Catholic lectionary for 21 September 2026

King James Version (en)

King James Version (en)

Ephesians, Chapter 4, verses 1-7, 11-13

¹ He exhorteth to unity, ⁷ and declareth that God therefore giveth diverse, ¹¹ gifts unto men, ¹³ that his church might be edified, and

¹I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,

²With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;

³Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

⁴There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

⁵One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

⁶One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

⁷But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
...

¹¹And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

¹²For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

¹³Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

Read more:Ephesians, Chapter 4

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4

4:1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord - Imprisoned for his sake and for your sakes; for the sake of the gospel which he had preached amongst them. This was therefore a powerful motive to them to comfort him under it by their obedience.

4:3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit - That mutual union and harmony, which is a fruit of the Spirit.The bond of peace is love.

4:4 There is one body - The universal church, all believers throughout the world. One Spirit, one Lord, one God and Father - The ever - blessed Trinity. One hope - Of heaven.

4:5 One outward baptism.

4:6 One God and Father of all - That believe. Who is above all - Presiding over all his children, operating through them all by Christ, and dwelling in all by his Spirit.

4:7 According to the measure of the gift of Christ - According as Christ is pleased to give to each.

Matthew, Chapter 9, verses 9-13

⁹ calleth Matthew from the receipt of custom, ¹⁰ eateth with publicans and sinners

⁹And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.

¹⁰And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.

¹¹And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?

¹²But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.

¹³But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Read more:Matthew, Chapter 9

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9

9:9 He saw a man named Matthew - Modestly so called by himself.The other evangelists call him by his more honourable name, Levi.Sitting - In the very height of his business, at the receipt of custom - The custom house, or place where the customs were received. Mar 2:14; Luk 5:27.

9:10 As Jesus sat at table in the house - Of Matthew, who having invited many of his old companions, made him a feast, Mar 2:15; and that a great one, though he does not himselfmention it. The publicans, or collectors of the taxes which the Jews paid the Romans, were infamous for their illegal exactions: Sinners - Open, notorious, sinners.

9:11 The Pharisees said to his disciples, Why eateth your Master? - Thus they commonly ask our Lord, Why do thy disciples this?And his disciples, Why doth your Master?

9:13 Go ye and learn - Ye that take upon you to teach others.I will have mercy and not sacrifice - That is, I will have mercy rather than sacrifice. I love acts of mercy better than sacrifice itself. Hos 6:6.

NOTES

When Jesus called Matthew, he left everything without hesitation and followed the Lord. Apparently, there was something so powerful in the Savior’s call that the tax collector did not even need to ask any questions—he immediately understood what...

We human beings think about our relationship with God in terms of worthiness and unworthiness. The Lord Himself knows perfectly well what we are like, and it was precisely to people such as us that He came. Not because we are worthy of His mercy or can repay Him in any way, but only because...

For the apostle, every ministry in the Church is above all the building up of the Body of Christ. Belonging to the Church does not mean belonging to a structure or even to a particular church community, or at least not merely formal membership. It means first of all being included in the relationship between the Father and the Son that...

For the apostle, every ministry in the Church is above all the building up of the Body of Christ. Belonging to the Church does not mean belonging to a structure or even to a particular church community, or at least not merely formal membership. It means first of all being included in the relationship between the Father and the Son that creates the Kingdom and opens it to every seeker. Throughout the ages, those seeking God tried in many different ways to establish a living relationship with Him. Sometimes they succeeded in something, but more often they did not. Now, after Christ has come, our relationship with God must be established together with Him - at least if we are Christians.

From this perspective Paul calls his brothers in Ephesus to view everything they do as Christians and members of the Church. This is not a matter of formal discipline or of having every action and ministry approved by some "senior leaders." The question is whether the person carrying out a ministry is aware of their direct relationship with Christ. There are many good and useful works. The only question is whether Christ has given grace specifically to us for the work we are doing at this moment. Today we are probably more accustomed to seeing grace as a kind of spiritual energy with which God strengthens us through Jesus Christ, giving us power for all the good works that occur to us and that we consider good - or simply for a pious life, which is also a good thing.

Paul connects grace with a specific commission given by Christ within the spiritual process of building the Kingdom and of forming and strengthening His relationship with the Father. Such are all Christ's gifts, and grace is given in proportion to the gift, providing the strength to put it into practice and unfold the possibilities Christ has given. Belonging to the Church means that a Christian's life and activity are directly included in the building of the Kingdom as the relationship between the Father and the Son grows and is strengthened. The person who enters and participates in this relationship is also changed, transformed, and made an inhabitant of the Kingdom. In this way the Church becomes the Body of Christ, full of love and life.

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