Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
We Believe In Jesus Christ
Liturgical Cycle: C | Lectionary Cycle: I
Introduction
Starting today and for the next four weeks, we shall listen to Paul’s letter to the Romans. Today, he presents himself as the Lord’s apostle, especially for the Gentiles, and then he goes straight to the heart of the message he has to proclaim: that Jesus Christ is the Son of David and our risen Saviour.
Jesus reprimands the Jews for not believing unless they see spectacular signs. But Christ proclaims that faith consists in trust in the word and in the person of the one who is sent. The early Christian community specified further: faith rests in confidence in the risen Christ. The preeminent sign is Jesus Christ himself. We believe not because of this or that wonder or proof but because Jesus makes God visible to us.
Opening Prayer
Lord God, our Father,
we too wish at times we could see signs
that brace our hesitant faith.
Give us a faith that is strong enough
not to ask for wonders and proofs
but simply to trust in you
and in your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ.
Deepen this faith and make it
the very foundation of the whole of our life.
We ask you this through Christ our risen Lord.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (2a) The Lord has made known his salvation.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
As the crowd grew larger, Jesus spoke these words:
“People of today are troubled. They ask for a sign, but no sign will be given to them except the sign of Jonah.
As Jonah became a sign for the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be a sign for this generation.
The Queen of the South will rise up on Judgment Day with the people of these times to accuse them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and here there is greater than Solomon.
The people of Nineveh will also rise up on Judgment Day with these times to accuse them, for Jonah’s preaching caused them to turn from their sins, and here there is greater than Jonah.
Prayers of the Faithful
– That we may have a deep faith in Jesus Christ and be close to him, for he is for us the human sign and shape of God, we pray:
– That we may be people deeply marked by the resurrection of Christ as people who keep rising with him to a deeper Christian life and who raise up one another from sin and misery, we pray:
– That many people may come to know Christ and grow in his life, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
we believe in your Son Jesus Christ
and in his continuous presence
in the Christian community.
Accept these gifts of bread and wine
by which we express our faith
and offer you our life with its struggles,
with its joys and hopes.
Through his eucharistic body
make us more and more
the believing and serving body of the Church.
Grant this in the name of Jesus the Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Lord God,
we were asking for wonders
and you have given us no other sign
than the presence in faith
of your Son here in our midst.
Let this be enough to sustain us
to go with one another the road
– at times smooth, at times rough –
of service, communion and friendship.
Help us to uplift and raise up one another
by the power of our risen Lord,
Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives with you and with us
now and forever.
Blessing
Greater than Solomon, greater than any prophet, is Jesus. In him we believe. Him we trust. Him we treasure as the meaning of our lives. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
REFLECTIONS
13 October 2025
Luke 11:29–32
Privilege Comes with Responsibility
In today’s Gospel, the crowd demands a sign from Jesus—something spectacular to prove that He is truly sent by God. But Jesus reminds them that the greatest sign is already there, standing right before their eyes: He Himself is God’s revelation, the living Word made flesh. Just as the Ninevites recognised God’s voice through Jonah, and the Queen of Sheba sought divine wisdom from Solomon, the people of His time were being invited to recognise and respond to God’s presence in Him. Yet many failed to see, not for lack of signs, but for lack of faith.
This passage reminds us that privilege always carries responsibility. The people who saw and heard Jesus had the greatest privilege in history, yet their rejection became their condemnation. We, too, are among the privileged. We possess the Word of God—the Scriptures that generations of believers longed to hear—and the freedom to worship that many martyrs died to defend. How often, though, do we take these gifts for granted? The Bible gathers dust; Sunday becomes just another day.
Today, as we mark the anniversary of the final apparition of Our Lady of Fatima, we are reminded once more of heaven’s invitation to conversion. At Fatima, Mary appeared to simple children to call humanity back to prayer, repentance, and faithfulness to God—signs not written in the sky but lived in the heart. The miracle of the sun, witnessed by thousands on this very day in 1917, was not an end in itself but a summons to believe, to change, and to live the Gospel.
If we truly possess Christ, His Word, and His Church, then we hold the greatest treasures of all. Let us, like the children of Fatima, respond to God’s signs not with demands for proof, but with faith, gratitude, and conversion of heart.
Sign of Jonah
Asking for a sign is an effort to circumvent the necessary laborious journey of faith. Faith is all about trusting God’s words and walking the valley of darkness. It is letting the mustard seed grow in the darkness and depth of our interiors. On the other hand, insistence on signs and miracles (which is aplenty among the faithful of any religion) is short-circuiting the journey of maturation in faith. Jesus refuses to give any sign other than the sign of Jonah, which is all about Jonah’s journey, through the belly of the whale, into greater faith. Though unwillingly, Jonah lets himself be birthed into faith. It is a baptism, a paschal mystery, that each one of us must undergo, in one’s own unique way and assisted by grace, to arrive at genuine faith. And, once we arrive, like Job, we wouldn’t ask for anything but only adore in awe and love.
Reflection taken from Bible Diary 2022; written by Fr. Paulson Velyannoor, CMF
Appreciating the miracles
When Jesus' adversaries could not challenge him fairly, they turned to defamation. They claimed that his ability to cast out demons was because he was allied with the prince of demons. Jesus responded to them with a powerful and decisive rebuttal.
The act of resorting to slander when facing honest opposition is not an unusual occurrence. There is nothing so cruel as slander, because the human mind always tends to think the worst and very often the human ear prefers to hear the derogatory rather than the complimentary tale. We should not assume that we are exempt from this particular sin. How frequently do we default to assuming the worst about others? How often do we deliberately impute low motives to someone whom we dislike? How frequently do we spread malicious gossip and tarnish reputations over casual conversations? Reflecting on this should not lead to complacency but prompt self-examination.
He who was not with him was against him and that he who did not help to gather the flock helped to scatter it abroad. There is no place for neutrality in the Christian life. The man who stands aloof from the good cause automatically helps the evil one. A person is either on the way or in the way, becoming an obstruction for others.
Cleansing of the temple was not the only occasion when we saw the angry face of Jesus. Refusing to see the wonders and miracles around us and denying the hand of God working in our lives is an evil act – the work of the devil.
That is why when Jesus drove away the demons, healed the sick, calmed the sea, and fed the hungry, ordinary people were thrilled and joyous at God's mighty works among them.