He Knows

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 Exodus 22:20-26

Thus says the LORD:
"You shall not molest or oppress an alien,
for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt. 
You shall not wrong any widow or orphan. 
If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me,
I will surely hear their cry. 
My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword;
then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans.

"If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people,
you shall not act like an extortioner toward him
by demanding interest from him. 
If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge,
you shall return it to him before sunset;
for this cloak of his is the only covering he has for his body. 
What else has he to sleep in?
If he cries out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate."
 

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51

R. (2) I love you, Lord, my strength.
I love you, O LORD, my strength,
O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
My God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!
Praised be the LORD, I exclaim,
and I am safe from my enemies.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
The LORD lives and blessed be my rock!
Extolled be God my savior.
You who gave great victories to your king
and showed kindness to your anointed.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
 

Reading 2 1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10

Brothers and sisters:
You know what sort of people we were among you for your sake. 
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord,
receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit,
so that you became a model for all the believers
in Macedonia and in Achaia.
For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth
not only in Macedonia and in Achaia,
but in every place your faith in God has gone forth,
so that we have no need to say anything. 
For they themselves openly declare about us
what sort of reception we had among you,
and how you turned to God from idols
to serve the living and true God
and to await his Son from heaven,
whom he raised from the dead,
Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath.
 

Alleluia John 14:23

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever loves me will keep my word, says the Lord,
and my Father will love him and we will come to him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
 

Gospel Matthew 22:34-40

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,
they gathered together, and one of them,
a scholar of the law tested him by asking,
"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" 
He said to him,
"You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."
 

- - -

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.

He Knows

October 24, 2026 // Saturday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time // Optional Memorial of Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Bishop

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Ephesians 4:7-16 

Reflect on the Word //

I sat across from a dear friend—fresh tears rolled slowly down her face. Her eyes searched for words that would somehow make sense of the suffering she held tenderly in her heart. I sat and listened instead of trying to fix it. As she shared, I recognized parts of my own story within hers—moments of waiting, disappointment, betrayal, and questions that once felt too heavy to bring to God. 

As we sat together, I remembered just how faithfully the Lord had met me there, not by removing every hardship, but by remaining with me through them. His presence became the anchor among the waves. And a quiet realization became the only comfort I had to offer: He knows. He truly knows.

Saint Paul writes, "Grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gift" (Ephesians 4:7). Before speaking about the gifts Christ gives, he reminds us that Jesus first "descended into the lower regions of the earth" before ascending in glory (Ephesians 4:9-10). Christ did not save us from a distance—He became Man and entered every part of our human experience.

Christ our Lord knew grief, rejection, loneliness, exhaustion, and sorrow. There is no suffering we carry in our lives that is unfamiliar to Him. Because He entered our humanity so completely, we can entrust Him with every part of our hearts. He can then become our anchor when life feels uncertain.

Yet He doesn't only meet us in our suffering—He transforms us through it. Christ gives each of us grace "for building up the body of Christ" (Ephesians 4:12). The places where we have encountered His faithfulness often become the places from which we can encourage others. In Christ's hands, no suffering is wasted. He forms us through it, then uses our stories to reveal His hope and faithfulness to the world.

Each of us has been given unique gifts through Christ, and many are shaped in the hidden, quiet places where we have encountered His love most personally. The Lord Who entered our humanity is still at work, strengthening us, maturing us, and using our lives to build up His Church with hope.

Relate to the Lord // Pray with us the refrain from the Surrender Novena: “Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything!”

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