17^th Sunday of the Year (A)

Kings 3: 5; 7-12; Psalm 118; Rom. 8: 28-30; Mt. 13: 44-52

Read: To those to whom He intimated from the beginning, He also predestined to take the image of His own son, thus making him the greatest amongst all; those predestined were also called; those He called were also justified; thereafter those He justified, He also glorified.

Reflect: God gives us a precious gift – wisdom and knowledge – so as to do great things for His even greater glory.

Pray: That we recognise that the call and our consecration are not a privilege but a challenge for us to attain our ultimate aim; eternal life.

Act: St. Augustine said that what we are is given us as God’s treasured gift to us; what we do of our own volition is our gift to God. What sort of gift are we making of our own selves?

16^th Sunday of the Year (A)

Wisdom 12:13, 16-19; Psalm 85; Rom. 8: 26-27; Mt. 13: 24-43

Read: Our God is a God of compassion; strength; justice; prudence and patience. To make up for our own weakness, God’s Spirit supports us with His prayers. Jesus explains the various perfections of God by means of parables of the Kingdom.

Pray: That we embrace both the good as well as the evil that we have within us and also in others. That way we will be bring reconciliation with our own selves and with others.

Reflect: Many a time we find ourselves burdened by the evil that we recognize there is within us. Both good and evil exist within us. The evil within us annoys us and we try to eliminate this. Perhaps we want to show more compassion with our own selves; to accept ourselves as we are with both the good and the evil within us. If we do that, we will be able to present ourselves before God hoping that His grace will act as leaven that will transform us, given time. We will also hope that such grace will enable us understand better the need to judge others less.

Act: Try to overcome the fear of, or even your hatred towards, others who are different to you. Decide not to fret over such matters. God is there to take care of all that.

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15^th Sunday of the Year (A)

Is. 55: 10-11; Psalm 64; Rom. 8: 18-23; Mt. 13: 1-13

Read: Jesus starts teaching by way of parables. Through these parables he encourages his disciples to think through the meaning of the parables and their application to one’s life.

Today’s reading from St. Matthew’s Gospel explains some of the difficulties that had arisen at the time. Was this because not everybody had accepted Christ’s authority? And why after this was accepted, did some give up and went away?

Reflect: Jesus’ parables make reference to the ordinary daily way of life, but these are sufficiently comprehensive so as to arouse one’s mind to reflect. Think how the parable of the farmer who went out to sow seeds applies to the life of each and every one even in these days.

Pray: External occasions and circumstances could well keep back a person from listening to the Word of God and living according to it. Daily prayers with a view that one avoids such circumstances and occasions could well be of help “Keep me away from all temptation”.

Act: Listen carefully to God’s Word when you are in Church, and try to find a way of living according to that Word.

14^th Sunday of the Year (A)

Zach. 9: 9-10; Psalm 144; Rom. 8, 9: 11-13; Mt. 11: 25 -30

Read: Indeed, we have good reason to be pleased. God is the king who wants peace and not wars amongst nations. Christ invites us to go to him whenever we are laboured or overburdened, and he will give us rest. Through the help of the Holy Spirit in us, God makes us His.

Reflect: Those who harbour God’s Spirit within themselves participate in all that God does in this world. If we are emboldened by God’s Spirit, how good is the part we are playing in our mission to participate in God’s work … a mission of love; to have compassion; mercy; peace; justice?  

Pray: Your prayers are to God; Jesus’ Father and your Father, in Christ, with the power of the Holy Spirit. Christian prayer is Trinitarian.

Act: A person with a meek and humble heart emphasises what is good in other persons. A proud person always concentrates on that which is bad. Practice how you can be with others a person with a meek and humble heart, until this becomes a habit.

13^th Sunday of the Year (A)

2 Kings 4: 8 -11, 14-16a; Psalm 88; Rom. 6: 3-4, 8-11; Mt. 10: 37-42

Read: “If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, then in truth I tell you, he will most certainly not go without his reward.” Jesus assures a reward to those who, in God’s name, give generously. When one dies with Christ, he shares with him also in his resurrection from the dead.

Reflect: The world’s wisdom tells us to be careful when giving away from what we own. “A bird in the hand is better than one hundred in the air”,….. this according to the world. However, the Gospel’s invitation runs contrary to this way of thinking. This is because the Gospel encourages us to give what we have, so that we will merit what God has prepared for us. This demands of us courage and faith. Are we prepared to take heed of the Gospel?

Pray: God give me the courage to love all the time, and to give everything so as to obtain You.

Act: Show your faith by the manner in which you behave with others.

12^th Sunday of the Year

Jr.: 10-13; Salm 68; Rom. 5: 12-15; Mt. 10: 26-33

Read: “Don’t be afraid….” We are surrounded by sin, but with God’s grace we can overcome sin. No human being will be omitted from God’s providence and love as every person is precious in the eyes of God.

Pray: Faith removes fear, both from individuals as well as from the Church. Let prayer remove all fear from you.

Reflect: Life could appear to be too heavy a burden for one to be able to bear. However, when we feel this weight, we should have faith even more than ever in God’s goodness and in his promises. We were saved not by something trivial, but by Jesus Christ’s own blood, and therefore for God we are precious, indeed much more precious than anything else in the world.

Act: Write a prayer by which you show your faith in God’s Providence. Then, when you are going through any time when you feel overburdened, use that prayer to invoke God’s help.