10th Week. Ordinary Time, Tuesday, 09-06-2026

1 Kings 17:7-16 / Matthew 5:13-16   

There are times when we say things out of desperation without really knowing what it can mean.

It could be just an utterance of desperation and we say it because we don’t know what else to say.

So it can be an utterance like “Oh my God!”, though we do not intend to use God’s name in vain.

It seems like we want to tell God something, but words fall short, and we are also not sure what we want God to do for us.

In the first reading, the prophet Elijah asked the widow at Zarephath for water and food.

But it was a time of famine, and the widow said to Elijah, “As the Lord your God lives, I have no baked bread but only a handful of meal in a jar and a little oil in a jug.”

She was going to prepare the last meal for her son and herself and then they will wait for death to overcome them.

She may have said “As the Lord your God lives”, just like how we say “Oh my God”

But the God of life heard her, and even gave her the miracle of the jar of meal shall not be spent and the jug of oil shall not be emptied.

So, in desperate moments, when we say “Oh my God”, let us also finish the sentence by saying:

“Oh my God, save me” or “Oh my God, help me” or “Oh my God, protect us”

When we use God’s name, then let us also say what we need from God.

And our God who lives forever, will hear and answer our prayer.

10th Week, Ordinary Time, Monday, 089-06-2026

1 Kings 17:1-6 / Matthew 5:1-12  

We have often heard it said that this is a beautiful world.

As much as it is true, the contrary may also be true.

Because there are some creatures that could hardly be called beautiful.

So when we say that the world and creation is beautiful, we are just looking at the nice and pretty side of the world.

We can’t really explain why some creatures are not that pretty or pleasant to look at.

In the first reading, when the prophet Elijah was taking refuge from the famine, it was the ravens that brought bread to him in the morning and meat in the evening.

Ravens are unsightly birds and they make a sound that is not pleasant to the ears, and they are also scavengers.

Yet it was these lowly and unfavoured birds that brought food for Elijah and sustained him.

So, it can be said that the ravens brought God’s blessings to Elijah.

God’s blessings often come in unexpected forms and ways.

But when we accept to be poor in spirit, to be gentle and humble, to be kind and generous, then we will be blessed by God.

And may we be a blessing for others by showing them the ways of God.

Corpus Christi Year A, 07.06.2026

Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14-16 / 1 Cor 10:16-17 / John 6:51-58

Whenever the topic of food is discussed, it will certainly generate a lot of interest. 

It will range from what is the best food, to where to go for the best food, and what is the best value for money. 

Food is one of the most basic human needs. Food also brings people together and relationships are also built and renewed. 

The act of eating is also a profound act. 

Just as we have to be careful about what comes out of our mouths, we have to be equally careful about what goes into our mouths.

Because what we put into our mouths will go into our bodies. 

So, good, clean and healthy food will nourish our bodies and keep us healthy. 

When we come for Mass, we will sing hymns and say prayers as we worship and praise the Lord. 

Then at Holy Communion, we come forward to receive the Body of Christ. 

We receive the Body of Christ in the consecrated host and we will eat it. 

It is with a deep act of faith that we believe it is the Body of Christ. that we are eating. 

As much as the appearance is only a round white wafer, the reality is that it is the Body of Christ. 

And when we say it is the Body of Christ, it specifically points to the Heart of Christ. 

We remember that passage in the gospel, when the soldier pierced the side of Jesus with a spear, and then blood and water flowed out. 

It was at that moment when the Heart of Jesus is revealed, the Heart of God is revealed. 

The blood and water are symbols of the love and forgiveness of God. 

So, when we receive the Body of Christ, we are actually receiving the Heart of Christ, and we also receive God's love and forgiveness. 

So, that humble, white, round, consecrated host has those profound meanings of God's Real Presence and His love and forgiveness. 

So, in receiving the Body of Christ, we receive the Heart of Christ, and that shall make our hearts more like that of Christ. 

When we are aware that we are eating the Body of Christ at Holy Communion, then that should also make us grateful for the food that we eat. 

That is why we say “Grace before meals” at the beginning of a meal. 

We thank God for the good, clean, and healthy food that He has provided for us. 

Jesus promised us that when two or three are gathered in His name, He will be there. 

And when a family is gathered for a family meal, then Jesus is also there with them. 

At Holy Communion in the Mass, we are united with Jesus. 

As we receive the Body of Christ, we also become the Body of Christ. 

Similarly, at family meals, Jesus is also there to unite the family members. 

Because if a family that prays together, stays together, then when a family eats together, they will also stay together. 

So, the food we eat, and also who we eat with, has a deep significance. 

When we eat as a family, we become united as a family. 

When we eat the Body of Christ, we become a member of the Body of Christ, and we are united in the Heart of Christ. 

May the feast of Corpus Christi, or the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, help us to become more aware of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. 

May we receive the Body of Christ reverently, and may we also have a heart like that of Christ, a heart that loves others, a heart that forgives others.

9th Week, Ordinary Time, Saturday, 06-06-2026

2 Tim 4:1-8 / Mark 12:38-44 

It is in the tainted human nature that there is a tendency to be proud and egoistic.

In giving in to pride and ego, we want to get the attention to ourselves.

We want to be the loud sound so that everyone has to listen to us.

We want to be the bright light so that everyone has to look at us.

It is like what Jesus said about the scribes in the gospel.

Those scribes like to walk about in long robes, be greeted obsequiously by others, take the front seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets.

But they are ones who swallow the property of widows while making a show of lengthy prayers.

And Jesus also gave this warning: The more severe will be the sentence they receive.

That warning from Jesus is also no less for us.

Pride and ego are like bottomless pits that cannot be filled.

They are also like a fire that burns up everything.

May that poor widow be the image and the message that we will remember from today’s gospel.

And may that image and message help us to be simple and humble before God and before others.

9th Week, Ordinary Time, Friday, 05-06-2026

2 Tim 3:10-17 / Mark 12:35-37  

The sacred book of the Church is none other than the Bible.

The Bible is also called the Word of God, and we believe that God speaks to us in the Bible.

In the first reading, St. Paul emphasized to Timothy that from the Bible, he can learn wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

St. Paul goes on to say that all Scripture is inspired by God and can be used for teaching, for refuting error, for guiding people’s lives and teaching them to be holy.

St. Paul is certainly saying all that out of his own experience of facing hardships and persecutions.

He also tells Timothy that anybody who tries to live in devotion to Christ is certain to be attacked.

The attack comes from wicked impostors who will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and deceived themselves.

But let us not be afraid of living out our lives as Christians.

God will protect His People and save them from danger.

But we need to continue to believe in the saving power of Jesus.

And by reading and meditating on the Word of God in the Bible, we will be strengthened in faith.

And with God’s love we will be able to stand up to the hardships and the persecutions of life.

9th Week, Ordinary Time, Thursday, 04-06-2026

2 Tim 2:8-15 / Mark 12:28-34  

It is often said that a picture tells a thousand words.

In many ways that it is especially when the picture conveys the message as it is.

Still the picture may not convey the entire message, or in some cases, the picture may be interpreted with a number of meanings.

And when that happens, then many words are used to interpret the picture, and so instead of clarification, there could be confusion.

In the first reading, St. Paul tells this to Timothy: Tell them, in the name of God, that is no wrangling about words. All that this ever achieves is the destruction of those who are listening.

 

The issue was about the Good News and how it was interpreted by some people who had their own opinions.

In the gospel, when the scribe asked Jesus about the first of all the commandment Jesus used words to explain it.

After that scribe could only reiterate what Jesus said.

Because in Jesus, the scribe heard the words of love, and he also saw the reality of love, and he had no further questions.

Let us live our lives according to the commandment of God’s love, and others will see in us the image of God’s love.

9th Week, Ordinary Time, Wednesday, 03-06-2026

2 Timothy 1:1-3, 6-12 / Mark 12:18-27    

Life with its many complex relationships is difficult to understand.

How did people fall in love, and then some fall out of love.

For some people, blood is thicker than water, but for other, blood relationships are like water under the bridge, i.e., they are passing moments.

If life on earth is already so complex and difficult to understand, then the eternal life is left very much to imagination.

For the Sadducees in the gospel passage, they don’t believe in the resurrection nor in eternal life.

So they came up with a complex situation about relationships in eternity and then questioned Jesus about it.

They hoped that by doing that, the belief in eternal life would crumble and so they don’t have to worry about what happens after death.

But Jesus proclaimed the truth about God, and that He is not the God of the dead but God of the living.

With that, we will understand that God is in our relationships in this world as well as in the next.

Let us focus on God and live our lives well and have good relationships with others while we are on earth.

And when we cross over to the eternal life, God will give us life and life to the full.