28th Week, Ordinary Time, Thursday, 15-10-2026

Ephesians 1:1-10 / Luke 11:47-54  

The celebration of a birthday is a celebration of life and love.

We celebrate that day when a new life came into the world.

And we welcomed that new life with love.

As we reflect on life and love we also turn to God who is the Giver of life and love.

Our birthdays mark that particular day when we came into this world.

Before that we were already conceived in our mother’s womb and our life has already started there.

But the first reading brings us even further back.

The first reading says this: Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ.

Before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ.

That makes us realise that we already existed in God’s plan right from the beginning.

God chose us for His own kind purpose, to make us praise the glory of His grace.

And in Christ, we gain our freedom and the forgiveness of our sins.

So, God chose us to proclaim His saving love to all peoples.

In the face of wickedness and evil, in the face of killings and murders, let us be proclaimers and witnesses of God’s gift of life and saving love.

God’s love will always prevail, and in the end Jesus Christ will gather all of us who are faithful to His kingdom.

There we will praise God forever for His gift of life and love to us.

28th Week, Ordinary Time, Wednesday, 14-10-2026

Galatians 5:18-25 / Luke 11:42-46    

When it comes to following procedures, written instructions are useful and helpful.

With written instructions, then there is a procedure or a process to follow.

And when there is a procedure or a process to follow, then there will be results.

With a procedure or a process to follow, things will be stable and predictable.

In the first reading, St. Paul gave a way of life for the Galatians to follow.

He told them about the way of the Holy Spirit, and their lives are to be directed by the Holy Spirit.

Then they will bear the fruits of the Spirit, fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control.

But when their lives are not directed by the Holy Spirit, then they will give in to self-indulgence, and what follows will be rotten fruits.

So we will know the spiritual state of our lives by looking at what kind of fruits we are producing.

The way of the Spirit is not just about following procedures or processes.

The way of the Spirit is not a burden but a blessing.

Let us follow the way of the Spirit and bear fruits of blessings for the glory of God and for the good of others.

28th Week, Ordinary Time, Tuesday, 13-10-2026

Galatians 5:1-6 / Luke 11:37-41  

We came into this world with nothing, literally with nothing.

But along the way, we begin to desire and to possess things.

Some things are for basic needs, but it also cannot be denied that there are a lot of other things that we want to possess.

And so we get bloated with worldly possessions.

In the first reading, we are reminded that Christ saved us from our sins and freed us from our worldly desires.

But desires for worldly possessions come from within, from the heart.

We may lose all our worldly possessions overnight but the desire will still be there.

In the gospel, Jesus taught about cleaning the external as well as the internal.

And He said this, “Instead, give alms from what you have and then indeed everything will be clean for you.”

To give alms means to share our possessions and resources with those in need.

Genuine charity breaks the grip of greed, because what we desire to possess will eventually possess us.

Let us give alms to the needy, and Jesus will clean our hearts of sin and greed.

28th Week, Ordinary Time, Monday, 12-10-2026

Galatians 4:22-24, 26-27, 31 - 5:1 / Luke 11:29-32   

There are many lessons we can learn from the events of history and from the peoples of the past.

These events also help us to create a greater awareness of our current situation and we also see that we have many advantages over the peoples of the past.

We may feel anything from feeling sorry to being critical of the people in the gospel passage.

They were asking Jesus for a sign when THE sign was standing right before them.

Jesus could only ask them to reflect upon the events of their own history and upon the lessons of their past, and He quoted two figures of the past for their reflection - Jonah and the Queen of the South.

Similarly Jesus is also asking us to reflect on the events of our history so as to be more aware of our present spiritual state.

Events like our baptism and our experiences of God all point to God's love for us and His mercy and forgiveness of our sins.

We don't need more signs from God. We only need to remember and reflect upon the marvelous deeds He has done for us.

May we also respond to the call of Jesus for repentance and conversion.

28th Ordinary Sunday, Year A, 11.10.2026

Isaiah 25:6-10 / Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20 / Matthew 22:1-14                  

Whenever we go for holidays or tours, we would certainly like to visit scenic places.

In those scenic places, we would like to see, among other things, high mountains.

Mountains express the majesty of nature, and we are often awed by their beauty and majesty.

Mountains also have a spiritual significance.

In the Bible, it was on mountains that God revealed His majesty and glory.

It was on a mountain that God gave Moses the Ten Commandments.

It was on a mountain that God came to help of the prophet Elijah.

It was on a mountain that Jesus was transfigured in glory.

It was also on mountains that places of worship are built for God to meet His people.

It is in those high sacred places that God manifests His presence and people come to worship God.

In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah also speaks about a mountain.

On that mountain, the Lord of hosts will prepare for all peoples a banquet of rich foods and fine wines.

On that mountain, He will remove the morning veil covering all peoples.

He will wipe away the tears from every cheek and take away the people's shame.

From that mountain, the Lord God calls out to all peoples to come up to the mountain of the Lord for that grand banquet.

Certainly, upon hearing that call, we would want to go up to that mountain.

The only thing that we have to do is to climb it.

In the Gospel, Jesus told a parable about a king who gave a feast for his son's wedding.

The surprising thing is that the invited guests were not interested in going for the wedding feast.

Some made excuses, while others seized the king's servants, maltreated them, and even killed them.

It is difficult to understand the attitude of the invited guests, other than they were not interested.

But the gospel parable may have some connection to the first reading in that there was mention of a feast and a banquet.

In the first reading, the Lord God prepared a grand banquet on His mountain.

It was a joyful feast, a celebration, a time of healing and rejoicing.

The response of the people is to climb up to that mountain in order to partake of the banquet.

But some may not want to go. They are just not interested.

They would rather remain at the foothills and to live a mundane and monotonous life, and maybe even a life without much meaning.

No change is needed, nor is it wanted.

It may also seem that God is not needed, nor is He wanted.

But for us, we know that we need God and we want Him.

We hear His call to the banquet and we want to be there.

But we need to do some climbing to get to the banquet on the mountain of the Lord.

The act of climbing is like a part of our human nature.

Little children love to climb.

They climb up chairs and sofas, and they are always amused by steps.

Whenever there are steps, they would go and start climbing up and down.

That may also tell us something about our spiritual life.

There is this innate desire to reach out and climb towards God.

We need God and we want to be at His grand banquet to celebrate and rejoice in His love.

And Jesus has made it easier for us.

The Mass is where Jesus sacrificed and offered Himself for us and to be united with us.

So, we don't need to climb high mountains.

We just have to come for Mass, especially when we are burdened and troubled in life.

Here at Mass, Jesus will wipe away the tears from our cheeks, console us in our sorrow, and heal us with His love and forgiveness.

We just have to be present, and God will bless us.

Let us also bring others to this grand feast, so that they too will experience the love and the blessings from God.

27th Week, Ordinary Time, Saturday, 10-10-2026

Galatians 3:22-29 / Luke 11:27-28   

In the Mass as well as in devotions, there are always hymns of praise.

These hymns are sung to praise and thank the Lord and they are usually sung with feeling and emotion.

Also dynamic and emotive hymns are preferred in order to appeal to the emotions of the people and also to elicit a more fervent response from them.

But where the emotions and the feeling fade off, that is where the fruits of faith begin.

Our hymns of praise  must be translated into acts of love for God and neighbour.

That was why in response to the acclamation of praise, Jesus sobered down the emotions to focus on doing the will of God.

As we offer this Mass in honour of our Lady, let us remember that she heard the Word of God, pondered on it and did the will of God in her life.

May we who honour her also learn from her and do God's will in our lives.

27th Week, Ordinary Time, Friday, 09-10-2026

Galatians 3:7-14 / Luke 11:15-26   

When it comes to making a choice between two options, the question to ask is what are the two options.

If one option is blessings and the other is suffering, then the choice would be obvious.

It would be crazy to choose suffering over blessings.

The first reading says that Jesus Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by being cursed for our sake.

To be crucified on the Cross is seen as a curse, but Jesus willingly took on the curse of our sins and saved us.

So in the choice of Jesus between blessings and suffering, He took on suffering.

And yet in that suffering, in that curse of being crucified on the Cross, He turned it into a blessing of salvation for us.

In life, we are often faced with choices, and we have to decide on only one choice.

Let that choice be always for Jesus, because He says this, “He who is not with Me is against Me; he who does not gather with me scatters.”

When our choice is for Jesus, it also means we choose the Cross.

It is the Cross of suffering, but with Jesus, it will be the Cross of salvation and blessing for us.