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Catholic Daily Readings for 21 September 2026

Catholic Daily Readings for 21 September 2026

A verse to carry with you

The Word of the Day

Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

ScriptureMatthew 9:9

Catholic Daily Readings for Monday, 21 September 2026, celebrate the Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. Jesus calls a rejected tax collector to rise from his old life, while Saint Paul reminds us that every Christian vocation helps build the one Body of Christ.

First Reading

Saint Paul urges Christians to live with humility, patience, and love. Christ gives different gifts and ministries so that His people may grow in unity and become mature in faith.

Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-13

Brethren: I, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling, to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints, for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 19:2-3, 4-5 (R. 5a)

Response: Their sound goes forth through all the earth

Gospel

Jesus calls Matthew from the tax office. Matthew rises and follows Him, then welcomes Jesus and other tax collectors into his home. Jesus reveals that He has come as a physician for sinners.

Matthew 9:9-13

As Jesus passed by, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice. For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Reflection

The Chair He Never Returned To…

A man once kept an old chair in the corner of his shop. It was where he had made dishonest deals and counted money taken unfairly. After changing his life, he did not throw the chair away. He kept it as a reminder that grace had found him there.

Matthew also had a chair. It stood beside his tax table. People passing him saw a sinner, a collaborator, and a man stained by money. Jesus saw something else: an Apostle waiting to be called.

Christ did not begin with a long speech about Matthew’s failures. He gave him a direction. Matthew rose because mercy had opened a future greater than his past.

Jesus then entered Matthew’s home and ate with those whom respectable society avoided. This was not approval of sin. A physician comes close because sickness needs healing. Christ comes close to sinners because mercy calls us to conversion.

The first reading shows what Matthew became after rising from that chair. Christ gives Apostles, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to build His Body. Matthew’s wounded past was not wasted. The man who once recorded debts became an Evangelist of the mercy that cancels a deeper debt.

We also have chairs that keep us seated: resentment, dishonest gain, secret sin, fear, or the belief that we cannot change. Jesus does not call the person we might become one day. He calls the person sitting there now.

What must you rise from today? The call of Christ is gentle, but it asks for movement. Leave the chair. Follow Him. Grace has already opened the door.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, You saw an Apostle where others saw only a sinner. Look upon me with the same mercy and give me courage to rise from everything that keeps me from You. Use my life and gifts to strengthen Your Church and lead others toward Your healing love. Amen.

Saint of the Day

Saint Matthew was a tax collector whom Jesus called to become one of the Twelve Apostles. He left his secure income, welcomed Jesus into his home, and became a witness to the mercy that had changed him.

Saint Matthew is honoured as an Apostle, Evangelist, and martyr. He is also a patron of accountants, tax officials, customs officers, bankers, and others who work with financial records. Read the life, patronage, and prayer of Saint Matthew here.

What is Jesus asking you to rise from today? Share your thought or prayer in the comments. Your words may encourage someone else to take the same step. Please share these Catholic Daily Readings and join our WhatsApp channel for daily updates. 🙏 ❤️🙏

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