Archive for October 24, 2026

Sunday Reflections with Dr Scott Hahn

Posted: October 24, 2026 by CatholicJules in Sunday Reflections
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Thirtieth Sunday
in Ordinary Time

Exodus 22:20-26

Psalm 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51

1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10

Matthew 22:34-40


Love Commands

Jesus told His disciples that He came “not to abolish” the Old Testament Law “but to fulfill” it (Matthew 5:17). And in today’s Gospel, He reveals that love—of God and of neighbor—is the fulfillment of the whole of the law (see Romans 13:8–10).

Devout Israelites were expected to keep all 613 commands found in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. Jesus says today that all these, and all the teachings of the prophets, can be boiled down to just two verses of this Law (see Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18).

In this distillation, He seems to summarize the two stone tablets on which God was said to have engraved the Ten Commandments (see Exodus 32:15–16): The first tablet set out three laws concerning the love of God, such as the command not to take His name in vain; the second contained seven commands regarding love of neighbor, such as those against stealing and

adultery.

Love is the hinge that binds the two tablets of the Law. We can’t love God, whom we can’t see, if we don’t love our neighbor, whom we can (see 1 John 4:20–21). But this love we are called to is far more than simple affection or warm sentiment. We must give ourselves totally to God—loving with our whole beings, with all our heart, soul, and mind. Our love for our neighbor must express itself in concrete actions, such as those set out in today’s First Reading.

“We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). As we sing in today’s Psalm, He has been our deliverer, our strength when we could not possibly defend ourselves against the enemies of sin and death.

Grateful for our salvation, we show others the love that God has shown us. In this we become imitators of Jesus, as Paul relates in today’s Epistle—laying down our lives in ways large and small, seen and unseen, our daily living offered as a continual “sacrifice of praise” (see John 15:12–13; Hebrews 13:15).

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: October 24, 2026 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Each and every one of us have received graces from God, our Heavenly Father. Each one of us has been given gifts to build His kingdom, to strengthen the community, so that all of us, with our unique gifts, work as one body in Christ Jesus, our Lord, for His glory.

All of us must renounce the work of the enemy each and every day of our lives, repent of our own sins, so that we can remain strong and united in Him, for He or Lord, desires for all of us to be reunited with Him in our heavenly abode.

Let us help one another remain steadfast as we make our pilgrim journey back to Him. Amen.

Saint Antony Mary Claret, Bishop pray for us…

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First reading
Ephesians 4:7-16 ·
By grace, we shall not be children any longer

Each one of us has been given his own share of grace, given as Christ allotted it. It was said that he would:

When he ascended to the height, he captured prisoners,
he gave gifts to men.

When it says, ‘he ascended’, what can it mean if not that he descended right down to the lower regions of the earth? The one who rose higher than all the heavens to fill all things is none other than the one who descended. And to some, his gift was that they should be apostles; to some, prophets; to some, evangelists; to some, pastors and teachers; so that the saints together make a unity in the work of service, building up the body of Christ. In this way we are all to come to unity in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God, until we become the perfect Man, fully mature with the fullness of Christ himself.
    Then we shall not be children any longer, or tossed one way and another and carried along by every wind of doctrine, at the mercy of all the tricks men play and their cleverness in practising deceit. If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to its function. So the body grows until it has built itself up, in love.



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Gospel
Luke 13:1-9
‘Leave the fig tree one more year’

Some people arrived and told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with that of their sacrifices. At this he said to them, ‘Do you suppose these Galileans who suffered like that were greater sinners than any other Galileans? They were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen on whom the tower at Siloam fell and killed them? Do you suppose that they were more guilty than all the other people living in Jerusalem? They were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent you will all perish as they did.’
    He told this parable: ‘A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it but found none. He said to the man who looked after the vineyard, “Look here, for three years now I have been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and finding none. Cut it down: why should it be taking up the ground?” “Sir,” the man replied “leave it one more year and give me time to dig round it and manure it: it may bear fruit next year; if not, then you can cut it down.”’