Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection October 25, 2025
Saturday – 29th Week in Ordinary Time
25th October 2025 (Saturday)
Psalter: Week 1
Readings of the Day
First Reading: Romans 8:1-11
Brethren: There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 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.
Psalm 24:1b-2, 3-4ab, 5-6 R.(see 6)
R/. These are the people who seek your face, O Lord.
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Alleluia
R/. Alleluia
V/. I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.
R/. Alleluia
Gospel: Luke 13:1-9
There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’
Daily Gospel Reflection
Saturday – 29th Week in Ordinary Time
Main Point: It is not the status or the intelligence that matters in the sight of God. Ultimately, it is a repentant heart that lives according to the Spirit of God and produces fruit in abundance
1. “Unless you repent, you will all perish likewise”, Jesus is very clear and straight. The context is the death of some Galileans, by Pilate or by accident. Very easily, people may think that they met such a fateful death because of their sin. They may also feel complacent that they are better than them. It is not necessarily so. All of us are sinful and prone to sin. There are no guarantees of one’s holiness and goodness at any moment.
2. What is important is not to judge and condemn others. Self-reflection, self-realisation, and self-renewal are most important. These need real repentance and conversion. This concretely implies a constant willingness and determination to fight the battle between the Spirit and the flesh. Repentance and conversion invite us to be humble and be open to the Spirit.
3. Such a life makes us walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. It is to set the minds on the things of the Spirit and not on the things of the flesh. To set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace, while to set the mind on the flesh is death and damnation. Those who are set on the flesh are hostile to God and do not please God. In fact, they do not belong to Christ.
4. If we walk according to the Spirit, our spirits will be alive because of righteousness. We will be productive and fruitful. Those who walk according to the flesh are like the fig tree in the gospel that simply uses up the ground for 3 years without any fruit.
5. However, God is immensely patient. He will not immediately destroy us. As the vine-dresser pleads for one more year, Jesus is pleading on our behalf for some more time to become fruit-bearing.
My Practice: Let us not disappoint God, who is looking for fruits from us, after providing all the possible care for our growth and fruition. Let us repent and live converted lives of walking according to the Spirit and not the flesh
