Sep 7, 2026 | DAILY BREAD
Monday of week 23 in Ordinary Time
Gospel: Luke 6:6-11In today’s Gospel, Jesus encounters a man whose right hand is withered. After calling him to stand before everyone, Jesus gives him a simple command: “Stretch out your hand.” Humanly speaking, this is precisely what the man cannot do; his hand is disabled. Yet he does not argue with Jesus about his limitations or wait until he feels capable, he does what Jesus tells him, and his hand is restored. This reveals something essential about faith: the Word of Christ often asks us to take a step that seems beyond our strength, but the grace to accomplish it is contained in the very word He speaks. We may hear Him asking us to forgive when we feel unable to forgive, to begin again after failure, to trust when we are afraid, to serve when we feel exhausted, or to open our hearts after they have been wounded. If we focus only on our weakness, we remain with the withered hand; if we trust His word and act upon it, we make room for His healing power. The man’s obedience did not produce the miracle by itself; rather, his obedience allowed the power of Jesus to restore what he could never restore on his own. The Gospel therefore invites us to a simple but profound faith: when Jesus speaks, take the step He asks of us. What seems impossible in our weakness can become possible through our obedience to His grace. Let’s reflect: What is Jesus asking me to “stretch out” today, and do I trust His word enough to act, believing that His grace can restore what I cannot heal by myself?
Don Giorgio
Sep 6, 2026 | DAILY BREAD
23rd Sunday in Ordinary TimeReadings: Ezekiel 33:7–9; Psalm 95:1–2, 6–7, 8–9; Romans 13:8–10; Matthew 18:15–20
Today’s readings remind us that Christian love is not passive: it makes us responsible for one another. Through Ezekiel, God appoints the prophet as a watchman, showing that we cannot simply say that the choices and suffering of others are none of our concern; love gives us a responsibility for what happens around us and sometimes requires the courage to speak the truth. Yet before correcting others, the Psalm warns us, “Harden not your hearts.” We must never become accustomed to our own sins, because a heart that no longer recognizes its own need for conversion can easily become harsh in judging others. Saint Paul gives us the principle that must govern everything: “Love is the one thing that cannot hurt your neighbour.” We must therefore never grow tired of loving, even when love has been disappointed, misunderstood, or wounded. Jesus makes this very concrete in the Gospel: when a brother sins against us, the first response is not condemnation, gossip, rejection, or revenge, but a sincere attempt to regain the brother. Even after negative experiences, we are asked to try again, because reconciliation is more important than proving ourselves right. This does not mean ignoring wrongdoing or pretending that wounds do not exist; genuine love seeks truth, conversion, healing, and communion. And Jesus promises that wherever people make this difficult journey together in His name, He Himself is present among them. In the end, only love can truly make things right, love courageous enough to speak, humble enough to recognize its own sins, patient enough not to give up, and merciful enough always to seek the restoration of the other. Let’s reflect: When I am hurt or disappointed by others, do I withdraw into judgment and resentment, or do I remain responsible for love, seeking with Christ the truth, healing, and reconciliation that can make things right?
Don Giorgio
Sep 4, 2026 | DAILY BREAD
Saturday memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Saint Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa)
First Saturday - let us entrust ourselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
In today’s Gospel, Jesus concludes the discussion about the Sabbath with a decisive declaration: “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” Christian life begins to find its proper order when Jesus is not simply one important part of our lives but Lord of everything. Our prayer, work, relationships, responsibilities, possessions, plans, successes, sufferings, and even our religious observances must ultimately be placed under His loving lordship. The Pharisees had become so focused on the observance of the law that they risked losing sight of the One to whom the law was meant to lead; Jesus reminds us that no practice can take His place. On this First Saturday, the Immaculate Heart of Mary shows us what it means to let Jesus be above everything: her whole life was centred on her Son, from Nazareth to Calvary and beyond. To entrust ourselves to her Immaculate Heart is to ask her to teach us to belong completely to Jesus as she did. Mother Teresa lived the same Christ-centred simplicity: she recognized Jesus in the poorest of the poor because He had first become the centre and Lord of her own heart. The Gospel therefore invites us to put everything in its proper place. When Jesus is above everything, we do not lose what we love; rather, we learn to love every person and fulfil every responsibility according to His Heart. The Christian life is ultimately this: Jesus above everything, Jesus at the centre of everything, and Jesus Lord of everything. Let’s reflect: Is Jesus truly above everything in my life, shaping my loves, choices, priorities, and responsibilities as the Lord of my whole heart and my whole life?
Don Giorgio
Sep 4, 2026 | DAILY BREAD
Friday of week 22 in Ordinary Time
First Friday: Let us entrust ourselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Gospel: Luke 5:33-39
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is questioned about fasting, but His answer moves the discussion from religious observance to relationship: “Surely you cannot make the bridegroom’s attendants fast while the bridegroom is still with them?” By presenting Himself as the Bridegroom, Jesus reveals the deepest meaning of our spiritual life: everything is ultimately about our relationship with Him. Prayer, fasting, penance, the sacraments, acts of charity, and every religious observance have value because they unite our hearts more intimately with His. This becomes particularly meaningful on the First Friday, when we contemplate the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Heart of the Bridegroom who loves us and desires our love in return. Christian devotion is therefore not primarily a collection of practices but a response of love to a Person. We pray because we want to remain with Him; we make sacrifices because we love Him; we receive the Eucharist because we desire communion with Him; and we make reparation because His love matters to us. The new wine of the Gospel needs a new wineskin: a heart continually renewed by His love. Entrusting ourselves today to the Sacred Heart means allowing all our external observances to lead us inward, to that intimate place where our heart encounters His Heart. In the end, the purpose of every devotion is simple: to know the Bridegroom, to remain with Him, and to love Him more. Let’s reflect: Do my prayers, sacrifices, and devotions, especially my First Friday devotion, bring my heart into a deeper relationship with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Bridegroom who loves me?
Don Giorgio
Sep 3, 2026 | DAILY BREAD
Saint Gregory the Great, Pope, Doctor
Gospel: Luke 5:1-11In today’s Gospel, Peter is washing his nets after a long and unsuccessful night of work. Humanly speaking, the fishing is over; he is tired, disappointed, and ready to stop. Yet when Jesus tells him, “Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch,” Peter is willing to begin again simply because the Lord has spoken: “If you say so, I will pay out the nets.” His obedience produces an extraordinary catch, showing what becomes possible when our efforts are placed at the service of Christ’s word. But the most beautiful moment comes afterwards. Peter has just received what every fisherman dreams of, an overwhelming abundance of fish, yet when Jesus calls him to become a fisher of men, “they left everything and followed him.” Peter is free enough both to begin again when Jesus asks and to leave behind even his greatest success when Jesus calls him further. This is the freedom of discipleship: not being imprisoned by failure, but neither being possessed by success. Pope Gregory lived this same availability, leaving the quiet monastic life he loved when God called him to serve the Church as Pope. The Gospel invites us to remain ready for whatever Christ asks, to cast the nets again after disappointment, to receive abundance with gratitude, and, if He calls, to leave even that abundance behind in order to follow Him more closely. Let’s reflect: Am I free enough to begin again after failure when Jesus asks me, and equally free to leave even my successes behind when He calls me to follow Him further? Do I have this freedom of discipleship?
Don Giorgio
Sep 2, 2026 | DAILY BREAD
Wednesday of week 22 in Ordinary Time
Gospel: Luke 4:38-44In today’s Gospel, Jesus spends Himself completely in the service of others: He heals Simon’s mother-in-law, receives the sick who are brought to Him, cures many, and sets people free from evil. Yet when daylight comes, “He left the house and made his way to a lonely place.” This withdrawal is not an escape from His mission but the very source of it. In solitude, Jesus remains in intimate communion with the Father, and from that relationship He receives the strength and freedom to continue His mission rather than simply respond to the expectations of the crowd. When the people try to prevent Him from leaving, He knows that He must go forward: “I must proclaim the Good News of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, because that is what I was sent to do.” The same pattern is essential for every disciple. Mission without prayer can easily become mere activity, and service without communion with God can lead to exhaustion or loss of direction. We need our own “lonely place,” moments in which we withdraw from noise, demands, and responsibilities simply to remain with the Father. There we rediscover who we are, why we have been sent, and where God is calling us next. Prayer does not take us away from mission; it gives us the grace to go forward. The deeper our communion with the Father, the freer and more fruitful our service becomes. Let’s reflect: Do I make space for a “lonely place” with the Father, allowing prayer to renew my strength, clarify my mission, and give me the grace to go forward?
Don Giorgio
