Gospel: October 26, 2026
October 26, 2026 (Monday)
30th Week in Ordinary Time
Psalter: Week 2 (Green)
Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 & 6
Behave like God as his very dear children.
1st Reading: Ephesians 4:32-5:8
Be good and understanding, forgiving one another, as God forgave you, in Christ.
As most beloved children of God, strive to imitate him. Follow the way of love, the example of Christ, who loved you. He gave himself up for us, and became the offering and sacrificial victim, whose fragrance rises to God. And, since you are holy, there must not be among you, even a hint of sexual immorality, or greed, or any kind of impurity: these should not be named among you. So, too, for scandalous words, nonsense and foolishness, which are not fitting; instead, offer thanksgiving to God.
Know this: no depraved, impure, or covetous person, who serves the god ‘Money,’ shall have part in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for these are the sins which God is about to condemn in people, who do not obey. Do not associate with such people. You were once darkness, but, now, you are light, in the Lord. Behave as children of light.
Gospel: Luke 13:10-17
Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath, and a crippled woman was there. An evil spirit had kept her bent for 18 years, so that she could not straighten up at all. On seeing her, Jesus called her and said, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” Then he laid his hands upon her, and immediately she was made straight and praised God.
But the ruler of the synagogue was indignant, because Jesus had performed this healing on the Sabbath day, and he said to the people, “There are six days in which to work. Come on those days to be healed, and not on the Sabbath!”
But the Lord replied, “You hypocrites! Everyone of you unties his ox or his donkey on the Sabbath, and leads it out of the barn to give it water. And here you have a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound for eighteen years. Should she not be freed from her bonds on the Sabbath?”
When Jesus said this, all his opponents felt ashamed. But the people rejoiced at the many wonderful things that happened because of him.
Reflection:
Christ gives us freedom.
Jesus healed a crippled woman in the synagogue during the Sabbath. For 18 years, it is believed that an evil spirit had kept her bent. One can also surmise that, for those long years, she was marginalized. The woman was freed, through the healing power of Christ, from the evils of marginalization and discrimination. It may have imprisoned her for years, and it was Jesus who gave her freedom from such clutches of social perception. We may also speak of imprisonment in the rigid laws and practices we impose on ourselves and others, forgetting the important law of love and mercy toward others. Again, in this, Christ gives us this freedom. We know we are freed from these clutches when we see ourselves bearing the fruits of kindness, justice, and truth in every form, as Paul exhorts in the first reading.
