Walking with the Lord

Saturday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 1 Corinthians 15:35-37, 42-49

Brothers and sisters:
Someone may say, “How are the dead raised? 
With what kind of body will they come back?”You fool!
What you sow is not brought to life unless it dies.
And what you sow is not the body that is to be
but a bare kernel of wheat, perhaps, or of some other kind.

So also is the resurrection of the dead.
It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible.
It is sown dishonorable; it is raised glorious.
It is sown weak; it is raised powerful.
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one.

So, too, it is written,
“The first man, Adam, became a living being,”
the last Adam a life-giving spirit.
But the spiritual was not first;
rather the natural and then the spiritual.
The first man was from the earth, earthly;
the second man, from heaven.
As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly,
and as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly.
Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one,
we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 56:10c-12, 13-14

R. (14) I will walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living.
Now I know that God is with me.
In God, in whose promise I glory,
in God I trust without fear;
what can flesh do against me?
R. I will walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living.
I am bound, O God, by vows to you;
your thank offerings I will fulfill.
For you have rescued me from death,
my feet, too, from stumbling;
that I may walk before God in the light of the living.
R. I will walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living.

 

 

Alleluia Luke 8:15

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart
and yield a harvest through perseverance.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Luke 8:4-15

When a large crowd gathered, with people from one town after another
journeying to Jesus, he spoke in a parable. 
“A sower went out to sow his seed.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path and was trampled,
and the birds of the sky ate it up.
Some seed fell on rocky ground, and when it grew,
it withered for lack of moisture.
Some seed fell among thorns,
and the thorns grew with it and choked it.
And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew,
it produced fruit a hundredfold.”
After saying this, he called out,
“Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”

Then his disciples asked him
what the meaning of this parable might be.
He answered,
“Knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God
has been granted to you;
but to the rest, they are made known through parables
so that they may look but not see, and hear but not understand.

“This is the meaning of the parable. 
The seed is the word of God.
Those on the path are the ones who have heard,
but the Devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts
that they may not believe and be saved.
Those on rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear,
receive the word with joy, but they have no root;
they believe only for a time and fall away in time of temptation.
As for the seed that fell among thorns,
they are the ones who have heard, but as they go along,
they are choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life, 
and they fail to produce mature fruit.
But as for the seed that fell on rich soil,
they are the ones who, when they have heard the word,
embrace it with a generous and good heart,
and bear fruit through perseverance.”
 

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Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Walking with the Lord

September 19, 2026 // Saturday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time // Optional Memorial of Saint Januarius, Bishop and Martyr

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Psalm: Psalm 56:10c-12, 13-14

Reflect on the Word // 

I feel God’s presence with me working everything out as I walk the cobblestone streets and take in the panoramic views of the Umbrian countryside. I would be heading to Rome the following day to make a Jubilee pilgrimage with a group of women, but this day I am alone, walking the streets of Assisi on my own. It was a last minute decision to squeeze in this visit to the city of Saint Francis and Saint Clare and the newly canonized Saint Carlo Acutis. I hoped it was a good idea, that the added travel hassle would all be worth it, and that I would be safe as a single woman traveling solo in a foreign country.

I think how two days prior to leaving I was in urgent care with an infection in my injured toe. With each step painful, I didn’t know if I would manage all the walking necessary for this trip. “Now I know that God is with me” (Psalm 56:10c). I feel Him with me as I enjoy this city on my own, just me and God. God has blessed my decision to trust Him and release all the fear (see Psalm 56:12). He heals me even down to my toes. The words from today’s Responsorial Psalm are literally lived out in me: “I walk in the presence of God in the light of the living” (Psalm 56:14). 

Our walk with the Lord also includes the physical aspects of our human experience. God is concerned with my spiritual walk with Him as well as my ability to actually walk during a time of physical injury. Our human sufferings can be vehicles for greater trust as His presence works everything out for our good. Whatever path we walk today, may we know that God is truly with us (see Psalm 56:10c).

Relate to the Lord // Make this Psalm your prayer today: “I walk in the presence of God in the light of the living” (Psalm 56:14). 

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