Saturday, September 26, 2026
When the disciples were afraid to ask, Christ was already preparing the answer.
CHESTERTON RADIO MORNING PRAYER
Saturday of the Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time Psalter: Week I Optional Memorial: Saints Cosmas and Damian, Martyrs
Opening
There are questions we hesitate to ask because we suspect the answers may change everything.
A doctor pauses before speaking. A child asks why someone has died. A friend begins a difficult conversation. Sometimes we would rather preserve the comfort of uncertainty than hear a truth we cannot yet understand.
In this morning’s Gospel, the disciples stand before the greatest mystery of their lives. They have witnessed the power of Christ. They have seen wonders that ought to have settled every doubt. Yet when Jesus speaks of His approaching Passion, they do not understand.
And they are afraid to ask Him.
Perhaps that is the strangest part of the story. They are afraid to question the very One who has come to save them.
As Saturday begins, we bring before God the questions we have postponed, the fears we have concealed, and the mysteries we cannot resolve by our own cleverness.
The Lord does not ask us to understand everything before coming to Him.
He asks us to come.
Opening Verse
Lord, open my lips. And my mouth shall declare thy praise.
Invitatory
Antiphon: The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof: come, let us adore Him.
Psalm 94 (95)
An invitation to praise God
Come let us praise the Lord with joy: let us joyfully sing to God our saviour.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God, and a great king above all gods.
For in his hand are all the ends of the earth: and the heights of the mountains are his.
For the sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
Come let us adore and fall down: and weep before the Lord that made us.
For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
Today if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts:
As in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the wilderness: where your fathers tempted me, they proved me, and saw my works.
Forty years long was I offended with that generation, and I said: These always err in heart.
And these men have not known my ways: so I swore in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Antiphon: The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof: come, let us adore Him.
Psalmody
First Psalm — Psalm 118:145–152 (119:145–152)
The prayer of one who seeks God before dawn.
Antiphon: I cried with my whole heart, hear me, O Lord.
145. I cried with my whole heart, hear me, O Lord: I will seek thy justifications.
146. I cried unto thee, save me: that I may keep thy commandments.
147. I prevented the dawning of the day, and cried: because in thy words I very much hoped.
148. My eyes to thee have prevented the morning: that I might meditate on thy words.
149. Hear thou my voice, O Lord, according to thy mercy: and quicken me according to thy mercy.
150. They that persecute me have drawn nigh to iniquity; but they are gone far off from the law.
151. Thou art near, O Lord: and all thy ways are truth.
152. I have known from the beginning concerning thy testimonies: that thou hast founded them for ever.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Antiphon: I cried with my whole heart, hear me, O Lord.
Old Testament Canticle — Exodus 15:1–3, 8–13, 17–18
The song of Moses after the passage through the Red Sea.
Antiphon: The Lord is my strength and my praise, and he is become salvation to me.
1. Then Moses and the children of Israel sung this canticle to the Lord, and said: Let us sing to the Lord: for he is gloriously magnified, the horse and the rider he hath thrown into the sea.
2. The Lord is my strength and my praise, and he is become salvation to me: he is my God, and I will glorify him: the God of my father, and I will exalt him.
3. The Lord is as a man of war, Almighty is his name.
8. And with the blast of thy anger the waters were gathered together: the flowing water stood, the depths were gathered together in the midst of the sea.
9. The enemy said: I will pursue and overtake, I will divide the spoils, my soul shall have its fill: I will draw my sword, my hand shall slay them.
10. Thy wind blew and the sea covered them: they sunk as lead in the mighty waters.
11. Who is like to thee, among the strong, O Lord? who is like to thee, glorious in holiness, terrible and praiseworthy, doing wonders?
12. Thou stretchedst forth thy hand, and the earth swallowed them.
13. In thy mercy thou hast been a leader to the people which thou hast redeemed: and in thy strength thou hast carried them to thy holy habitation.
17. Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thy inheritance, in thy most firm habitation, which thou hast made, O Lord; thy sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.
18. The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Antiphon: The Lord is my strength and my praise, and he is become salvation to me.
Second Psalm — Psalm 116 (117)
All nations are called to praise the Lord.
Antiphon: O praise the Lord, all ye nations.
1. O praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.
2. For his mercy is confirmed upon us: and the truth of the Lord remaineth for ever.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Antiphon: O praise the Lord, all ye nations.
Short Reading — 2 Peter 1:10–11
Wherefore, brethren, labour the more, that by good works you may make sure your calling and election. For doing these things, you shall not sin at any time.
For so an entrance shall be ministered to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Short Responsory
I cried unto thee, O Lord; thou art my hope.
I cried unto thee, O Lord; thou art my hope.
Thou art my portion in the land of the living.
Thou art my hope.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
I cried unto thee, O Lord; thou art my hope.
Gospel of the Day
Luke 9:43–45
Jesus foretells His Passion.
43. And all were astonished at the mighty power of God. And as all wondered at all the things he did, he said to his disciples:
44. Lay you up in your hearts these words, for it shall come to pass, that the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.
45. But they understood not this word, and it was hid from them, so that they perceived it not. And they were afraid to ask him concerning this word.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise be to thee, O Christ.
Benedictus
The Canticle of Zachary — Luke 1:68–79
Antiphon: Enlighten them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and direct our feet into the way of peace.
68. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people:
69. And hath raised up an horn of salvation to us, in the house of David his servant:
70. As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets, who are from the beginning:
71. Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us:
72. To perform mercy to our fathers, and to remember his holy testament,
73. The oath, which he swore to Abraham our father, that he would grant to us,
74. That being delivered from the hand of our enemies, we may serve him without fear,
75. In holiness and justice before him, all our days.
76. And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways:
77. To give knowledge of salvation to his people, unto the remission of their sins:
78. Through the bowels of the mercy of our God, in which the Orient from on high hath visited us:
79. To enlighten them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death: to direct our feet into the way of peace.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Antiphon: Enlighten them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and direct our feet into the way of peace.
Intercessions
Christ our Lord has redeemed us through His Passion and Resurrection. With confidence in His mercy, let us bring before Him the needs of the Church and the world.
Response: Lord, hear us and lead us in thy truth.
For the Holy Father, our bishops, priests, deacons, and all who serve the Church: that they may proclaim Christ faithfully, especially when His words are difficult to understand.
Lord, hear us and lead us in thy truth.
For nations divided by war, suspicion, and fear: that those entrusted with authority may seek peace with justice, protect the innocent, and remember the dignity of every human life.
Lord, hear us and lead us in thy truth.
For those who begin this day at work, in classrooms, workshops, hospitals, farms, and homes: that their labour may be honest, fruitful, and offered to God.
Lord, hear us and lead us in thy truth.
For husbands and wives, parents and children, those discerning marriage or religious life, and all who face uncertain decisions: that they may have the courage to speak truthfully and listen with love.
Lord, hear us and lead us in thy truth.
For those who are ill, grieving, lonely, or afraid of what tomorrow may bring: that they may find in Christ a companion who does not abandon them in suffering.
Lord, hear us and lead us in thy truth.
For those who have died, especially those who departed this life without family or friends at their side: that the mercy of God may bring them into the light of His presence.
Lord, hear us and lead us in thy truth.
For ourselves: that we may not hide our questions from God, mistake confusion for unbelief, or allow fear to keep us from following Christ.
Lord, hear us and lead us in thy truth.
Our Father
Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. Amen.
Concluding Prayer
Almighty and merciful God, whose wisdom surpasseth our understanding, grant that we may receive thy word with humble and willing hearts.
When thy ways are hidden from us, strengthen our faith. When suffering approaches, sustain our hope. When fear closes our lips, teach us to turn to thee in prayer.
As thou didst lead thy people through the waters of the sea, so lead us through the trials of this present life, until we behold the fullness of thy saving love.
Through Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
Amen.
Blessing
May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
The Paradox of the Day
The disciples feared the answer because they could not yet see that the answer was their salvation.
Chesterton for the Morning
“The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder.”
— G. K. Chesterton, Tremendous Trifles (1909), Chapter I.
Project Gutenberg
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A Chestertonian Meditation
The Courage to Ask
There is a peculiar moment in the life of every child when he discovers that his father does not know everything.
It is generally a great disappointment to the child and something of a relief to the father.
Until then, the father has been expected to explain the workings of the universe, repair every broken object, identify every creature in the garden, and account for the mysterious behaviour of grown-ups. He has been consulted on matters ranging from the existence of dinosaurs to the precise location of Heaven.
Then comes a question he cannot answer.
And the child discovers that the world is considerably larger than his father.
This is not necessarily the end of wonder. It may be its beginning.
For the truly remarkable thing about childhood is not that children know so little. It is that they are willing to ask so much.
A child can ask twenty questions before breakfast, several of which would require a committee of theologians and physicists to answer properly. He is not embarrassed by ignorance. He regards ignorance as a temporary inconvenience to be remedied by finding somebody who knows.
Adults, having acquired education, experience, and an impressive collection of opinions, frequently lose this admirable habit.
We become afraid to ask.
We are afraid of appearing foolish. Afraid of discovering that something we have believed for years is wrong. Afraid that an honest answer might oblige us to change our lives.
And sometimes we are afraid because we suspect that the answer will hurt.
This is where we find the disciples in today’s Gospel.
They have just witnessed the mighty power of God. The crowds are astonished. The reputation of Jesus is growing. Everything appears to be moving toward some magnificent triumph.
Then Jesus says something entirely unexpected.
He tells them that the Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men.
The disciples do not understand.
More importantly, they are afraid to ask.
There is something profoundly human about this little detail. They are not confronting a stranger or an enemy. They are standing beside the Man who has healed the sick, welcomed children, fed the hungry, and taught them to call God their Father.
Yet His words have frightened them into silence.
They can accept His miracles. They cannot yet comprehend His Cross.
The difficulty is not merely intellectual. They have encountered a truth that threatens their expectations.
They want the Messiah to triumph. Jesus is telling them that His triumph will pass through suffering.
They want a kingdom. He speaks of being delivered into the hands of men.
They want the story to proceed in a sensible direction, with the good people winning and the wicked people losing.
Christ tells them that the good Man will be handed over to the wicked.
It is the sort of story that seems to have gone terribly wrong.
And, of course, it is the story by which the world is saved.
The trouble with sensible stories
Chesterton understood that our difficulty with Christianity is frequently not that it is too strange, but that we have become accustomed to expecting a rather dull universe.
We want the world to behave according to our calculations.
We want virtue to produce immediate rewards, kindness to guarantee kindness in return, and prayer to result in an agreeable improvement of circumstances.
We are particularly fond of the notion that if we behave properly, nothing unpleasant should happen.
But Christianity has never promised such an arrangement.
Its central image is not a comfortable man enjoying the consequences of his excellent conduct.
It is an innocent Man upon a Cross.
And its central proclamation is that this apparent defeat has become the victory of God.
The Cross does not make suffering good in itself. Nor does it mean that every tragedy can be neatly explained or that we should pretend pain is pleasant.
It means that suffering and death do not possess the final word.
The disciples could not understand this on the road with Jesus because they had not yet reached Calvary. They had not seen the empty tomb. They were being asked to trust a truth whose full meaning lay beyond their present experience.
Most of us know something about that.
A parent watches a child leave home and cannot see the whole road ahead. A young person considers a vocation without knowing where it will lead. A family receives difficult news. A worker loses a position. Someone who has prayed faithfully for years finds himself asking why God seems silent.
These are not imaginary dragons invented for the entertainment of a philosopher.
They are real troubles.
And faith does not require us to pretend otherwise.
The prayer before dawn
There is a beautiful connection between today’s Gospel and the first psalm of Morning Prayer.
The psalmist rises before daylight and calls upon God.
He has not waited for the sun to illuminate the countryside. He has not waited until the world makes sense.
He begins in darkness.
The old expression about preventing the dawn means that he has anticipated it. He is awake before the morning, already seeking the Lord.
There is a lesson here for anyone who has ever lain awake worrying about tomorrow.
We often imagine that prayer should follow understanding. First we will work out the problem, decide what God is doing, arrange our thoughts into a respectable order, and then present the finished result to Heaven.
But the psalmist reverses the procedure.
He cries out first.
Understanding may come later.
Indeed, the whole structure of Morning Prayer is a magnificent contradiction of our usual habits. We begin by praising God before we know what the day will bring.
We thank Him before discovering whether the day will be agreeable.
We place our work, our families, our anxieties, and our uncertain plans in His hands before attempting to carry them ourselves.
It is not that we have solved the problems.
It is that we have remembered who is God.
The road through the sea
The canticle from Exodus offers another image.
Israel stands before the Red Sea. Behind them comes Pharaoh’s army. Ahead lies water. By every ordinary calculation, the journey has reached a disastrous conclusion.
There is no sensible route forward.
And yet the sea becomes a road.
The people do not cross because they have mastered the geography of the seabed. They cross because God has made a way where no way appeared.
Their song of thanksgiving comes after the crossing.
Before it, there was fear.
This is worth remembering when we encounter people who are struggling with faith. We sometimes speak as though every Christian ought to possess the serene confidence of someone who has already reached the opposite shore.
But most of us are somewhere in the middle of the water.
We can see the walls rising on either side, and we are not entirely certain how long they intend to remain there.
Faith consists in continuing toward the One who has called us.
A question worth asking
There is a small but important difference between doubt and refusal.
Doubt may be the beginning of a question.
Refusal is the decision that no answer will be permitted.
The disciples were confused. That was understandable. But they were afraid to ask, and so their confusion remained unspoken.
We need not imitate their silence.
Christ is not threatened by our questions.
He does not require an impressive vocabulary, a theological degree, or the ability to explain the mystery of suffering before we approach Him.
The father of the afflicted boy in Mark’s Gospel gives us a prayer that is both wonderfully honest and wonderfully brief: he believes, and he asks for help with his unbelief.
That is a prayer most of us can manage.
Perhaps there is a question you have been carrying for years. Perhaps it concerns a disappointment, a loss, an unanswered prayer, or a decision whose consequences remain uncertain.
Bring it to Christ.
Bring it without pretending that you already understand.
The answer may not arrive today. It may not arrive in the form you expect. Some mysteries will remain mysteries until we see God face to face.
But the question itself need not separate us from Him.
The disciples eventually learned that the words which frightened them were the words of their redemption.
The road they feared led to Easter.
And the Man they were afraid to question would one day stand before them, risen from the dead, and offer them His peace.
This morning, the sun will rise over fields and rooftops, over church steeples and quiet streets, over houses where people are beginning another ordinary Saturday.
Some will wake rejoicing. Others will wake burdened.
The same light will enter both houses.
We do not yet know everything the day will bring. We do not know the answers to every question. We may not even know how to ask some of them.
But we know whom to ask.
And that is enough to begin the morning.
Carry This Into the Day
Lord Jesus, give me the courage to ask what I do not understand, the humility to receive thy answer, and the faith to follow thee even when the road is hidden.
Let me never be so afraid of the truth that I forget the One who is Truth.
Chesterton Radio