Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection September 24, 2026
Thursday – 25th Week of Ordinary Time
24th September 2026 (Thursday)
Psalter: Week 1
Here are the Catholic Mass readings and a daily Gospel reflection for Thursday, September 24, 2026. Ecclesiastes calls everything under the sun a passing breath, and a troubled Herod keeps asking who Jesus is.
Catholic Mass Readings
Readings of the Day
First Reading: Ecclesiastes 1:2-11
Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains for ever. The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. The wind blows to the south and goes round to the north; round and round goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.
Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17 (R. 1)
R/. O Lord, you have been our refuge, from generation to generation.
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Alleluia
R/. Alleluia
V/. I am the way, and the truth, and the life, says the Lord no one comes to the Father except through me.
R/. Alleluia
Gospel: Luke 9:7-9
At that time: Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen. Herod said, “John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he sought to see him.
Thursday – 25th Week in Ordinary Time
Daily Gospel Reflection
Main Point: Everything under the sun is a passing breath, says Ecclesiastes, and nothing new lasts. Into that restless world Herod asks a question he never lets himself answer: who is this Jesus? The only thing that is not vanity is the One he keeps avoiding.
1. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, all is vanity. The word he uses means a breath, a vapor, something you cannot hold. Generations come and go, the sun rises and sets and hurries back, the rivers run to the sea and the sea is never full. Everything moves, and nothing is ever finally enough.
2. He is not being merely gloomy. He is telling the truth about life lived under the sun alone, with no reference to God. Chase money, pleasure, achievement, and you find the same thing each time. A moment of having it, and then the old emptiness, and the reaching starts again. There is nothing new that finally satisfies.
3. Most of us know this feeling, even if we do not say it. The promotion that thrilled us for a week. The purchase that felt necessary and now sits unused. The scrolling that fills an evening and leaves us emptier. We keep expecting the next thing to be the thing, and it never quite is.
4. Into this restless world steps a question. In the Gospel, Herod the ruler is troubled. People are saying John the Baptist has risen, or Elijah has come. Herod keeps asking, who is this about whom I hear such things? And he wanted to see Him. There is a real hunger in the question.
5. But Herod’s hunger goes nowhere. He is curious about Jesus, intrigued, even eager to see Him, yet he never lets the question change him. He treats Jesus as one more interesting thing under the sun, something to be seen, not Someone to be followed. His curiosity stays safe.
6. And that is the quiet warning in these two readings together. Ecclesiastes says everything under the sun is a passing breath. The one thing that is not a passing breath is the very One Herod keeps asking about and never approaches. The answer to the emptiness is standing right in front of him, and he only wants a look.
7. We can do the same. We can be curious about Jesus, interested in faith, moved by a homily, and still keep Him at the level of one more thing we sample. The Preacher’s restlessness is only healed when who is this becomes a question we let all the way in, and follow where it leads. Everything else is breath. He is not.
My Practice: Notice the thing you keep reaching for to fill the emptiness, and admit honestly that it has not worked. Then ask Herod’s question in earnest today, who are You, Lord, and this time wait for the answer instead of turning away.
Prayer
Lord, the Preacher is right that everything under the sun is a passing breath, and we feel it, the reaching that never ends, the next thing that never satisfies. We have tried to fill the emptiness with so much that could not hold it. Herod asked who You were and only wanted a look; save us from that safe curiosity. Let the question go all the way into us. Show us who You are, the one thing that is not vanity, the rest our restless hearts were made for. And when You answer, give us the courage not to turn away, but to follow. Amen.
Question to Reflect Today
- What have you been reaching for to fill an emptiness that only grows, and are you willing to bring the honest question, “who are You, Lord?”, and wait for His answer?
Thank You 🙏🙏🙏
Tags: Daily Mass Reflection, Ordinary Time, Gospel of Luke, Catholic Mass Readings, September 2026
