Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection September 16, 2025
Tuesday – 24th Week in Ordinary Time
16th September 2025 (Tuesday)
Psalter: Week 4
Readings of the Day
First Reading: 1 Timothy 3:1-13
Beloved: The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of bishop, he desires a noble task. Therefore a bishop must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
Psalm 101:1-2ab, 2cd-3ab, 5, 6 (R. 2c)
R/. I will walk with blameless heart.
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Alleluia
R/. Alleluia
V/. A great prophet has arisen among us, and God has visited his people.
R/. Alleluia
Gospel: Luke 7:11-17
At that time: Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.
Daily Gospel Reflection
Tuesday – 24th Week in Ordinary Time
Main Point: We need eyes to see the pain of others, a heart to feel it and a spirit to ease it
1. Jesus restores to life the only son of a widow of Nain. He has the sensitivity to see her irreplaceable loss and feels compassion for her pain and plight. But this is not a mere passing feeling which is limited only to a sense of pity and dozens of tears.
2. It is something profound. It realises what the other needs the most in such a painful situation. Accordingly, he promptly acts to fulfil that need. He does not wait for the widow’s plea to him. He takes the initiative.
3. He consoles her in her inconsolable grief, saying, “Do not cry”. He encounters the death procession. He intervenes and touches the death-stretcher. He orders the dead young man to “get up” from the stretch of death. He restores life to the dead man and restores him to his mother.
4. Our life too is at times like a death procession with an utter sense of loss and grief. Not seldom, with hopes exasperated, we feel placed on a death-stretcher, destined to misery and doom.
5. It is in such moments that Jesus encounters us, intervenes, and changes our destiny by restoring life with renewed hope and energy. All that is needed is to heed Jesus’ voice, “Do not cry” and “Wake up”.
6. When one is touched by the Lord and arises from the deathbed of sin and evil, the effects are quite clear and authentic. This rising will show itself in a totally changed life in a dignified and irreproachable character and nobility of vocation, be it the bishops or deacons or women, as enlisted in the first reading.
My Practice: Even death cannot kill our hope, as long as we believe the Lord is with us
