Holistic Refinement

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

27 September 2026

 

First Reading: Ezekiel 18:25-28

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

Second Reading: Philippians 2:1-11

Gospel: Matthew 21:28-32

 

Reflection

By: Jose Paulo Gonzales

 

Today’s Gospel entices us into another novelty: Which of the two sons did his father’s will? As we have read and can further surmise, the first son did right by the eyes of heaven because though he made an initial “no,” he showed up for work at his father’s vineyard afterwards, turning his decision around. The appeal of the second brother is understandable being that there is only so much we can place our assurance in with others whose lives take shape and turn out beyond our awareness. We have heard it said in common: “A person’s word is his or her bond; a person is as good as his word;” but as we have seen in Scripture, not as the world runs does heaven conduct its ways; not at first instance does heaven decide who is right; and one’s words are as good as his or her actions can actualize.

A comparable example is Dimas whose story we revisit especially during Holy Week—the thief crucified to Jesus’ right. With a trail of crime that has defined his life enough to sentence him to execution, at the hour of death, Dimas could have defended himself from the charges against him; but at the sight of Jesus, even at the mockery of Gestas, Dimas admitted his guilt, recognized the innocence of Christ, and with his hopeful request, assented to Jesus’ Godship, leading Dimas to Paradise and his very canonization by Jesus, Godself.

In today’s Gospel, the first son is like the tax collectors and the prostitutes who, though morally precarious at the start, ultimately decide to turn their lives around at the mention of Jesus. The second son, on the other hand, is like the chief priests and the elders who, though seemingly agreeable, are exposed by their actions, and are found insubordinate to Jesus.

In these examples, we learn from those found righteous that it is most important not how we start, but rather, how we amend our lives as we come to know Jesus. We do not all start from the same place. How we start is greatly influenced by factors outside our control, but we all receive the grace to repent, so though in the world there is death, we can all find life in Jesus. There is no guarantee that anyone starts his or her endeavors with the purest intentions, so what matters is the humility to admit where we are failing and the ultimate decision to repent not as a one-time but a daily act of refining.

Interestingly, the greatness of some can detract them from repentance; the self-conviction of others can dissuade them from finding what is amiss; and the strife of others can beckon them toward Jesus, so given our circumstances, there are invitations to admit our need for the Lord, ground our hands in God’s work, and remain pliable in spirit to Jesus. In Jesus, as we realize in today’s Gospel, it is not prized most who appears resolute, but those who back away from sin and make amends, as is fitting to the Lord. In this, even hesitance finds grace to be called “blessed”—if it knows its rightful object—or should we say—the “Eternal Subject.”

Prayer

God, thank You for Your Presence and for Your gifts of prudence and discernment. May what we have learned from Your Gospel help our holistic refinement.

As we continue the Season of Creation, we pray for the well-being of everyone, the preservation of our environment, and the temperance not to resort helplessly to artificial means what can be left best for the nurture of human and greater natural life.

These, we ask, in Jesus’ most holy Name, Amen.

God's Generosity

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

20 September 2026

 

First Reading: Isaiah 55:6-9

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18

Second Reading: Philippians 1:20c-24, 27a

Gospel: Matthew 20:1-16a

 

Reflection

By: John Paulo Gonzales

 

Let us picture this: a hard day’s work at the office: a truckload of paperwork, deadlines running concurrently with each other, pressure from multiple authority figures, on top of the widely changing landscape our daily interactions. These present to us giants that need to be conquered every day, which is why it is relieving to receive our salary for a “job well done.” Normally, those who have worked longer at the company receive a proportionate increase in their salary, while juniors are extended the hope of reaping the same benefit come the proper time.

In today’s Gospel, the dynamic of compensation is not so straightforward. In the story, some laborers have been scouted early in the day to render work in the open field, only to realize that at the day’s end, they would receive the same wage as those who started later but ended with them at the same time. The question arises: “Why were they given the same amount?” Does the question sound familiar? This is when what we read becomes a personal experience.

In the story of the Prodigal Son, a comparable inner tempest can be seen. When the profligate son returned home to his father only hoping to be given bare sustenance the same as that given to the least in the household—only to be treated to the finest drapes, food, and festivity instead—the elder brother lamented to their father: “All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. (Luke 15:11-32)”

What is challenging in the Gospel is its relatability. At any point, we can find ourselves wrestling with the same thing: the feeling of not being given what we perceive we are worth… of not being given what we asked for... that indignance; for we know how much we have worked (compared to others). If we have reservations about naming what we deserve, we know how much we have pained (especially more than others did); but the Gospel today helps us realize how easy it is to identify with those who express their injuries openly and how helpless we can be at intuiting those whose pains we do not see readily.

In the Gospel, the problem was not that the grumblers had the temerity to ask, as to ask the Lord is an option not denied (Mark 7:7), but that they were much more keen on keeping score with the late workers. They could have asked the landowner if they could be requited for the work they believe goes beyond the usual daily wage, but instead, they objected to the following: “You have made them equal to us”—which can be taken as a denial of grace. As spectators ourselves, the lesson is just as crucial. It may be easy to associate with someone whose feelings we find personable that we fail to see the feelings of those who, buffeted by their own situation, may not have the strength to voice out their agony with any urgency anymore.

In the Gospel, we may find ourselves given to the groaning of those who started work early because their pain sounds familiar; their plea, we heard in plain; but we can be so unwitting to those subject to a different struggle. Where others have a headway at work, others may find themselves unable to even start. We have much to learn from God, the Landowner, who understood the late starters: “Why do you stand here idle all day?” […] “Because”—they answered—“no one has hired us.” As it turns out, the problem of the late workers is one that has existed for as long as work itself—and is one we still find relevant today. When we espouse God’s love in the way we look at His beloved in our midst, we realize that while all their good work is valuable, no pain from anyone is discountable. The Gospel also points to a most eminent truth: God is sovereign and supreme; He can give to whomever He wants; He remains generous, nevertheless. The Sacrifice of Christ makes a special point, however. The Father is already free to give to whomever He wants; but with the spiritual adoption won by the blood of Christ, who, then, is estranged from God’s generosity? Is there anything barring God from giving anyone a good thing? In this spirit, we can better understand God’s Own indignance in saying: “Am I not free to do as I wish with [what I have]? Are you envious because I am generous?”

If I can opine, the Gospel takeaway is not so much that “there are the blessed, and there are those who are not.” This is a line of thought tempting to the broken, especially to those who have been dented for so long; but that we can find ourselves—at any point—at either end of the discourse—between the “blessed this time” and the “blessed in time.” Anyone, at a time we are vulnerable, can be a “lost sheep,” so it is consoling to remember two things: first, God leaves the ninety-nine (comfortable) to recover the one who is lost (Luke 15:1-7; Matthew 18:12), and second, a community of believers provides a nurturing space where help can be sought and obtained.

Generosity is one revelation of God’s Personal Character—the fullness of which His heart speaks; and it is so expressive that in the Kingdom of God, there is preference for the last, the least, and the lost, so while we are in the world, we do not lose sight of those we must first seek to extend our generosity.

We are called to be generous so that in the order of things, with everything put in its proper place, we know that generosity is the measure to uphold. We all experience our peaks and troughs. One moment, we may be content, and another, we are in need. To the extent that we are capable of generosity, we are called towards it, and for the times when we are struggling, there is grace. To be generous when we are able is virtue, and to be generous when we are unable is great love. Lastly, though the world is rife with triggers for our indignation, there is Christ with Whom we can share our struggles and candid pleas, and our neighbors whose plights—resembling our crosses—we can help ease and offer in prayer.

Prayer

God, thank You for Your Presence. Thank You for reminding us today that as many are the crosses we bear, so do others endure their own sufferings. Please help us lighten each other’s burdens where we can, offer to You the parts we cannot help anymore, and to share with You everything just the same because You are our constant trusted Companion.

As we continue the Season of Creation, we also raise up to you our environment, natural and social, ravaged by inclement weather and multiple forms of violence. Please help us become Your good and faithful stewards. These, we ask, in Jesus’ most holy Name, Amen.

Forgive As We Are Forgiven

Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

13 September 2026

 

First Reading: Sirach 27:30–28:7

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12

Second Reading: Romans 14:7-9

Gospel: Matthew 18:21-35

 

Reflection

By: John Paulo Gonzales

 

[WARNING: Contains mention of violence only for the purpose of discourse]

Today is posed another challenge in the Gospel: How do we forgive? It is important that we are reminded of how essential it is to forgive so we are strengthened in our understanding of why we must do it in perpetuity—seventy-seven times, even (Matthew 18:21-22). The importance of forgiveness is stated in the Bible: God’s forgiveness affords us His eternal redemption in Heaven through the shedding of Christ’s Blood (Acts 2:38). On earth, we are forgiven, ourselves, if we forgive our brothers and sisters (Matthew 6:14-15).

So important is forgiveness that God says: if we have any grievance against our brothers and sisters, we must resolve it first before leaving our offering at the altar (Matthew 5:23-24; Mark 11:25). Indeed, it is expressly significant to forgive not that it precedes adoration (as if to establish eminence), but that it personifies our adoration to the Father. That is, as we worship God in prayer, so should we exercise forgiveness in our relationship with our brothers and sisters.

Many accounts give us demonstrations of how it is to forgive: Joseph forgave the brothers who had him almost killed but opted instead to sell him into slavery (Genesis 50:15-21), giving rise to one of the passages we behold today: “What [others] intended for evil, God meant [it] for good” (Genesis 50:20). St. Maria Goretti, a budding adolescent then, was locked into by the eyes of a tormentor whose heated passion subjected her to carnal assault. She died about 24 hours after the attack. 30 years after the perpetrator was put behind bars, one night, Goretti appeared in a dream where she gathered flowers and offered them to him. After the perpetrator’s release, he begged for the forgiveness of Goretti’s mother, and he was seen kneeling among a sea of people, crying tears of joy at Goretti’s beatification in 1947 (Fraciscan Media, n.d.). St. Maria Goretti’s forgiveness paved the way not only for the emancipation of her perpetrator, but also for his radical conversion, with the perpetrator—Alessandro Serenelli—soon becoming a Capuchin brother.

St. John Paul II is another exemplary model of forgiveness. In 1981, amid a general audience in St. Peter’s Square, the former pontiff was shot twice in an assassination attempt. After two years of recovery from sustained wounds, St. John Paul II visited his assailant, talked with him to foster conversation and express his forgiveness, and rallied the faithful to forgive and pray for him as well. More than a decade into the assassin’s incarceration, the former pope appealed to the president of Italy for pardon, leading to the gunman’s release in 2000—symbolically—in a Year of Jubilee (Tornielli, 2021; Szalajko, 2026).

Forgiveness does not always announce itself from the mountaintops. Sometimes, it exists in the stillness of a whisper. St. Thérèse of Lisieux provides a notable example of how to administer forgiveness towards those who, day-to-day, give us a hard time. In her convent life, St. Thérèse suffered reproach from her elders, to which she responded with grace, silent acceptance, and forgiveness, considering such slights as “simple barriers [she needs] to endure [...] to share in God’s holiness” (Melbourne Catholic, 2020).

Amid our many stellar examples of forgiveness, there is One we know from the Bible Who “demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, [He] died for us” (Romans 5:8). This is Jesus—the Christ Who petitioned the Father in ultimate forgiveness: “Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).

While we are in the world, there are many things that can move us; some affecting us so deeply as to stir within us a significant disquiet. There are transgressions that can pierce us so greatly that we struggle to move forward, live in good spirits, let alone forgive perfectly; but the virtue of forgiveness is presented nevertheless, in a measure we can carry out by the strength of God than our own, so we have a means through which we not only absolve others, but also liberate ourselves. Lofty a standard it is to forgive, but it is never a door we cannot walk through, by the grace of God which makes the impossible possible. In our predicaments, we have a “High Priest who is [able] to empathize with our weaknesses” (Hebrews 4:15); One in Whom we can confide our pains; the “Friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24).

If it is us, in turn, who need forgiveness, the grace of God is replete in the sacraments: Penance and Reconciliation and the Holy Eucharist—with the Penitential Act preceding standard liturgical celebrations; and the Church—the Community we are likewise encouraged to convene with when confessing our sins so we can share our struggles, pray for them, and obtain healing together (James 5:16).

Prayer

God, thank You for Your Presence and for reminding us how important it is to forgive, especially that in such a way, we, ourselves, be forgiven. Please help us forgive the faults we have yet to pardon, to be patient with our own errors, to courageously ask forgiveness for the mistakes we commit, and to help create a space in Church where it is healthy to confess our failings and hardships with each other in trust, faith, and love, as You intend.

We also continue to pray for those who suffer the effects of devastating weather conditions, political conflicts, violence, eternal peace for the deceased faithful from the clergy to the lay community, and for spiritual vocations.

These, we ask, in Jesus’ most holy Name, Amen.

Clearing to be Fruitful

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

12 July 2026

 

First Reading: Isaiah 55:10-11

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 65:10, 11, 12-13, 14

Second Reading: Romans 8:18-23

Gospel: Matthew 13:1-23

 

Reflection

By: Pietro S. Albano

 

In the Second Reading, Saint Paul tells us that all creation awaits with eager expectation...(to) be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God (Rom 8:19-21). We are all part of that creation. In the past, we may have heard God's Word, but it did not grow in us due to our lack of understanding. Perhaps we may have initially received it ningas kugon, but trials overtook us. Or we may have been distracted by the cares of ambition, money, power, or pleasure that there is no room for the Word to thrive in us. Yet, there is hope that we would be fruitful as long as we keep on listening to the Lord.

When we moved to our current home 12 years ago, we planned to put some plants on the front and back gardens. Before we could do so, we cleared the space otherwise the seeds we sow or the plants we put won't grow. We kept ourselves vigilant too with those nasty weeds that keep on coming. This clearing holds true for God's Word too. If we want it to take root in our hearts, we must allow God to make our hearts fertile and fruitful (Is 55:10). We must also weed out any distractions such as sin, vice, idleness, gossip, etc. that would hinder us from bearing fruit and yielding a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold (cf. Mt 134:18).

Prayer

Loving Father, You generously sowed Your Word into our hearts but because of our failure to listen, this has not grown into fruition. Clear our hearts of any weeds that would prevent us from becoming fruitful. Help us to be vigilant to protect the holiness in us. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Light Up!

   

  Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time 18 August 2019
First reading Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10

The officials said to the king, “This man [Jeremiah] should be put to death, because he is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, and all the people, by speaking such words to them. He is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm.” King Zedekiah said, “Here he is; he is in your hands; for the king is powerless against you.” So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. Now there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.

Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. The king happened to be sitting at the Benjamin Gate, So Ebed-melech left the king’s house and spoke to the king, “My lord king, these men have acted wickedly in all they did to the prophet Jeremiah by throwing him into the cistern to die there of hunger, for there is no bread left in the city.” Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, “Take three men with you from here, and pull the prophet Jeremiah up from the cistern before he dies.”

Second reading                                                          Hebrews 12:1-4

Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

Gospel                                                                         Luke 12:49-53

Jesus said to his disciples,
“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No,I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Reflection

By Jessa Janelle Padilla

Being just and a good follower sometimes draws different comments, either negative or positive, from the people around us. They may say ‘nagpapakitang tao lang iyan’ o ‘sumisipsip iyan’ yet our intention is not really to draw such things but just to follow orders. Only few may see our good intention yet let us not be disturbed about it. Continue on becoming just and do what is really good. 

In our first reading for today, the Prophet Jeremiah ought to be put to death for being accused of demoralizing the soldiers left in the city and for ruining the welfare of the society. However, the prophet’s intention was to let the city know the goodness of our Lord and let them become His followers. He is not into demoralizing them and ruining their welfare but he is into making them good servants of the Lord. Only few believed  the prophet’s real intention but this few is already a good number. In reality, we cannot please everyone around us. They do have their own perceptions and beliefs and we cannot expect support from them. We just need to be firm and continue what we are doing. No explanations needed since those who really believed in us will never questioned our intentions and those who do not will always think of ways how to destroy us and influence others not to believe. 

In our gospel for today, Jesus came to the earth to set it on fire and blazing. Why? Because Jesus is the fire that will bring out the goodness in everyone of us. He will light us up so that we could shine. Sometimes when we do things the first time, we would always say ‘Baptism of the Fire’. Why? The fire on us is being ignited for the first time. Jesus lit us to shine. Jesus lit us so that we could know Him more and share this fire to everyone. 

In sharing the fire, we cannot expect that we can light everyone’s fire. Like a match, not all its sticks would be lit. Some of it only contain little amount of chemical that would make it ignite. Some may be lit but  the wind will blow them out. Only few will keep on burning. The world’s reality is that believers continue to light up each others fire. Some fires would be lit and keep on burning, some may be lit but will be blown out. But do not lose hope. Jesus always brings us hope.

            Jesus also says that the fire will also bring division but do not be disturbed about the division rather make it a motivation, to burn the and give way to unity. Let us keep our fire burning that it may keep other's fire burning as well.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, please light the fire in us and guide us to keep it burning. May we influence other's fires to burn. Through our fire, may we make You shine in us. In Your name we pray. Amen.

 Amen

Staying Alive!

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

01 July 2018

First reading                                                                     Wisdom 1: 13-15;2:23-24
God did not make death,
nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living.
For he fashioned all things that they might have being;
and the creatures of the world are wholesome,
and there is not a destructive drug among them
nor any domain of the netherworld on earth,
for justice is undying.
For God formed man to be imperishable;
the image of his own nature he made him.
But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world,
and they who belong to his company experience it.

Second reading                                                     2 Cor 8:7,9,13-15

Brothers and sisters: As you excel in every respect, in faith, discourse, knowledge, all earnestness, and in the love we have for you, may you excel in this gracious act also. For you know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, for your sake he became poor,  so that by his poverty you might become rich. Not that others should have relief while you are burdened, but that as a matter of equality your abundance at the present time should supply their needs, so that their abundance may also supply your needs, that there may be equality. As it is written: Whoever had much did not have more, and whoever had little did not have less.

Gospel                                                                     Mark 5: 21-43

When Jesus had crossed again in the boat
to the other side,
a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea.
One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward.
Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying,
"My daughter is at the point of death.
Please, come lay your hands on her
that she may get well and live."
He went off with him,
and a large crowd followed him and pressed upon him.

There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years.
She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors
and had spent all that she had.
Yet she was not helped but only grew worse.
She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd
and touched his cloak.
She said, "If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured."
Immediately her flow of blood dried up.
She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him,
turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who has touched my clothes?"
But his disciples said to Jesus,
"You see how the crowd is pressing upon you,
and yet you ask, 'Who touched me?'"
And he looked around to see who had done it.
The woman, realizing what had happened to her,
approached in fear and trembling.
She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth.
He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you.
Go in peace and be cured of your affliction."

While he was still speaking,
people from the synagogue official's house arrived and said,
"Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?" 
Disregarding the message that was reported,
Jesus said to the synagogue official,
"Do not be afraid; just have faith."
He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside
except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.
When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official,
he caught sight of a commotion,
people weeping and wailing loudly.
So he went in and said to them,
"Why this commotion and weeping?
The child is not dead but asleep."
And they ridiculed him.
Then he put them all out.
He took along the child's father and mother
and those who were with him
and entered the room where the child was.
He took the child by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum,"
which means, "Little girl, I say to you, arise!"
The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around.
At that they were utterly astounded.
He gave strict orders that no one should know this
and said that she should be given something to eat.

Reflection

By Ma. Rosalina S. Flores

It was 2:30 a.m. on February 27, 2017 when we got a phone call from my uncle informing us that my grandmother has died. She was peacefully taken by the Lord in the middle of her sleep. Shocked of the news, I could hardly believe that she already left us. It might be a wrong declaration since we just talked over the phone last night and I remembered myself praying to God for her healing. Sadly, the truth remained. She was dead and we must accept.

Almost same scenario happened in today’s Gospel when Jairus heard the death of his daughter. It can never be true as he was still pleading Jesus to come and lay His hands on his daughter. Good thing that Jesus has done a miracle before them. He awakened Jairus’ daughter from the sleep of death. And this is one of the few incidents that Jesus raised someone from the dead. How blessed they were during those times!

At present, rising from the dead should not be taken literally. Jesus, our savior can resurrect us from our old and dead selves. As the First Reading from the Book of Wisdom told us, “God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living. For he fashioned all things that they might have being; But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world”. Because of continuously falling into sins, our souls were slowly being buried by evil. To avoid it, we must be reminded that our Father is God of the living; therefore, we must always persevere to remain alive with Him by obeying His commands and doing His will.

But aside from doing our best to follow Christ for our own benefit, we are also called to bring others to faith. This is what the Second Reading from the 2^nd Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians explained to us. “As you excel in every respect, in faith, discourse, knowledge, all earnestness, and in the love we have for you, may you excel in this gracious act also.” We are accountable to one another. Let us not forget others especially when we are on top and good - we should help them know the right path and become better Christians too.

And as we continue to reflect on the Gospel today, as we look back at the times we became dead to sin, may we acknowledge the hundredfold of mercy and forgiveness that Jesus bestowed on us. May we be consoled by His powerful words to Jairus as He said, "Do not be afraid; just have faith." Then, as our thanksgiving, may we together proclaim the Responsorial Psalm today, “I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me. Because you changed my mourning into dancing; O Lord, my God, forever will I give you thanks.” God is faithful. He will never tire of converting our sadness to gladness. Trust in Him.

Yes, I was saddened by my grandmother’s sudden death but God did not leave me. He was my comforter, my listener, my forever stronghold.

Prayer

Almighty Father, I may be frail and dead at times, but please do not give up on me as it is my greatest desire to be with You in the resurrection.  Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your son, who lives and reigns, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, Amen.