Monday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time, October 27, 2025

Gospel

Luke 13:10-17

Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath.

And a woman was there who for eighteen years

had been crippled by a spirit;

she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect.

When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said,

"Woman, you are set free of your infirmity."

He laid his hands on her,

and she at once stood up straight and glorified God.

But the leader of the synagogue,

indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath,

said to the crowd in reply,

"There are six days when work should be done.

Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day."

The Lord said to him in reply, "Hypocrites!

Does not each one of you on the sabbath

untie his ox or his ass from the manger

and lead it out for watering?

This daughter of Abraham,

whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now,

ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day

from this bondage?"

When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated;

and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.

Reflection

This Gospel reveals not only the power of Jesus but also shows how much He cares. “When Jesus saw her...He laid his hands on her, and she at once stood up straight and glorified God.” All He had to do was touch her, and she was healed. The woman didn’t call out to Jesus, He saw her first. She didn’t need to prove her worth or ask for attention, He noticed her suffering and called out to her. Jesus saw her pain, her years of quiet endurance, and chose to act. Instead of celebrating this miracle, the leader of the synagogue kept his heart closed, more focused on trying to discredit Jesus than on the remarkable freedom unfolding before him. Reading about this miracle fills me with awe, and it makes me wonder why we so often refuse to give things to God when we can clearly see the goodness and mercy He is capable of. What stood out to me in particular was how the woman did not initiate conversation or ask for help from Jesus. He noticed her and went to her aid. I couldn't help but think back to the homily I listened to just yesterday where the priest repeated several times...God listens, God sees, God cares. The same Lord who saw, called, and healed this woman sees and hears us, too.