Saturday, May 30, 2026
Saturday of the Eighth week in Ordinary Time
Mark 11:27-33
Listen to the whole reading — MP3
First reading
Jude 1:17,20-25
But you, beloved, remember the words which have been spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. But you, beloved, keep building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. On some have compassion, making a distinction, and some save, snatching them out of the fire with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh. Now to him who is able to keep them from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory in great joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.
Responsorial psalm
Psalms 63:2,3-4,5-6
So I have seen you in the sanctuary, watching your power and your glory. Because your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise you. So I will bless you while I live. I will lift up my hands in your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with the richest food. My mouth shall praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you on my bed, and think about you in the night watches.
Gospel
Mark 11:27-33
They came again to Jerusalem, and as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders came to him, and they began saying to him, “By what authority do you do these things? Or who gave you this authority to do these things?” Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John—was it from heaven, or from men? Answer me.” They reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we should say, ‘From heaven;’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ If we should say, ‘From men’”—they feared the people, for all held John to really be a prophet. They answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Jesus said to them, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Lectio
There is a quiet honesty that runs beneath today's readings, an invitation to stop hedging our bets with God. The chief priests come to Jesus not seeking truth but protecting their position. When he asks them a simple question about John's baptism, they retreat into calculation — "If we say this, then he will say that." Their famous answer, "We don't know," is not the humble confession of a seeker but the careful evasion of those who have decided that keeping their standing matters more than encountering the truth. They would rather not know than risk being changed by what they discover.
How different is the soul of the psalmist, who thirsts openly: "My soul shall be satisfied as with the richest food." There is no calculation here, only longing, only the readiness to lift up empty hands and be filled. And Jude, writing to the beloved, gives us the posture that frees us from the trap of self-protection: keep building yourselves up in faith, keep yourselves in God's love, look for mercy. The spiritual life cannot be lived defensively. We cannot cling to our reputations and reach for God at the same time; one hand must let go.
Perhaps this is the gentle question beneath all three readings — whether we approach God to be confirmed in what we already are, or to be undone and remade. The mercy Jude speaks of, the One who can "present you faultless," is offered freely, but it asks of us a willingness to be honest where the chief priests would not.
Where in your life are you saying "I don't know" to avoid an answer that would cost you something — a relationship you'd have to mend, a choice you'd have to make, a truth about yourself you'd rather not face?
When you come before God, are you longing like the psalmist to be satisfied and changed, or are you quietly protecting some position you are unwilling to surrender?
Saint of the day
St. Felix I, Pope and Martyr († 274)
Ora reads this aloud, every morning, free. Ora