Daily Readings - Wed Sep 17 2025
1 Timothy
14These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly:15But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.16And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
Luke
31And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like?32They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.33For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil.34The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!35But wisdom is justified of all her children.
Sermon
The readings today invite us to reflect on the nature of God’s truth and how we respond to it in our lives. In the first reading from 1 Timothy, St. Paul emphasizes the Church as the “pillar and foundation of truth,” a community called to uphold and live out the mystery of God’s plan revealed in Jesus Christ. This mystery, St. Paul writes, is so profound that it transcends human understanding—it is a truth that has been manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, and proclaimed to all nations. The Church, then, is not just a human institution but a divine gift, a place where God’s truth is lived and shared.
In the Gospel, Jesus uses a parable to describe the resistance He and John the Baptist faced from the people of their time. While John was criticized for his austerity, Jesus was criticized for His openness and joy. This highlights the tendency of the human heart to find fault with God’s messengers, no matter how they approach us. Yet, Jesus reminds us that true wisdom is vindicated by its results—those who follow God’s ways will bear fruit in their lives. This passage challenges us to examine our own response to God’s truth. Are we open to receiving it, or do we allow pride or stubbornness to harden our hearts?
Together, these readings call us to embrace the Church as a living community of faith and to live out the truth of the Gospel with integrity. In a world that often resists or distorts God’s message, we are invited to be consistent in our faith, trusting in the wisdom of God even when it is misunderstood. Let us ask for the grace to be faithful children of the Church, to live the mystery of piety in our own lives, and to bear witness to the truth of Christ in a world that so deeply needs it.