Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection September 26, 2026
Saturday – 25th Week of Ordinary Time
26th September 2026 (Saturday)
Psalter: Week 1
Here are the Catholic Mass readings and a daily Gospel reflection for Saturday, September 26, 2026. Ecclesiastes urges us to remember our Creator in our youth, and Jesus foretells His suffering while the disciples fail to understand
Catholic Mass Readings
Readings of the Day
First Reading: Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:8
Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low— they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets— before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.
Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 & 17(R. 1)
R/. O Lord you have been our refuge, from generation to generation
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Alleluia
R/. Alleluia
V/. Our Saviour Christ Jesus abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel
R/. Alleluia
Gospel: Luke 9:43b-45
At that time: While they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.
Saturday – 25th Week in Ordinary Time
Daily Gospel Reflection
Main Point: Ecclesiastes urges us to remember our Creator now, before the hard years come. In the Gospel, the disciples cannot bear to hear that Jesus will suffer, so they look away. Both readings ask us not to postpone facing the truth we would rather avoid.
1. The Preacher speaks to the young and the strong. Rejoice while you can, he says, but remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, before the years arrive when you say you have no pleasure in them. He is not trying to spoil joy. He is saying, do not wait to turn to God.
2. Then he paints old age with unflinching honesty, in images of a house falling into disrepair, the strong grown bent, the light dimming, the almond tree in blossom like white hair. It is a sober picture, and it is meant to be. A day comes when the strength we count on now will be gone. Remember Him before then.
3. We are experts at postponing God. We tell ourselves we will get serious about faith later, when life settles, when we are older, when the busy years ease. Ecclesiastes gently dismantles that. Later is not promised, and later we may be weaker, not stronger. The time to remember our Creator is now, while we still can.
4. In the Gospel, the disciples are postponing a different truth. Jesus tells them plainly, let these words sink into your ears, the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. He wants them to face it. But they do not understand, and Luke says they were afraid to ask Him about it.
5. That fear is very human. They did not want it to be true, so they looked away. A suffering Messiah did not fit their hopes, and rather than sit with the hard word, they let it pass and asked nothing. We do the same with the truths we would rather not face, about our sin, our mortality, the cross in our own lives.
6. But avoidance never protects us. The disciples’ refusal to face the cross left them shattered when it came. What we will not look at, we cannot be prepared for. Jesus was not trying to frighten them. He was trying to ready them, so that when the darkness came, they would remember He had told them, and that it was not the end.
7. Today’s saints, Cosmas and Damian, were physicians who healed the sick for free and did not look away from the cost of following Christ, even to martyrdom. They remembered their Creator not only in words but in a life given away. They faced what the disciples could not, and their names are honored still. What we face with Christ, we need never face alone.
My Practice: Name the truth you have been avoiding, your need for God, a sin you keep excusing, your own mortality, and stop looking away from it today. Bring it to Christ now, while you can, rather than leaving it for a later that may never come.
Prayer
Lord, the Preacher tells us to remember You now, before the hard years come, and we confess how much of our turning to You we have left for later. Later is not ours to count on. Give us the wisdom to seek You today, in our strength, and not to wait. And like Your first disciples, we look away from truths we would rather not face, our sin, our weakness, the crosses in our lives. Give us courage to let Your hard words sink in, trusting that You speak them to prepare us, not to frighten us. Whatever we must face, let us face it with You, who never leave us alone. Amen.
Question to Reflect Today
- What truth about your life or your faith have you been avoiding, and what would it look like to bring it honestly to Christ today rather than leaving it for later?
Thank You 🙏🙏🙏
Tags: Daily Mass Reflection, Ordinary Time, Gospel of Luke, Catholic Mass Readings, September 2026
