Daily Catholic Mass Readings for October 13, 2017
First Reading: Joel 1.13-15; 2.1-2
13Put on sackcloth, O priests, and mourn; wail, you who minister before the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you who minister before my God; for the grain offerings and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God.14Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.15Alas for that day! For the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
1Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand-2a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was of old nor ever will be in ages to come.
Psalm 9
1I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders.2I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.3My enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before you.4For you have upheld my right and my cause; you have sat on your throne, judging righteously.5You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.6Endless ruin has overtaken the enemy, you have uprooted their cities; even the memory of them has perished.7The LORD reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment.8He will judge the world in righteousness; he will govern the peoples with justice.9The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.10Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.11Sing praises to the LORD, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done.12For he who avenges blood remembers; he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.13O LORD, see how my enemies persecute me! Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death,14that I may declare your praises in the gates of the Daughter of Zion and there rejoice in your salvation.15The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.16The LORD is known by his justice; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Higgaion. Selah17The wicked return to the grave, all the nations that forget God.18But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.19Arise, O LORD, let not man triumph; let the nations be judged in your presence.20Strike them with terror, O LORD; let the nations know they are but men. Selah
Gospel: Luke 11.15-26
15But some of them said, "By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons."16Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.17Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: "Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.18If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub.19Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.20But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.21"When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe.22But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils.23"He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.24"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.'25When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order.26Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first."
Sermon
The readings today invite us to reflect on the urgency of repentance and the reality of spiritual warfare. In the first reading from Joel, we hear a call to lamentation and fasting as the day of the Lord approaches. Joel paints a vivid picture of a people unprepared for the judgment that is near, urging them to gather and cry out to God. This is not a call to fear, but to conversion—a reminder that our lives must be oriented toward God if we are to stand firm when the day of reckoning comes.
In the Gospel, Jesus confronts the accusations of those who attribute His power to cast out demons to Beelzebub, the prince of demons. Jesus’ response is both a rebuke and a revelation. He points out the absurdity of Satan working against himself, and then shifts the focus to the true nature of His mission: the kingdom of God has come upon them. The parable of the strong man and the unclean spirit drives home the point that to be neutral in this spiritual battle is to be complicit in evil. Jesus makes it clear: we are either gathering with Him or scattering; there is no middle ground.
These readings challenge us to examine our own lives. Are we prepared to meet the Lord? Are we actively aligning ourselves with His will, or are we passively allowing the forces of darkness to take hold? Joel’s call to repentance and Jesus’ warning about spiritual complacency remind us that our faith must be lived with urgency and intentionality. Let us not be like the man who, having been freed from an unclean spirit, leaves his house empty and unguarded. Instead, let us fill our hearts with the presence of God, through prayer, repentance, and a life of love. The kingdom of God is near; let us be ready.