17th Week, Ordinary Time, Monday, 28-07-2025

Exodus 32:15-24, 30-34 / Matthew 13:"31-35  

In any process or procedures, the beginning is of critical importance.

In construction, the foundation of building needs to be firm and solid before continuing.

In agriculture, the soil needs to be tilled and prepared before any sowing is done.

And in a person’s life, the first six years or so are the most important in terms of nurturing and development.

For faith and its growth and conviction, there needs to be a time of formation.

For the people of God, they had seen the wonders and the mighty hand of God in Egypt and how He had saved them from Pharoah’s army at the Red Sea.

But in the 1st reading, the people were quick to forget about the God who saved them and even turned to worship an object that they made.

But the punishment for such unfaithfulness was quick and heavy so as to teach and form the people in their faithfulness to God.

In the gospel, Jesus used the mustard seed and the yeast to express the growth of the Kingdom of God.

But even with mustard seeds and yeast, they have to be supervised so that the desired end results will be achieved.

As we journey on in our faith, may we be open to correction and change our ways so that we will continue to grow in the ways of God.

17th Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 27.07.2025

 Genesis 18:20-32 / Colossians 2:12-24 / Luke 11:1-13

The art of communication is indeed a form of art. It has to be learned, it has to be practiced, it has to be refined, in order to be good at it. 

Another way of looking at the art of communication is to call it the art of negotiation. 

Practically speaking, it is a way of turning a NO into a YES, or YES into a NO. 

Maybe this example will give us the idea:

Father says to his son: I want you to marry a girl of my choice. 

Son says: No. 

Father says: The girl is Bill Gate’s daughter. Son says: Then okay. 

Father goes to see Bill Gates and says: I want your daughter to marry my son. 

Bill Gates says: No. 

Father says: My son is the CEO of the World Bank. 

Bill Gates says: Then okay. 

Father goes to the President of the World Bank and says: Appoint my son as CEO of your bank. 

President says: No. 

Father says: He is the son-in-law of Bill Gates. President says: Then okay. 

Call that the art of communication, or the art of negotiation, or the art of confusion, or whatever, there is one important factor that needs to be noted. 

And that is, we have to know who we are talking to. 

In the 1st reading, we can say that Abraham was pushing all the buttons as he seems to be bargaining with God for the lives of the people of the two wicked towns. 

Abraham knew that God is merciful and compassionate. 

So, he asked questions like, “Are you really going to destroy the just man with the sinner? Will the Judge of the whole earth not administer justice?” 

This conversation between God and Abraham revealed a couple of truths. 

Abraham spoke daringly, but he also knows who he is, and he knows that God is merciful and forgiving. 

He expressed it in statements like, “I am bold to speak like this to my Lord, I who am just dust and ashes. I trust my Lord will not be angry.” 

That conversation between God and Abraham also revealed the nature of God. 

Besides being merciful and forgiving, God listens to His people, and even allows them to speak daringly to Him. 

That 1st reading tells us how intimate God is to His people. 

And in the gospel, Jesus also tells us how much God loves us. 

Jesus tells us to ask and it will be given to us, to search and we will find, to knock and the door will be opened to us. 

And Jesus goes on further to say that the one who asks always receives, the one who searches always finds, and the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him. 

But we know that from experience, when we pray to God for need, the answer is either a Yes, or a NO, or a LATER. 

A “Yes” is when God wants us to act immediately. 

A “No” is because God has something better for us.

And a “Later” means that it is not yet time. 

We may be able to understand what it means by “Later”, but there can also be a “yes and no” answer, a so-called “in-between” kind of answer. 

The following story may help us understand this. 

A priest was sharing that when he was discerning his call to the priesthood, he decided to ask God for a difficult sign. 

He decided to ask God to show him a blue moon, which he thought will never happen. 

Then one day, as he was driving and listening to the radio, out came this song: “Blue moon, you saw me standing alone …” 

Immediately he stopped the car and he knew he had to say yes to God. 

So, that priest asked for a difficult sign from God.

He did not get exactly what he asked for, but yes, he knew it when God gave him the sign.

So let us ask, let us search, and let us knock.

God will listen to our prayer, and every prayer that is uttered is also every prayer answered. 

And when God speaks, when God shows, may the Holy Spirit help us to listen, to see and to do what God is asking of us.

16th Week, Ordinary Time, Saturday, 26-07-2025

Exodus 24:3-8 / Matthew 13:24-30

We use words when we talk and communicate with others.

Words have a literal meaning as well as a figurative meaning.

What meaning a word has depends on the context it is used.

In the 1st reading, Moses used the blood of the bullocks to express the Covenant between God and His people.

Half of the blood, Moses cast it on the altar. 

The other half, he cast it on the people.

So the blood of Covenant is as literal as it could mean.

But while God was faithful to His Covenant, the people became the “bad blood” of the Covenant.

Figurative speaking, the blood of the people became bad and they were unfaithful to God, violated the Covenant and committed evil and wickedness.

But God cleansed the blood of the Covenant by sending His Son Jesus who shed His blood on the Cross to save us from our sin.

By His blood on the Cross, Jesus has cleansed our hearts of sin and evil so that we can bear a good harvest for the Lord.

And may the words we use in talking and communicating with others bring about peace, hope and joy.

16th Week, Ordinary Time, Thursday, 24-07-2025

Exodus 19:1-2, 9-11, 16-20 / Matthew 13:10-17  

For most of us, life can be often described in one word – busy.

We may think that only people with jobs have busy lives.

But those who are retired may just be as busy, if not busier.

When we say we are busy, we will also say that we have “no time”.

So, in our busyness and with time constraints, we will just browse through life.

We may look, but we don’t see the details, like the fine print in those “Terms and Conditions”.

We may hear, but we don’t listen deeper to what is being said, or understand what is being said.

In the gospel, Jesus says that the reason He talks to the people in parables is that they look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding.

So, for some people, the parables of Jesus are just stories that have some entertainment.

But for some, the same parables make them think and reflect deeper and they hear the voice of God in the parables.

In our busy lives, may we stop for a prayer break to look and to listen to what God is showing and telling us.

Then we will also understand God’s plan and His will for us.

16th Week, Ordinary Time, Wednesday, 23-07-2025

Exodus 16:1-5, 9-15 / Matthew 13:1-9   

As human beings, it cannot be denied that we like life to be easy and comfortable.

We don’t like to work too hard and think too much.

We like life to provide us with food, shelter and clothing instead of having to work for it.

And we also envy those who seem to have a better and a more comfortable life.

In the 1st reading, the sons of Israel began to complain about the harshness of the wilderness.

There was not much to eat and they began to think of the food they had in Egypt.

In short, they were saying that they rather die as slaves than to starve in freedom.

And they even began to imagine that slavery was better than freedom.

And we will also imagine when life is easy and comfortable, we will be able to live good and even holy lives.

But our desire for pleasure and comfort has no limit. 

We may end up desiring more and more and, in the end, we become enslaved by the desire for pleasure and comfort.

Because what we desire to possess will eventually possess us.

Let us accept that life is difficult and that we will have our struggles and troubles.

But God will come to our help, and He will give us strength to carry on sowing seeds of faith and hope for ourselves and for others.

St. Mary Magdalene, Apostle of the Apostles, Tuesday, 22-07-2025

Songs 3:1-4 or 2 Cor 5:14-17 / John 20:1-2, 11-18   

Every now and then, we see in the newspapers a notice about a missing person, with the person's photograph and some details.

Whether the person was eventually found or not, we cannot be certain because very often there are no follow-up reports on the case in the newspapers.

What is certain is that when a loved one is missing, the anxiety is painful and the search is relentless.

Such was the depth of the emotion in the search for the one whom the heart loves deeply.

It may also express the pain and grief of Mary Magdalene as she looked for the One she loved in the tomb.

And not finding Jesus in the tomb, Mary Magdalene searched relentlessly and persistently for Him.

Mary's deep love for Jesus was because it was He who loved her first and healed her of her sufferings and sins.

In life, Mary Magdalene loved Jesus. Even in death she searched for Him in order just to be with Him.

Mary Magdalene is remembered because of her deep love for Jesus and her relentless and persistent search for Jesus when others seemed to have given up.

From our priorities and what we are searching and longing for, we will know how deep our love is for Jesus.

There is this saying for St. Augustine in his book "Confessions" : You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there I searched for you.

God is within us. From within He calls out to us. 

If we are not listening to Him from within, then we might just be looking for the wrong things.

16th Week, Ordinary Time, Monday, 21-07-2025

Exodus 14:5-18 / Matthew 12:38-42   

One of the most fervent prayers is when we are faced with a mortal danger.

It is an impending danger, and we can see it coming like some kind of demolition ball.

We will certain pray desperately for divine help as we brace ourselves to face that danger.

It may be difficult to imagine that kind of mortal danger.

But we can certainly imagine the mortal danger that the Israelites were facing in the 1st reading.

Sandwiched between the sea and blood-thirsty mighty Egyptian army, there seem to be no escape.

They panicked and began saying all sorts of disparaging things against Moses.

But Moses answered the people with this:

‘Have no fear! Stand firm, and you will see what the Lord will do to save you today: the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. The Lord will do the fighting for you: you have only to keep still.’

As for us, in times of distress and desperation, we will resort to every possible means to get out of trouble.

It is difficult to keep still and to trust in the Lord who will save us.

But let us remember what Moses said to the people, and to let the Lord our God go ahead of us to fight our battles for us.

Yes, the Lord our God will save us. We just need to be still and pray and see the power and the glory of God.