Faith Today

October 22, 2026

Love’s Power Amid Division

“"I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already!"”
Luke 12:49

Today's Reflection

Dear Brothers and Sisters, as we hear calls to give Ukraine the means to defend its people and infrastructure, the tension between striving for peace and standing up in the face of division becomes real. Our world sometimes demands difficult choices, and today’s readings encourage us to act from a place of deep faith and love, seeking God’s wisdom and justice amid conflict.

Coping

Today’s readings remind us that God’s love, working within us, gives strength—even when the world feels unsettled. When we are troubled by conflict or hardship, we are invited to be rooted in Christ's love and trust that God can do ‘infinitely more’ than we imagine, bringing inner peace beyond our understanding.

Family

Even family life can at times be a place of tension and division, as Jesus acknowledges. Yet, we are called to care for one another with compassion and patience, striving to be planted and built on love, holding fast to the faith that God’s plan stands firm through every generation.

Community

In community, we are strengthened when we join with ‘all God's holy people’—standing together, seeking justice and uprightness, and supporting one another. The readings remind us that God’s faithful love fills the earth, calling us to work for the good of all, even in times of uncertainty and division.

Today's Readings

First Reading · Ephesians 3:14-21

[14] This, then, is what I pray, kneeling before the Father, [15] from whom every fatherhood, in heaven or on earth, takes its name. [16] In the abundance of his glory may he, through his Spirit, enable you to grow firm in power with regard to your inner self, [17] so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, and then, planted in love and built on love, [18] with all God's holy people you will have the strength to grasp the breadth and the length, the height and the depth; [19] so that, knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond knowledge, you may be filled with the utter fullness of God. [20] Glory be to him whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine; [21] glory be to him from generation to generation in the Church and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm · Psalms 33:1-2, 4-5, 11-12, 18-19

[1] Shout for joy, you upright; praise comes well from the honest. [2] Give thanks to Yahweh on the lyre, play for him on the ten-stringed lyre. [4] The word of Yahweh is straightforward, all he does springs from his constancy. [5] He loves uprightness and justice; the faithful love of Yahweh fills the earth. [11] but Yahweh's own plan stands firm for ever, his heart's counsel from age to age. [12] How blessed the nation whose God is Yahweh, the people he has chosen as his heritage. [18] But see how Yahweh watches over those who fear him, those who rely on his faithful love, [19] to rescue them from death and keep them alive in famine.

Gospel · Luke 12:49-53

[49] 'I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already! [50] There is a baptism I must still receive, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! [51] 'Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. [52] For from now on, a household of five will be divided: three against two and two against three; [53] father opposed to son, son to father, mother to daughter, daughter to mother, mother-in-law to daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law to mother-in-law.'