Readings · September 28, 2026

Catholic Daily Readings for 28 September 2026

A verse to carry with you

The Word of the Day

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.”
ScriptureJob 1:21

Welcome to the Catholic Daily Readings for Monday, 28 September 2026, a weekday of Ordinary Time on which the Church may keep the memory of Saint Wenceslaus, martyr, and of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz, a married man, and his companions, martyrs. Job loses everything and still blesses God, and in the Gospel the disciples argue about who is the greatest.

Catholic Daily Readings

First Reading

Job loses his wealth and his children in a single day, and still he falls to the ground and blesses the name of the Lord.

Job 1:6-22

There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 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?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were ploughing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 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.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 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.” Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 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.” In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 17:1, 2-3, 6-7 (R. 6b)

Response: Lord, turn your ear to me; hear my words.

Gospel

The disciples argue about which of them is the greatest, so Jesus sets a child at his side and teaches them where true greatness begins.

Luke 9:46-50

At that time: An argument arose among disciples as to which of them was the greatest. But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side 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 all of you is the one who is great.” John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.”

Reflection

The Chair Nobody Wanted

At a parish dinner some years ago the tables were set with care, and one long table near the front had white cloth and flowers. People drifted towards it without saying a word about it. An old woman came in late, looked around, and took the plastic chair by the kitchen door, where the noise was and where the draught came through.

She spent the whole evening passing plates and filling glasses. Nobody made a speech about her. Yet everyone who left that hall remembered her, and hardly anyone remembered who sat at the front. Something in us knows where greatness really lives, even while we are busy climbing towards the flowers.

What the Gospel Shows Us

Jesus has just spoken about being handed over to men. The disciples do not ask him about it. They argue instead about rank. Saint Luke tells us that Jesus knew the thoughts of their hearts, which is a gentle way of saying that he heard the question they were too embarrassed to ask out loud.

He does not scold them. He takes a child and stands the child beside himself, and says that whoever welcomes this little one welcomes him, and welcomes the Father who sent him. Then John complains about a man casting out demons who does not belong to their group, and Jesus says plainly, do not stop him. Two forms of pride are healed in a few short lines. The pride that wants the highest place, and the pride that wants to own the grace of God.

From the Ash Heap to the Manger

Watch how the whole of Scripture leans in the same direction. Job, stripped of his herds and his ten children in one afternoon, tears his robe and worships. Moses is called the meekest man on earth. David is the youngest brother, left with the sheep. Isaiah hears that God looks to the humble and the contrite in spirit.

Then Mary sings that God has lifted up the lowly, and the Son of God is laid in a feeding trough and later hangs on a cross. Saint Paul tells the Philippians that Christ emptied himself and took the form of a servant. The road runs downward all the way through the Bible, and that is the road that rises.

What the Saints and the Church Teach

The Catechism teaches that humility is the foundation of prayer, because we do not know how to pray as we ought and must receive that gift as beggars. Saint Augustine warned that pride turned angels into devils, while humility makes men like angels. Saint Wenceslaus, remembered today, was a duke who carried firewood to the poor with his own hands, and Saint Lorenzo Ruiz was a copy clerk from Binondo who is now honoured on altars across the world.

None of them looked for a high place. They looked for Christ, and greatness came looking for them afterwards. The Church keeps their names because God keeps their names, and God notices what the parish hall forgets.

Living the Gospel in Daily Life

The argument of the disciples is alive in our homes and our offices and even in our parishes. Who was thanked. Who was asked first. Who was left out of the group photograph. The cure is small and practical. Take the seat near the kitchen door. Let the other person finish the sentence. Do the good work and then walk away from the credit.

There is the second half too. When somebody outside your circle does real good, praise it instead of measuring it. A prayer group that is not yours, a neighbour of another faith who feeds the hungry, a young person who serves in a way you would not have chosen. Do not stop him, says the Lord. God is wider than our little bands.

Challenge for the Day

Do one hidden good deed today that nobody will ever trace back to you. Wash the cup you did not use. Pay for something quietly. Pray for a person who has never thanked you.

And if a child, or anyone the world treats as small, comes near you today, stop what you are doing and welcome that person properly. Jesus said that you would be welcoming him.

Prayer

Father in heaven, you know the thoughts of our hearts, even the ones we would rather hide from you. Take away our hunger to be first and give us the quiet freedom of your little ones. When much is taken from us, teach us to say with Job that your name is still blessed. When someone else is praised, let us be glad. Set a child beside us today and open our eyes to see your Son standing there. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Saint of the Day — Saint Lorenzo Ruiz

Lorenzo Ruiz was born in Manila in 1594, the son of a Chinese father and a Tagalog mother. He served at the altar as a boy, earned his bread as a calligrapher, married Rosario, and raised three children. A false accusation drove him to flee on a ship of Dominican missionaries bound for Japan. There he was arrested, held for about two years, and hung head down over a pit in Nagasaki for three days. He said that if he had a thousand lives he would offer them all to God. He died in 1637 and became the first Filipino saint.

Read the full life, feast day, patronage, and prayer of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz here.

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