September 13, 2026 – Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary TimeLectionary: 130 – Gospel Reflection

September 13, 2026 – Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary TimeLectionary: 130 – Gospel Reflection

by | Sep 13, 2026 | Gospel Reflections, Uncategorized

First Reading: Sirach 27:30—28:7

 

Wrath and anger are hateful things,

yet the sinner hugs them tight.

The vengeful will suffer the LORD’s vengeance,

for he remembers their sins in detail.

Forgive your neighbor’s injustice;

then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.

Could anyone nourish anger against another

and expect healing from the LORD?

Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself,

can he seek pardon for his own sins?

If one who is but flesh cherishes wrath,

who will forgive his sins?

Remember your last days, set enmity aside;

remember death and decay, and cease from sin!

Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor;

remember the Most High’s covenant, and overlook faults.

 

 

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

 

R. (8) The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.

 

Bless the LORD, O my soul;

and all my being, bless his holy name.

Bless the LORD, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits.

R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.

 

He pardons all your iniquities,

heals all your ills.

He redeems your life from destruction,

crowns you with kindness and compassion.

R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.

 

He will not always chide,

nor does he keep his wrath forever.

Not according to our sins does he deal with us,

nor does he requite us according to our crimes.

R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.

 

For as the heavens are high above the earth,

so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.

As far as the east is from the west,

so far has he put our transgressions from us.

R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.

 

 

Second Reading: Romans 14:7-9

 

Brothers and sisters:

None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself.

For if we live, we live for the Lord,

and if we die, we die for the Lord;

so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

For this is why Christ died and came to life,

that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

 

 

 

 

Alleluia: John 13:34

 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

I give you a new commandment, says the Lord;

love one another as I have loved you.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

 

Gospel: Matthew 18:21-35

 

Peter approached Jesus and asked him,

“Lord, if my brother sins against me,

how often must I forgive?

As many as seven times?”

Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.

That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king

who decided to settle accounts with his servants.

When he began the accounting,

a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.

Since he had no way of paying it back,

his master ordered him to be sold,

along with his wife, his children, and all his property,

in payment of the debt.

At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,

‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’

Moved with compassion the master of that servant

let him go and forgave him the loan.

When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants

who owed him a much smaller amount.

He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,

‘Pay back what you owe.’

Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,

‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’

But he refused.

Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison

until he paid back the debt.

Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,

they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master

and reported the whole affair.

His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant!

I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.

Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,

as I had pity on you?’

Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers

until he should pay back the whole debt.

So will my heavenly Father do to you,

unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”

 

 

Reflection: Forgiveness

 

Last Sunday, the major theme was looking out for one’s brethren, which obviously included patience and forgiveness for infractions to preserve brotherhood. Today, that theme is continued, which shouldn’t be any surprise for us Christians because we truly are our brother’s keeper. God continues to bless the world with thousands of newly born babies each day because God has not given up on us and has been clear about His plan to become Father to sons and daughters for the Kingdom. Since this is our Father’s plan, it would be best if we all just get with the program of loving one another as commanded by our Lord Jesus Christ.    

 

Remember that aside from giving us His life, the very reason Jesus died on the Cross was to forgive the sins of the world, and He did it because of His undying and unconditional love for mankind. Today’s Gospel is a story of a master who, after much begging for mercy from his servant, forgave the latter’s debt to him. Subsequently, the master found out that this servant didn’t pay-it-forward because he did not forgive the debt of another servant who owed him. The forgiven servant even became violent to his fellow servant-debtor. This infuriated the master and called the servant whom he previously forgave to account for everything that he owed the master. Our Christian faith declares this in the Lord’s Prayer to: “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sinned against us” – because we truly have been unconditionally forgiven by our Father and will always be forgiven if we are truly sorry for our sins.  

 

Let this be our guiding principle in life because our world today can “use” all the forgiveness it can muster for the enormous hurt that needs healing now—as in, immediately. Let the world realize that it is only by the peace and forgiveness of Christ that our brokenness can be healed, and not by some pill, advice from motivation gurus who sell themselves and their products or “couch sessions” from professionals. Let all the Christian faithful of the world proclaim that Jesus gave us His peace, not the peace that the world brings or gives. It is that peace that nobody else can give but Christ and it is the peace that calms, forgives, heals and assures—an assurance that everything is under the Lord’s power.    

 

To realize during our lifetime that we have been forgiven and that we will always be forgiven if we remorsefully seek God’s forgiveness, should be the most humbling thing and should move us to be merciful and generous to others because our God is a merciful Father who is generous, slow to anger and rich in compassion.

 

 

Gospel: The Parable of the Forgiving Master

 

Saint Peter threw this question at Jesus: “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive?” To which our Lord replied: “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. In other words, we should not impose limits to our forgiveness and generosity because we too have been forgiven by God and Father for our countless transgressions against Him and to others. Our Lord’s answer simply echoes what has already been laid down in the First Reading: “Forgive your neighbor’s injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven” (Sir 28:2).

 

Why the number “7”? Remember that the number “7” has so much significance in the Jewish and Christian faiths, primary of which is the Creation story in Genesis when God creates the universe in 6 days and on the 7th day, God rests. The seventh (7th) day was meant for man to come back to God in worship and communion, and is therefore considered the day-of-rest, and “7” is deemed number of perfection. Our Lord’s expression of forgiveness amounting to seventy-seven times mention the number seven twice and is meant to evoke perfect forgiveness in imitation of our Lord and Father who forgives mankind without limit and without any conditionality. Therefore, to forgive “seventy-seven times” means to forgive without limit and without any condition attached. 

 

Also, to swear an oath when entering into covenants, which invokes the mighty name of God and sacrifice of kosher animals, is called “sheva” or to seven yourself. The lives of the sacrificed animals were intended as replacements for the lives of the parties who are expected to give their very lives for the perpetuation of the covenant, and if one or both of them fail, may they suffer the same death as the sacrificed animals.   

 

In Christianity, the 7th day from Monday, which is Sunday, is indeed the Lord’s Day. When Jesus rose from death, Christians have started to believe that the day of the Resurrection, the day after the Jewish Sabbath, became the new Sabbath because at the resurrection, the whole world was created anew. Remember that all these are necessary to realize God’s salvation plan for mankind. Man has been forgiven out of the generosity, mercy, and the undying and unlimited love God has for man, and the Resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday gave mankind a new beginning, a fresh start. 

 

Forgiveness is at the core of Christian life. Allow us to restate that: Forgiveness must be a way of life for those who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ. Our Lord’s words ought to be clear to those who do not sow forgiveness – they will be handed to torturers until there is pay back for the whole debt: “So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”  

 

Yes, there is truth to the saying that “to forgive is divine” because we need the Holy Spirit to forgive those who wronged us. Without God, we simply won’t have the guidance and the courage to forgive others. But there is also a practical use in forgiving people – it becomes easy on our hearts because we unburden ourselves of the hate and anger for those who wronged us. Forgiveness also begets forgiveness and cancels debts, and because of this phenomenon, it creates an environment of peace, calm and tranquility. Because God’s forgiveness is limitless for people who truly repent, we ought to forgive our brethren without limit and let God do the judging whether there is true repentance on the part of the forgiven. There’s a saying: “Vengeance is not ours, it’s God”, and only God can forgive sins. For those who have no repentance in their hearts because they don’t believe in God’s forgiveness, the path to damnation becomes more pronounced and direct.     

 

 

Characters in Play: The Master & The Forgiven Servant 

 

Let’s start with the principle that Jesus likened the Kingdom of Heaven to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. 

 

This serves as a warning, a motivation and a proof of the Second Coming or when Jesus comes again to judge the living and the dead, when time gives way to eternity. It is a warning because Jesus, the King, will account us for our actions and inactions—if we fed the hungry, clothed the naked among others—or have we been merciful to others because we too have been shown mercy at the Resurrection of the Lord and during our lifetime. In other words, have we been obedient to the Word of the Lord? It is also a motivation because we who believe in Jesus are assured that our faithfulness to Him, and by abiding with Him until the end, shall be rewarded with everlasting life in heaven. Lastly, it is proof of the existence of heaven and everlasting life with God, and proof that whatever we do and say matters—that, because of our sinful and broken state, we can’t arrogate upon ourselves, with certainty and sureness of reaching heaven if we merely believe in the Jesus and proclaim in our hearts that He is Lord without actually living out our faith because sola fide or the belief that ‘once saved, always saved’, is un-Biblical and has no basis in the Christian faith. Our faith can only be made alive if we share it with others through our actions.      

 

Notice that the master is a very exacting person. He wants payment for the money owed by his debtors, and particularly, one servant mentioned in the story. The master, knowing that the servant had no means to pay the debt, wanted him and his family sold into slavery (they were acceptable practices during those times). The narrative says that the debt was substantial and it had to be satisfied or else, innocent people like family members may be made to satisfy the debt by servitude. 

 

However, the master condones the debt only after much begging from the servant. Clearly, the master wrote off the debt out of pity or generosity. He knew that the servant had no means to pay-off the debt and he wouldn’t have any use for additional slaves or money to be generated from the sale of slaves.

 

On the other hand, the servant who was forgiven his debt by his master turns around and demands payment from another servant who was indebted to him. At face value, there is nothing wrong in collecting a debt. But this is about forgiveness and paying it forward, not about collecting money. It is about passing on mercy and kindness to others because we all have been shown mercy and kindness by God.

 

Mankind has been forgiven his sins: past, present and future. It is God who forgave us first for the purpose of healing us and making us whole again for our heavenly destination. Our sins break us up, including our humanity and conscience, and the only thing that can make us whole again is the forgiveness of the Father, the peace of Christ and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. But for this to work, mankind must learn how to forgive each other’s sins. Conversely, each and every one of us must always be careful not to wrong our brethren because we are a holy nation, a righteous race, just how our Father intended it to be.

 

In sum, for healing to spread, forgiveness must be passed on like a basketball; everybody has to touch the ball because we are a team. And like any other team, everybody has to get into the forgiveness game by sowing and pushing reconciliation between or among adversaries because according to our Lord’s command: “love one another”, He loved us first and we too ought to love others like Christ.     

 

 

Points of Emphasis: 

 

Accounting: Jesus likened the Kingdom of Heaven to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. Simply put, the Kingdom of Heaven has a King (it won’t be a kingdom if there weren’t a king and subjects of his domain), and the king will account his subjects for the actions or inactions they made during their lifetime. Jesus is the King and we are His subjects. As subjects, we shall be accounted not only for the things we did or did not do, but also for gifts bestowed upon us—on whether or not we used them wisely or squandered them uselessly.

 

Forgiveness: Notice what the master did to the servant he had forgiven when he found out that the latter didn’t forgive his debtor—the master, in anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.

 

Man can only forgive like Christ if he has Jesus in his heart and only if the basis is the love of Christ. God, who loves us first, forgave us through the salvation of Jesus even if we don’t deserve it: “God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). To forgive even if the wrongdoer does not deserve to be forgiven has to be the standard of forgiveness; it is how it must be. Man must love and forgive even is it hurts. This is how the world is healed—to love and forgive like Christ. 

 

 

The Woman Caught in Adultery (John 8)

 

Lastly, we invite you to recall the woman caught in adultery in St. John, Chapter 8. There was a woman, who probably was either a prostitute or simply a concubine of several married men, who was caught in adultery. The punishment for such act was death by stoning. Though there is no mention about the disparity and unfair treatment of the case since there is no mention of the “equally erring” man who the woman was caught with, the story is ripe for the topic of forgiveness and highlights the mercy and genius of our Lord Jesus. Please remember that the crime of adultery can only be committed by the sexual intercourse consummated by two persons, and one or both parties have existing impediments for legal union like marriage.

 

Side Note: Our Lord Jesus was very clear about His position regarding adultery. He said: “…everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matt 5: 28). Our Lord Jesus is clear that merely looking at a woman lustfully is already guilty of adultery in his heart. This must be a warning to the male population all over the world. Good and evil are always in a constant battle for our hearts and minds. Therefore, we should be constantly mindful of our intentions and motives because these drive man into action or inaction, and these in turn are adjudged to be good or evil.  

 

The story tells us that people brought the woman before Jesus to asking if the stoning should proceed according to the Laws of Moses. Some people also did this to trap Jesus. If our Lord did not conform to the Laws of Moses, He would have been declared a traitor to the Jews and a false prophet. If, however, He did agree to the stoning, he’d be reported to the Roman authorities for ordering or agreeing to the execution of the woman, an act which should be only carried out by Roman authorities.

 

Jesus does not speak and bends down to write on the sand or on the ground. Scriptures do not mention what He wrote on the ground. Pressed for an answer by the crowd, our Lord stood up and said: “He who has not sinned, cast the first stone.”

 

And the story goes on saying that one by one the people left, starting with the elders. When the crowd left Jesus and the woman alone, our Lord asks the woman: “Where are your accusers?” “Has no one condemned you?” The woman said in reply: “No one Lord.” Our Lord said to her: “Neither do I. Go but sin no more.”

 

In today’s world of social media, when bashing seems to be fashionable because it allows people to simply vent their frustrations on others or simply play the role of the know-it-all, we can learn a lot from this story by looking at ourselves first and not be too quick to draw the gun because of the damage it brings. Jesus has forgiven us first. Let us then forgive those who wronged us because this is the only way that the hurt of world can be resolved. 

 

We have been forgiven. Therefore, we must also forgive and sin no more.

 

 

A blessed Sunday to everyone.

– Gospel reflection by Kuya Rommel Cecilio of SLRP Bible Apostolate Ministry

 

Aug 16, 2026 – 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Gospel Relection

Aug 16, 2026 – 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Gospel Relection

by | Aug 16, 2026 | Gospel Reflections

August 16, 2026

 

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 118

 

First Reading: Isaiah 56:1, 6-7

 

Thus says the LORD:
Observe what is right, do what is just;
for my salvation is about to come,
my justice, about to be revealed.

The foreigners who join themselves to the LORD,
ministering to him,
loving the name of the LORD,
and becoming his servants—
all who keep the sabbath free from profanation
and hold to my covenant,
them I will bring to my holy mountain
and make joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be acceptable on my altar,
for my house shall be called
a house of prayer for all peoples.

 

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8

R. (4) O God, let all the nations praise you!

May God have pity on us and bless us;
may he let his face shine upon us.
So may your way be known upon earth;
among all nations, your salvation.
R. O God, let all the nations praise you!

May the nations be glad and exult
because you rule the peoples in equity;
the nations on the earth you guide.
R. O God, let all the nations praise you!

May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you!
May God bless us,
and may all the ends of the earth fear him!
R. O God, let all the nations praise you!

 

 

Second Reading: Romans 11:13-15, 29-32

 

Brothers and sisters:
I am speaking to you Gentiles.
Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles,
I glory in my ministry in order to make my race jealous
and thus save some of them.
For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world,
what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.
Just as you once disobeyed God
but have now received mercy because of their disobedience,
so they have now disobeyed in order that,
by virtue of the mercy shown to you,
they too may now receive mercy.
For God delivered all to disobedience,
that he might have mercy upon all.

 

 

Alleluia: Cf. Matthew 4:23

 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Jesus proclaimed the Gospel of the kingdom
and cured every disease among the people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

 

Gospel: Matthew 15:21-28

 

At that time, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out,
“Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!
My daughter is tormented by a demon.”
But Jesus did not say a word in answer to her.
Jesus’ disciples came and asked him,
“Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.”
He said in reply,
“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
But the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, “Lord, help me.”
He said in reply,
“It is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs.”
She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps
that fall from the table of their masters.”
Then Jesus said to her in reply,
“O woman, great is your faith!
Let it be done for you as you wish.”
And the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour.

 

 

Reflection

Gospel

 

There are three noteworthy points in today’s Gospel about the story of Jesus’ encounter with Canaanite Woman (Syro-phoenician Woman in St. Mark’s Gospel 7:24-30) and her sick daughter.

 

First on the list is the obstructionist posture of the disciples upon the Canaanite Woman in accessing Jesus. On the assumption that it may have been unintended, they should have known better that Jesus would not refuse anyone who seeks him out for help. The disciples must have been persuading Jesus to dismiss the woman because, being in charge of crowd control, they would have been pestered by this woman who stands to break the security cordon which may lead to Jesus being mobbed or crowded, at the very least. In other words, one can say that the disciples were barring people from getting near Jesus so that they could have an easier time in “protecting” Jesus who is God and the irony of it all, our Lord never needed protection from anybody.

 

This is how crucial and critical perseverance in the faith in Jesus can become. Persevering in the faith can sometimes be a difficult proposition and even confusing, to say the least, because it can be obstructed by people who are suppose to bring us closer to Jesus—in this case, it was the Apostles who were preventing people from getting closer to Jesus. They should have known that Jesus will not refuse anyone who humbly comes to Him for help. Jesus was always available then and will be so until the end of time.  

 

Second on the list is the perseverance of the Canaanite Woman, a gentile, in getting help from Jesus for the healing of her daughter. Due to her circumstance, and like any caring and loving mother would do, the woman does not and will not take “no” for an answer. She was desperate and will grab any possibility for her daughter getting well. This story represents, in part, the maladies that mankind experiences in everyday life. For sickness of the body, man relies on medicine and science for the cure. But what about the spiritual maladies mankind suffers? Where does one go for his or her spiritual needs? Answer: We come before the one who said: “All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matt 11: 27-30)

 

Despite being a gentile who probably was living some miles away from Nazareth and Jerusalem, the Canaanite Woman was most probably hearing in her place about our Lord Jesus and the works of His public ministry, which included miraculous healing of people afflicted with sicknesses and diseases. She probably heard of leprous patients getting cured of an ailment which was then known to be incurable. She might have gotten wind of blind, deaf and mute people who got back their sight, hearing and speech, and paralytics cured of their immobility. And for the icing on the cake, she must have heard about Jesus resurrecting the daughter of Jairus to life (see Mark 5:21-43, Matthew 9:18-26, and Luke 8:40-56). This must have struck a chord with her for having realized at least two similarities with her situation: Jairus was also a gentile and they both had sick or dying daughters.

 

She wanted to grab every chance to make her daughter well and she went for it out of desperation. She didn’t exactly know if Jesus could heal her daughter but she was willing to take the trip to wherever He was for the healing. She obviously had hope in Jesus’ power and was willing to do everything for her daughter’s wellness. Her hope is causing her to persevere in her objective, out of her desperation—a mother who’d do everything for her child.   

 

This holds true for salvation and the life of righteousness. If we believe in God, we know that our life on earth, no matter how sad it has become, is merely a temporary phase in life because Jesus already promised us that he’ll come back for us some day and take us to His abode himself. This is why we have hope in Jesus and the natural response is to persevere in the faith He gave us because in it are the very instructions for our salvation. We have hope in Jesus because we believe in Him, and because we believe in Him, we persevere in the faith in the hope we are rewarded with everlasting life.

 

Sadly, people who need to work on their salvation with fear and trembling (a.k.a. people who are living a sinful and wayward life) are those who think that they do not need salvation either because they believe they are beyond the mercy of God’s forgiveness or they are those who simply are having a grand time enjoying the fruits of persisting along the evil path that they feel invincible and immortal.

 

When we say that salvation or the lack of it is enough cause to drive a person to desperation, we are saying that for a person who is having a grand time profiting from his sinful life, the realization to amend one’s ways through daily conversion seems to be very farfetched indeed or a lost cause. However, for those who realize that the righteous path is indeed the life of abundance promised by Christ, they are the ones who leave behind their evil ways and look for God’s salvation with desperation, as if there is literally no more tomorrow to wait for or expect.

 

In the case of the Canaanite Woman, who probably has been asking around, she found out that there is this Jesus, a Jew from Nazareth, who has been going around Judea, healing the sick and performing miracles. She seeks out Jesus and her resolve pushes her to persevere, with tenaciousness even, to get healing for her daughter because she believes that Jesus can heal and save. 

 

The story of the Canaanite Woman is a great teaching tool for those who take salvation and reaching Heaven seriously. If one truly believes that Jesus is God’s salvation, then that person must do everything to get to Jesus and be closer to Him. This is what the Canaanite Woman teaches us in the story: that she insisted to get closer to Jesus and in the process, point out to our Lord the very lesson He is preaching, which is compassion; that the Lord’s mercy and generosity have no boundaries for a repentant soul.

 

It is true that Jesus became man to save mankind. The incarnation is proof that God truly wants to unite divinity and mankind. Jesus’ death and resurrection opened up the way to Heaven because Jesus is the promised salvation of God. However, taking from what St. Paul said: “…work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12), we who are mortals on this earth and believe by faith that Jesus is Lord, must commit ourselves to make sure that the salvation gifted to us through our baptism is held tight and never let go. Salvation can be lost by sinning big time over and over and without remorse, which is tantamount to rejection of the faith. God gave us free will and will not interfere with our decisions. To believe in “once saved always saved” as some of our protestant brothers and sisters stand on, would be a mockery of God’s justice. To persevere in the faith until the end is what gets a person to the end and over the line into Heaven.

 

Third on the list would be the mercy and compassion of our Lord. The Lord said: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” It is true that the “house of Israel” referred to the Israelites of old because they were the chosen people of God for the having the faith, prophets, the Commandments and the Covenant. However, Jesus came to head the house of Israel by building a church upon the rock, who is Peter. The house of Israel is God’s kingdom, which is house that Jesus built upon Peter. All those who enter it become members of the house of Israel but Jesus also said “…I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So, there shall be one flock, one shepherd” (John 10:16).

 

The Canaanite Woman may not be part of the house of Israel but her faith in Jesus Christ, being a gentile, is what saved her and made her daughter well. Her prayer: “Lord, help me” is something Jesus cannot resist.

 

Then our Lord says these somewhat dismissive words: “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” When the Lord uttered these seemingly cold and insensitive words, He was just presenting a matter of fact. Our Lord came to save the lost sheep of the house of Israel first because those who are not lost do not need saving and those who are not from the house of Israel will be brought in, in due time. The intention is to bring back the lost sheep of the house of Israel so that the latter can help in making disciples of all nations. Sadly, history tells us that Israel rejected the Son of Man.  

 

Despite the harsh reply from our Lord, the Canaanite Woman turns the table around by putting Jesus on the defensive saying (probably the only one to ever do that to the Lord): “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Again, we hear the persistence of the Canaanite Woman and our attitude towards salvation is to always persevere in the Lord, by seeking His righteousness because those who last until the end are saved.

 

In fact, our Lord rewards the woman’s faith when her daughter gets cured: “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.”

 

It is true that faith in Jesus is everything. But our faith must be active and contaminating, and in our actions, we encounter hardships. When these difficult things converge, staying in the faith now becomes a challenge in perseverance and the Canaanite Woman gives us the example. Thankfully, we have a God who we can run to and has equipped us in every spiritual blessing we need to stay the course.

 

Fourth on the list is this doctrinal point made by our Lord: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Here, our Lord was seemingly being dismissive of the Canaanite Woman which appears very uncharacteristic of Jesus. However, this is one instance when our Lord had to “call a spade a spade”, so to speak. In other words, Jesus was only telling the truth about His mission—that He came to gather the lost sheep of the house Israel in the Old Covenant and gather them into the Church of the New Covenant. In fact, the Church He founded and sustains is the house of the New Israel erected to continue to gather His sheep.

 

Since man’s creation, God had been true to His word and covenant obligations. From the beginning, we see His loving hand over Israel. From a couple in Adam and Eve, to a nation built on the twelve sons of Jacob (a.k.a. Israel), He shepherds and provides for them like a diligent father does for His children because He chose this nation as His own people. He chose them for a divine purpose that only He can comprehend and fathom out for His omniscient power; and therefore, His decision is always unassailable and unquestionable. To be appointed as God’s own people carries with it responsibilities and privileges, and one of those is the reward of having a unified and blessed nation under our Lord, if Israel obeys and fulfills its part of the Covenant. Sadly, we know that Israel rejected the Messiah and this is the reason why Jesus built the Church to make sure that His Covenant with man remains.

 

In sum, Jesus came for those who are in Covenant with the God or those who believe in God and in the one who was sent for mankind’s salvation.         

 

In the Gospel, the Canaanite Woman persisted in her objective because she had faith in Jesus. Her trust and belief in the Lord was rewarded and her daughter became well at the moment Jesus said: “O woman, great is your faith!
Let it be done for you as you wish.”

 

 

A blessed Sunday to everyone.

 

– Gospel reflection by Kuya Rommel Cecilio of SLRP Bible Apostolate Ministry

 

 

Aug 9, 2026 – 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Gospel Reflection

Aug 9, 2026 – 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Gospel Reflection

by | Aug 9, 2026 | Gospel Reflections, Uncategorized

August 9, 2026 

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 115

 

First Reading: 1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13a

 

At the mountain of God, Horeb,
Elijah came to a cave where he took shelter.
Then the LORD said to him,
“Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD;
the LORD will be passing by.”
A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains
and crushing rocks before the LORD—
but the LORD was not in the wind.
After the wind there was an earthquake—
but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
After the earthquake there was fire—
but the LORD was not in the fire.
After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound.
When he heard this,
Elijah hid his face in his cloak
and went and stood at the entrance of the cave.

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 85:9, 10, 11-12, 13-14

R. (8) Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.

I will hear what God proclaims;

the LORD — for he proclaims peace.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
R. Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.

Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.
R. Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.

The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and prepare the way of his steps.
R. Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation

 

 

Second Reading: Romans 9:1-5

Brothers and sisters:
I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie;
my conscience joins with the Holy Spirit in bearing me witness
that I have great sorrow and constant anguish in my heart.
For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ
for the sake of my own people,
my kindred according to the flesh.
They are Israelites;
theirs the adoption, the glory, the covenants,
the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises;
theirs the patriarchs, and from them,
according to the flesh, is the Christ,
who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.

 

Alleluia: Cf. Ps 130:5 

Alleluia, alleluia.

 

I wait for the Lord;
my soul waits for his word.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel: Matthew 14:22-33

After he had fed the people, Jesus made the disciples get into a boat
and precede him to the other side,
while he dismissed the crowds.
After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.
When it was evening he was there alone.
Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore,
was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it.
During the fourth watch of the night,
he came toward them walking on the sea.
When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified.
“It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear.
At once Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Peter said to him in reply,
“Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
He said, “Come.”
Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus.
But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened;
and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught Peter,
and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
After they got into the boat, the wind died down.
Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying,
“Truly, you are the Son of God.”

 

Reflection

 

Second Reading 

“For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh.”

 

At first glance, Saint Paul seems to have a death wish and he’s being patriotic enough to commiserate with his fellow Israelites in being cursed. Why is he saying that the Israelites are cursed? It is because they have been cut off from Christ by not recognizing that He is the promised Messiah from God. 

 

But St. Paul has another purpose in saying this. He is also telling us that Christ is God and to be cut off from God, like what happened to his Israelite ancestors, is truly a curse. Jesus performed miracles and preached about the Kingdom of God like no other person has ever done before and there will be no one else like him. Yet, they still failed to see the truth despite the fact that Jesus came into this world as one of them. This is without a doubt a failure of epic proportions on the part of the Israelites which warrants divine cursing—those who refuse to acknowledge the very person of God, who came to His very own people, can no longer be His people because of their rejection. God continues to love Israel and each and every soul who will live on earth. But to reject God despite revealing Himself is a fait accompli—and this means, God will not force Himself to anyone who rejects Him.

 

Saint Paul came to know that God’s salvation exclusively came through Jesus Christ. In fact, the words of our Lord in the Gospel are pretty straightforward with regard to salvation and here are some verses to reflect on:

 

“For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:40), or

 

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44), or

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me” (John 14:6), and 

 

“And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3).

 

It may have been well for the Israelites to have realized and seen that salvation came from their very own countryman because salvation comes from the Jews (see John 4:22). It is regrettable that the Jews rejected Jesus as their promised Messiah from God. We can only imagine what could have been the result had they accepted Jesus as the promised Savior. This is not an accusation or condemnation of the Jews. It is merely a statement of fact. Their rejection was prophesied by our Lord himself before it happened and a lament: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is forsaken and desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, `Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ (Matt 23: 37-39) 

 

The elevated status of the Jews as God’s chosen people and the first to receive the Covenant gifted them with things which no other people or tribe on earth ever received like their revered ancestors and prophets who saw and were able to talk to God. However, all these blessings were rendered naught because of their failure to receive the Promised Salvation from God – our Lord Jesus, the Christ. Saint Paul continues by saying that the Israelites received, to the exclusion of others, “the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; theirs the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”

 

For St. Paul, being chosen by God is a tremendous blessing. It comes with both privileges and responsibilities. The Israelites “had” the unique status of being chosen to be our elder brother in the faith, and they were consecrated to be the priests of the world, mediating between God and mankind. The Messiah came and was incarnated into the Jewish race, and this should have sealed their priestly status forever as a reward for their having received the Covenant first to the exclusion of others.

 

By virtue of God’s will, the Israelites have been adopted as sons and daughters of the Kingdom. Because of this, they worshipped the One True God of the universe in the Jerusalem Temple, unlike those cultic tribes or nations who worshipped the sun, moon or other creatures like animals. The Israelites had everything for their salvation but they rejected the culmination of their promised liberation with the coming of the savior – Jesus, son of Joseph the carpenter and Mary his mother, who was one of their own and continues to be one with mankind forever so that we could be one like Him. 

 

For us today, let us reflect on these words of St. Paul which unequivocally says that to know God and the One whom he sent is a great blessing and completes what have been theirs since the start of salvation history. The Israelites believed that Jesus was not the promised Messiah and that is why they rejected Him. To reject Jesus as God and Messiah is indeed a curse because to reject Him is also a rejection of the Father and Holy Spirit.

 

The New Israel

 

Our Lord once said: “…whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother” (Matthew 12:50).

 

Doing or obeying the will of the Father in Heaven is what qualifies a person to be considered a brother, sister or mother of our Lord Jesus, a part of God’s kingdom. However, please note that doing what our Lord has commanded us to do is also doing the will of the Father because Jesus is in the Father. Remember also that Jesus does not speak on his own authority: “For I have not spoken on my own authority; the Father who sent me has himself given me commandment what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has bidden me” (John 12:49-50).

 

Therefore, Israel is indeed God’s chosen nation and family. They are a nation which gathered in worshipping the One True God. It is a church which does the will of the Father and His will is for all to be saved by coming to know the one whom He sent – Jesus. The New Israel is the Church founded by Jesus himself, and it is the Church which professes faith in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is a universal faith which is led by priests who dispense actual grace from God called “Sacraments”. The Catholic Church is the New Israel.

 

Gospel

 

Today’s Gospel comes right after the story about the ‘Feeding of the Five Thousand’ with five (5) loaves of bread and two (2) fishes. Imagine the “high” or elation the Apostles were riding on because of the miracle that just happened – they have just participated in the distribution of the miraculously multiplied loaves and fishes to their countrymen who were hungry and tired from following Jesus around.

 

After the feeding, the Lord set the disciples on a boat. It was evening and the boat was already a few miles away from the shore. The account says that the boat was being tossed by strong winds and waves. Everybody in the boat was probably panicking. There were no water floatation devices then to keep people alive when they go overboard. 

 

In ancient times, bodies of water were always regarded as death traps and the abode of dangerous creatures. For Jesus’ disciples to be on a relatively small boat being tossed by strong winds and waves, at night, it would have been horror for them. Yet our Almighty and all-knowing Lord set them on that boat ride, and we now know why – to test their faith. Similar to Elijah in the First Reading, who was running away from persecution, those on the boat were in a life-threatening situation.

 

The question is: How can one find God in the midst of actual and ongoing trouble or disaster? At the moment of threat upon one’s life, do you still have time to look for God and is that the first thing one should do instead of fight or flight?     

 

At about 3 o’clock in the morning, Jesus came to them walking on water. They shouted in fear: “It is a ghost“. During a storm at sea, when one sees an entity of glimmering light walking on the water, such could really be a terrifying experience because you’re in a “real pickle” from fear of the storm and fear of what creatures are under the water.

 

Then the panicking Apostles hear these firm and assuring words: “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.“

 

This assuring, comforting but firm command from our Lord Jesus evokes so much that it would take an entire lifetime just contemplating on it, and such lifetime for reflection would be time well spent when coupled with Christian action. 

 

It is a command, a directive from Jesus for the Apostles to take courage in whatever they are tasked to do because the Lord is our Immanuel; he is God with us. Those who absolutely trust our Lord know that no one is spared from the horrors of this world.

 

Like the Apostles who were in a boat and cast to sea (in truth, a lake) by our Lord himself, we too experience fear because of things we do not know and things we have no control over. Fear breeds distrust—distrust of others and even of self. The fear and hesitation to overcome obstacles, challenges and problems in life are things which constantly present themselves in our lives. However, those who trust in the Lord also know that even when storms and big waves come our way, we know that God will never abandon us because He has indeed liberated us from sin and death—the greatest obstacle to mankind. God is simply bigger than anything and everything.

 

Sensing that it can only be Jesus who can walk on water in a storm, St. Peter begs Jesus: “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Our Lord, who can’t refuse a request for the sake of our faith and being closer to him, says: “Come.”

 

How much do we really trust the Lord? Is it big enough to move mountains like the Lord pointed out: “…if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20-21). Mustard seeds are small and this means that our Lord Jesus is not asking much faith from us because our faith in Jesus can always grow if we want to get closer to God and Jesus. To will to get closer to Jesus means trusting in our Lord who knows us better than we can know our self.

 

Our Lord bids Peter, our first pope, to come into the water where He is at. It is like going through a really difficult test of one’s faith in Jesus before we can settle our nerves and move. The world will always make us doubt ourselves. It will always be critical about our actions. It will always tempt us to be popular and join the mainstream which usually subscribes to hedonism and follows the Nike mantra: “just do it”. Here, Jesus is calling us to be courageous and in some cases, courageousness even in the face of stupidity and conflict. Siding with the Lord and fighting for the faith can really be harmful to one’s health. But this is the reason why our Lord Jesus says “take courage, it is I” and “come” – to come to Jesus requires courage because the world even terminates those who are out to do the right things.

 

At first, Peter gains success in walking on the water but he starts to sink because his faith begins to waiver when he gets frightened by the strong winds and big waves. Peter cried out to Jesus: “Lord, save me!” a typical petition to our Lord in times of trouble. It is the right petition and frame of mind, no doubt. In times of so much difficulty and challenge, there should be no other person whom we should run to except God.

 

However, the reply of our Lord Jesus to Peter sounds ordinary when in fact it is not. The Lord caught Peter by the hand and said: “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Our Lord is saying that with total and absolute faith in God, anything is possible. Connected to God, we have the power to move mountains because Jesus is with us (see Matt 17:20). Why do you think these words were spoken by our Lord: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12).

 

Jesus is worthy of our total and absolute trust simply because He is the Son of God.

 

A blessed Sunday to everyone.

– Gospel reflection by Kuya Rommel Cecilio of SLRP Bible Apostolate Ministry 

 

June 21, 2026 – Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary TimeLectionary: 94 – Gospel Reflection

June 21, 2026 – Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary TimeLectionary: 94 – Gospel Reflection

by | Jun 28, 2026 | Gospel Reflections, Uncategorized

First Reading: Jeremiah 20:10-13

Jeremiah said:

“I hear the whisperings of many:

‘Terror on every side!

Denounce! let us denounce him!’

All those who were my friends

are on the watch for any misstep of mine.

‘Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail,

and take our vengeance on him.’

But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion:

my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph.

In their failure they will be put to utter shame,

to lasting, unforgettable confusion.

O LORD of hosts, you who test the just,

who probe mind and heart,

let me witness the vengeance you take on them,

for to you I have entrusted my cause.

Sing to the LORD,

praise the LORD,

for he has rescued the life of the poor

from the power of the wicked!”

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 69:8-10, 14, 17, 33-35

R. (14c) Lord, in your great love, answer me.

For your sake I bear insult,

and shame covers my face.

I have become an outcast to my brothers,

a stranger to my mother’s children,

Because zeal for your house consumes me,

and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.

R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.

I pray to you, O LORD,

for the time of your favor, O God!

In your great kindness answer me

with your constant help.

Answer me, O LORD, for bounteous is your kindness;

in your great mercy turn toward me.

R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.

“See, you lowly ones, and be glad;

you who seek God, may your hearts revive!

For the LORD hears the poor,

and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.

Let the heavens and the earth praise him,

the seas and whatever moves in them!”

R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.

Second Reading: Romans 5:12-15

Brothers and sisters:

Through one man sin entered the world,

and through sin, death,

and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned—

for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world,

though sin is not accounted when there is no law.

But death reigned from Adam to Moses,

even over those who did not sin

after the pattern of the trespass of Adam,

who is the type of the one who was to come.

But the gift is not like the transgression.

For if by the transgression of the one the many died,

how much more did the grace of God

and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ

overflow for the many.

Alleluia: John 15:26b, 27a

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

The Spirit of truth will testify to me, says the Lord;

and you also will testify.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel: Matthew 10:26-33

Jesus said to the Twelve:

“Fear no one.

Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed,

nor secret that will not be known.

What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light;

what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.

And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul;

rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy

both soul and body in Gehenna.

Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin?

Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.

Even all the hairs of your head are counted.

So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Everyone who acknowledges me before others

I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.

But whoever denies me before others,

I will deny before my heavenly Father.”

Reflection

Problems are all part of life. Obviously, this is not something unbeknownst to people who have reached puberty or adolescence and beyond. Except for the exceptionally blessed, no one is spared from them, not even the holiest characters in the Bible were not spared from problems nor were the mighty saints of the New Testament able to escape them, starting with St. John the Baptist. Pragmatism teaches that the sooner we discover the root of the problem and the quicker we accept and confront it, may afford us the best situation to look for solutions.

On the other hand, fear is often felt because of “the unknown”. What is unknown to us is usually a cause of worry and fear. We always like to control things in our life not because we are control freaks but we prefer surety of outcomes or results. Achieving our goals as a result of careful planning and preparation provides us with the feeling of success knowing that our efforts were not wasted.   

Rules, standards or parameters are enacted and enforced in society precisely to create order and prevent excesses. In fact, when excesses occur in society, or when people are abused or placed in positions of disadvantage due to the overreach of others, which are usually to benefit only a select few, stricter rules are laid down immediately so that the excesses are contained forthwith.

What are we trying to say? Even before the fall in the Garden, God was already a law giver when He laid down a proscription for man to follow—that they may eat from any tree except of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This prohibition that God gave, which Adam and Eve disobeyed, in itself speaks volumes and invites man to practice and conduct themselves with restraint, self-control and temperance, not for God’s sake but for mankind sake. In life, we simply can’t do anything (specially the bad deeds) that our hearts desire without suffering consequences for ourselves and for others. We were meant to be accountable for our actions or inactions because we ought to think about others too and not only ourselves. Imagine an earthly life of absolute boundlessness, when people escape responsibility because there are no rules to enforce. Conversely, imagine a world filled with people who think about others a lot. What a world that would be.       

However, we shouldn’t cower in fear of what society imposes or regards as norms or standards for living life. Not everything you hear especially in social media is what it seems and worth trusting. We always have to go back to basic standards of humanity like truth, justice, equality and freedom. In fact, we are even called to fight for these standards because they have been proven to benefit mankind in the atmosphere of defending liberties and freedoms. Truth, justice, equality and freedom are principles which are subsumed into Christianity because it believes and teaches that man should be free and not be afraid, and recognized as equal by another in freedom and truth.   

First Reading

The first part of the reading pictures the Prophet Jeremiah somewhat expressing fear of persecution from the enemies of God’s Word or those who can’t accept God’s commandments because to obey God requires abandoning illicit pleasures. In other words, a life of debauchery and hedonism will always run counter with Christian principles which preach things like temperance, discipline and charity. Christianity is about giving one’s life for the beloved.

Like many prophets, Jeremiah (whose mighty name translates to “the Lord exalts”) was tasked to preach a message of repentance and hope to the people of Judah, the Southern Kingdom. Other prophets might have brought God’s justice upon Israel’s enemies but no matter how you look at it, all prophets were destined by God to do one basic thing: to gather the lost sheep of Israel and bring them back into covenant relations with God. Jesus was the final prophet in the list. 

God kept on sending prophets to Israel because they kept on sinning. The biggest sin of them all was the sin of idolatry, which was unthinkable due to Israel’s close and personal encounter with the God of the universe. After having been constituted as a nation and after having been rescued from Egyptian bondage for over 400 years, and after having been propelled to international status under King Solomon, with strong diplomatic relations with other kingdoms, they still kept on courting false gods—which was an abomination and truly unexpected for a nation who was handpicked by God to be His nation, to the exclusion of others.

Sending of prophets is one of those underrated things about God’s mercy and love for Israel. Imagine if God didn’t ordain a select group of men and women to speak on behalf of the Lord? He sent prophets because He simply wants us to go back to him by hearing His message from those He sends. Being with God here and in the next life is what life is all about. Man refuses to get closer to God because we keep on pursuing lesser things in life—things which only feel good and temporarily satisfying for our material needs but are really lesser in value in terms of living the holy life and salvation.   

Our world is and will always be filled with temptations which make us veer away from truth and charity. However, like the Israelites and Jews of old, we can always push temptations aside by listening to God’s word and praying. Life on earth is a test of our resolve because the forces of evil are constantly seeking the ruin of our souls. We will all be tested and we will all be judged on whether or not we trusted God until the end. Listen to Jeremiah’s prayer in the First Reading: “O LORD of hosts, you who test the just, who probe mind and heart…” (Jeremiah 20:12). 

If God put His prophets and saints to the test when fulfilling their missions, who are we to be spared from testing? Being born into the earth and living one’s life is the mission. The key is to ask God what our mission is for the sake of the Kingdom and our salvation.   

The standards for life have been set before us but God is not forcing anyone to side with Him, not even the prophets and saints. Our free will allows us to choose what we want to stand on and God won’t force us to any side. However, those who choose evil or those who reject God will find out in the end that they made the wrong choice and what awaits them is everlasting suffering. 

When the Bible says that God avenges the death of those who obeyed him at the hands of evil men, we shouldn’t use human standards and imagery in finding out how they were avenged because God is divine and does not act like humans do. But God does avenge the death of those who obey His will with the assurance that they would be rewarded with everlasting life in God’s company – and this is all that matters.  

Even a prophet like Jeremiah prayed for the fall of Israel’s enemies when he petitioned God in this way: “…let me witness the vengeance you take on them, for to you I have entrusted my cause” (Jeremiah 20:12). Unfortunately, God’s punishment was for Judah and was already set in motion. Jeremiah even witnessed the fall of Jerusalem into the hands of the Babylonians. Because of this invasion, Jeremiah hid the Ark of the Covenant in a cave, never again to be seen by human eyes until the arrival of Blessed Virgin Mary, when St. Gabriel the Archangel announced that she would become the “Theotokos”, the God bearer. The Blessed Mother is the new Ark of the Covenant.  

The lesson: Away from God, there is death; in God and with God, there is life. Let us find comfort in today’s verse in the First Reading: “Sing to the LORD, praise the LORD, for he has rescued the life of the poor from the power of the wicked!”

Second Reading

In today’s Second Reading, St. Paul reminds us about the Father sending us the final and definitive prophet, in the person of His only begotten Son Jesus, who is the Word of God. The Father did not spare His only begotten Son from the mission of saving mankind. There will be no other prophet or messenger who will come after our Lord Jesus. Let us not be deceived about those who claim that they were sent by the Father and are here to draw people into their flock, preaching things which are not according to the Catholic faith. 

Let’s not forget that Christ is also the one who was sent to undo the sin of Adam. If Adam sinned by eating from a forbidden tree, Jesus conquers sin by dying on the Tree of Life—the Cross. This is the reason why St Paul mentions: “Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned—for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world, though sin is not accounted when there is no law.”

Our faith is clear in saying that all have sinned because each and every person born in this planet inherits Adam and Eve’s sin of disobedience via the ‘original sin.’ It is because of this sin that the Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us. Without original sin, Jesus would not have come to undo what Adam failed to do. 

In fact, Jeremiah’s petition and expectation to avenge the souls of those persecuted for God was realized by the coming of Jesus our Lord. God fulfilled His promise of saving mankind from the clutches of death out of love, goodness and mercy. In gratitude, we ought to live our lives spreading love, goodness and mercy towards others.

By giving us Jesus Christ, God gave us everything we ever needed and necessary in life – in this life and in the next. No sin is unforgivable if repentance is from the heart.

Gospel

The Gospel today starts out with a bit of a warning saying that God knows, sees and hears everything. Therefore, we shall all be accounted for whatever we do and say on this earth. Those who obey and hold on to God’s Word until the end will be rewarded, while those who do not shall be judged and punished. 

And there is this: “…do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna” (Matt 10:28). If this does not scream accounting and judgment for the things we do and say after we die, then God’s justice has been misunderstood. 

There is evil in this world and it is disguised in very attractive wrappings and ribbons. But Jesus, being the Word of God, cuts through all these outer coverings to expose evil for what it really is. In one short phrase, our Lord’s New Commandment is the all-out offensive to counter any evil: “Love one another.” 

It truly becomes a choice between two sides and two sides only – good and evil – when our Lord said: “Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.”

To deny Jesus before others means that we have freely, consciously and even unabashedly done evil and we even justify it to be right and good instead of calling it evil. When this happens, the Father will also deny those who denied His Son. To be denied by God is the end for those who deny Jesus.

Let’s us pray that God never permits us to be away from him now and at any point in our lives. All praise and all thanksgiving to God for being our Father.

A blessed Sunday to everyone and Happy Father’s Day to all fathers.   

– Gospel reflection by Kuya Rommel Cecilio of SLRP Bible Apostolate Ministry

June 14, 2026Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary TimeLectionary: 91 – Gospel Reflection

June 14, 2026
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary TimeLectionary: 91
– Gospel Reflection

by | Jun 13, 2026 | Gospel Reflections

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 91

First Reading: Exodus 19:2-6a

In those days, the Israelites came to the desert of Sinai and pitched camp.

While Israel was encamped here in front of the mountain,

Moses went up the mountain to God.

Then the LORD called to him and said,

“Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob;

tell the Israelites:

You have seen for yourselves how I treated the Egyptians

and how I bore you up on eagle wings

and brought you here to myself. 

Therefore, if you hearken to my voice and keep my covenant,

you shall be my special possession,

dearer to me than all other people,

though all the earth is mine.

You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.”

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 100:1-2, 3, 5

R. (3c) We are his people: the sheep of his flock.

Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;

    serve the LORD with gladness;

    come before him with joyful song.

R. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.

Know that the LORD is God;

    he made us, his we are;

    his people, the flock he tends.

R. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.

The LORD is good:

    his kindness endures forever,

    and his faithfulness to all generations.

R. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.

Second Reading: Romans 5:6-11

Brothers and sisters:

Christ, while we were still helpless, 

yet died at the appointed time for the ungodly.

Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person,

though perhaps for a good person

one might even find courage to die.

But God proves his love for us

in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

How much more then, since we are now justified by his blood,

will we be saved through him from the wrath.

Indeed, if, while we were enemies,

we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son,

how much more, once reconciled,

will we be saved by his life.

Not only that,

but we also boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Alleluia: Mark 1:15

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

The kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent and believe in the Gospel. 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel: Matthew 9:36—10:8

At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them 

because they were troubled and abandoned,

like sheep without a shepherd.

Then he said to his disciples,

“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;

so ask the master of the harvest

to send out laborers for his harvest.”

Then he summoned his twelve disciples

and gave them authority over unclean spirits

to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness.

The names of the twelve apostles are these:

first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew;

James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John;

Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector;

James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus;

Simon from Cana, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.

Jesus sent out these twelve after instructing them thus,

“Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town.

Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’

Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons.

Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”

Reflection

We’re back to the season called Ordinary Time. However, there is nothing ordinary about salvation or anything which culminates in a soul getting closer to God by following His will. Such an issue does not follow seasons and is not bound by any time or period. Any day is a good day to start seeking God in one’s life. And when one becomes “right” with God or when one gets “closer” to God’s heart, the seasons in our faith’s liturgical calendar become rich with meaning and begin to offer clear historical perspective and theological depth. To be closer to God should be a lifetime mission for anyone who declares his love for God and is willing to dedicate his life to the mission of spreading the Gospel to the ends of the earth. One cannot do the latter without the former and vice-verse. Remember, to spread the Gospel to the ends of the world may be as mundane being a good member of the family or as significant as being God’s messenger like a bishop or Moses in the First Reading.

To be closer to God presumes that we value our salvation because in the end, that is all that matters. We are all called to work on our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12), not because Christ’s salvation is incomplete or sold at a price, thereby opening the opportunity for man to buy his way to heaven. We need to heed Saint Paul’s advice of working for our salvation with fear and trembling because the enemy is strong and cunning in his ways of snatching souls away from God. It is in this context that we need to be with God always, making sure that we never leave his side by falling away from grace. 

For most Catholic Christians, we are called to simply offer our daily life to God by doing the ordinary routine extraordinarily and with holy purpose so that doubters and unbelievers can see that Jesus is truly alive in us.

First Reading

In our First Reading, God gives a message to Moses to be heralded to the House of Jacob a.k.a. House of Israel: “…if you hearken to my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people, though all the earth is mine. You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.”

To be a people “close” to God’s heart, such a nation should listen to His voice (“hearken to my voice”) and obey Him (“keep my covenant”). These acts of listening and obeying God should not be your average daily item BUT must be the highlight that governs one’s very core of existence. The Word of God must be our principle concern in life but because we must do God’s will first and foremost. Nothing else should please us than to be pleasing to God. 

In the Old Testament, God’s voice has always been revealed directly or relayed through the prophets and holy persons who have been ordained to serve God and his people. These people acted like ambassadors for God and some of them had to go through tremendous suffering for God’s plan to be fulfilled. Some of them were not even from the House of Jacob. It is both a privilege and a responsibility to be a messenger from God. In the same way, being God’s chosen people is both a privilege and a responsibility. Keeping the Covenant with God is, in itself, a great responsibility because God’s will is to bring everyone into covenant relations with Him. God’s relationship with man has always been and will always be through forging covenants.

The verse quoted also emphasizes that it is listening that qualifies as a very important element in our relationship with God. In fact, listening is a great sustainer and fertilizer to any relationship either with God or with others. Our God is all-knowing. Therefore, it stands to reason that we must always take time to be still and ask the Lord to speak to our hearts. In our world of loud and ambient noise, from opinions and comments, we need to go off-the-grid and connect with God, and the more frequently we do this, the better it will be for us. Remember, God wills only our good because of His unconditional and limitless love for us. The more we do things using our own capabilities and the more we take God out from our decision making, the more we get into trouble. 

We must also remember that listening to God’s voice should be our inspiration to keep our Covenant obligations and be faithful to it. Keeping our Covenant relations with God is the “obeying” part of the equation. In other words, we listen to God and we obey what He tells us. This should be our daily agenda in life and everything should flow from this practice of listening and obeying Him who is Lord of all. For most people, they wouldn’t hear an audible sound of a voice coming from an unseen man. For most of us, we have already heard God’s voice in our hearts because it simply demands a very basic thing in life—that we love one another!   

Gospel

Today’s Gospel is about the call of the workers who labor in God’s vineyard. This is also the “obeying” part mentioned in the First Reading. As you well know, the whole world is God’s vineyard and the mission is to spread God’s Word to others, especially to those who have not yet heard or seen to glory of the Lord, so that they too may hear and be saved. The Gospel is also about praying to the God, who is the Master of the Harvest, for Him to send more workers to the vineyard.

It is true that the phrase “laborers working in the Lord’s vineyard” refers to priests. However, it is also refers to the laity and all baptized Christians who take to heart the command contained in the Great Commissioning in Matthew 28: “…make disciples of the all nations.” The “harvest” refers to all those who have not heard about Christ or those who have given up their discipleship.

What is at stake here is ‘the harvest’ or more importantly, ‘to secure and keep the harvest safe’. It is true that God is Almighty and He can secure the harvest on His own. But that would defeat the very purpose of Christianity as a faith community and family of the chosen people of God. 

Remember, the Church built by Jesus is the New Israel and we are it. Therefore, what was said in the First Reading applies to us, and that is ‘to hearken to God’s voice’ and keep the new and everlasting Covenant sealed with the blood of the Lamb. We are the new priestly Kingdom of God, and we are duty-bound to gather others and bring them closer to our Lord. Our constitution as a priestly clan was confirmed by St. Peter when he said: “…you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were no people but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10). 

As a priestly clan, we are called to mediate between our fellowman and God, and this is the reason why Jesus left behind His priests or those ordained to the sacerdotal life because Christianity is indeed about shepherding others closer to God. This is also the reason why our Lord Jesus calls us to pray to the Master of the Harvest for Him to send more workers to the vineyard. The harvest is abundant but the harvesters are few; there is so much work but there are only a few workers who can be tasked. Jesus’ solution is: “…ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”

The Easter Season may be over but we are still basking in the perpetual glory of Easter because Christ already defeated death. This is the Gospel worth preaching even if it takes one to climb the highest mountain and sail the seven seas. The pathway to life is already set and cleared for all mankind. What remains to do is to listening and to obey God Word, Jesus the Christ. It is imperative that we abide by Him and in Him who is the Vine. Our aim is for us to be the branches of the Vine and never be pruned away by the Master of the Harvest, left to dry and burned. Attached to Christ, we have life and we flourish. Detached from Christ, we wither away and die.

Second Reading

Today’s Second Reading is one of St. Paul’s masterpieces in explaining how Jesus paid for every sin committed before and after His death on the Cross, and how Adam and Eve’s fall from the Garden becomes an important reckoning point.

Man’s disobedience in the Garden not only made him sin against God and discovered what evil was, he also lost his preter-natural gifts of innocence and immortality. As a consequence, man became spiritually broken and vulnerable to committing sin, which even became a predilection for some. In other words, man’s brokenness puts him at odds with God. Some, by virtue to their continuing sin, are always at odds with God and this is NOT why God created man.

It is in this context that God rolls out his plan to save mankind and it is rooted in His unconditional love—that God decided to love man, a mere creature and elevate him to the status of child. This is no ordinary love. It is the kind which is described in Greek as “agape”, as differentiated from “phileo” (affectionate love), “storge” (familial, natural love) and “eros” (romantic, passionate love). It is divine love and the good news is that man possesses this capability of loving like God because we were created by Him who is love personified. It is a “whatever-it-takes” kind of love.      

The plan is for God to send us His only begotten Son: “Christ, while we were still helpless, yet died at the appointed time for the ungodly” (Rom 5:6). Jesus took on human flesh precisely to bridge the divine and the temporal orders in His person, so that He can give His life away, as expiation, to appease God and for man’s salvation. Man has been made right and justified by Christ and His death. God knew that man’s knowledge of evil and sin, a consequence from disobedience and fall from the Garden, would weaken his resolve towards good and would make him helpless against the forces of evil. Sin truly makes ungodly people out of some.   

Jesus, being God, knew that some will reject the Father and the Son and become unworthy of salvation and divine adoption. But He still offered His life to take away the sins of the world because it was the will of the Father that all be saved by believing in the Son (see John 6:40 & 1 Tim 2:4). Saint Paul declares how difficult it was for the Son of Man to die for mankind: “Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Rom 5:7-8). This only proves how much God loves man.  

“How much more then, since we are now justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath. Indeed, if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, once reconciled, will we be saved by his life” (Rom 5:9-10). God did everything just to reconcile us to Himself, even to the point of dying on the Cross for both the righteous and the sinners. Every single person, past-present-future, was and is justified because of Jesus. In other words, God has opened to us every single access there is available for us to reach heaven IF ONLY WE BELIEVE IN GOD AND IN JESUS WHOM HE SENT (see John 17:3). Believing in Christ means abiding in Him until the end of our earthly existence because after our earthly lives, we no longer need to believe, we only have to see God face-to-face and appreciate the glory of the Trinity.

A blessed Sunday to everyone.

– Gospel reflection by Kuya Rommel Cecilio of SLRP Bible Apostolate Ministry

June 7, 2026 – Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ – Gospel Reflection

June 7, 2026 – Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ – Gospel Reflection

by | Jun 7, 2026 | Gospel Reflections

June 7, 2026  

Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ 

Lectionary: 167 

 

First Reading: Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14b-16a 

 

Moses said to the people: 
“Remember how for forty years now the LORD, your God, 
has directed all your journeying in the desert, 
so as to test you by affliction 
and find out whether or not it was your intention 
to keep his commandments. 
He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger, 
and then fed you with manna, 
a food unknown to you and your fathers, 
in order to show you that not by bread alone does one live, 
but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD. 
 
“Do not forget the LORD, your God, 
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 
that place of slavery; 
who guided you through the vast and terrible desert 
with its saraph serpents and scorpions, 
its parched and waterless ground; 
who brought forth water for you from the flinty rock 
and fed you in the desert with manna, 
a food unknown to your fathers.” 

 

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20 

R.  (12) Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem; 
praise your God, O Zion. 
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates; 
he has blessed your children within you. 
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem. 
 

He has granted peace in your borders; 
with the best of wheat he fills you. 
He sends forth his command to the earth; 
swiftly runs his word! 
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem. 
 

He has proclaimed his word to Jacob, 
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel. 
He has not done thus for any other nation; 
his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia. 
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem. 
 

 

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 

 

Brothers and sisters: 
The cup of blessing that we bless, 
is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? 
The bread that we break, 
is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 
Because the loaf of bread is one, 
we, though many, are one body, 
for we all partake of the one loaf. 

 

 

Sequence — Lauda Sion 

 

Laud, O Zion, your salvation, 
Laud with hymns of exultation, 
Christ, your king and shepherd true: 
 
Bring him all the praise you know, 
He is more than you bestow. 
Never can you reach his due. 
 
Special theme for glad thanksgiving 
Is the quick’ning and the living 
Bread today before you set: 
 
From his hands of old partaken, 
As we know, by faith unshaken, 
Where the Twelve at supper met. 
 
Full and clear ring out your chanting, 
Joy nor sweetest grace be wanting, 
From your heart let praises burst: 
 
For today the feast is holden, 
When the institution olden 
Of that supper was rehearsed. 
 
Here the new law’s new oblation, 
By the new king’s revelation, 
Ends the form of ancient rite: 
 
Now the new the old effaces, 
Truth away the shadow chases, 
Light dispels the gloom of night. 
 
What he did at supper seated, 
Christ ordained to be repeated, 
His memorial ne’er to cease: 
 
And his rule for guidance taking, 
Bread and wine we hallow, making 
Thus our sacrifice of peace. 
 
This the truth each Christian learns, 
Bread into his flesh he turns, 
To his precious blood the wine: 
 
Sight has fail’d, nor thought conceives, 
But a dauntless faith believes, 
Resting on a pow’r divine. 
 
Here beneath these signs are hidden 
Priceless things to sense forbidden; 
Signs, not things are all we see: 
 
Blood is poured and flesh is broken, 
Yet in either wondrous token 
Christ entire we know to be. 
 
Whoso of this food partakes, 
Does not rend the Lord nor breaks; 
Christ is whole to all that taste: 
 
Thousands are, as one, receivers, 
One, as thousands of believers, 
Eats of him who cannot waste. 
 
Bad and good the feast are sharing, 
Of what divers dooms preparing, 
Endless death, or endless life. 
 
Life to these, to those damnation, 
See how like participation 
Is with unlike issues rife. 
 
When the sacrament is broken, 
Doubt not, but believe ’tis spoken, 
That each sever’d outward token 
doth the very whole contain. 
 
Nought the precious gift divides, 
Breaking but the sign betides 
Jesus still the same abides, 
still unbroken does remain. 
 
(The shorter form of the sequence begins here.) 
 
Lo! the angel’s food is given 
To the pilgrim who has striven; 
see the children’s bread from heaven, 
which on dogs may not be spent. 
 
Truth the ancient types fulfilling, 
Isaac bound, a victim willing, 
Paschal lamb, its lifeblood spilling, 
manna to the fathers sent. 
 
Very bread, good shepherd, tend us, 
Jesu, of your love befriend us, 
You refresh us, you defend us, 
Your eternal goodness send us 
In the land of life to see. 
 
You who all things can and know, 
Who on earth such food bestow, 
Grant us with your saints, though lowest, 
Where the heav’nly feast you show, 
Fellow heirs and guests to be. Amen. Alleluia. 

 

 

Alleluia: John 6:51 

 

R. Alleluia, alleluia. 
 

I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord; 
whoever eats this bread will live forever. 
R. Alleluia, alleluia. 

 

 

Gospel: John 6:51-58 

 

Jesus said to the Jewish crowds: 
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven; 
whoever eats this bread will live forever; 
and the bread that I will give 
is my flesh for the life of the world.” 
 
The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, 
“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 
Jesus said to them, 
“Amen, amen, I say to you, 
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, 
you do not have life within you. 
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood 
has eternal life, 
and I will raise him on the last day. 
For my flesh is true food, 
and my blood is true drink. 
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood 
remains in me and I in him. 
Just as the living Father sent me 
and I have life because of the Father, 
so also the one who feeds on me 
will have life because of me. 
This is the bread that came down from heaven. 
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, 
whoever eats this bread will live forever.” 

 

 

Reflection 

 

Like Easter Sunday, which is the birth of the Church by the Coming of the Holy Spirit, this Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ or Corpus Christi is also a feast of Holy Mother Church because it celebrates the Church’s constitution as the mystical Body of Christ (Ep 4: 11, 15 & 5:23: “…Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior”). 

 

Among man’s “bond and connection” with God, nothing could be more graphically rich than the image of being a member of the Body of Christ—which is the Church of Jesus, the Catholic Church. Christ is the Head of the Church and the Church is His Body and therefore, all those who enter the Church are bonded to God forever. This bond leaves an indelible mark upon those who enter the Church through baptism. However, a person marked with God’s seal may still lose his salvation through voluntary and willful rejection. 

 

Side Note: There are several reasons why we say “Amen” when we receive the sacred host, either at Mass or whenever it is offered to us like in hospitals run by Catholic religious groups. One of them is the fact that we declaratively and openly confirm that we are indeed members of the mystical Body of Christ and that the Jesus is our Lord and Savior. 

 

At Mass, the consecrated host is lifted up during the consecration and the epiclesis, not only for the whole congregation to see the host but for Jesus, who is truly present in the sacred host and who is one with His mystical body (which is the Church) is offered up and presented to His God and Father who wills that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of truth (see 1 Timothy 2:4).   

 

Please note that every Mass is a thanksgiving celebration of the Church to the Father through Jesus Christ, who incidentally and intentionally is both eternal high priest and victim. Today, we celebrate the Church’s constitution as the Body of Jesus and we the faithful are once again invited to ponder upon this dogma which says that we have become the mystical body of Jesus, our Lord and Savior, because such was already intended even before time only and through God’s mercy that we become so.   

 

Jesus didn’t need a mystical body because even before all creation, He was already God and was God who existed in simple perfection—without beginning and without end. By being incarnate, Jesus became true man and true God and the bridge to reconcile God with man by elevating the latter to the status of children in His mystical body. Jesus made this possible because it was the only means for mankind’s salvation. Jesus became flesh so that he could build His Church and give away His life to make the Church live forever. Our oneness with Jesus starts with our entry into the Church through our baptism and our stay is sustained by the Eucharist. Both baptism and the Eucharist are sacraments dispensed in the Church that Jesus built and nowhere else.  

 

With these premises, we can view here that the Church is a sacrament by itself and the means of mankind’s salvation because of its oneness with Christ. The Church is the congregation of the baptized who are both called to come inside and sent to go into the world and spread the Gospel. We are the Church and therefore we are the Body of Christ. Please take a little moment to reflect on this truth.  

 

 

The Mystical Body of Christ – The Church 

 

In his Letter to the Ephesians, Saint Paul clearly establishes the spousal relationship between Christ and his Church. This spousal relationship results in a mystical union where Christ is the head of his body which is the Church. In fact, the mystical union of Jesus and his bride is unmistakable when St. Paul puts forth this dogmatic principle in the backdrop of enjoining wives to subject themselves to the authority of their husbands, akin to the subordination of the Church to the head who is Jesus. St. Paul said:  

 

Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior. Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands. (Ephesians 5:22-24) 

 

Therefore, all those baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit become children of God because Christ himself built and married the Church. 

 

The Church is the Bride which Jesus will present to the Father in Heaven at the end of time (Rev 21: 9-26). We were created by God and destined us to be children of his kingdom. However, we become his children by adoption because of our membership in the Church. Saint Paul confirms this by saying: “He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved” (Ephesians 5: 5-6).  

 

This does not mean that the adoption bestowed upon us is subordinate or with inferior rights. Remember, God’s Kingdom existed merely as a consequence of His act of creating the Angels and human beings. There is no kingdom to talk about if there are no subjects or in this case, no children to constitute as heirs. Therefore, the Kingdom of God or Christ’s mystical body was never required until the Angels and human beings came to be. God’s existence is perfect and simple. He had no need to create angels and man. But because he did, His Kingdom of priests, of royal blood due to the cleansing blood of the Lamb, became necessary. It is in this context that we who are of His Kingdom should be so grateful to be part of.   

 

It also proves that God can only beget God. This is the reason why in the Nicene Creed, we say: “God from God, light from light, true God from true God. Begotten, not made; consubstantial with the Father.” The rules of human childbirth do not and cannot apply to God and it is when we try to analyze matters of the divine using human standards that we get confused.  

 

We are mere human beings created by God. But with baptism, we are elevated to children of God. God can only beget God, as human beings can only beget humans. Therefore, without our entry into the Church through baptism, we remain mere creatures. Because of our baptism, we have become children of God by adoption because Jesus and the Church have been mystically united. In other words, baptized Christians are married to Christ. And because we have become children of God, we too have become heirs of His kingdom like Jesus, the Angels and Saints in Heaven. 

 

 

The Bread of Life: “…not by bread alone does one live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD” (Deuteronomy 8:3, also in John 6:22-59). 

 

Allow us to start this by saying that Jesus is both the Word of God and the Bread of Life. In the Mass, we first listen to the Word of God to prepare ourselves to receive the Bread of Life in the Eucharist during communion. In other words, we first listen to Jesus so that we can have the proper disposition to receive Jesus in the Eucharist.  

 

Therefore, salvation and holiness in our lives must be all about absorbing, imbibing and living out every word that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD, which includes the command uttered at the Last Supper: “Take and eat, this is my body; take and drink, this is the cup of the Covenant in my blood. Do this in remembrance of me.” 

 

The words of our Lord in today’s Gospel, about eating his flesh and drinking his blood, cannot get any clearer than this: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink” (John 6:54-55). 

 

And in today’s Second Reading, St. Paul points to the reality that when we eat His flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, it is a communion of the Body of Christ because all who partake of the bread and drink from the cup are linked as brethren to brethren, through Jesus who is the Bread we all partake. From a spousal relationship necessarily came the expansion into a family communion because of the Eucharist. This is how significant the Mystical Body of Christ is and our incorporation into it means salvation, holiness and life as God wants it to be.  

 

 

Gospel 

 

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” (John 6:51) 

 

What do we normally do with bread? 

 

This is not a trick question. The answer, of course, is we eat it. In rare case, breads are photographed for ads. Stale bread even gets recycled into a different product like bread pudding, salads and other dishes. 

 

As to why Jesus chose bread to be associated with His flesh that we should eat is something only He knows. It is probably the familiarity and availability of it as a staple of many cultures and countries that our Lord decided as He did. 

 

The declaration is clear: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven…” Jesus is the living bread and His address is Heaven. If He says He’s the living bread, then he can be eaten or more accurately, he’s setting us up for a scenario that will eventually lead to the Last Supper and the Eucharist: “Take this all of you and eat it. This is my body which is given for you.”  

 

Then, the invitation: “whoever eats this bread will live forever”. Here, Jesus makes it an invitation to eat him, which must have sounded odd and cannibalistic to the people who heard it. But at the Last Supper, the invitation turns into a command to eat His flesh in the appearance of unleavened bread which was transformed into His flesh, because He has the power to do so and will it.   

 

Then comes: “the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world”. His flesh is the life of the world. Now, the invitation travels along the linear path of eating His flesh which results in everlasting life. His incarnation was meant for His Mystical Body as the sustaining life for those who believe that He is indeed the Bread of Life, which was meant to be broken, blessed, shared and eaten, so that the union between Jesus and His Church could be real and forever. 

 

The Mystical Body was purposefully willed by God because of His undying, unlimited and unconditional love for those He created in His own image and likeness – angels and human beings. Because of this, St. Paul said: “He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will…” (Ephesians 1:5). Let us always be thankful that we are part of Jesus’ Mystical Body. 

 

 

Second Reading: “We are what we eat.” 

 

There is a saying: “We are what we eat.” This may very well be applicable in reflecting on today’s feast of Corpus Christi because, as members of God’s family and the Body of Christ, we are called to eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ. This is the very reason why we are Catholics – we eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist; this is what differentiates us from the two other major monotheistic religions namely Islam and Judaism, and the other polytheistic religions and faiths.    

 

In the Eucharist, Christ is truly present in the transubstantiated bread and wine which, after consecration by the priest, has become the body and blood of Jesus. Partaking of the bread and wine means that we are one with our Lord and the entire Church. It is a communion of the Body of Christ because what we partake to Christ himself. To eat Christ is to be one with Him because He sealed the Covenant with His blood. 

 

 

The Body of Christ & The Bread of Life: A Postscript 

 

We reiterate that it is our baptism that incorporates us into the Body of Christ, thereby making us royal citizens of Heaven and heirs of the Kingdom. Saint Paul says: “As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.” “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (1Corinthians 12:20 & 27). To be baptized does carry with it lifetime consequences. Therefore, to be baptized in the “right” church is important.  

 

In the First Reading, God “purposely” starved the Israelites in the Sinai desert to test their resolve – whether or not they will stay faithful to Him even in want and deprivation of two (2) very basic human needs – food and water. When they experienced hunger, they didn’t hesitate to complain to God, instead of humbly begging for his mercy. God satisfied their complaining by sending ‘manna’ or the bread from heaven, as a foreshadowing of the arrival of the Bread of Life in the New Testament, all in fulfillment of the promised salvation in Jesus the Christ. The test was supposed to humble them to always seek God’s mercy and long for the ‘bread that comes from heaven’. Sadly, they failed the test like a spoiled, privileged and entitled child. There was still “too much Egypt” in the hearts of the Israelites. 

 

Remember that Corpus Christi, which is the Church and the individuals that make up the Church via baptism and the Eucharist might be different words with different meanings and significance, and may even appear as different concepts. But they are actually one and the same, like a man and woman are one in marriage, which is what the Mass and Eucharist are about. 

 

When Jesus built his Church through Peter, he became one with it by virtue of a real marital union. In other words, Jesus became one with us, with you and me. St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, Chapter 5: 23, reveals Christ spousal and covenantal relationship with his Church: “For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.” 

 

 

A blessed Corpus Christi Sunday to everyone. 

– Gospel reflection by Kuya Rommel Cecilio of SLRP Bible Apostolate Ministry