Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection October 10, 2025
Saturday – 27th Week in Ordinary Time
11th October 2025 (Saturday)
Psalter: Week 3
Readings of the Day
First Reading: Joel 3(4). 12-21
Thus says the Lord: Let the nations stir themselves up and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the wine press is full. The vats overflow, for their evil is great. Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. The Lord roars from Sion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the Lord is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel. “So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who dwells in Sion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall never again pass through it. “And in that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the stream beds of Judah shall flow with water; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord and water the Valley of Shittim. “Egypt shall become a desolation and Edom a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the people of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall be inhabited for ever, and Jerusalem to all generations. I will avenge their blood, blood I have not avenged, for the Lord dwells in Sion.”
Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6, 11-12 (R. 12a)
R/. Rejoice in the Lord, you just.
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Alleluia
R/. Alleluia
V/. Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.
R/. Alleluia
Gospel: Luke 11:27-28
At that time: As Jesus said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
Daily Gospel Reflection
Saturday – 27th Week in Ordinary Time
Main Point: Greatness or blessedness does not come from birth or lineage. It does not depend upon physical relationships. Rather, one is blessed if he is born of God and exercises spiritual relationships
1. When the children do great, automatically the credit and praise go to the parents. Similarly, looking at Jesus, someone extols his mother, saying, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked”. Immediately Jesus declares, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it”.
2. Here, it is not a dishonor to his mother, not a disowning of his belonging to his mother. Rather, it is a reallocation of the true greatness of his mother. Jesus wants to show clearly what is the true greatness of his mother. He wants to show her blessedness on a different level higher than the merely physical.
3. Mary is great and blessed not just because she is the physical mother of Jesus. She is blessed because of her spiritual fecundity. She constantly gives birth to the spirit of Jesus. She “hears the word of God and keeps it”.
4. As Joel in the first reading affirms, Mary totally believed that the “Lord is a refuge to His people, a stronghold to the people of Israel”. She believed in the benevolent promises of God who assures: “And in that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk…”
5. Mary was a perfect disciple, one who hears God’s word attentively and follows it diligently. She is truly that wise person in Matthew 7. 24-27, one who builds his house on a foundation of rock. No floods, no rains, no winds can make it collapse because it is solidly founded on a rock. Mary remained firm like a rock even amidst storms of life. She is blessed because all through her life, hearing the word and keeping it was the norm and guiding force of her life.
My Practice: In a world that seeks greatness based on affinities and allegiances of caste, region, religion, culture, status, position, et cetera, Mary’s greatness was her spiritual tenacity and holistic integrity
