Shadowing Practice: Today's Catholic Mass Readings – Friday, September 11, 2026 - Learn English Speaking with Video
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You are welcome to the Catholic Faith Family.
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Today is Friday, September 11, 2026.
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Friday of the 23rd week in Ordinary Time.
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Theme.
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Becoming like our teacher.
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The Master Jesus.
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Have you ever asked yourself whether your life is truly becoming more like Jesus?
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Do people see the character of Christ in the way you speak, forgive, serve, and relate with others?
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Today's readings remind us that being a disciple is more than knowing the teachings of Jesus.
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A true disciple must allow the master to shape his life.
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Jesus teaches us to examine ourselves, while St. Paul reminds us of the discipline and self-control required to remain faithful in our Christian journey.
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In today's Holy Mass, we pray for all our subscribers, benefactors, channel members, and their families.
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May the Lord strengthen their faith, provide for their needs, and bless the work of their hands.
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We pray for the Benedict family and all their intentions.
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May the Lord bless and protect them.
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We pray for the intentions of Florence Nacowund and Gordai Afonso.
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May God answer their prayers according to His will.
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We pray for healing upon Pine, the Momo family, Sunilashak, and Maria Chamombo.
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May the Lord strengthen and restore them.
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In a special way, we pray for Mr. Mandeep Kalita, asking God for a successful kidney transplant and complete healing.
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We pray for Amanda's healing and Veronica's financial breakthrough.
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May the Lord bring healing and provide for their needs.
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We pray for Samuel Karanjah's job opportunities and financial success upon Dominic.
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May the Lord open doors of favor and breakthrough.
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As we begin this new day, let us examine our lives and ask ourselves whether we are truly becoming like our teacher, Jesus Christ.
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May we not only speak about Him but reflect Him through our words, actions, and relationships.
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Give us humble hearts that accept correction, disciplined lives that pursue holiness, and the grace to grow daily in love, mercy, patience, and truth.
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Amen.
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First reading.
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A reading from the first letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians.
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I do not boast of preaching the gospel, since it is a duty which has been laid on me.
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I should be punished if I did not preach it.
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If I had chosen this work myself, I might have been paid for it, but as I have not, it is a responsibility which has been put into my hands.
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Do you know what my reward is?
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It is this, in my preaching, to be able to offer the good news free, and not insist on the rights which the gospel gives me.
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So though I am not a slave of any man, I have made myself the slave of everyone so as to win as many as I could.
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I made myself all things to all men in order to save some at any cost, and I still do this, for the sake of the gospel,
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to have a share in its blessings.
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All the runners at the stadium are trying to win, but only one of them gets the prize.
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You must run in the same way, meaning to win.
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All the fighters at the games go into strict training.
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They do this just to win a wreath that will wither away, but we do it for a wreath that will never wither.
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That is how I run, intent on winning.
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That is how I fight, not beating the air.
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I treat my body hard and make it obey me for, having been an announcer myself, I should not want to be disqualified.
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The Word of the Lord.
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Responsorial Psalm.
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Our response.
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How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, God of hosts.
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My soul is longing and yearning, is yearning for the courts of the Lord.
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My heart and my soul ring out their joy to God, the living God.
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Response.
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How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, God of hosts.
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The sparrow herself finds a home, and the swallow a nest for her brood.
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She lays her young by your altars, Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
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Response.
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How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, God of hosts.
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They're happy who dwell in your house, forever singing your praise.
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They're happy whose strength is in you, and whose hearts are the roads to Zion.
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Response.
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How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, God of hosts.
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For the Lord God is a rampart, a shield.
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He will give us his favor and glory.
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The Lord will not refuse any good to those who walk without blame.
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Response.
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How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, God of hosts.
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Gospel acclamation.
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Alleluia, alleluia.
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Oh, praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
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He sends out his word to the earth.
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Alleluia.
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Gospel.
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A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke.
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Jesus told a parable to the disciples.
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Can one blind man guide another?
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Surely both will fall into a pit?
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The disciple is not superior to his teacher.
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The fully trained disciple will always be like his teacher.
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Why do you observe the splinter in your brother's eye and never notice the plank in your own?
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How can you say to your brother, Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye, when you cannot see the plank in your own?
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Hypocrite!
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Take the plank out of your own eye first.
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And then you will see clearly enough to take out the splinter that is in your brother's eye.
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The Gospel of the Lord.
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Commentary.
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First reading.
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Paul reflects on his own task.
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Under the compulsion of his divine call, he has no choice but to teach the truth, yet in his desire to win people for Christ he remains sensitive to their needs.
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Having just ruled on food dedicated to pagan gods, his key point is not that such dedications matter since these gods don't exist
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but that we must not upset other people's consciences.
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For Paul, the overriding principle above acting on principle is always love, sensitive and caring toward others' sincerely held beliefs.
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Gospel.
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As Luke concludes his sermon on the plain, Jesus gives two vivid warnings.
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The first is against measuring ourselves by others easy to excuse our own faults by focusing on someone else's.
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Looking at another splinter while blind to the log in our own eye distorts our vision entirely.
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If wholly blind, we fall into the ditch.
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The only acceptable standard for a disciple is not a fellow disciple but the master himself.
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While Matthew's sermon takes the law as the basis to be perfected, Luke takes Jesus himself as the sole model to be reflected.
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Let us now listen to the reflection.
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Theme.
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Becoming like our teacher, the master Jesus.
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There is an old story about a young monkey who admired the lion from a distance.
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The lion was respected by all the animals because of his strength, confidence, and commanding presence.
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The monkey began imitating everything the lion did.
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When the lion walked slowly, the monkey walked slowly.
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When the lion roared, the monkey tried to roar.
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When the lion sat proudly on a rock, the monkey climbed onto a smaller rock and copied his posture.
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One afternoon, the animals gathered near the river, and the monkey proudly announced, I have become like the lion.
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The lion looked at him and asked, You have copied my walk and my voice, but what will you do when another animal is afraid and needs your help?
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The monkey became silent.
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At that moment, a small antelope fell into a deep hole nearby.
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The lion immediately went to rescue it, while the monkey remained on his rock watching.
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The animals understood something important.
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Imitation is not proved by appearance.
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It is proved by character.
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The monkey looked like the lion from a distance, but he had not yet learned the heart of the lion.
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This story raises an important question for us.
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When people look at my life, do they see someone who is becoming like Jesus, or someone who only knows how to speak about Jesus?
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Many Christians know a great deal about Jesus without necessarily becoming like him.
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We know his teachings, attend mass, say prayers, carry rosaries, read the Bible, listen to sermons, and even teach other people about faith.
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All these things are valuable, but they do not automatically mean that our character is becoming Christ-like.
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A person can speak about forgiveness and still carry bitterness for years.
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Someone can preach humility and still become angry whenever they are not appreciated.
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We can advise others to pray while our own prayer life is becoming empty.
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We can tell people to love their enemies while secretly celebrating when an enemy fails.
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This is the difference between knowing the teacher and becoming like the teacher.
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Jesus does not simply invite us to collect religious information.
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He calls us to become his disciples.
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The goal of discipleship is transformation.
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When Paul speaks about disciplining himself, he shows that following Christ requires personal effort and self-control.
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He does not want to preach to others and then discover that his own life contradicts what he teaches.
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The question is not only, how much do I know about Jesus?
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But, what is changing in me because I know Jesus?
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This is where personal examination becomes necessary.
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Take a moment and look honestly at yourself.
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What happens when someone insults you?
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How do you respond when somebody receives the opportunity you wanted?
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What happens when your opinion is rejected?
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How do you behave when nobody is watching?
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Are you patient only when things are going according to your plans?
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Are you kind only to people who can help you?
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Are you humble before God but proud before people?
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Do you correct everybody while refusing to accept correction yourself? self?
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Jesus warns against the person who notices the speck in another person's eye
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while failing to notice the log in his own eye.
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It is possible to become very skilled at identifying the weaknesses of others while remaining blind to our own.
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A disciple of Jesus must develop the courage to say, Lord, show me what needs to change in me.
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Sometimes the person who irritates us reveals an area where we need growth.
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Sometimes the situation we complain about exposes our impatience.
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Sometimes the criticism we reject contains something God wants us to examine.
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Self-examination is not self-condemnation.
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It is allowing the master to work on the disciple.
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Consider how this applies to ordinary life.
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In a family, a parent may demand respect from the children while speaking harshly to everyone in the house.
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A husband may expect understanding from his wife but refuse to listen when she expresses her concerns.
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A wife may demand honesty while hiding things that should be discussed openly.
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In the workplace, someone may complain that colleagues are dishonest while manipulating information for personal advantage.
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In the parish, a person may criticize the choir, altar servers, catechists, or church leaders without asking what contribution they themselves are making.
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Among friends, we can quickly expose someone's mistake but become defensive when our own weakness is mentioned.
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On social media, it is easy to condemn people publicly, react to every controversy, and present ourselves as morally superior.
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But discipleship asks a different question.
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Does my behavior make the teaching of Jesus believable?
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If I want my family to become more loving, I must begin with my own words.
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If I want my friends to become more trustworthy, I must become trustworthy.
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If I want young people to respect the faith, they must see that the faith has changed the way I live.
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We teach with our mouths, but we also teach through our habits.
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This is exactly what Jesus means in the gospel when he says, a disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like their teacher.
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Jesus then speaks about the blind leading the blind
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and about removing the log from our own eye before trying to remove the speck from another person's eye.
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Notice the direction of his teaching.
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He does not begin with correcting everybody else.
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He begins with the disciple.
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Before becoming a guide, become teachable.
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Before correcting another person, examine yourself.
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Before demanding holiness from someone else, ask whether you are pursuing holiness yourself.
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The Master Jesus is not looking for disciples who merely repeat His words.
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He wants disciples whose lives gradually resemble His.
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What did Jesus look like in His relationships?
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He was compassionate toward the suffering, patient with the weak, courageous before injustice, truthful without cruelty, humble without weakness,
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prayerful without seeking attention, and merciful toward those who failed.
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When we ask whether we are becoming like Jesus, These qualities give us something concrete to examine.
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The first reading shows us another dimension of becoming like our teacher.
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Discipline.
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Paul compares the Christian life to a race in which an athlete exercises self-control.
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An athlete cannot eat, sleep, train, and live without discipline and then expect to perform at the highest level.
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In the same way, spiritual growth does not happen accidentally.
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If we want to become patient, we must practice patience in situations that test us.
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If we want to become forgiving, we must make decisions that release resentment instead of feeding it.
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If we want to become prayerful, we must create time for prayer even when we do not feel like praying.
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If we want to become truthful, we must stop making excuses for small dishonesties.
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If we want to become humble, we must learn to accept correction without immediately defending ourselves.
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The psalm expresses the deep desire to remain close to God.
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My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord.
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A disciple cannot become like Jesus while deliberately remaining far from Jesus.
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The closer we walk with a teacher, the more his way of thinking, speaking, forgiving, serving and loving should influence us.
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This is not about becoming perfect overnight.
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It is about allowing Christ to shape one decision after another.
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So here is the practical challenge for today.
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Choose one area of your life where you need to become more like Jesus and work on that area deliberately.
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If anger is your weakness, practice pausing before responding.
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If gossip is your struggle, refuse to pass along one piece of information that could damage another person.
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If pride is controlling you, accept one correction without defending yourself.
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If resentment has occupied your heart, begin praying sincerely for the person who hurt you.
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If you have been quick to criticize, spend more time examining yourself.
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If your prayer life has become weak, set aside a definite period each day to meet the teacher in prayer.
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You can even ask someone you trust, What is one weakness you see in me that I need to work on?
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Listen without becoming defensive.
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Then take the answer to prayer.
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At the end of each day, ask yourself three questions.
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Where did I act like Jesus today?
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Where did I act unlike Jesus?
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What will I do differently tomorrow?
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These questions can become a simple examination of discipleship.
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The aim is not to impress people with religious language.
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The aim is to allow the master to form his character in us.
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The young monkey in our story discovered that copying the lion's appearance was easier than sharing the lion's character.
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The same danger exists in Christian life.
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We can look religious without becoming transformed.
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We can know the words of Jesus without living his words.
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We can correct others while remaining untouched by the correction God is giving us.
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But Jesus calls us to something deeper.
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Everyone who is fully qualified will be like their teacher.
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Our Christian journey is therefore not simply about reaching a place where we know more scripture, attend more religious activities, or speak more confidently about faith.
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It is about becoming people who increasingly resemble Christ in the way we treat others, handle difficulties, respond to correction,
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forgive, serve, speak, and make decisions.
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Let us stop asking only, what is wrong with that person?
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And begin asking, Lord, what are you asking me to change in myself?
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May the people who live around us encounter something of Jesus through our lives.
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May our families experience his love through us.
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May our friends experience his patience through us.
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May those who disagree with us still encounter His truth and mercy through us.
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And when people see our lives, may they not only hear that we are followers of Jesus but recognize that we are becoming like our teacher, the Master Jesus.
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May God bless His work in our hearts through Christ our Lord.
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Amen.
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Prayer.
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Heavenly Father, we thank You for the gift of Jesus Christ, our Teacher and Master.
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Thank you for calling us not merely to know Him, but to become like Him.
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Help us to examine our lives honestly and recognize the areas where we still need transformation.
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Lord Jesus, remove from us the blindness that makes us notice the faults of others while ignoring our own.
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Give us humble hearts that accept correction, courage to admit our mistakes, and wisdom to change what needs to be changed.
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Teach us to speak with kindness, forgive sincerely, serve generously, and treat others with the same mercy you have shown us.
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Father, strengthen us with the discipline we need to live our faith faithfully.
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When we are angry, teach us patience.
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When we are hurt, teach us forgiveness.
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When we are tempted to judge, teach us understanding.
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When pride rises within us, teach us humility.
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When we become discouraged, remind us that spiritual growth is a journey
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and that your grace never abandons those who sincerely seek you.
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Lord, let our Christianity be visible in our daily lives.
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May our families experience your love through us.
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May our friends experience your kindness through us.
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May those who disagree with us still encounter truth and respect through us.
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Help us to stop demanding from others what we are unwilling to practice ourselves.
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Give us the grace to become better disciples each day.
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May our words, decisions, relationships, and actions increasingly reflect the character of Christ.
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When we fall, help us rise again.
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When we fail, help us learn.
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When we succeed, keep us humble.
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Make us faithful servants who do not only speak about Jesus but live according to His example.
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Bless our families, our work, our studies, our relationships, and every good intention we carry before you.
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Strengthen those who are struggling, comfort those who are grieving, heal those who are suffering, provide for those in need, and guide those who are searching for direction.
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Lord Jesus, our Teacher and Master, form your heart within us.
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Let our lives become a living testimony of your love, mercy, humility, patience, and truth.
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May those who encounter us see something of you through the way we live.
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We ask all these through Christ our Lord.
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Amen.
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Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 267 sentences and 3176 words to shadow. The speech runs for 20:46. The speaker talks at a natural 153 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 82% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 less common words from the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
- pray /pɹeɪ/ (verb) — To direct words, thoughts, or one's attention to a deity or any higher being, for the sake of adoration, thanks, petition for help, etc.
- lion /ˈlaɪən/ (noun) — A big cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa, India and formerly much of Europe.
- monkey /ˈmʌŋki/ (noun) — A member of the clade Simiiformes other than those in the clade Hominoidea containing apes, generally (but not universally) distinguished by small size, tails…
- gospel /ˈɡɑspəl/ (noun) — The first section of the Christian New Testament scripture, comprising the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, concerned with the birth, ministry, passion…
- prayer /pɹɛɚ/ (noun) — A practice of communicating with one's God, or with some spiritual entity.
- examine /ɪɡˈzæmɪn/ (verb) — To observe carefully or critically to learn about someone or something.
- correction /kəˈɹɛkʃən/ (noun) — The act of correcting.
- humble /ˈhʌmbəl/ (adjective) — Not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming.
- patience /ˈpeɪ̯.ʃəns/ (noun) — The quality of being patient.
- weakness /ˈwik.nɪs/ (noun) — The condition of being weak.
- heal /ˈhiːl/ (verb) — To make better from a disease, wound, etc.; to revive or cure.
- preach /pɹit͡ʃ/ (verb) — To give a sermon.
- dwell /dwɛl/ (verb) — To live; to reside.
- reflect /ɹɪˈflɛkt/ (verb) — To bend back (light, etc.) from a surface.
- refuse /ɹɪˈfjuːz/ (verb) — To decline (a request or demand).
Phrasal verbs you will hear
- look at (verb) — To observe or watch.
- work on (verb) — To apply mental or physical effort to (something) in order to shape, form, improve, investigate, solve it, etc.
- fall into (verb) — To go into something by falling.
- log in (verb) — To gain access to a computer system, usually by providing a previously registered username and password.
- take out (verb) — To remove.
- act on (verb) — To act decisively on the basis of information received or deduced.
- go into (verb) — To get involved in; to investigate or explore.
- lay on (verb) — To provide (food or drinks) for free.
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 3 contractions and reduced forms, such as they're, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: strengthen /ˈstɹɛŋ(k)θən/, athlete /ˈæθ.liːt/, faithful /ˈfeɪθ.fl̩/, breakthrough /ˈbɹeɪk.θɹuː/, trustworthy /ˈtɹʌst.wɜː.ði/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: correction /kəˈɹɛkʃən/, patience /ˈpeɪ̯.ʃəns/, examination /ɪɡˌzæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/, transformation /ˌtɹæns.fɔɹˈmeɪ.ʃən/, intentions /ɪnˈtɛnʃənz/
- Long words — get the stress right: examination /ɪɡˌzæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/, humility /hjuːˈmɪlɪti/, superior /sʊˈpɪɹ.i.ɚ/, ordinary /ˈɔɹdɪnɛɹi/, transformation /ˌtɹæns.fɔɹˈmeɪ.ʃən/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like pray, lion, monkey.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | Have you ever asked · has been laid · has been put |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | has been laid · should be punished · have been paid |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | duty which has · responsibility which has · those who walk |
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.