Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection September 01, 2025

01st September 2025 (Monday)

Psalter: Week 2

Readings of the Day

First Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Psalm 96:1 and 3, 4-5, 11-12, 13 (R. 13b)

R/. The Lord comes to judge the earth

Gospel Acclamation

V/. Alleluia

R/. Alleluia

V/. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.

R/. Alleluia

Gospel: Luke 4:16-30

At that time: Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, ”Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” And all spoke well of him and marvelled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” And he said to them, Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, “’Physician heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your home town as well.’” And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable is his home town. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away.

Daily Gospel Reflection

Monday – 22nd Week in Ordinary Time

Main Point: When the Spirit of the Lord is with us, we will be against the spirit of the world. This will subject us to great troubles from the world. But this is the cost of our mission

1. “Mission, commission, emission, remission, and redemption” – these can be the key ideas in today’s gospel, Luke 4. 16-30. This is the summary of the whole life and mission of Jesus. This is also to be the life and mission of every disciple of Christ.

2. Jesus is on mission. He is commissioned by the Father. He emits the Spirit. His mission consists of the remission of sins leading to redemption. Being sent by the Father and anointed by the Spirit, Jesus is entrusted with a specific mission.

3. Some of its tenets are mentioned in the gospel text, reproduced from the prophet Isaiah. What is striking in these mission terms or objects is the appropriateness of the mission. That is, Jesus brings what is needed to whom. The right thing to the right people!

4. Accordingly, the poor need good news – news of comfort, sustenance, assurance, hope, abundance, satisfaction. Jesus concretises these in his preaching and healing ministry. He releases the captives and liberates the oppressed, especially from the captivity and oppression of sin and evil. He restores sight to the blind, that is enables the people to see God through the sight of faith and to see others through the optic of charity.

5. However, this is a challenging mission. There is every possibility of meeting with misunderstanding, resentment, opposition, and rejection. It happened in the case of Jesus. It is because of the people’s presumptuous knowledge and familiarity with Jesus.

6. They presumed that they knew Jesus very well, his family background, his relations, his credentials, et cetera. It is also because of their “convenient faith” because they listened and received only what did not question or challenge them. That is why the same people who spoke well of him become filled with wrath in no time.

7. The same mission and the same fate also await us. We, too, will meet with contempt and fluctuating fidelities leading to rejection and persecution. But how many of us are really prepared?

My Practice: How many of us can really declare with conviction and sincerity the same missionary manifesto of Jesus? How many are really conscious that they are anointed and empowered by the Spirit and manifest the same? How many really carry out the same mission of Jesus?