17th Week, Ordinary Time, Friday, 01-08-2025

Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34-37 / Matthew 13:54-58   

The ways of man are so different from the ways of God.

And the choice of man is also so different from the choice of God.

In the eyes of man, when a person has a social status, academic qualifications, has a reputable profession, then that person is held in high esteem.

And in the eyes of man, the lowly, the poor, the simple and the humble, would just have to remain down there.

But the ways and the thoughts of God are as high as the heavens are above the earth, and as far apart as the east is from the west.

In the gospel, Jesus came to His hometown where He taught the people in their synagogue in such a way that they were astonished.

They asked questions like where did Jesus get that wisdom and those miraculous powers.

In the minds and the thoughts of the people, a carpenter will always be a carpenter and nothing else higher, and much less a prophet.

And because of these presumptions, the people could not hear the prophetic voice of God.

Let us remember that God favours the lowly, the poor, the humble and the simple.

And it is through them that He speaks. May we have the ears to listen to the prophetic voice.

17th Week, Ordinary Time, Thursday, 31-07-2025

Exodus 40:16-21, 34-38 / Matthew 13:47-53   

A senior priest was sharing with a newly-ordained priest what to be prepared for in the ministry.

The senior priest said: We can’t determine or choose who we want to serve or wish to serve. We will serve whoever the Lord sends to us

That is so for the priestly ministry, and that is also in our daily lives.

We can’t determine who we will meet and interact with today.

We may have our preferences, but who we meet and interact with today are those whom God has arranged to meet with us.

While we wish that every person we encounter will give us a pleasant and enriching experience, it may not always be the case.

Our encounters with others can be like that of gospel parable of the dragnet that brings in all kinds of fish.

So, we will encounter all sorts of persons as we journey along in life

But whether inspiring or depressing, every encounter with another person is a learning and growing experience.

Let us reflect on our relationships and encounters with others.

May we see God in them and also listen to what God is saying through them.

17th Week, Ordinary Time, Wednesday, 30-07-2025

Exodus 34:29-35 / Matthew 13:44-46    

One of the characteristics of a wise person is that of caution.

A wise person would be especially careful about what to say and what to show to others.

More so if a person is wealthy and has riches, it would be rather foolish to flaunt and to boast about it.

In the two gospel parables, the treasure in the field is discovered and the precious pearl is found.

But the persons who found the treasure and the pearl did not make any big publicity about it.

Rather they kept silent and sell everything they own to buy it.

So, instead of flaunting about their discoveries, they quietly went about acquiring it.

A wise person is not only cautious, he is also a humble person.

In the 1st reading, the face of Moses was radiant after speaking with the Lord.

Not wanting further attention to himself, he put a veil over his face, which can be regarded as an act of humility.

Whatever blessings we have received from the Lord, let us accept it quietly and humbly.

And let us also be cautious not to slide into ego and pride.

Sts. Martha, Mary and Lazarus, Tuesday, 29-07-2025

1 John 4:7-16 / John 11:19-27 (or Luke 10:38-42)

Whenever we talk about St. Martha, the image of an active and work-oriented as well as task-oriented person comes to mind.

That may be because of that occasion (Luke 10:38-42)when she invited Jesus to her home and she was caught up with all the serving.

And then she complained to Jesus about getting her sister Mary to help her with the work.

But Jesus told her that she worries and fret about so many things and yet only one is important, and Mary had chosen the better part.

Martha must have remembered what Jesus said to her, and so despite the sadness and grief over her brother's death, she knew that only Jesus could comfort her.

And true to her personality, she made the move to go out and meet Jesus and to express her faith in Jesus.

But on this occasion, she also made a profound proclamation.

Martha proclaimed Jesus to be Christ, the Son of God.

Only St. Peter had made that similar proclamation.

Hence, St. Martha, despite her active and work-oriented and task-oriented personality, came to slowly recognize who Jesus is.

St. Martha is an example for us of someone who is active and busy but yet took the time to reflect and to discover who Jesus is.

Like St. Martha, we may also have very active lives and busy with a lot of things.

But let us not forget the one important thing - prayer!

And that is what St. Martha’s sister, St. Mary, reminds us of. She gives us this example of sitting at the Lord’s feet and listening to Him. Prayer is about listening to the Lord.

It is in prayer that we will attain the peace to know that Jesus is truly the Son of God, our Saviour.

When we have that peace, we won’t worry and fret about the unnecessary.

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.