Month: July 2026

1 KINGS 3: 5, 7-12
PSALM 118: 57, 72, 76-77, 127-130 R. v. 97
ROMANS 8: 28-30
MATTHEW 13: 44-52

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In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us what the Kingdom of God is like. Nothing in this world is like the kingdom; Jesus can only compare the kingdom with what we treasure in this world: the kingdom is like that, but much, much more.

Jesus’ parable today can be compared with another treasure people seek: marriage. Marrying the one you love is like finding a treasure; finding the love of your heart, you give up everything to be with the person always. The Kingdom of God is not a place but a relationship with God where the fullness of love and happiness is found.

So if the kingdom is so wonderful, why do people not seek it?

Maybe it is simply because people feel that like marriage, having faith in God makes too many demands on us; its hard work. It will call for a life-long commitment and the greatest of sacrifices. But where there is love, these are not demands on the person, but are a natural consequence of love.

Real happiness is found in letting go of the self, the ego, that we can seek the happiness of the other whom we love. It is about finding our happiness in the happiness of the other. Or we can say in other words that by dying in Christ we find a new and greater love through him.

We see this in the first reading in what Solomon asked of God; not something for himself but for the good of the people. St Paul in the second reading speaks of offering our very selves to God. And whatever we offer to God, it cannot compare with the gift of God’s love for us.

In one of the apparitions of Our Lady, she said to the visionaries, “If only people knew how much God loves them!”

Today’s Gospel is inviting us to seek God’s love, our true and only treasure that matters, by living in wherever Love calls us to.

May we not see faith as a burden to bear but find the happiness that faith in God brings?

WISDOM 12: 13, 16-19
PSALM 85: 5-6, 9-10, 15-16
ROMANS 8: 26-27
MATTHEW 13: 24-43

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In today’s Gospel, Jesus continues to use parables to teach about the mysteries of the kingdom of God. It speaks of the good and evil in our midst.

Sometimes the evil in the world is so overwhelming that we can become swallowed by it. We feel that since we cannot overcome it, we might as well accept it or be part of it. Jesus in the Gospel is telling us to be strong. In the midst of the weeds, we must stay true and bear the fruits of God for in the end, good will prevail.

Sometime the evil we see can lead us avoid and despise or to hate others. We tend to judge, condemn and reject them. These may be street people, those with severe mental disorders, vandals and criminals, or just people we do not like.

There was an incident in Clarkson where I was the parish priest and we were in the process of building the church. I had a difficult encounter with a young teenage boy. One day I caught him destroying school property. I told him off. I won’t say what he said.

After we had built the church, at the first Sunday Mass, there he was, sitting at the back row, all dressed up. I was stunned. I spoke to him and welcomed him. I didn’t see him again in church but he also didn’t cause any more trouble. I tell this story because we can never really say what is in a person.

Jesus’ parable is a parable of patience and respect for each other. In the time of the early church, there were some, like the Pharisees who believed that the Church should consists only of so-called ‘good’ people and sinners should be ruthlessly weeded out. In using this parable of Jesus, St Matthew was showing that this was not what Jesus intended.

There is no single dividing line neatly dividing good people from bad people. The Church is made up of people, good and bad. To reject a person because of the bad that he/she has done is to fail to notice the good in them.

This fails to recognise that Christ came to save all of us who are sinners. A Church without sinners is like a hospital that refuses to accept the sick.

And there is a struggle of good and evil in each one of us too. We are all capable of evil deeds but also great admirable deeds. When we become less patient with other people, we run the risk of being less patient with ourselves as well. We can lose sight of God’s love and mercy and doubt His forgiveness for us when we do wrong. And personal failure in this case can lead to despair and depression.

The response to evil in the world in found in the first two readings. In the first reading, we hear of the just, caring and patient God whom we are called to imitate. St Paul’s letter to the Romans talks about the Holy Spirit whom we rely on to overcome our own weakness. Recognising our own need for the Holy Spirit gives us hope when we fail, and strength to persevere.

And allowing the Holy Spirit to change us, we become like the mustard seed to give strength and hope to others; we become like the yeast making a difference in the midst of evil.

There will always be evil in this world. We should never succumb to it or become judgmental of others but to be an instrument of God to make present His Mercy.

ISAIAH 55: 10-11
PSALM 64: 10-1 R. Lk 8:8
ROMANS 8: 18-23
MATTHEW 13: 1-23

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The spoken word coming from any of us can be so powerful.
It can be destructive: We all know how verbal abuse or gossip can cause scars for life and break the human spirit.

In conflicts and wars, governments know that the first battle to win is the propaganda war.

Words though can also have positive effects on people: A word of comfort, of encouragement, of love can build people up.
Coaches can change their players’ attitude and the game with a good talk at the break.

In the course of life we will say many things.
Each time we speak there is a purpose for it and there is also an effect.
So too with God’s word.
God’s word is more than just words; it is the WORD of LIFE.

The Gospel today speaks about the power of God’s Word to bear fruit in our lives……..only if we allow it.
“Like the earth that needs rain, the word of God is nourishment to our lives” is the expression given in the first reading.

It is for that reason that Jesus stresses the seriousness of hearing and understanding the Word of God.
Jesus says, “Listen, anyone who has ears,”
And the first reading reminds us that God’s word must take its course, with or without our cooperation.
In a world filled with noise and so many distractions clamouring for our attention, it is often hard to hear the still, small voice of God.
The Gospel speaks about how we can shut God’s word from our lives.

IT IS, when we feel self-sufficient – “we have no need for God in our lives” for instance.

IT IS when we feel that faith is about only feeling good and forget the faith also calls for perseverance, sacrifice and hardships.
We then become self-centered and not God centered.

IT IS when we have no time for God because we feel that we are too busy or are distracted with other things like sports, TV, parties and whatever.

The question today’s readings pose to us is: “How receptive are we to God’s Word in our hearts?”
How receptive we are can be seen in the way we approach God in prayer and in the Mass.

Being receptive to the Word of God is about taking time to be with God in prayer because we treasure our relationship with God.

It is about taking time and not rushing through our prayers?

It is about making a point to try to be early at Mass to compose ourselves or prepare ourselves to listen and speak to God.

It is about participating in the Mass.
Each time we respond and participate, we are letting God’s Word take root in our heart;

And listening is not just a passive remembering about all that is said.
To listen to the Word of God calls for an active response to what God is saying to us.
In the Mass, God is reaching out to each of us in some way.
​It may be to give us a word of hope or comfort, a word to strengthen our faith.
​It may be to call us to action, to give witness, to an act of charity.
​It may be to bring healing into our lives.
​It may be a call to change our ways.
There is something for all of us, if we open our ears and hearts to listen.

And when the Mass ends, it does not end there.
We are invited in the Mass to leave with God’s word in our hearts and let it affect our lives during the week, to let our action be a response to what we have heard.

The Sunday Mass readings and celebration does not just tell the story of God’s plan of salvation for us but also invites us to let it be part of our story, for the WORD of God is LIFE.
It has the power to change us, and through us, the world.

ZECHARIAH 9: 9-10
PSALM 144: 1-2, 8-11, 13-14
ROMANS 8: 9, 11-13
MATTHEW 11: 25-30

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Is our Christian faith a burden or a joyful and freeing experience for us?

For instance, for some, the Mass can be a spiritually rewarding and strengthening experience.
For others, it can be reduced to a sense of fulfilling one’s duty or even a rejection of it, which then becomes a burden.

The extent that our Christian faith is a joyful, life giving experience depends on our faith in God.

There are those who are so attracted by the life of the world that they give minimal attention to God. God’s command becomes a challenge to their life styles.

There are those who reduce faith to a doing of one’s duty to God. There is little joy in their faith life. God’s command becomes a burden but they follow it.

It is here that Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel speaks to us. He was addressing the lack of faith in the people. Jesus praises the Father who reveals Himself not to the clever and learned but to children.

It is not about being learned in religious things. It is about knowing and being open to being loved…..by God

Whilst Jesus acknowledged that following him would not always be easy, he insisted that it would always be life giving. The way of God may be difficult. But there must be Christian discipline, but in reality it frees us from the many things we burden ourselves with.

For instance, we may feel that to forgive is unrealistic and too difficult. Yet when we are unwilling to forgive, we burden ourselves with hate and bitterness. But God’s love heals and fills our lives with love in turn.

Pride is a burden that many carry on their shoulders. It will never be satisfied for it seeks always to be better than the next person we meet. God’s love helps to know that we are special no matter who we are.

Whenever we sin, we carry the burden because it becomes a contradiction of our humanness, of who we are meant to be, an image of Christ. We will never be happy.


At the heart of the message of Jesus was the call to enter into a personal relationship with him, ‘Come to me’. The shift from ‘keep the Law’ to ‘Come to Me’ is a significant one. There is always the danger of taking Christ out of Christianity and reducing the Christian faith to rules and regulations. It is the person of Jesus who breathes life into the codes and creeds of our faith.

The starting point is God’s love for us. We may say we believe in God, in Jesus. But do we know God; do we know Jesus; do we know God’s love?

For the Christian, following God’s law begins with God’s love for us that we may respond to that love. Just think of what it means to say I love someone. And then how do we respond to someone that we love? As Jesus said in John’s Gospel, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Let us ask ourselves do we love Christ?

The whole Gospel is about inviting us to a loving relationship with God that our faith may be may be joyful: that our faith may be life giving and bear the fruits of God’s love.