Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection October 10, 2025
Friday – 27th Week in Ordinary Time
10th October 2025 (Friday)
Psalter: Week 3
Readings of the Day
First Reading: Joel 1:13-15; 2:1-2
Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Go in, pass the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God! Because grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God. Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord. Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes. Blow a trumpet in Sion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations.
Psalm 9:2-3, 6 and 16, 8-9 (R. see 9a)
R/. The Lord will judge the world with justice
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Alleluia
R/. Alleluia
V/. Now will the ruler of this world be cast out, says the Lord; and I when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.
R/. Alleluia
Gospel: Luke 11:15-26
At that time: [When Jesus had cast out a demon,] some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,” while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armour in which he trusted and divides his spoil. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”
Daily Gospel Reflection
Friday – 27th Week in Ordinary Time
Main Point: We are living in a world where there is a malaise of negativity and slander. Good is twisted and accused with wrong motives. It is here we need to bear witness to positive holiness and genuine goodness
1. Often the problem is not so much the lack of goodness but the lack of openness to see it and encourage it. There is so much blindness and stubbornness toward truth and good. Consequently, good is not only not recognized and appreciated, but it is presented as bad.
2. This is what happened in the case of Jesus. Jesus in all benevolence heals many sick and demon-possessed. Instead of recognizing God’s power in and through him, the Jewish people accuse him of healing with the help of Beelzebul, the prince of demons. They already see so many signs that evidence God’s power but still, they demand signs.
3. Jesus makes it very clear that good cannot come from evil. Any trace of bad and division, weakness, and spiritual blindness is nothing but the work of the devil. At times, evil may promote itself in the disguise of good. But its ultimate result is harm and destruction. How foolish the people are not to see that all of Jesus’ holiness and goodness, all his power comes and can come only from God!
4. The devil is the strong man in the gospel. For a while, he is fully armed and has control over all. But once Jesus, the stronger one comes, the evil one has to give way. The power of God assails and overcomes the evil one. However, we can never take for granted the evil one and its whereabouts and crooked designs. Like the unclean spirit in the gospel, for a while, it may have left us and gone away. But it can return any time more powerfully with more force.
5. Therefore, in our spiritual life, there can never be moments of being unalert and lax. We can never keep ourselves empty. We must constantly fill ourselves with the clean and Holy Spirit. For this, in the light of the first reading from Joel, one most effective means is fasting and penance in sincere repentance.
My Practice: There is always the lurking danger of falling into the snares of jealousy and stubbornness. This would lead to prejudice and slander. Instead, let us foster the spirit of optimism and spiritual diligence
