Posted on 09/27/2026 10:52:22 PM PDT by fidelis
An argument arose among the disciples about which of them was the greatest. Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child and placed it by his side and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest.” Luke 9:46–48
The Twelve Apostles had left everything behind to follow Jesus. Their lives had been radically transformed. As they accompanied Him on His mission, they heard the very voice of God preach and teach. They witnessed His divine power as He performed miracles and cast out demons. And yet, today’s Gospel reveals that they still struggled with a common weakness of fallen human nature: ambition. They argued among themselves about who was the greatest.
Jesus, though surely sorrowful over their foolish dispute, responded not with rebuke but with merciful instruction. He addressed the intention of their hearts by offering a striking lesson as He placed a child at His side. That child became a living parable—a model of true greatness in the eyes of God.
In many cultures today, children are cherished, protected, and seen as possessing great dignity. Parents work hard to ensure their children know their value. But in first-century Israel, the perception of children was quite different. While loved by their families, children were socially insignificant. Their high mortality rate and inability to contribute to the household’s livelihood often rendered them overlooked or dismissed. For Jesus to place a child at the center of His teaching and to equate receiving that child with receiving Himself would have been both startling and countercultural.
In this act, Jesus uproots worldly standards of greatness. In His Kingdom, true greatness is not found in status, success, or acclaim. It is found in humility, simplicity, and openness of heart. To welcome the lowly, the unnoticed, and the vulnerable in Jesus’ name is to welcome Jesus Himself. And to welcome Jesus is to welcome the Father who sent Him.
Consider whom you most readily welcome and embrace. Teenagers often dream of meeting the rich and famous. Adults may strive for social status or recognition. In truth, we are not so different from the Apostles, who desired esteem among their peers and to be chosen while others are set aside.
Jesus offers us two essential lessons through this living parable. First, like our Lord, we must love and embrace the lowly and the weak. Jesus was not drawn to the status of the Pharisees or the social elites. He found joy in embracing the child, the sinner, the tax collector, the leper, the crippled, the blind, and the poor. These were the ones who, because of their low status, were often more humble and receptive. If we wish to be like our Lord, we must seek out the humble and the lowly, for it was to such souls that He was drawn.
Reflect today on the countercultural lesson Jesus taught and apply it to your own life. Turn your eyes to the weakest, humblest, and most vulnerable. Allow grace to draw you to these simple souls. Run to the sinner and outcast. Then, don’t stop there. Strive also to live in that same humility and dependence. Turn from worldly views of greatness and embrace Jesus’ view. Become like a child, embrace the weakest among you, and our Lord will embrace you.
Most loving Lord, though You loved all people with the perfection of charity, Your mercy and compassion poured forth, especially upon the weakest, most humble, and lowliest. Please fill my heart with that same love You so perfectly exemplified. Help me also to heed Your warning that I must become humble and lowly like a child in order to receive the greatness of Your eternal embrace. Jesus, I trust in You.
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The Month of September is Dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows
“And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.’” (Luke 2:33-35)
Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of September, 2026:
For the care of water
Let us pray for a just and sustainable management of water, a vital resource, so that everyone may have equal access to it.
Today’s First Reading
From: Job 1:6-22
Satan's Challenge
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[6] Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. [7] The LORD said to Satan, "Whence have you come?" Satan answered the LORD, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it." [8] And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?" [9] Then Satan answered the LORD, "Does Job fear God for naught? [10] Hast thou not put a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. [11] But put forth thy hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse thee to thy face." [12] And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power; only upon himself do not put forth your hand." So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
Job is stripped of his property
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[13] Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house; [14] and there came a messenger to Job, and said, "The oxen were plowing and the asses feeding beside them; [15] and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them, and slew the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you." [16] While he was yet speaking, there came another, and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you." [17] While he was yet speaking, there came another, and said, "The Chaldeans formed three companies, and made a raid upon the camels and took them, and slew the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you." [18] While he was yet speaking, there came another, and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house; [19] and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness, and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you."
[20] Then Job arose, and rent his robe, and shaved his head, and fell upon the ground, and worshipped. [21] And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return; the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."
[22] In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
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Commentary:
1:6-12. The protagonists, God and Satan, act very much like human beings -- God like a great lord who summons his ministers to a meeting (v. 6); Satan like a spy who seems to be stalking a man who fears the Lord, but in fact he is trying to attack God himself, for he turns traditional teaching about rewards and punishment on its head: it is not true that God blesses a man because he is pious; rather, man behaves in a pious way because God blesses him (vv. 9-11). Man only seems to be obedient to God; his actions are really motivated by self-interest.
In this book 'Satan' does not yet mean the devil, the fallen angel who tempts man to do evil (cf. Rev 12:9-11). He is the prosecutor who denounces man to God for his sins (cf. Zech 3:1). For a fuller comment, see the note on 1 Chron 21:1.
Like Abraham when he was required to sacrifice his first-born son (cf. Gen 22:1-12), Job does not realize that his faith in and fear of the Lord are being put to the test. Yet in both cases, Abraham and Job, the initiative lies with God: he will not allow Abraham to perform the sacrifice, nor will he allow Job to be tested beyond the limit (v. 12).
"The sons of God" (v. 6), which the Septuagint translates as "the angels of God," are those who are subject to his commands.
1:13-22. Satan puts his plan into operation in just one day (v. 13) and Job's world crashes down around him. There are four separate calamities, each worse than the previous one, and in each case there is only one survivor left to tell the tale. First Job loses his oxen and asses, then his flocks, his camels, his children. All his property has been taken from him and he has no means of recovering it, and no children to help him. From being a wealthy, respected man, he has been reduced to utter misery. "The fire of God" (v. 16): this has no particular religious significance; it is just a popular expression for a bolt of lightning.
1:20-22. Job expresses his feelings in actions and words. As we can see elsewhere in the Bible (for example, in the case of Joseph, cf. Gen 37:34, and David, cf. 2 Sam 1:11; 13:31), rending of garments was a sign of profound sorrow. The words in v. 22 very poetically describe the human condition, its fragility and impotence. Job experiences complete deprivation; he is conscious too of the absolute sovereignty of God, who alone has power to give and to take away; and he fully accepts the will of God. St Gregory the Great draws attention to Job's good disposition when he comments that "If all the goods we have at our disposal in this life have been given to us by him (God), why should we complain if the same Judge asks for the return of what he has so generously granted to us?" ("Moralia in lob", 2,31).
Just before the words "blessed be the name of the Lord" (v. 21), the Septuagint and the Vulgate add "As it has pleased God, so is it done" -- probably a later addition to draw a general lesson from the particular case of Job.
In Job's few words in v. 21, God's own name of "Yhwh" is mentioned three times; this indicates that the writer has a deep faith in the God of the Covenant and sincere respect for God's plans.
The first scene ends with Job the clear winner: Satan thought he would curse the Lord (v. 11), but in fact he openly praises him (v. 21). The sacred writer comes out on Job's side when he states that Job committed no sin nor even raised his voice against God. Satan has been proved wrong.
Luke 9:46-50
Humility and Tolerance
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[46] And an argument arose among them (the disciples) as to which of them was the greatest. [47] But when Jesus perceived the thoughts of their hearts, He took a child and put him by His side, [48] and said to them, "Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for he who is least among you all is the one who is great."
[49] John answered, "Master, we saw a man casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him, because he does not follow with us." [50] But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him; for he that is not against you is for you."
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Commentary:
46-48. Jesus takes a child in His arms to give His Apostles example and to correct their too-human ambitions, thereby teaching all of us not to make ourselves important. "Don't try to be a grown-up. A child, always a child, even when you are dying of old age. When a child stumbles and falls, nobody is surprised; his father promptly lifts him up. When the person who stumbles and falls is older, the immediate reaction is one of laughter. Sometimes this first impulse passes and the laughter gives way to pity. But older people have to get up by themselves.
"Your sad experience of each day is full of stumbles and falls—What would become of you if you were not continually more of a child? Don't want to be grown-up. Be a child; and when you stumble, may you be lifted by the hand of your Father-God" (St J. Escriva, "The Way", 870).
49-50. Our Lord corrects the exclusivist and intolerant attitude of the Apostles. St. Paul later learned this lesson, as we can see from what he wrote during his imprisonment in Rome: "Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will [...]. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in that I rejoice" (Philippians 1:15, 18). "Rejoice, when you see others working in good apostolic activities. And ask God to grant them abundant grace and that they may respond to that grace. Then, you, on your way: convince yourself that it's the only way for you" (St J. Escriva, "The Way", 965).
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