Note on the series
This Advent Daily Reflection series follows an Advent posture of alertness, preparation, and patient expectation. Although September is part of Ordinary Time rather than the liturgical season of Advent, the Christian life continually calls for watchfulness and readiness for the coming of Christ. Each daily reflection considers how the Gospel forms that attentive spirit.
Daily Mass Readings
Thursday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary 440
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First Reading: 1 Corinthians 8:1b–7, 11–13
“Knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up.” -
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 139:1b–3, 13–14ab, 23–24
Response: “Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.” -
Alleluia: 1 John 4:12
“If we love one another, God remains in us.” -
Gospel: Luke 6:27–38
The complete daily Mass readings are available from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The Measure of Mercy
In the Gospel, Jesus presents a demanding pattern of life for those who hear and follow Him:
“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
These words do not describe a passive response to injustice. They describe a deliberate refusal to allow hatred, retaliation, or resentment to determine the heart’s direction. Jesus calls His disciples to respond to hostility with a form of goodness that remains free from the behavior of the other person.
The Gospel continues with the Golden Rule:
“Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
This teaching provides a practical measure for daily conduct. It asks readers to consider how words, judgments, decisions, and actions affect others. The Golden Rule is not limited to close relationships or agreeable circumstances. It applies also when another person is difficult, unfair, dismissive, or opposed.
Jesus then gives the reason for this demanding way of life:
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
Christian mercy begins with the recognition that God has already shown mercy. The disciple does not create mercy independently. The disciple receives mercy from the Father and is then called to extend that mercy to others.
For this reason, Jesus warns against a spirit of condemnation:
“Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven.”
These words do not eliminate the need for moral discernment. They caution against assuming a final judgment over another person or treating another person’s failure as a reason for contempt. Christian discernment identifies what is true and just while leaving ultimate judgment to God.
The Gospel concludes with a principle that gives this reflection its central theme:
“For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”
The measure used toward others may include patience or impatience, forgiveness or resentment, generosity or suspicion. The Gospel invites an examination of that measure. A narrow measure leaves little room for compassion. A generous measure reflects the abundance of the Father’s mercy.
This teaching also has a Eucharistic dimension. In the Eucharist, Christ gives Himself without reserve. A Eucharist reflection Catholic spirituality cannot remain separated from the way Christians treat others. Those who receive the merciful Christ are called to become instruments of mercy in families, parishes, workplaces, and communities.
Knowledge, Love, and Christian Responsibility
The First Reading addresses a dispute within the Christian community at Corinth. Some members understood that idols had no real power and therefore believed that eating meat associated with pagan sacrifice presented no spiritual danger. Their knowledge may have been correct in itself, but Paul warns that knowledge alone can become a source of pride.
“Knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up.”
Paul does not reject knowledge. Christian faith requires truth, formation, and sound conscience. The concern is the use of knowledge without regard for the spiritual condition of another person. A believer who possesses greater understanding must not use that freedom in a way that wounds someone whose conscience remains uncertain.
Paul therefore writes:
“Be careful, however, that the exercise of your right does not become a stumbling block to the weak.”
This passage presents an important understanding of Christian freedom. Freedom is not simply the ability to claim what is permitted. Christian freedom also includes responsibility for the effect of one’s conduct on others.
A person may possess a legitimate right while still choosing not to exercise it for the sake of charity. Such restraint is not weakness. It is an expression of love. The stronger conscience accepts responsibility for the weaker conscience, especially when a public example could lead another person into confusion or sin.
The principle remains relevant. Speech, social behavior, financial decisions, public disagreements, and religious practices can all affect the consciences of others. Knowledge asks what is technically allowed. Love asks what will build up the community.
The Responsorial Psalm gives the proper foundation for this examination:
“Search me, O God, and know my heart;
try me and know my thoughts.
See if my way is offensive
and lead me in the way of old.”
The Christian conscience is not formed by self-justification. It is placed before God for purification and direction. The prayer asks the Lord to reveal not only visible actions but also hidden motives, pride, resentment, and disregard for the weak.
Mercy and the Society of St. Peter the Apostle
The Gospel’s call to love without expecting a return provides a useful lens for understanding the mission of the Society of St. Peter the Apostle. The Society was founded in 1889 by Stephanie and Jeanne Bigard after the appeal of Bishop Jules-Alphonse Cousin, MEP, Vicar Apostolic of Southern Japan and later Bishop of Nagasaki.
Bishop Cousin recognized the importance of forming a local clergy but faced serious financial limitations. Young men who showed signs of a priestly vocation could not always be received or adequately formed. The response of the Bigards helped establish a work dedicated to the development of indigenous clergy in mission territories.
The Society’s mission reflects a patient and locally rooted form of charity. It supports future priests, religious sisters, and religious brothers who serve their own communities and cultures. Rather than creating dependence on outside missionaries, the Society assists local Churches as they form leaders capable of proclaiming the Gospel, celebrating the sacraments, and serving their people over the long term.
The Society provides:
- Ordinary subsidies for the daily needs and formation of seminarians, novices, and religious sisters.
- Extraordinary subsidies for constructing new seminaries, renovating existing seminaries, and funding self-sustainability projects.
- Mass intentions to assist seminary formators.
- Scholarships for future seminary educators.
The Gospel teaches that love does good without demanding immediate recognition or repayment. The formation of indigenous clergy follows this same patient principle. Support given today may assist a vocation whose pastoral service will strengthen a local Church for many years.
Additional information is available on the Society of St. Peter the Apostle page. Contributions may be made through the Society of St. Peter the Apostle donation page.
Practices for September 10
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Pray for an enemy or difficult person. The prayer may ask God to protect that person, guide that person, and bring peace to the relationship.
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Practice the Golden Rule concretely. One deliberate act of patience, courtesy, encouragement, or assistance may put the Gospel into practice.
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Examine personal judgments. The day may include a review of conclusions formed about another person without sufficient knowledge or charity.
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Forgive someone. Forgiveness may begin with the decision to stop rehearsing an injury and to place the matter before God.
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Consider Christian freedom. Before exercising a personal right, readers may ask whether the action builds up the faith and conscience of others.
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Support missionary clergy formation. A prayer, gift, Mass intention, or parish effort may assist seminarians, novices, religious sisters, and their educators through the Society of St. Peter the Apostle.
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Approach the Eucharist mindful of mercy. At Mass, the faithful may receive Christ with renewed awareness that Eucharistic communion calls for reconciliation, generosity, and merciful conduct.
Closing Prayer
Lord of mercy,
measure the heart with love.
Teach the faithful to bless,
to forgive, and to serve.
Where resentment remains,
plant the peace of Christ.
Where pride has taken root,
let humble charity grow.
Guide every vocation
along the everlasting way.
Form servants for the missions
who give without seeking return.
May the Eucharist received
make mercy visible,
and may every Christian life
reflect the Father’s compassion.
Amen.
Support and Contact Information
The Pontifical Mission Societies
70 West 36th Street, 8th Floor
New York, NY 10018
Phone: 212-563-8700
Email: contact@pontificalmissions.org