August 31, 2026 // Monday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Reflect on the Word // 

Talking to my teenagers can sometimes feel like an uphill battle. We will be driving somewhere and I will try to draw them into conversation only to have them not respond as if talking were an impossibly arduous task. I will try relating what I thought was a funny story from my day only to reap zero laughs. Occasionally, I make the last-ditch effort of trying to use Gen Alpha slang only to experience complete mission failure.

Talking to teenagers might not be the same as Saint Paul proclaiming the Good News to the Corinthians, but I can’t help but think it might have some comparable aspects. Bringing the news of Jesus’ Life, Death, and Resurrection to a foreign city whose culture and religion were diametrically opposed to the idea of the One God coming to earth to die for our sins would be no easy task. How to win over new crowds who viewed Paul as a foreign stranger talking about a man rising from the dead?

While we all have instances where the idea of bringing up a topic or talking to a certain person or group of people seems impossible, we can think of how trying it must have been for Saint Paul and the Apostles as they began to bring the Gospel to the world for the first time. His “weakness and fear and much trembling” (1 Corinthians 2:4)  is such a vivid description of the overwhelming experience it must have been for Saint Paul. 

We can find encouragement in the challenge of having hard conversations in our lives, whether it is about our faith or not, through today’s example from Saint Paul. We should rely less on our own wisdom, our own way with words, our own persuasive skills, and rely more upon the Spirit. It is a leap of faith to trust the Holy Spirit to inspire our words, even if we’re not preaching the Gospel directly, because as Christians all our interactions in the world are capable of being a light for others toward the Good News of Jesus Christ. 

Relate to the Lord // Practice calling upon the Spirit throughout the day. Make “Come, Holy Spirit” your constant prayer.