Saturday, October 17, 2026
Saturday of the Twenty-eighth week in Ordinary Time
Luke 12:8-12
Listen to the whole reading — MP3
First reading
Ephesians 1:15-23
For this cause I also, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is among you, and the love which you have toward all the saints, don’t cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him; having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might which he worked in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come. He put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things for the assembly, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Responsorial psalm
Psalms 8:1-2,3-4,5-6
The Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth, who has set your glory above the heavens! From the lips of babes and infants you have established strength, because of your adversaries, that you might silence the enemy and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained; what is man, that you think of him? What is the son of man, that you care for him? For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor. You make him ruler over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet:
Gospel
Luke 12:8-12
“I tell you, everyone who confesses me before men, him will the Son of Man also confess before the angels of God; but he who denies me in the presence of men will be denied in the presence of the angels of God. Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, don’t be anxious how or what you will answer, or what you will say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that same hour what you must say.”
Lectio
Paul prays that the eyes of our hearts might be enlightened, that we might grasp the sheer immensity of what God has done — Christ raised, seated above every power, filling all things. It is a prayer for vision, for the capacity to see what is already true but hidden from us by our smallness and our worry. And the psalmist echoes the wonder: what is man, that you are mindful of him? We are made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory, and yet how often we forget our own dignity, shrinking before lesser powers.
This is what makes Jesus' words in the Gospel so tender rather than threatening. When you are dragged before the synagogues and the authorities, do not be anxious about what to say. He does not promise you will escape the moment of exposure — He promises you will not face it alone. The same Spirit who raised Christ from the dead, who set Him above all rule and dominion, will be with you in the small hour when your voice trembles and you fear you will say the wrong thing. The confession He asks for is not a performance of eloquence but a willingness to belong to Him openly, trusting that grace will meet you there.
We spend so much energy rehearsing our defenses, imagining the conversations we dread. But the Gospel invites a strange freedom: to stop composing the speech and simply trust the One who will teach us in that same hour. The person who has glimpsed the exceeding greatness of God's power toward those who believe can afford to stop being anxious.
Where in your life right now are you rehearsing what to say, gripped by anxiety over a conversation you know is coming — and what would it mean to hand that hour to the Holy Spirit instead?
Is there a specific place — at work, in your family, among certain friends — where you have quietly denied belonging to Christ to avoid discomfort, and whose face comes to mind when you read that?
Saint of the day
St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr († c. 107)
Ora reads this aloud, every morning, free. Ora