26th Ordinary Sunday, Year A, 27.09.2026

Ezekiel 18:25-28 / Philippians 2:1-11 / Matthew 21:28-32          

To get a good head start in life is certainly a privilege as well as an advantage. 

A good head start would probably mean having a stable family background and good upbringing. 

It would also probably mean having the intellectual capacity and ability to attain a good educational qualification. 

All these conditions would give a good head start in life. Or so it seems. 

Let us take a look at Thomas Edison, Beethoven, Albert Einstein, and Isaac Newton. 

They have renowned accomplishments and achievements in life, and we would presume that they have had a good head start. 

But that was not the case in their younger years. 

Thomas Edison was kind of deaf, and in school, his teacher called him unintelligent and unteachable. But he became a prolific inventor and the electric bulb is one of his many inventions. 

Beethoven, the great composer, had a childhood marked by severe emotional and physical abuse. 

Albert Einstein had speech delay and academic rejection, and yet he became a great scientist. 

Isaac Newton was considered a lazy and inattentive and was always at the bottom of his class. Yet, from him came the Newton's law of motion and gravity. 

These are enough examples of renowned people who didn't have a good head start, was disadvantaged, and lacking in many ways.

Yet they managed to overcome some of their early adversities, whether it was physical disabilities, poverty, trauma, or labeled as unintelligent. 

But it also cannot be denied that there are many others who could not overcome their adversities and disadvantages. 

In the Gospel, Jesus told the chief priests and the elders of the parable of the two sons. 

In answer to His question about who did the father's will, they said it was the first son. 

Then Jesus connected the parable to the conversion of the tax collectors and prostitutes, in contrast to the obstinate and stubborn attitude of the chief priests and the elders. 

The tax collectors, prostitutes, and sinners did not choose to be like that in life.

They probably didn't have a good head start, and they could not overcome the adversities and disadvantages in life. 

But they responded to the message of John the Baptist, the message of repentance, and they embarked on the road of conversion. 

The chief priests and the elders would have a good head start, and life was comfortable for them. 

But they have become complacent as they were not seeing and hearing what God is showing and saying to them. 

But regardless of whether it was a tax collector, a prostitute, a sinner, a high priest, or an elder, it is tragic when one does not see or hear what God is saying and showing. 

I remember that many years ago I was going for home communion visits to an elderly couple. 

The wife shared that they had four children. The first three were bright and intelligent. They were her pride and happiness. But the fourth child, a boy, was born with Down’s Syndrome. 

The couple felt sad and angry about that fourth child. The wife also questioned God about being burdened by that fourth child and saw it as a kind of punishment. 

So, while the other three children went on to achieve much in life, that fourth child was left without much in life and was like a burden for the family. 

Eventually, the other three children got married and moved out of the home, leaving the couple with that son. 

As the couple were getting on in years, it was that fourth child who was always with them to keep them company. 

In whatever capacity he could manage, he was a help and a comfort to his parents in their old age. 

As the wife shared all that, the son was sitting beside her, and I wondered if he could comprehend what his mother shared. 

Finally, the wife said that what she thought was a burden turned out to be a blessing. 

Today's gospel parable tells us that there are many who do not have a good head start, and they also do not have that many advantages and privileges in life. 

We can be God's sign of hope for them, just as how the message of John the Baptist gave hope to the tax collectors and prostitutes. 

Let us see these people as blessings and not as burdens, for through them God will show us what is love and humility.

25th Week, Ordinary Time, Saturday, 26-09-2026

Ecclesiastes 11:9 - 12:8 / Luke 9:43-45  

Each passing day has something to tell us, something to teach us, as well as something to reveal to us.

Each day passes into history and it will never come back again.

Whatever has happened cannot be changed, and so, regretting is futile. Still, the past is a good teacher.

And whatever is going to happen, whether for today, or for the future, is beyond our prediction or expectation.

But with each passing moment, there is a revelation.

It reveals who we are now, how we have learnt from the past, and how we are prepared for the future.

But there is also a deeper revelation. Each passing day reveals how aware are we of God’s presence.

As the first reading puts it: Yet youth, the age of dark hair, is vanity. And remember the creator in the days of your youth, before evil days come and the years approach when you say “These give me no pleasure”.

The first reading warns us that the attractions of the vanities of this world can draw us away from God and forget His goodness to us.

In the gospel, Jesus has these words to remind and prepare His disciples for what is to come: “For your part, you must have these words constantly in mind: The Son of Man is going to be handed over to the power of men.”

So, in our happy and bright moments, let us praise and thank the Lord.

In our sad and dark moments, let us stay close to the Lord.

The Lord is our hope for today and every day. May we remember this always.

25th Week, Ordinary Time, Friday, 25-09-2026

Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 / Luke 9:18-22 

Generally speaking, it takes about 20-21 days for chicken eggs to hatch under proper incubation conditions.

And it takes about 1 to 2 weeks for a butterfly to emerge from its pupa stage.

During that period of time, there is nothing that can be done to hasten the process.

If the egg is cracked or the pupa is broken before the time is up, then the new life is terminated.

So, nature has its own time, and its own way, to bring about new life.

That also tells us that life also goes by its own time for things to happen.

The first reading has the word “time” repeat a number of times.

But that time does not stand on its own. It is a time that is set by God.

It is in God’s time that things will come to life and grow.

It is in God’s time that things will happen and His plans to be revealed.

And it was in God’s time that Jesus came into the world and in Peter, His true identity is revealed as the Christ of God.

Let us know that we cannot speed up things or determine a time line for events to happen.

Let us live and move with God’s time and then there will be life and growth.

25th Week, Ordinary Time, Thursday, 24-09-2026

Ecclesiastes 1:2-11, Luke 9:7-9   

When we reflect on our pride and ego, the one thing that we can say is that we struggle with them.

The obvious understanding is that we try to control our pride and ego so as not to let them get into the way of our character and personality.

So we try to be humble, so as to be a pleasant person and get along well with others, and we can even get rather anxious trying to be a pleasant person.

On the other hand, it cannot be denied that there are people who are fixated or engrossed in boosting their pride and ego.

So they will seek attention and want the limelight on them.

As the first reading puts it so profoundly, pride and ego are the vanity of vanities.

It is like the rivers all go into the sea, and yet the sea is never filled, and still the rivers continue to go into the sea.

The human pride and ego are nothing new under the sun.

And yet human beings succumb to this vanity of vanities.

We seek attention only to find rejection. We seek to impress but we get depressed.

In the gospel, Herod was curious and anxious to find out who Jesus is.

In his pride and ego, he had done away with John the Baptist. And he now wants to do the same with Jesus.

Anxiety, curiosity and vanity was his obsession and he forgot how to be human.

Let us control our pride and ego, and let go of our anxiety and vanity.

Let us look at the Lord Jesus and do what He wants of us and to be who He wants us to be.

Let us live simple and humble lives and be happy with the love of the Lord.

25th Week, Ordinary Time, Wednesday, 23-09-2026

Proverbs 30:5-9 / Luke 9:1-6      

The word “enough” needs further elaboration as it can have subjective meanings.

Like for example, we may say that we do not have enough of something like manpower or finance.

And when we say that enough is enough, it may mean that we have reached the limits of our tolerance and we are going to react.

And when we say that we have more than enough, it also needs elaboration about what is being referred to.

In the first reading, book of Proverbs states that every Word of God is unalloyed.

And that Word of God teaches that two truths that applies to every situation on life.

There is no need to fear poverty or desire for riches, only enough to live life happily and to trust in God for His providence.

In the gospel, Jesus sent out His disciples and gave them power and authority over devils and to cure diseases.

And He told them to take nothing for the journey, almost nothing except whatever they had on them.

God will provide for them and they must have faith in God’s providence.

May we also have faith and trust that God will provide for us.

God will give us just enough, and that will also be our witnessing to who we believe in.

25th Week, Ordinary Time, Tuesday, 22-09-2026

Proverbs 21:1-6, 10-13 / Luke 8:19-21  

When we reflect upon nature, we may be able to see the mystery of life and what it reveals to us.

For example, when water runs down a slope, it does not flow in one straight line.

Rather, the water separates and each stream flows in a direction of its own.

Even the water seems to have some kind of life.

The first reading says that like flowing water is the heart of the king in the hand of the Lord, who turns it where He pleases.

But our human tendency is to direct the flow of water to where we want it to flow.

So we will dig drains and build ducts to direct the flow of water.

Similarly we want to direct the flow of our lives according to our own wishes.

As the first reading says, we work hard for gain, but we also want to gain quickly, but it leaves us desiring for more.

It also reminds us that the Lord weighs the heart, and to act virtuously and with justice is more pleasing to the Lord than sacrifice.

Indeed, when we turn away from sin and put our lives in the hands of God, then our hearts will be like flowing water in the hand of the Lord who turns it where He pleases.

And the Lord will also make our hearts flowing with His love to hear the poor man’s cry.

And when we call upon the Lord, He will hear our cry and quench our thirst with His living water.

St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist, Monday, 21-09-2026

Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-13 / Matthew 9:9-13  

In a job application form, as well as other application forms, it is usually a requirement for applicants to disclose any prior criminal convictions or penal offenses.

The purpose is primarily for legal, practical, and risk-management reasons.

And if an applicant has a prior criminal conviction or committed a penal offence, then there will be challenges and difficulties.

For St. Matthew, it was public knowledge that he was a tax-collector who was working for the Romans.

Needless to say, he was labelled as a traitor who betrayed his own people, and hence he was cut-off, rejected, despised and hated.

Jesus would have His reasons for calling St. Matthew to follow him, but the other disciples would certainly be suspicious of him.

St. Matthew may had had a bad start, and he had to work hard at being faithful in following Jesus.

And he may also had to make it a point to remember and record down the teachings of Jesus.

And so for the feast of St. Matthew, the gospel passage was chosen from his gospel with the message that Jesus did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.

It was a message for himself, and it is also a message for each of us.

St. Matthew started off rough and tough, but that formed him to be one of the Evangelists.

When we acknowledge that we are sinners, then God will call us to do great things for Him.