2 October 2025 (Thursday) / The Holy Guardian Angels on Thursday of week 26 in Ordinary Time / Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels

2 October 2025 (Thursday)

The Holy Guardian Angels on Thursday of week 26 in Ordinary Time.

Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels.

Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:

First Reading: Nehemiah 8: 1-12
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 19: 8-11
Alleluia: Psalms 103: 21
Gospel: Matthew 18: 1-5, 10

First Reading : Nehemiah 8:1‐12

When the seventh month came, all the people gathered as one man on the square before the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses which the Lord had prescribed for Israel. Accordingly Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, consisting of men, women, and children old enough to understand. This was the first day of the seventh month. On the square before the Water Gate, in the presence of the men and women, and children old enough to understand, he read from the book from early morning till noon; all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law. Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden dais erected for the purpose. In full view of all the people – since he stood higher than all the people – Ezra opened the book; and when he opened it all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people raised their hands and answered, ‘Amen! Amen!’ Then they bowed down and, face to the ground, prostrated themselves before the Lord. And Ezra read from the Law of God, translating and giving the sense, so that the people understood what was read. Then Nehemiah – His Excellency – and Ezra, priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people, said to all the people, ‘This day is sacred to the Lord your God. Do not be mournful, do not weep.’ For the people were all in tears as they listened to the words of the Law. He then said, ‘Go, eat the fat, drink the sweet wine, and send a portion to the man who has nothing prepared ready. For this day is sacred to our Lord. Do not be sad: the joy of the Lord is your stronghold.’ And the Levites calmed all the people, saying, ‘Be at ease; this is a sacred day. Do not be sad.’ And all the people went off to eat and drink and give shares away and begin to enjoy themselves since they had understood the meaning of what had been proclaimed to them.

Responsive Psalm : Psalm 18(19):8‐11

The precepts of the Lord gladden the heart.

The law of the Lord is perfect, it revives the soul. The rule of the Lord is to be trusted, it gives wisdom to the simple.

The precepts of the Lord gladden the heart.

The precepts of the Lord are right, they gladden the heart. The command of the Lord is clear, it gives light to the eyes.

The precepts of the Lord gladden the heart.

The fear of the Lord is holy, abiding for ever. The decrees of the Lord are truth and all of them just.

The precepts of the Lord gladden the heart.

They are more to be desired than gold, than the purest of gold and sweeter are they than honey, than honey from the comb.

The precepts of the Lord gladden the heart.

Alleluia: Psalms 103: 21
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
21 Bless the LORD, all you angels, you ministers, who do his will.
(1. [Of David] Bless Yahweh, my soul, from the depths of my being, his holy name;
2. bless Yahweh, my soul, never forget all his acts of kindness.
3. He forgives all your offences, cures all your diseases,
4. he redeems your life from the abyss, crowns you with faithful love and tenderness;
5. he contents you with good things all your life, renews your youth like an eagle's.
6. Yahweh acts with uprightness, with justice to all who are oppressed;
7. he revealed to Moses his ways, his great deeds to the children of Israel.
8. Yahweh is tenderness and pity, slow to anger and rich in faithful love;
9. his indignation does not last for ever, nor his resentment remain for all time;
10. he does not treat us as our sins deserve, nor repay us as befits our offences.
11. As the height of heaven above earth, so strong is his faithful love for those who fear him.
12. As the distance of east from west, so far from us does he put our faults.
13. As tenderly as a father treats his children, so Yahweh treats those who fear him;
14. he knows of what we are made, he remembers that we are dust.
15. As for a human person -- his days are like grass, he blooms like the wild flowers;
16. as soon as the wind blows he is gone, never to be seen there again.
17. But Yahweh's faithful love for those who fear him is from eternity and for ever; and his saving justice to their children's children;
18. as long as they keep his covenant, and carefully obey his precepts.
19. Yahweh has fixed his throne in heaven, his sovereign power rules over all.
20. Bless Yahweh, all his angels, mighty warriors who fulfil his commands, attentive to the sound of his words.
21. Bless Yahweh, all his armies, servants who fulfil his wishes.
22. Bless Yahweh, all his works, in every place where he rules. Bless Yahweh, my soul).

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel : Matthew 18:1‐5,10

The disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ So he called a little child to him and set the child in front of them. Then he said, ‘I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ‘Anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. See that you never despise any of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven are continually in the presence of my Father in heaven.’

For our reflection today:

We are all sons and daughters. And this always brings us back to the fact that we did not give ourselves life but that we received it. The great gift of life is the first gift that we received. Sometimes in life we risk forgetting about this, as if we were the masters of our existence, and instead we are fundamentally dependent. In reality, it is a motive of great joy to feel at every stage of life, in every situation, in every social condition, that we are and we remain sons and daughters. This is the main message that children give us, by their very presence: simply by their presence they remind us that each and every one of us is a son or daughter. But there are so many gifts, so many riches that children bring to humanity. I shall mention only a few. They bring their way of seeing reality, with a trusting and pure gaze. A child has spontaneous trust in his father and mother; he has spontaneous trust in God, in Jesus, in Our Lady. At the same time, his interior gaze is pure, not yet tainted by malice, by duplicity, by the “incrustations” of life which harden the heart. We know that children are also marked by original sin, that they are selfish, but they preserve purity, and interior simplicity. But children are not diplomats: they say what they feel, say what they see, directly. Furthermore, children — in their interior simplicity — bring with them the capacity to receive and give tenderness. Tenderness is having a heart “of flesh” and not “of stone”, as the Bible says (cf. Ezek 36:26). Tenderness is also poetry: it is “feeling” things and events, not treating them as mere objects, only to use them, because they are useful. For all these reasons Jesus invited his disciples to “become like children”, because “the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like them” (cf. Mt 18:3; Mk 10:14). (Pope Francis, General Audience, 18 March 2015)

Jonathan Fabian Ginunggil,
Most High Servant,
Jesus, Mary, Joseph Ministry of Love (Blessed  and Saints and the Nine Choirs of Angels)