October 25, 2025 Saturday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Daily Readings: Romans 8:1-11; Luke 13:1-9
St. Paul compares a set of Laws with the person of Jesus Christ. He contrasts life in the Spirit with life in the flesh. The Law does not guarantee salvation. Those who live Christ-centred life will not face condemnation. It is because they live according to the Spirit and they set their minds on the things of the Spirit. They are spiritual. But whoever sets their minds on the flesh they are bound to become slaves of the flesh (namely sinful desires) and they turn hostile to God. They can’t please God with their lives. Now Paul turns his attention to the Romans and tells them that they are in the Spirit because God dwells in them. Giving them the ultimate hope in resurrection, Paul tells them that as God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, He will also raise our mortal bodies from the dead and allow the Spirit of God to dwell in them.
In the first place, the theme of repentance occupies centre stage in the Gospel Reading of the day. Just because some people suffered major illnesses or died an untimely death in accidents we cannot blame them that they are sinners and God punished them. Some people informed Jesus about the people who faced death in two different tragedies. Pilate killed some Galileans and mixed their blood in their sacrifices and eighteen people died when tower of Siloam fell on them. These tragedies did not happen because of their sinfulness. Secondly, patience and hope are integral parts of a believer in Christ. Through a brief parable of barren fig tree Jesus insists on the virtues of patience and hope. The owner of the vineyard is tired of the barren fig tree and commands the servant to cut it. It saves lots of time, energy and manure, above all space in the garden. The servant begs him to give one more chance (one more year) that he may take special care by digging around and put manure in it. It simply means, giving time for the people to mend their ways!
Call to Action: God is patient with humans but humans are not able to be patient with one another. They are not only impatient but also judgemental. Can I be a little different today?
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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