20 October 2025 (Monday) / Monday of week 29 in Ordinary Time or Saint Paul of the Cross, Priest / Ordinary Weekday/ Saint Paul of the Cross, Priest, Religious Founder

20 October 2025 (Monday)

Monday of week 29 in Ordinary Time or Saint Paul of the Cross, Priest.

Ordinary Weekday/ Saint Paul of the Cross, Priest, Religious Founder.

Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:

First Reading: Romans 4: 20-25
Responsorial Psalm: Luke 1: 69-75
Alleluia: Matthew 5: 3
Gospel: Luke 12: 13-21

First Reading : Romans 4:20‐25

Since God had made him a promise, Abraham refused either to deny it or even to doubt it, but drew strength from faith and gave glory to God, convinced that God had power to do what he had promised. This is the faith that was ‘considered as justifying him.’ Scripture however does not refer only to him but to us as well when it says that his faith was thus ‘considered’; our faith too will be ‘considered’ if we believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, Jesus who was put to death for our sins and raised to life to justify us.

Responsive Psalm : Luke 1:69‐75

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has visited his people.

He has raised up for us a mighty saviour in the house of David his servant, as he promised by the lips of holy men, those who were his prophets from of old.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has visited his people.

A saviour who would free us from our foes, from the hands of all who hate us. So his love for our fathers is fulfilled and his holy covenant remembered.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has visited his people.

He swore to Abraham our father to grant us that free from fear, and saved from the hands of our foes, we might serve him in holiness and justice all the days of our life in his presence.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has visited his people.

Alleluia: Matthew 5: 3
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
(1. Seeing the crowds, he went onto the mountain. And when he was seated his disciples came to him.
2. Then he began to speak. This is what he taught them:
3. How blessed are the poor in spirit: the kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
4. Blessed are the gentle: they shall have the earth as inheritance.
5. Blessed are those who mourn: they shall be comforted.
6. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for uprightness: they shall have their fill.
7. Blessed are the merciful: they shall have mercy shown them.
8. Blessed are the pure in heart: they shall see God.
9. Blessed are the peacemakers: they shall be recognised as children of God.
10. Blessed are those who are persecuted in the cause of uprightness: the kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
11. 'Blessed are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you falsely on my account.
12. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven; this is how they persecuted the prophets before you).
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel : Luke 12:13‐21

A man in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Master, tell my brother to give me a share of our inheritance.’ ‘My friend,’ he replied, ‘who appointed me your judge, or the arbitrator of your claims?’ Then he said to them, ‘Watch, and be on your guard against avarice of any kind, for a man’s life is not made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he needs.’ Then he told them a parable: ‘There was once a rich man who, having had a good harvest from his land, thought to himself, “What am I to do? I have not enough room to store my crops.” Then he said, “This is what I will do: I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and store all my grain and my goods in them, and I will say to my soul: My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time.” But God said to him, “Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul; and this hoard of yours, whose will it be then?” So it is when a man stores up treasure for himself in place of making himself rich in the sight of God.’

For our reflection today:

The end of the parable as recounted by the Evangelist is uniquely effective: “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (v. 21). It is a warning which reveals the horizon towards which we are called to look. It is a case of leading a life that is fulfilled not according to a worldly manner, but rather according to the style of the Gospel: to love God with all one’s being, and love one’s neighbour as Jesus loved him, that is, in service and in giving oneself. Covetousness of goods, the desire to have goods, does not satisfy the heart, but rather causes more hunger! Covetousness is like those tasty candies: you take one and say: “Ah! It is so good”, and then you take another; and one follows the other. Such is covetousness: it never satisfies. Be careful! Love that is understood and lived in [the style of the Gospel] is the source of true happiness, whereas the exaggerated search for material goods and wealth is often a source of anxiety, adversity, abuse of power, war. Many wars begin from covetousness. May the Virgin Mary help us not to be attracted by forms of security that fade, but rather to be credible witnesses of the eternal values of the Gospel, each day. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 4 August 2019)

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