Wednesday, October 21, 2026

Wednesday of the Twenty-ninth week in Ordinary Time

Luke 12:39-48

Listen to the whole reading — MP3

First reading

Ephesians 3:2-12

if it is so that you have heard of the administration of that grace of God which was given me toward you; how that by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I wrote before in few words, by which, when you read, you can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ; which in other generations was not made known to the children of men, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of his promise in Christ Jesus through the Good News, of which I was made a servant, according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of his power. To me, the very least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all men see what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now through the assembly the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord; in whom we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in him.

Responsorial psalm

Isaiah 12:2-3,4,5-6

Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord, the Lord, is my strength and song; and he has become my salvation.” Therefore with joy you will draw water out of the wells of salvation. In that day you will say, “Give thanks to the Lord! Call on his name. Declare his doings among the peoples. Proclaim that his name is exalted! Sing to the Lord, for he has done excellent things! Let this be known in all the earth! Cry aloud and shout, you inhabitant of Zion; for the Holy One of Israel is great among you!”

Gospel

Luke 12:39-48

But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched, and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore be ready also, for the Son of Man is coming in an hour that you don’t expect him.” Peter said to him, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everybody?” The Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the right times? Blessed is that servant whom his lord will find doing so when he comes. Truly I tell you, that he will set him over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My lord delays his coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken, then the lord of that servant will come in a day when he isn’t expecting him, and in an hour that he doesn’t know, and will cut him in two, and place his portion with the unfaithful. That servant, who knew his lord’s will, and didn’t prepare, nor do what he wanted, will be beaten with many stripes, but he who didn’t know, and did things worthy of stripes, will be beaten with few stripes. To whomever much is given, of him will much be required; and to whom much was entrusted, of him more will be asked.

Lectio

Paul calls himself "the very least of all saints," and yet to him was given the staggering task of announcing "the unsearchable riches of Christ" — a mystery hidden in God for ages, now spilling out through the most ordinary of vessels. There is something to notice here: the greatness of the gift and the smallness of the one entrusted with it are not in contradiction. Paul does not shrink from his mission by pleading his unworthiness, nor does he inflate himself by the grandeur of what he carries. He simply serves. The mystery was never his to possess; it was his to steward.

That word — steward — is where today's readings quietly meet. Jesus speaks of the servant set over the household, charged with giving each person their portion of food "at the right times." Notice how humble the task is. Not to build an empire, not to dazzle, but to feed the people in front of him, faithfully, when they need it. The whole drama of the parable turns on a single interior sentence: "My lord delays his coming." The faithful steward and the unfaithful one may look identical from outside. The difference is what they say in their hearts about whether they are being watched, whether their work still matters, whether love is coming back.

"To whom much was entrusted, of him more will be asked." This is not a threat so much as a description of how love works. What we have been given — a faith, a family, a position, a kindness we know how to offer — is never simply ours. It has been placed in our hands for the sake of others, and the question is only whether we will keep giving it out at the right times, or begin to hoard it, or turn it against the very people it was meant to feed.

What is the one thing entrusted to you — a role, a gift, a person's trust — that you have quietly started treating as yours to spend rather than yours to give?

Where in your life have you begun saying in your heart, "My Lord delays his coming," and let some responsibility slacken because you assumed no one was watching?

Saint of the day

St. Hilarion, Abbot and Hermit (291-371)

Ora reads this aloud, every morning, free. Ora