Daily Catholic Lectio
Sat, 17 October 2026
XXVIII Week in Ordinary Time
Eph 1:15-23; Lk 12:8-12
The Holy Spirit Will Teach You
“Receiving the vision of faith that nothing is impossible for God.”
After warning His disciples not to allow the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy, to enter their lives, and after telling them not to be afraid, Jesus continues by speaking about the consequences of acknowledging or rejecting the Son of Man.
Scholars generally place the writing of Luke’s Gospel around AD 85. Luke writes to a community living nearly fifty years after the death of Jesus. The early Christians were facing many difficult situations: rejection from Jewish communities and pressure under Roman rule. They were sometimes excluded from synagogues. At times, synagogues functioned almost like courts, where people could be accused and brought for questioning. This passage can therefore be understood either as Jesus foretelling what His disciples would face, or as Luke speaking to the real situations experienced by his community. In this context, Jesus also gives an important teaching about the Holy Spirit.
Luke’s Gospel is often described as a Gospel of the Holy Spirit. Mary conceives Jesus through the Holy Spirit (cf. Lk 1:35). Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, greets Mary (cf. Lk 1:40). Simeon lives under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and waits for the Messiah (cf. Lk 2:25). John the Baptist says that Jesus will baptise with the Holy Spirit and fire (cf. Lk 3:16). The Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus at His baptism (cf. Lk 3:22). The Spirit also leads Jesus in the wilderness (cf. Lk 4:1). Luke then continues to describe the work of the Holy Spirit throughout the Acts of the Apostles.
In today’s Gospel, we see Luke’s understanding of the Holy Spirit in two ways. Jesus warns against speaking against the Holy Spirit, and then gives hope by saying that, in difficult moments, the Holy Spirit will teach us what we should say.
The meaning of “speaking against the Holy Spirit” remains mysterious. It is often explained as hardness of heart, indifference, or refusal to trust in God’s mercy.
Let us also understand the expression in another way.
Mary is filled with the Holy Spirit and conceives Jesus, the Son of God. At that moment, the angel Gabriel says: “Nothing will be impossible for God.” Therefore, the Holy Spirit is the One who tells us that everything is possible for God. The Holy Spirit gives us hope. Whenever we say, “God cannot do this,” and fall into unbelief, we resist the message of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus then says: “The Holy Spirit will teach you.”
When people are dragged before synagogues and think that everything is over, the Holy Spirit teaches them: “Nothing is impossible for God.”
Jesus invites us to receive this faith: with God, all things are possible.
Today’s reading gives us three lessons.
(a) We have accepted Jesus through Baptism. This is not merely an accidental event. It is a choice first made for us by our parents and godparents. This choice is confirmed through the Sacrament of Confirmation. The choice we have made must now be proclaimed through the way we live. This is what it means to acknowledge Jesus before others.
(b) We must not speak against the Holy Spirit. We must accept and believe the Spirit’s message that everything is possible for God.
(c) Do not be anxious. Jesus tells us not to worry about how we should answer, what we should say, or how we should speak.
This is not only about standing before authorities. In everyday life we face many difficult situations. We have to make decisions about our family, work, children, future, business, travel, and many other things.
At such moments, let us remember that the voice of God continues to guide us.
Let us entrust every action to the Holy Spirit and seek His help.
In today’s first reading, Paul presents Christ as the head of the Church. This image expresses the deep closeness between Christ and those who believe in Him.
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
A Yesni Prays Initiative
Leave a Reply