Saturday October 11, 2025

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“The heavens and the earth quake, but the Lord is a refuge to his people.” (From today’s first reading)

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Good News Reflection for:

Saturday of the 27th Week of Ordinary Time
October 11, 2025

Today’s Readings:

Joel 4:12-21
Psalm 97:12, 5-6, 11-12
Luke 11:27-28
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101125.cfm
Podcast:
bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/daily-mass-reading-podcast-october-11-2025

A Season of Shaking

God’s timing is uncanny. Consider today’s first reading in light of what’s happening in our world today:

Apply the sickle, for the harvest is ripe;
Come and tread, for the wine press is full;
The vats overflow, for great is their malice.
(Joel 4:13)

We are living in a time when the world needs divine intervention and we need it more than ever. Evil has gotten stronger. Demons have more control. We are living in a season of shaking.

But wait. Is this really what’s happening?

Yes it is true (I believe) that God is doing a unique intervention and we’re going to see more of it, but NO is not true that Evil has gotten stronger. This is only an illusion that the Evil One wants us to believe. In fact, for every demon working against what is good, there are multiple holy angels sent by God to bring about his Divine Will.

Evil is not getting stronger, not at all! Even if we are in a season of shaking, evil will never win. Rather, God and his holy angels are forcing the truth out into the open. God and his holy angels are ripping the covers off of demonic activity so that it’s exposed. We who belong to Christ can now see what’s going on and finally take a stand because we realize beyond doubt, beyond question, that we do need to take a stand. We do need to stand strong in faith, trusting God, believing God’s word, and repenting of our disbelief and our mediocre faith and the ways we have made compromises with the false teachings of worldly ideas.

Crowds upon crowds in the Valley of Decision;
For near is the day of the Lord in the Valley of Decision. (Joel 4:14)

God is making it clearer and clearer that there is no room for compromise when it comes to matters of faith and morals. We have to decide for God or else we are against him. We are in a season of purging. God is dividing the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the tares, the wolves from the flock.

We cannot have one foot on his side of the fence and the other foot in the world any longer. Those who keep doing so will fall off the fence when the shaking gets very rough. Which side will they land on?

Where are you standing now?

How firm is your stand? Is your life in a season of shaking?

Mediocre faith makes us weak. By God’s grace and mercy, those of mediocre faith can still reach heaven (after much purging), but mediocre faith does not give us strong legs to stand on — not when everything around us is shaking. And God wants us to be wholehearted in our faith, which is why I suspect he’s going to make the shaking still greater. There are many who are still embracing mediocre faith and lack wholeheartedness in their devotion to Christ. We are in a season of being strengthened.

The Lord roars from Zion,
and from Jerusalem raises his voice;
The heavens and the earth quake,
but the Lord is a refuge to his people,
a stronghold to the children of Israel. (Joel 4:16)

Do not be afraid of the devil if you are standing with the Lord Jesus Christ. A season of shaking is nothing to fear if you stand firm in your faith. There is no reason to fear disaster as we look around and see evil getting away with so much — if we are clinging to Christ. Let him strengthen your legs of faith so that you can stand strong. Cling to Jesus. Keep your eyes on Jesus.

You don’t need to know every detail of what kind of corruption is happening nor what evildoers are doing or what falsehoods your loved ones believe. Just keep your eyes on Jesus and learn to interpret everything according to the truths about him as described in the Bible and in traditional Church teachings.

We are living in a time of shaking so that our legs become strong — our legs of faith. It is no accident that you were born into these times and are still alive in these times. It is God’s choice because you have an important part in this time of history in our Church and in the world. Stand strong knowing that he is on your side. Well, let’s re-state that. It’s actually better to say that you are on his side. Those who are not fully on his side are those who fall when things shake.

Do you feel like you are toppling? Do you feel feeble? Then rejoice because God is revealing to you where you need to lean on him more heavily.

Then shall you know that I, the Lord, am your God. (Joel 4:17)

© 2025 by Terry A. Modica

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