OPTIONAL MEMORIAL OF ST ANTHONY MARY CLARET, SATURDAY OF THE TWENTY-NINTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, OCTOBER 24, 2026
Gospel
Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. He said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them–do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent,you will all perish as they did!”
And he told them this parable: “There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none,he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’ He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future.If not you can cut it down.’”
REFLECTION
if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!
St Anthony Mary Claret expressed a deep zeal for repentance, famously stating: "I know that I can offer God no morsel more delicious nor drink more refreshing than the souls that repent before the pulpit or in the confessional." (1)
Jesus gives us His assurance of His faithfulness in that He will stand and knock at the door of our lives. If we hear Jesus knocking, we would be wise to allow Him in our house and in our lives. It would be wise to listen to Him. Our creator knows us, in fact He knew us before we were created.
As Catholics, we get a heavenly foretaste of the Messianic banquet when we receive Jesus in the Eucharist with a humble spirit and a clean heart. Repentant of our sins we seek a clean heart.
Repentance is more than feeling sorry for our sins. It means recognizing our faults, asking God's forgiveness, and making a sincere effort to change our lives. It requires humility to admit that we have failed and courage to begin again. We have a sole goal of getting ourselves and others to heaven.
There have been many mystical visions and testimonies in which saints, religious and lay people saw souls in purgatory and learned what their regrets were. (2)
Wasted time--craving vanity, pleasure and trifles
Extravagance in the use of earthly possessions and not knowing how to use it for the greater honor of the Divine Heart.
Neglect of so many splendid graces given to them.
The many evils committed.
The scandal given to others.
Neglect of acts of mortification.
The little amount of charity shown towards the poor souls during (my) life on earth.
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