26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
In our reading, we hear that when people turn away from God and sin they are punished for their sins. When people are sorry, change their lives and return to God they are forgiven and saved. God always allows us the freedom and opportunity to change.
In our gospel, Jesus was telling a parable to the chief priests and leaders. A father asked his first son to work in the vineyard. The son said “no” but later he decided to work anyways and went to the vineyard. The father asked his second son to work in the field and the son said “yes” but he didn’t go. Who did the will of their father? Jesus told the leaders that sinners are entering heaven before they will because they changed their lives but the leaders still have not. John the Baptist told them what they should be doing.
Special Feast Day: Blessed Bartolo Longo – October 3
Bartolo was born on February 11, 1841 in Italy. He received a good education from the Piarist Fathers and later he studied law at a university which had little respect for the Church. Bortolo’s faith weakened. Eventually, with the help of a Dominican priest and a Catholic professor, Bartolo began to practice his Catholic faith once again.
Bartolo received a law degree and became a lawyer in his hometown. He became very fond of praying the Rosary.
Bartolo travelled and began to help poor people. Many of them could not read so he taught them the Rosary. They learned about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and of Mary’s important role in leading Christians to her Son by meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary.
People were crowding a little church in Pompeii to pray the Rosary before a picture of Mary. The church was too small so Bartolo began raising money for a larger church.
Bartolo built an orphanage and a home for children whose parents were in prison.
As he grew older, Bartolo suffered from illness. He always trusted in God. He spent the last years of his life in prayer. He died on October 5, 1926 with his rosary still in his hand.
The Rosary is a simple prayer, yet it brings us into contact with the deepest mysteries of our faith. We should make an effort to pray at least a part of the Rosary each day, so that we will often call to mind the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The Rosary is a special homage to Mary, who is our Mother as well as the mother of Jesus.