Daily Catholic Mass Readings for September 27, 2022
First Reading: Job 3.1-3, 11-17, 20-23
1After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.2And Job spake, and said,3Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.11Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?12Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck?13For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,14With kings and counsellors of the earth, which built desolate places for themselves;15Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver:16Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.17There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.20Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul;21Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;22Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?23Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?
Psalm 88
1O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:2Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry;3For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.4I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength:5Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand.6Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.7Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah.8Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.9Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.10Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.11Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?12Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?13But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.14LORD, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?15I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.16Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off.17They came round about me daily like water; they compassed me about together.18Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.
Gospel: Luke 9.51-56
51And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,52And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.53And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.54And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?55But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.56For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.
Sermon
In today's readings, we encounter two profound expressions of human experience: suffering and rejection. The Book of Job presents us with a man who, in the midst of immense suffering, cries out in despair, questioning the very purpose of his existence. Job's lament is raw and deeply human, reflecting the pain and confusion that can come when we face trials that seem inexplicable. His words remind us that suffering is not alien to the human condition and that even the most faithful can struggle with doubt and anguish.
In contrast, the Gospel of Luke offers us a different response to adversity. Jesus, journeying toward Jerusalem with a clear purpose, encounters rejection from the Samaritans. His disciples, filled with indignation, wish to retaliate with violence, but Jesus rebukes them, affirming that his mission is one of salvation, not destruction. This moment reveals the heart of Jesus' ministry: compassion, mercy, and the refusal to let anger or hatred dictate his actions. While Job's cry expresses the depth of human sorrow, Jesus' response embodies the transformative power of love and forgiveness.
These readings invite us to reflect on how we respond to suffering and rejection in our own lives. Like Job, we may feel the weight of pain and question God's presence in our darkness. Yet, in Jesus, we see a different way—a way that does not seek revenge or self-pity but instead chooses to love and to save. As we navigate our own trials, let us turn to Jesus, asking for the grace to embrace his spirit of compassion and forgiveness. May we learn to see even in the midst of suffering, the possibility of redemption and the call to live as instruments of God's mercy in the world.