2026-10-25 Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Opening prayer

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Loving Father,
as we gather to reflect on the words of Jesus,
open our hearts and minds to your truth.
Teach us to love you with our whole heart, soul, and mind,
and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
May our listening and conversation help us understand
how these two commandments belong together
and guide every part of our lives.
Send your Holy Spirit to be with us
and help us recognize your love in one another.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Prayer for healing: Heavenly Father, we surrender our beloved sister Sue Pierce who is in need of healing to your loving care and miraculous healing. May the life-giving powers of your touch flow into every cell of her bodies and into the very depth of her soul, cleansing, purifying, and restoring her to wholeness and full life. Grant her the strength, courage, and patience to endure her suffering. Help her to accept God's will and to find peace in His love. Amen.

 

Practice of faith from last week

How can reimagine our human concerns through a divine perspective

Introduction

Bishop Barron has a very inspirational sermon on the bible passages for the upcoming Sunday 10/2 30th Week in Ordinary Time which explores God's two fundamental commandments: Love God with all your  heart, soul, and mind. And to love your neighbor as yourself.

Exodus 22:20-26

In the first reading Exodus 22:20-26, God loves with a special love those who are in need. That's why the Catholic Church recognises a preferential love for those on the margins - the poor, the homeless, the destitute, the abandoned, the migrant, the outsider. Bishop Barron points to figures like Rose Hawthorne (third daughter of the renowned American novelist and short story writer Nathaniel Hawthorne), who in her darkest hour of personal loss converted to Catholicism, founded a religious order called The Servants of Relief for Incurable Cancer, to care for impoverished, terminally ill cancer patients. Her profound love for God naturally overflowed into concrete, self-sacrificing love for the most marginalized in society. - so think about who that one person in your life that falls under the category and think about what you can do to love this person or persons like Jesus would do?

1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10

In the second reading St Paul had visited Thessalonica, according to Acts 17, on his second missionary journey. This was an important city, the capital of the Macedonian province, located on an inlet and an important trade route, the Via Egnatia. The new Christian converts were non-Jews who would have previously participated in the many pagan cults of this bustling city. When these people heard Paul’s message and accepted its exclusive call to worship the God of Israel alone, they would have faced not only questions, but also rejection and possibly persecution from their families and neighbors. The historical situation in which they converted set them up for a robust and compelling witness of intense and costly faith. And precisely because they have turned from their previous religious expressions to serve the living and true God - they are worthy or praise and a model to be imitated. St Paul’s practical advice to the Thessalonians is that faith and work are not mutually exclusive. For the Thessalians to continue to grow into their faith, Christian work of charity and mercy need to be elements right along with faith, hope, and love.

Matthew 22:34-40

When the Pharisees tried to trap Jesus by asking which commandment is the greatest among the 613 precepts of the Jewish Laws of Moses, Jesus summarises everything into two directives: loving God with all one's heart, soul, and mind, and loving one's neighbor as oneself.
If we obey every external law but fail to love, we are missing the core message of Jesus who constantly reminds us that it is finally about love. Furthermore the love of God and neighbor are inextricably bound to one another. If we follow the law but don’t love, we’re wasting our time. If we love God but hate our neighbors (other humans), we’re wasting our time. 
Here Bishop Barron has an explanation as to why Jesus the word himself, reminds us why the two loves so tightly connected, it's because Jesus is not just God. He is true God and true man, the one in whom divinity and humanity come together. Therefore, it’s impossible to love him as God without loving the humanity that he’s created and embraced for willingly.
Bishop Barron draws on St. Thomas Aquinas to define love (caritas).
    Love is not an emotion, sentiment, or feeling; it is willing the good of the other as other.
    Loving God with "all your heart, soul, and mind" means making God the supreme center of your life—ordering your intellect, energy, and choices toward Him above all created goods.
    Loving your neighbor as yourself means actively seeking their ultimate good, even when you do not feel affection toward them or when it costs you personally.
If we make God the centre of our lives and love all that he has made then all our other relationships will be properly ordered: family, friends, state. Where this becomes a challenge is loving someone who is repugnant to you, who caused you grief and continues to be a problem for you - remember this same person was also created by God in his own image and God, whether you agree or not, has redeemed that person's soul and is as ready to welcome that person back as he is to welcome you.

Reference:  https://www.wordonfire.org/videos/sermons/the-great-commandment/  

 

Practice of faith for this week

Consider who is your neighbor and explore the various ministries in your parish to see how best you can serve your neighbor

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ,
thank you for gathering us and for teaching us
that love of God and love of neighbor are joined together.
Help us carry what we have heard into our homes,
our parish, and our daily encounters.
Give us the grace to love not only in words,
but through patience, kindness, forgiveness, and service.
May our lives bear witness to your love
and bring us closer to you and to one another.
We ask this in your holy name. Amen