Sep 28, 2026 | DAILY BREAD
Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels – Feast
Gospel: John 1:47-51
Today’s Gospel beautifully connects the revelation of the angels with Nathanael’s confession of faith. After Jesus reveals that He already knew Nathanael before Philip called him, Nathanael responds: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” It is after this confession that Jesus promises him something greater: “You will see heaven laid open and, above the Son of Man, the angels of God ascending and descending.” The angels are therefore revealed within the mystery of Christ: their presence directs our attention not primarily to themselves, but to Jesus, the Son of God, in whom heaven and earth meet. Nathanael confesses who Christ is, and Christ opens before him the reality of heaven. This helps us understand today’s feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. Michael witnesses that no power can stand against God; Gabriel announces the mystery of God entering human history; Raphael manifests God’s healing and guiding presence. Their different missions converge in one purpose: serving God’s saving plan and leading creation toward Him. The message of Christ teaches us that faith opens our vision beyond what is immediately visible. Nathanael first recognizes Jesus in faith, and then receives the promise of seeing the invisible world surrounding the Son of Man. The more deeply we confess Jesus as the Son of God, the more we discover that our earthly life is already open to heaven, accompanied by God’s messengers and embraced within a reality far greater than what our eyes can see. Let’s reflect: Does my confession that Jesus is the Son of God open my heart to recognize that my daily life is already connected with heaven and accompanied by the mysterious presence and action of God?
Don Giorgio
Sep 28, 2026 | DAILY BREAD
Monday of week 26 in Ordinary Time
Saint Wenceslaus, Martyr
Saints Laurence Ruiz and his Companions, Martyrs
Gospel: Luke 9:46-50In today’s Gospel, the disciples are caught looking only at what is immediately visible: they argue about who among them is the greatest, and then they want to stop someone casting out demons because “he is not one of us.” Jesus teaches them to see differently. He places a little child beside Himself and says that whoever welcomes this child welcomes Him and the Father who sent Him. Discipleship is learning to see beyond what is obvious. Where the disciples see someone small and insignificant, Jesus reveals His own presence; where they see an outsider, Jesus recognizes someone already working for the good; where they see greatness in status and recognition, Jesus sees greatness in humility and service. Following Christ therefore requires a continual conversion of our vision. We must learn to look beyond appearances, labels, groups, achievements, failures, and first impressions, because God may be present and working precisely where we least expect Him. Saints Wenceslaus, Lawrence Ruiz, and their companions also learned to see beyond what was obvious: beyond persecution they saw fidelity, beyond the loss of earthly security they saw the value of belonging to Christ, and beyond death they saw eternal life. The disciple does not deny visible reality but sees more deeply into it, looking for the hidden presence, action, and possibilities of God. When we learn to see with the eyes of Christ, the insignificant can become precious, the outsider can become a companion, and even sacrifice can become a path to life. Let’s reflect: Do I judge people and situations only by what is immediately obvious, or am I learning, as a disciple of Christ, to see more deeply and recognize where God may already be present and at work?
Don Giorgio
Sep 26, 2026 | DAILY BREAD
- 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
St Vincent de PaulReadings: Ezekiel 18:25–28; Psalm 24(25): 4–9; Philippians 2:1–11; Matthew 21:28–32
Today’s readings reveal a beautiful truth: God places no conditions on His love for us, but His unconditional love continually calls us to conversion so that we can experience it more fully. Through Ezekiel, the Lord invites the sinner to renounce sin and choose life, not because God withdraws His love when we fail, but because sin can make our hearts incapable of recognizing and receiving the love that is already being offered. That is why the Psalm asks us to remember the Lord’s compassion and mercy: conversion begins not with fear of a God who rejects us, but with the memory of a God who has always been merciful. Saint Paul then takes us to the deepest revelation of this love: Christ “emptied himself,” humbled Himself, became a servant, and accepted even death on a Cross. God does not remain distant waiting for us to become worthy of His love; He comes down to where we are so that we may discover how deeply we are loved. This is also the heart of Jesus’ parable. The son who initially says “No” is not rejected; he can change his mind and go to the vineyard. Even tax collectors and prostitutes, whose lives seemed far from God, discover that the door remains open when they turn toward Him. Saint Vincent de Paul understood this love and made it visible by going toward the poor, the forgotten, and the suffering. The message of Christ is therefore one of immense hope: we do not change in order to make God love us; we change because His love has reached us, and once we truly experience that love, we no longer want to remain as we were. Let’s reflect: Do I try to change because I am afraid of losing God’s love, or because I have discovered that He already loves me without conditions and I want my whole life to become a response to that love?
Don Giorgio
Sep 26, 2026 | DAILY BREAD
Saturday of week 25 in Ordinary Time
Saints Cosmas and Damian, Martyrs
Saturday memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Gospel: Luke 9:43-45In today’s Gospel, while everyone is astonished at the works of Jesus, He turns the attention of His disciples toward something they would rather not hear: “The Son of Man is going to be handed over into the power of men.” The disciples do not understand, and significantly, “they were afraid to ask him” what He meant. Their fear of suffering prevents them from entering more deeply into the mystery of Jesus. We often react in the same way: suffering frightens us, and our instinct is to avoid it, deny it, or ask God to remove it immediately. Yet Jesus does not teach us to love suffering for itself; He teaches us not to be afraid of suffering, but to deal with it through love. This is precisely what He will do in His Passion: betrayal will be met with fidelity, violence with forgiveness, abandonment with surrender to the Father, and death with a love stronger than death. Mary follows the same path, remaining close to her Son even when that closeness leads her beneath the Cross. Saints Cosmas and Damian, remembered for placing their healing service at the disposal of others and ultimately giving their lives in martyrdom, likewise remind us that love does not run away when suffering appears. We should relieve suffering whenever we can, but when it cannot be removed, love can still enter it, accompany it, and transform the way it is lived. Suffering becomes most frightening when faced alone; when received with Christ and surrounded by love, it can become a place of communion, self-giving, healing, and even hope. Let’s reflect: When suffering enters my life or the life of someone close to me, do I allow fear to make me withdraw, or do I ask Christ for the courage to face it with presence, faith, and love?
Don Giorgio
Sep 25, 2026 | DAILY BREAD
Friday of week 25 in Ordinary Time
Gospel: Luke 9:18-22In today’s Gospel, Peter gives the decisive answer to Jesus’ question, “Who do you say I am?”: “The Christ of God.” Yet immediately Jesus begins to speak about rejection, suffering, death, and resurrection. It is as though He is telling Peter: you have given the right answer, but you must still discover what that answer truly means. It is through the Passion that one must meet the Christ of God. We cannot know Jesus fully only through His miracles, consolations, teachings, or moments of glory; we must also encounter Him as the One who loves to the point of suffering, who remains faithful when rejected, who gives Himself when wounded, and who transforms death itself through self-giving love. The Passion reveals what kind of Christ He is: not a Messiah who escapes human suffering, but one who enters its deepest darkness and fills it with the love of God. This also changes the way we understand our own moments of passion, our suffering, rejection, disappointments, sacrifices, and losses. They are not automatically good, nor must we seek them, but when united with Christ they can become privileged places of encounter with Him. There we may discover a Christ whom comfort alone could never reveal to us: the Christ who stays, carries, forgives, surrenders, and finally rises. Peter’s confession becomes complete only when “the Christ of God” is recognized in the Crucified and Risen Lord; likewise, our faith matures when we discover that through the Passion we can enter more deeply into the mystery of who Christ truly is. Let’s reflect: When I pass through suffering, rejection, or sacrifice, am I able to recognize it as a place where I can encounter more deeply the Christ of God, who passed through the Cross into the glory of the Resurrection?
Don Giorgio
