and dissipation before our eventual conversions it is nevertheless true that we have all sinned, all fallen short of the glory of God (see Romans 3:23). We have all done what we ought not do, and not done many things we ought to do. We have never once adequately responded to the many gifts of grace given us by God. Even our thanksgiving is paltry compared to what we receive. Yet none of this defines us. None of it puts a limit on who we can become now that we are walking with Christ. We may have a past as sinners but it in no way precludes our future as saints. Things that the world tells us should define us and limit us are not limitations in Christ in whom, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (see Galatians 3:28).  Our lives now transcend the narrow horizon of mortality. Paul wants us to understand that the resurrection of Christ does not merely tell us about Jesus but also about ourselves and our own destinies.

If Christ is preached as raised from the dead,
how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead?

It is not the case that resurrection was merely a one-time event, an outlier that happened to Jesus, but without ongoing effects on reality. The problem it addressed was not a temporary problem, as though it merely removed an obstacle for Jesus himself. It was not just a continue after a game over. It was the victory in a battle in which death was defeated and sin was conquered. Our own sin would still remain were it not for the resurrection. Our own past would still define us. It is the resurrection which opens a new horizon of life for us and makes us new creations in Christ (see Second Corinthians 5:17). This is why Paul writes, "if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins". This is the reason why we're here. Without it Christianity doesn't really have anything to offer. Without the resurrection all that remains is a distraction from the harsh reality of our impending death. There are ways in which our lives will be better as Christians regardless, since being virtuous does lead to fulfillment of a sort. But living as though our treasure is in heaven if there were really no heaven awaiting us would truly be sad and hollow. The payoff from Christianity is meant to be more than the side benefits that may accrue during our mortal lives, which is why Paul tells us, "If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all". But the thing to remember, the thing on which Paul insists, and the fundamental core of the Good News of Christianity is precisely that "Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep". Let us not only believe it but let's allow it to transform us, as it did all who encountered the risen Christ.

 

Matt Maher - Christ Is Risen

 

17 September 2026 - hence, she has shown great love

Today's Readings
(Audio)

 

Do you see this woman?
When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet,
but she has bathed them with her tears
and wiped them with her hair.

The primary thing that differentiated the Pharisee from the so-called sinful woman was that she recognized the depth of her need for Jesus, whereas the Pharisee took a more casual academic interest. The woman came in desperate hope. The Pharisee was as ready to be disappointed as impressed, seeing himself as better than Jesus, able to recognize the fact that the woman was a sinner, which Jesus had apparently missed. The Pharisee didn't recognize that he too ought to have wept for his sins at the feet of Jesus. Because he didn't recognize his need for forgiveness his was unable to receive it, and was therefore not  motivated to do anything for Jesus in response. Although he invited Jesus to dinner he did not give water to wash his feet, or kiss him in welcome, or anoint his head with oil. 

The woman knew her need for Jesus, sought him, and, this is key, he welcomed and did not reject her. It was this loving acceptance that motivated her response, since it represented the forgiveness she desired. It made it clear that her contrition was received and accepted. Thus she was forgiven much and then loved much in response. She washed his feet with her tears, kissed them, and anointed them with oil. This extravagant response was provoked by recognizing and receiving the extravagant love of Jesus himself. We can see too that her love represented a kind of "reparation" to the heart of Jesus for the omissions of the Pharisee since Jesus himself saw it as filling the omissions of hospitality by Simon the Pharisee.

Two people were in debt to a certain creditor;
one owed five hundred days’ wages and the other owed fifty.
Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both.
Which of them will love him more?

It isn't so much that any of us owes so much more or less than any other. The point is that some of us recognize it more, and our lives are changed as a result. We do ourselves no favors by pretending to be perfect, strong, and flawless. When we do so, we fail to give Jesus the access to our hearts that he needs in order to transform us. The risk is that we remain like Simon, stingy, judgmental, indifferent to others, and trapped in the prison of our egos. But when we recognize our need for Jesus he breaks open the shell of our egos, transforms us, and makes us both capable of love and motivated to do so.
We can infer from our first reading the degree to which Paul knew the transforming love of Jesus for himself. Since he saw himself as foremost among sinners (see First Timothy 1:15) and yet forgiven he received grace that allowed him to toil "harder than all of them". Let us not neglect the source of strength we find when we cast ourselves at the feet of Jesus, holding nothing back.

Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them;
not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me.

Matt Maher - Your Love Is Extravagant