The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to recognize that our human community, consisting of both law abiding and needy, are beloved children of God.
The Reading from the Book of Sirach defines sacrifice pleasing and acceptable to God.
* [35:1–26] Keeping the commandments of the law and avoiding injustice constitute sacrifice pleasing and acceptable to God (vv. 1–5). Offerings also should be made to him, cheerfully and generously; these he repays sevenfold (vv. 6–13). Extortion from widows and orphans is injustice, and God will hear their cries (vv. 14–22a). Punishing the proud and the merciless and coming to the aid of the distressed, he requites everyone according to their deeds (vv. 22b–26). (Sirach, CHAPTER 35 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 34 declares God will give them protection.
* [Psalm 34] A thanksgiving in acrostic form, each line beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In this Psalm one letter is missing and two are in reverse order. The psalmist, fresh from the experience of being rescued (Ps 34:5, 7), can teach the “poor,” those who are defenseless, to trust in God alone (Ps 34:4, 12). God will make them powerful (Ps 34:5–11) and give them protection (Ps 34:12–22). (Psalms, PSALM 34 | USCCB, n.d.)
The Reading from the Second Letter to Timothy comments on the Reward for Fidelity
* [4:14–18] Alexander: an opponent of Paul’s preaching (2 Tm 4:14–15), perhaps the one who is mentioned in 1 Tm 1:20. Despite Paul’s abandonment by his friends in the province of Asia (cf. 2 Tm 1:15–16), the divine assistance brought this first trial to a successful issue, even to the point of making the gospel message known to those who participated in or witnessed the trial (2 Tm 4:16–17). (2 Timothy, CHAPTER 4|USCCB, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus presents the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.
* [18:1–14] The particularly Lucan material in the travel narrative concludes with two parables on prayer. The first (Lk 18:1–8) teaches the disciples the need of persistent prayer so that they not fall victims to apostasy (Lk 18:8). The second (Lk 18:9–14) condemns the self-righteous, critical attitude of the Pharisee and teaches that the fundamental attitude of the Christian disciple must be the recognition of sinfulness and complete dependence on God’s graciousness. The second parable recalls the story of the pardoning of the sinful woman (Lk 7:36–50) where a similar contrast is presented between the critical attitude of the Pharisee Simon and the love shown by the pardoned sinner. (Luke, CHAPTER 18 | USCCB, n.d.)
Rev. Larry Gillick, SJ, working with an “AI” theme, comments that Artificial Intimacy with God and with others begins with not really being present, being really there.
Actual Intimacy depends on firstly being intimate with ourselves. I ask myself sincere questions about how I am doing, feeling, and thinking. This is definitely not exalting myself, but waiting humbly for my true answers. Intimacy begins with self-honesty and acceptance, and that is not always “fun”. The first man in today’s parable was honest about his external, but not in touch with his internal. The sinner was quite honest about both his interior and how he had been living externally.
When starting my own morning-prayer time, I do ask myself if I am here yet. I have my mug of tea set, but often I am not set, not available for encountering myself, my truth, in the presence of the All-loving Infinite Love Who waits for me to catch up with my reality. God never waits; even my waking up to my truth is God’s Active Intensity. To be honest, sometimes I do not get there, not present, not really awake. God is Always Intimate and Actively involved. (Gillick, 2025)
Don Schwager quotes “The medicine of repentance,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"How useful and necessary a medicine is repentance! People who remember that they are only human will readily understand this. It is written, 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble' (1 Peter 5:5, James 4:6, Job 22:29, Proverbs 3:34). The Pharisee was not rejoicing so much in his own clean bill of health as in comparing it with the diseases of others. He came to the doctor. It would have been more worthwhile to inform him by confession of the things that were wrong with himself instead of keeping his wounds secret and having the nerve to crow over the scars of others. It is not surprising that the tax collector went away cured, since he had not been ashamed of showing where he felt pain." (excerpt from Sermon 351.1) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18 comments that when a Pharisee and a tax collector come to the Temple to pray, the Pharisee seems to think he can sway the Lord’s opinion of him with his long list of accomplishments. But it doesn’t work. Neither his status nor his résumé qualifies him for special favors. The one who “went home justified,” the one who received God’s grace, was the tax collector, who approached God with humility and lowliness (Luke 18:14). He knew that he couldn’t earn God’s approval, so he admitted his need and pleaded for mercy.
The Lord knows no favorites. That’s a truth that you can hold onto today. But you can also hold onto the truth that you are a beloved child of God. Your position before him is secure. There’s nothing you can do to make him love you more. There’s nothing you have done that will make him love you less. So just come to him, trusting in his mercy, and let him love you—completely—for who you are!
“Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me so fully and unreservedly!” (Meditation on Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments that the Sirach reading was written only in Greek therefore it is not in the Jewish or Protestant Canon. God shows justice to everyone and reaches out to those who need Him. The Second Letter to Timothy, likely written in the name of Paul, compares the situation of Paul to a libation poured on ground as a sign of giving completely to God even as he was facing martyrdom and knowing it will serve the spreading of the Gospel. Luke presents the Parable of Pharisee and the Publican tax collector. The text contrasts the self praise of a truly good Pharisee and a man admitting his brokenness. It is not true conversion to be superior to others. Luke reaches out to the anawim, those society puts down. Friar Jude notes they recognize their need for Jesus and turn to Him.
Fr. Mike Schmitz discusses the story of Jeremiah and the Ark of the Covenant, offering insight on where it was hidden and how that affected the people of God. He also looks ahead to the rest of 2 Maccabees and poses a question for all of us: What will the people who love us remember about us? Today’s readings are 2 Maccabees 2, Sirach 42-44, and Proverbs 24:8-9.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, reflects on our universal participation in life and the connectedness to which Christ invites us. We are all partners with both the living and the dead, walking alongside countless ancestors and descendants who were wounded and longed for healing. This idea, “the communion of saints,” became the last phrase added to the Apostles’ Creed centuries later, almost as if it took us a while to recognize its importance. Someday, maybe we will have the courage to add “the communion of sinners,” too. The body of Christ is one great and shared sadness and one continuous joy, and we are saved just by remaining connected to it.
Since the Enlightenment, however, we have been trained to believe that we each can “do it my way,” like Frank Sinatra’s song, instead of participating in everybody else’s great parade. As I often say, if we do not mythologize our pain, all we can do is pathologize it. We Westerners have lost the ability to frame the significance of our own little lives. I suspect that those who grew up with the richness of the myths and sacred stories of Ulysses and Athena or the Corn Mothers or Kali may have found meaning and consolation for their pain more readily than many of us do today. They knew they weren’t alone on the journey, while we no longer believe or live as if we are an inherent part of a much bigger story. We believe ourselves separate from the cosmic dance that created Greek comedy and tragedy and led the Pueblo peoples of the Southwest to dance and carve kachinas as a way of marking human events or emotions. Helping people see that they are cooperating members of a performance that is already showing—and will keep showing—is surely why so many of the religions of Indigenous people were, at their heart, ancestor worship.
We are invited to realize I am not the first nor the last to feel this suffering. I can now choose to be a weak but willing member of the whole communion of saints! Surely such solidarity is our salvation, rather than private purity or personal wholeness. Paul called it living “en Cristo,” a phrase that he used multiple times to name the shape and coherence of our collective participation. (Rohr, n.d.)
We rely on inspiration of the Spirit to live out our Baptismal Anointing as priest, prophet and leader for all people in humble service to our universal need for God.
References
Gillick, L. (2025, October 26). Daily Reflection October 26, 2025 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved October 26, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-october-26-2025
Luke, CHAPTER 18 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 26, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/18?9
Meditation on Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved October 26, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/10/26/1414780/
Psalms, PSALM 34 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 26, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/34?2
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. CAC.org. Retrieved October 26, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-continuous-body-of-christ/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). God, Be Merciful to Me a Sinner! Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved October 26, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/
Sirach, CHAPTER 35 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 26, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/sirach/35?12
2 Timothy, CHAPTER 4|USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Reflections. Retrieved October 26, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2timothy/4?6
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