Faith (2026-08-16, 20th Sunday)

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20^th Sunday in Ordinary Time — Year A Title: Lord, Save Me

1. She Saw Them — An Unexpected Lesson in a Waiting Room

Recently, I had an extended wait in a doctor’s office waiting room. And perhaps because I had nothing else to do, I began noticing what was happening around me.

An elderly gentleman came in by himself in a wheelchair. He needed to complete all those forms we are expected to complete now, much of it electronically, and it became apparent that he wasn’t going to be able to manage it on his own.

One of the employees came over and patiently went through everything with him—every question, every detail. She didn’t make him feel like a problem slowing down the office.

A little later, another elderly patient found herself unexpectedly needing another layer of clothing because of the climate control in the office. Again, someone went into the back and found clothing for her.

I remember thinking: Maybe this is simply a remarkably well-run doctor’s office. Maybe this employee was simply doing her job. But I had never seen anything quite like it.

And then I realized what impressed me.

She saw them.

They weren’t problems to be processed. They weren’t interruptions to the schedule. They were two people who, at that moment, needed someone to take them under her wing.

And I didn’t do any of it. I was just sitting there watching. But sometimes a stranger can teach us something about how to receive another stranger.

2. The Stranger Who Would Not Go Away — “Lord, Help Me”

Something like that happens in today’s Gospel.

A stranger appears—a Canaanite woman. She is an outsider, and to identify her as “Canaanite” carries some history. The peoples of Canaan and the people of Israel had known conflict and rivalry going back centuries. They had not simply lived side by side in harmony.

And that is hardly unique to them. Human beings have always found ways of remembering the boundaries, grievances, and differences that separate “us” from “them.”

This woman cries out to Jesus because her daughter is suffering. And the disciples say, in effect: Send her away.

Whatever their precise motives, their first response is revealing. They perceive a disturbance. An interruption. Someone they would like to make disappear.

But this woman will not disappear.

She calls Jesus “Lord.” She recognizes Him as the Son of David. Jesus is silent, but she continues. The disciples discourage her, but she continues. The encounter becomes more difficult, but she kneels before Him and reduces her entire prayer to three words:

“Lord, help me.”

3. When Jesus Seems Silent — The Faith That Keeps Trusting

And this is where I think we have to stay with this woman for a little while.

Because some of us know something about praying when Jesus seems silent.

We pray about someone we love. We pray about sickness. We pray about a family difficulty, a relationship, a decision we don’t know how to make. We ask God for something that seems good and reasonable.

And sometimes nothing seems to happen.

Sometimes silence can even be harder than hearing “no.” At least “no” sounds like an answer. Silence can leave us wondering:

Lord, are You listening? Do You see me?

The Canaanite woman keeps trusting.

When Jesus speaks the difficult words about the children’s bread and the dogs, she still does not walk away. She answers that even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.

She does not become resentful. She does not demand that Jesus act according to her timetable. She does not say, “If You really cared about me, You would have answered me already.”

She keeps trusting.

Saint John Chrysostom saw in this encounter not Jesus expressing contempt for the woman, but Jesus bringing into the open what was already within her: her humility, her perseverance, her confidence and her extraordinary faith.

And finally Jesus says:

“O woman, great is your faith!”

The person who begins the story as the outsider—the disturbance—is the person Jesus holds up as an example of faith.

The stranger becomes the teacher.

4. Faith Is Not Predicting the Outcome — It Is Trusting the Lord

That may also help us understand what Christian faith actually means.

Faith is not convincing ourselves that everything is going to work out exactly the way we want.

Sometimes when we are going through difficulty, somebody comes along and says, “It’s going to be okay.” And sometimes we really need to hear those words.

But I have noticed that when I am the one who needs to say them to somebody else, they don’t always come so easily. Maybe I don’t know that everything is going to be okay. Maybe I don’t know what I can do to make it okay.

The Canaanite woman does not say, “Everything is going to be okay.”

She says:

“Lord, help me.”

Christian hope is not a prediction that we control the outcome. Faith is trusting that Jesus remains Lord even when I do not understand His silence, His timing, or His way.

Sometimes our prayer therefore has to become:

Lord, I don’t understand what You are doing. I don’t know how this is going to turn out. But I am still here. I am still asking. And I am still trusting You.

5. A House for All Peoples — We All Live by Mercy

And this woman’s encounter with Jesus is part of something even larger.

Isaiah tells us today that God intends His house to become:

“a house of prayer for all peoples.”

The Canaanite woman is not simply an exception whom Jesus reluctantly allows inside. She points toward something God has been revealing all along: His plan of salvation is larger than the boundaries human beings construct.

And Saint Paul reminds us that none of us can approach another person from a position of spiritual superiority. All of us stand in need of God’s mercy.

No one enters the Kingdom by boasting about belonging. Everyone enters by mercy.

And once I recognize that I live by mercy—that Jesus has seen me in my need, heard my prayer, forgiven my sins, and received me—then perhaps I begin to see the person standing in front of me differently.

6. When We Turn Off the Ignition — Learning to See

And that brings us back to what happened in that doctor’s office.

Christian charity begins with seeing.

Think about how we drive. When we are behind the wheel, we are trained—and sometimes legally required—to notice the vulnerable person: the child near the roadway, the person struggling in a crosswalk, the disabled vehicle ahead.

We slow down because somebody needs our attention.

But what happens when we turn off the ignition and get out of the car?

Do we continue looking for the person who needs our attention when there is no traffic law requiring us to slow down?

The law can require us to slow down for someone who is vulnerable.

The Gospel asks for something deeper: a heart that has learned to notice.

And perhaps there is a connection between these two kinds of seeing.

When I discover that Christ sees me—even when I cannot see what He is doing—I can begin asking Him to give me His eyes for the people around me.

That employee in the doctor’s office noticed.

The disciples initially saw a disturbance.

Jesus saw faith.

And sometimes the stranger we are tempted to overlook may be the very person God uses to teach us something.

7. Our Prayer — Lord, Help Me

So perhaps we can take home today the prayer of this remarkable woman.

Three words:

“Lord, help me.”

Lord, help me when You seem silent.

Help me to trust that You still see me.

Help me to trust Your mercy when I cannot see the outcome.

And because I have received Your mercy, give me a heart that notices.

Lord, help me to see the person You have placed in front of me.

Stability. Walking on Water (2026-08-09, 19th Sunday)

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19th Sunday in Ordinary Time — Year A

1. Find the Fixed Point

Many years ago, I went sailing with a friend. I had been on his sailboat before, but that day his father warned me there would be three-to-six-foot swells.

I thought, “What could go wrong?”

Well, on a small sailboat, three-to-six-foot swells (wave height) are enough to make things pretty unstable. And I started getting seasick.

My friend taught me something. Your instinct might be to go below deck, but that can make things worse. Instead, if you can, stay above deck and focus on something stable on the horizon—an island, the shoreline, something that isn't moving.

And it actually helped.

Peter is surrounded by wind and waves. Everything around him is moving. But there is one fixed point in front of him:  Jesus. And Jesus says: “Come.”

2. Responding to “Come”

Peter comes.

Think about a crossing guard. When the crossing guard tells us, “Go ahead,” we trust the instruction. But we also expect the drivers around us to cooperate.

Peter gets no such guarantee.

Jesus says, “Come,” but the wind keeps blowing and the waves keep moving.

Sometimes following Christ is like that.

Christ may call us to forgive when we cannot control the other person's response. He may call us to admit we were wrong when we don't know what will happen afterward. He may call us simply to remain faithful when others are not.

We cannot control everything around us. We can respond when Christ says, “Come.”

Peter makes a decision—a resolution—to follow Christ.

But today's Gospel teaches us something important:

A good resolution is not enough by itself.

On that sailboat, I could have resolved, “I am not going to get seasick!” But determination alone wasn't enough. I needed something stable outside myself on which to focus.

Peter needs the same thing.

3. Listening Through the Wind

Peter begins by focusing on Jesus.

Then he notices the wind.

And he begins to sink.

Elijah experiences something similar in our first reading. There is a powerful wind, an earthquake, and fire. But God is not found in all that noise. Elijah encounters God in the tiny whispering sound.

That's a good question for us:

What am I listening to? Where is my focus?

Fear can be loud. Anger can be loud. Resentment can be loud. Distractions can be loud.

God's grace does not always mean that the wind disappears.

Sometimes grace helps us keep turning toward Christ while the wind is still blowing.

4. “Lord, Save Me”: Grace and Cooperation

When Peter begins to sink, he doesn't say, “Lord, I walked seven steps successfully. I deserve another chance.”

He says:

“Lord, save me!”

And immediately Jesus reaches out his hand.

That's grace.

Grace is God's help enabling us to respond to him in the middle of the struggle.

Grace can be God prompting us to pause before an angry response—and we cooperate with that grace when we pause.

Grace can be God reminding us of the humility to apologize after we fail—and we cooperate when we make the apology.

Grace can be God awakening in us the courage to begin again when we are discouraged—and we cooperate when we take that next step.

Grace comes from God. We receive God's help, and we cooperate with it.

Peter still has to step out of the boat. We still have to forgive, apologize, pray, and begin again.

But we don't do it by our strength alone.

5. Allowing Christ to Reach Us

This also gives us a way to understand Confession.

Sometimes after we fail, we think we have to earn our way back to God.

But Peter doesn't save himself by walking better.

Jesus reaches out his hand.

Confession is one place where we can say with Peter:

“Lord, save me.”

We tell the truth about our sins, receive absolution, and allow Christ to reach toward us through the sacramental ministry of the Church.

The priest needs mercy too. The power of the sacrament doesn't come from the priest's personal holiness.

It comes from Christ.

6. Grace Can Change Us

And sometimes what makes us unstable isn't wind or water. It's another person.

One of my mentors once gave me a simple spiritual practice when I was complaining about someone.

He said: write the person's name—or just the initials—on a piece of paper and put it in your wallet. Whenever you see it, let it remind you to pray for that person.

I've done that more than once.

And one time, several weeks later, I pulled out that piece of paper, looked at the name and thought:

“I forgot why I'm mad at you.”

The other person hadn't necessarily changed.

But something had changed in me.

We cannot manufacture another person's conversion. We cannot control another person's heart.

But we can pray for them. We can place them in God's hands. And when God gives us the grace to become more patient, more forgiving, or less resentful, we can cooperate with that grace.

7. Keep Your Eyes on Christ

So perhaps the resolution today isn't simply:

“I will try harder.”

Maybe it is:

Lord, help me keep my eyes on you.
When you say, “Come,” help me respond.
When the wind is blowing, give me grace.
When I begin to sink, save me.
And when other people make life unstable, help me place them in your hands.

The wind will not always stop.

Other people will not always cooperate.

Our own resolutions will sometimes fail.

But there is still a fixed point.

Our resolutions matter.
Our response matters.
Our cooperation with God's grace matters.

But grace comes first.

And when everything else seems to be moving, keep your eyes on Christ.

Because ultimately, it is Christ who saves.

Crowded. Seen (2026-08-02, Sunday - 18th)

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 [18^th Sunday, ver 02] llIsaiah 55:1-3,  ll Psalm 145, ll Romans 8:35, 37-39 ll  Matthew 14:13-21.   ll

Seeing the Crowd and Seeing the Person

1. Keeping Track in a Crowd

If you've ever been in a large crowd, you know it can be challenging to keep track of people and where we are. We try to keep track of our family members, our friends, where we parked the car, or where we're supposed to meet afterward. Someone once told me he almost lost his wallet in a large crowd, though thankfully someone found it and returned it with everything still inside. I wore out my voice this weekend at a family reunion after spending hours talking with relatives I hadn't seen in quite a while—that's one reason I sound like this today.

But there is something even more important that can be difficult to keep track of in a crowd.

We can lose sight of the people around us.

Today's Gospel is the familiar miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. We know how the story ends: everyone is fed, everyone is satisfied, and twelve baskets of fragments are left over. But before the miracle begins, St. Matthew tells us something very important. Jesus sees the crowd, and His heart is moved with compassion.

The disciples see a problem.

Jesus sees people.

2. What Overwhelms Us Does Not Overwhelm Jesus

The disciples have a practical solution. "Send the crowds away," they say. Let them find food somewhere else.

Jesus answers, "There is no need for them to go away. Give them some food yourselves."

That response is just as challenging today.

When one person we know is struggling, we often know what to do. We can visit, make a phone call, prepare a meal, offer encouragement, or simply listen.

But when we hear about war, famine, poverty, natural disasters, families displaced from their homes, or communities suffering in ways we can hardly imagine, the need can seem so enormous that we don't know where to begin.

There is almost an inverse relationship. Sometimes the greater the need becomes, the harder it is for us to focus on it.

But what overwhelms us does not overwhelm Jesus.

He sees the crowd, yet He never loses sight of the individual person within it.

3. One Person in the Waiting Room

Many years ago, my mother was scheduled for back surgery at a large hospital in New York City. The surgery kept being delayed, hour after hour, and as a family we became increasingly anxious. We simply wanted to know that everything would be all right.

Finally, the surgery took place, and later that evening the surgeon called with good news. Everything had gone well.

A few minutes later, a woman walked across the waiting room and came over to us.

She had heard us speaking with the doctor. She said, "My husband was brought into this hospital, and I don't know where he is. I don't know what's happening to him. Can you help me find some information?"

We really didn't know how to help her.

But she changed our perspective.

Our own worry had been real. Our concern had been genuine. But suddenly we realized that we were not the only family carrying fear in that waiting room.

She reminded us that every crowd is made up of individual people whom God loves.

I still remember her, and I still pray for her from time to time.

4. God Invites Everyone—and Calls Each One

The first reading from Isaiah begins with one of the most beautiful invitations in all of Scripture:

"All you who are thirsty, come to the water."

The invitation is for everyone. But thirst is always experienced personally. God calls the whole crowd, yet He speaks to each individual heart: "Come."

The Psalm says, "The eyes of all look hopefully to you, and you give them their food in due season."

God sees the eyes of all, yet He also knows the hunger of each.

That is how Jesus looks upon the crowd in today's Gospel.

As His disciples, we are learning to see with His eyes.

We are called to notice the person right in front of us—the lonely neighbor, the struggling family member, the coworker carrying a hidden burden, the person quietly waiting for someone to notice them.

At the same time, we are not called to forget the larger crowd of people we may never meet but who are never forgotten by God.

5. "What Do You Have?"

Jesus never asks the disciples to solve every problem.

He simply asks them to bring what they have.

Five loaves.

Two fish.

It seems like almost nothing.

Yet placed into the hands of Christ, it becomes more than enough.

The same question comes to us.

"What do you have?"

Perhaps it is an hour of your time.

A phone call.

A visit.

A prayer.

A donation.

Food for a parish collection.

A word of encouragement.

A willingness to forgive.

None of these may seem very large.

But the Gospel reminds us that we are not called to do everything.

Neither are we allowed to conclude that, because we cannot do everything, we can do nothing.

Christ asks only that we place our small offering into His hands.

6. Fed by Christ, Sent by Christ

The miracle of the loaves also points us toward the Eucharist.

Jesus takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to the disciples. The disciples then distribute it to the people.

Each Sunday we receive that same Lord in the Eucharist.

Before coming to the Lord's table, we ask Him to heal what is divided within us. Just as we ordinarily hope to settle disagreements before sitting down together for a family meal, we come to confession so that Christ may heal the divisions that sin creates between ourselves and God and between ourselves and our neighbor—even when complete reconciliation with another person may still take time.

Then, strengthened by His grace, we are sent into the world to make His compassion visible in our words and actions.

7. The Love That Never Runs Out

St. Paul reminds us today that neither hardship, nor distress, nor famine, nor danger—indeed, nothing in all creation—can separate us from the love of Christ.

That is why Jesus can look upon the crowd with such confidence.

That is why we never lose hope.

And that is why the Gospel ends, not with scarcity, but with abundance.

Everyone eats.

Everyone is satisfied.

And twelve baskets are left over.

God's compassion is never barely enough.

His mercy overflows.

We may see only five loaves and two fish.

Jesus sees the beginning of a gift.

We may see an anonymous crowd.

Jesus sees every single person.

May He teach us to see as He sees: to love the crowd without losing sight of the individual, and to care for each individual without forgetting the needs of the wider world.

Precious (2026-07-26, Sunday 17th)

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 [17^th Sunday, ver 6] ll 1 Kings  3:5, 7-12    ll Psalm 119 ll Romans 8:28-30 ll Matthew 13:44-52 ll

1. Solomon's First Request: An Understanding Heart

Imagine this. You receive this question from God:

"Ask for anything you want, and I will give it to you."

You would be in a situation similar to King Solomon, who receives exactly that question from God: "Ask for anything you want, and I will give it to you."

What would you answer?

You might answer, and I might answer, "Good health," or freedom, or healing from some injury or illness, or peace and forgiveness in our families. You might even ask for the winning Powerball numbers at the next drawing—for financial security.

All of those are good things.

But they are not what the young King Solomon asks for.

Solomon asks for an understanding heart to distinguish right from wrong. He asks for wisdom. Biblically, Solomon is closely associated with wisdom. One of the books of the Old Testament is even called the Wisdom of Solomon.

But is wisdom simply a one-time lightning bolt—a download from the hard drive of heaven into our heads? Is that what wisdom is?

Actually, no.

At this point in his life Solomon demonstrates great wisdom. But later, as he grows older, he makes many poor choices and ends his life in a rather scandalous way. That reminds us that wisdom is not something we receive once and possess forever.

Wisdom is a continual journey of turning back to God, praying for wisdom, asking Him to help us recognize what is right, and discerning right from wrong even in the midst of life's difficulties.

Saint Paul summarizes this beautifully with his famous words:

"All things work together for those who love God and are called according to His purpose."

That, too, is wisdom.

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2. The Treasure Must First Be Recognized

Jesus continues this same lesson in today's Gospel with His parables about the treasure hidden in a field and the pearl of great price.

A man discovers a treasure buried in a field. He goes and sells everything he has in order to buy that field.

Notice what happens.

He doesn't sacrifice first.

He first recognizes what is valuable.

That is the journey for you and me as well.

Before we can give our lives to what is truly important, we first have to recognize what is truly important.

We need God's wisdom and God's grace to recognize what is truly valuable, because sometimes what is most valuable can seem hidden beneath what appears ordinary or superficial.

Right now there is actually a field being sold off.

Have you heard about this?

It is the World Cup soccer field from MetLife Stadium. You can buy a small piece of that field—about this big—for roughly three thousand dollars.

What are people really buying?

Not grass.

They are buying what that piece of grass represents.

It is a souvenir.

It reminds them of something they value.

But the Gospel reminds us that there is something far more valuable than any souvenir.

The greatest treasure is the human person.

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3. The Family Table Reveals the Real Treasure

One place where this comes into focus is around the family table at Christmas or Thanksgiving.

Usually there are three generations gathered together: the older generation, the middle generation, and the younger generation.

Who does most of the work?

Usually it is the middle generation.

They do the shopping.

They do the cooking.

They do the cleaning.

They prepare everything so everyone else can be there.

Those who are older and can no longer shop or cook are still invited.

Those who are younger and cannot help with those things are still invited.

We treasure having children around the table because they help us see Christmas through new eyes.

When I was growing up, my grandparents often didn't say very much during those family dinners.

But my parents taught us to wait for them to speak.

We listened for their words of remembrance.

Their words of thanksgiving.

Their words of wisdom.

Their presence itself was part of the treasure.

They were, in a sense, the pearl of great price.

That pearl of great price invites us to see the whole person.

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4. Seeing the Human Person Through God's Eyes

Pope Saint John Paul II taught something called the Theology of the Body. He reminded us that every human person is a unity of body and soul. We are not simply bodies that happen to have souls, nor souls that happen to have bodies. We are whole persons, created in the image and likeness of God.

This also helps us understand the Catholic Church's teaching on marriage and family. The Church teaches that husband and wife are called to give themselves to one another completely. Contraception intentionally withholds one part of that complete gift—our openness to the possibility of new life. That is why the Church encourages Natural Family Planning instead, because it respects both the unity of husband and wife and God's gift of procreation and the bearing of children.

Don't you want to be loved as a whole person?

Don't you want to be seen not merely for what you can do, but for who you are?

That is exactly how Christ sees us.

Saint Paul writes elsewhere:

"Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face."

He is describing what it will mean to be seen fully in heaven.

But we also long to be seen fully here—in our marriages, in our families, and here in our parish.

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5. Christ Has Already Found His Treasure

Jesus invites us to begin living that way today.

He reminds us that we are His treasure.

Saint Paul writes elsewhere that "you were bought at a price."

The price was His own Body and Blood.

We are His treasure.

And we are invited to share in the joy of His Kingdom by praying for wisdom every day.

Wisdom is not a one-time download.

It is a lifelong journey of turning back to God each day, asking Him to help us recognize what is truly priceless, so that one day we may inherit the joy of His Kingdom. 

Life. Eternal Life (2026-07-19, 16th Sunday)

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16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)  

ll  Wisdom 12;13,16-19 ll Psalm 86 ll Romans 8:26-27 ll Matthew 13:24-43 llThe Beautiful Life

1. A Compassionate Principal

Being prepared is part of the message of today's Gospel.

When I was in second grade, I noticed that one of my classmates had not been promoted to the next grade. Curious, I embarrassed my mother by walking up to the school principal in the parking lot and asking, in front of everyone, why my classmate had been left behind.

I don't even remember asking the question. But my mother remembered the principal's answer for the rest of her life.

He explained that the boy was not being punished. He simply needed more time to learn. They wanted to help him grow. He was going to be all right, and all of us would continue growing together.

That conversation has stayed with me because it reminds me of the way God deals with us.

God's patience is not weakness.

God's patience is mercy.

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2. God's Patience Is Mercy

In today's Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the wheat and the weeds.

The servants ask the master, "Do you want us to pull up the weeds?"

He answers, "No. If you pull up the weeds now, you may uproot the wheat as well. Let them grow together until the harvest."

Jesus is not telling us to ignore the difference between good and evil. We must recognize what is right and what is wrong. But we leave the final judgment of persons to God.

The Gospel also reminds us that good and evil are not only around us—they are struggles that exist within each of us.

Yet God does not give up on us.

He gives us another today.

Another day to pray.

Another day to forgive.

Another day to repent.

Another day to begin again.

That is why the Sacrament of Reconciliation is such a gift. Confession is one of God's greatest ways of helping us begin again. We receive His forgiveness so that we, in turn, may become more ready to forgive those who have sinned against us.

Every sunrise is another sign of God's patient mercy.

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3. The Harvest Will Come

For the people listening to Jesus, the harvest was the most important time of the year.

That raises an important question.

What is the most important day of your life?

You might answer: the day you were baptized, the day you were married, the day you began a new career, or the day your children were born.

Those are wonderful blessings.

But the most important day of your life has not happened yet.

It is the day you will meet Jesus Christ.

That truth is not meant to frighten us. Rather, it reminds us that every day matters because every day prepares us for that meeting.

God patiently gives us time because He desires to gather us into His Kingdom.

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4. Sunday: God's Holy Interruption

How do we prepare for that day?

Not by our own strength alone, but by God's grace.

One of the great gifts of Sunday is that God lovingly interrupts our routine.

Sometimes we need a disruption in order to focus again on what is truly right and good.

For one hour each week, we step away from work, entertainment, news, social media, and countless distractions that compete for our attention.

Notice what we are doing right now.

We are praying together.

We have willingly set aside food and drink for this hour, along with many other distractions, so that our attention can belong more fully to God.

Many of us will also place our gifts in today's collection.

Prayer, self-denial, and generosity all come together in the Eucharist.

This weekly "holy interruption" is not meant to burden us. It is one of God's greatest gifts. Week after week, God patiently forms us into the people He created us to become.

And that prepares us to live what has often been called the beautiful life.

5. The Beautiful Game

Many people this afternoon will be watching the championship match of the FIFA Club World Cup. Soccer is often called "the beautiful game."

The game is not beautiful simply because talented athletes are running around the field. It is beautiful because they have learned to play together. They have disciplined themselves. They know when to pass, when to defend, when to sacrifice for a teammate. They use their minds, their bodies, and their gifts in harmony toward a common goal.

The Christian life is also meant to become beautiful.

Jesus teaches us how to use our minds, our hearts, our words, and our actions for what is good. He gives us His grace so that little by little we learn to live as His disciples. Holiness is not something that happens all at once. It is something God patiently forms within us over time.

6. Ordinary Faithfulness Prepares Extraordinary Love

St. John Henry Newman once wrote that holiness grows through ordinary faithfulness: beginning each day with God, praying faithfully, examining our conscience, doing well the ordinary duties of life, and asking God's grace to persevere. Then he concludes with these surprising words: "And you are already perfect."

He does not mean that we are without sin. He means that when we are sincerely walking with Christ, God is already at work completing the good He has begun in us.

That ordinary faithfulness takes many simple forms.

It is preparing a meal for someone who needs one.

It is taking a neighbor or a family member to a doctor's appointment.

It is checking on a friend who is lonely.

It is making a phone call, offering encouragement, forgiving someone who has hurt us, or quietly doing our daily responsibilities with love.

These moments may seem small, but they are never wasted. Every ordinary act of charity is another way God prepares us for the greatest day of our lives.

7. Daniel Anderl: A Life Prepared

A few years ago, our own state of New Jersey witnessed a tragic but inspiring example of this.

Federal Judge Esther Salas answered the door of her home when a man disguised as a delivery driver came intending to harm - to take her life. Her twenty-year-old son, Daniel Anderl, stepped between the attacker and his parents. He gave his own life protecting both his mother and his father.

It was an extraordinary act of courage.

Today his cause for canonization is being opened by the Diocese of Metuchen—not simply because of one heroic moment, but because that moment grew out of an ordinary life of faith. He had been formed by his family, his parish, his Catholic education, and his relationship with Christ. Long before that final day, God had been preparing him.

What also moved many people afterward was the response of his parents. Instead of allowing hatred to consume them, they publicly spoke about forgiveness. They entrusted justice to God while refusing to let bitterness have the final word.

Heroic love and heroic forgiveness do not appear suddenly. They grow from years of ordinary faithfulness and from hearts that have learned to trust God's grace.

8. Become the Wheat God Has Planted

That brings us back to today's Gospel.

Jesus does not ask us to spend our lives worrying about the weeds.

He asks us to become the wheat.

Every time we pray...

Every time we come to Mass...

Every time we forgive...

Every time we repent...

Every time we perform an ordinary act of charity...

God is patiently preparing us for the harvest.

So today let us ask the Lord for that grace.

May He help us become the wheat He has planted.

May He help us forgive those who have trespassed against us.

May He give us the humility to repent of our own sins and the courage to begin again.

And may He continue forming each one of us—along with those we love—into faithful disciples, so that when the day comes for us to meet Jesus Christ face to face, He may gather us with joy into His eternal Kingdom.

And I ask you, please pray for me, as I am also called to pray for you.

Seed and Soil (2026-07-12, 15th Sunday)

🎧 [Listen to  Homily: Audio]    

📺 [Watch Mass: YouTube Video]

[Readings:    15^th  Sunday (Year A)  ●● Isaiah 55:10-11  ● Psalm 65  ●  Romans 8:18-23 ● + Matthew 13:1-23  ● ●]

Preparing the Soil of Our Hearts

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

Isaiah 55:10-11 • Romans 8:18-23 • Matthew 13:1-23

1. From Last Week's Burden to This Week's Soil

Last Sunday, Jesus gave us one of the most comforting invitations in all of Scripture:

"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest."

Every one of us carries a burden. Some carry illness. Some care for aging parents. Some worry about children, finances, relationships, or an uncertain future. Jesus never promises that those burdens will disappear overnight, but He does promise that we never carry them alone.

Last week, Jesus spoke about the burden—the yoke—carried by a disciple.

This week, He speaks about the soil that represents you and me.

The connection is important.

If Christ helps us carry our burdens, today's Gospel asks another question:

What kind of soil am I becoming?

2. God's Word Never Stops Speaking

The prophet Isaiah gives us the answer before Jesus even tells the parable.

Isaiah says that God's Word is like the rain and snow that come down from heaven. They land upon the earth, make it fruitful, and accomplish God's purpose. So does God's Word.

The seed is good.

God never stops speaking.

He speaks through Sacred Scripture, through the quiet voice of conscience, through faithful people around us, and through the ordinary events of daily life.

God's Word comes down from heaven to the earth so that, bearing fruit in our lives, it may lead us back to Him.

The question is not whether God is speaking.

The question is whether I am listening.

Have I turned down the other voices in my life so that I can turn God up?

God is the perfect visitor.

He does not “land on us” with force. He never forces His way into our lives.

He respects our freedom.

Remember what Jesus says in the Book of Revelation:

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me." (Revelation 3:20)

God knocks.

He waits.

He invites.

But He never breaks the door down.

He asks us to welcome Him so that His Word may bear fruit in us.

3. Preparing the Soil

Anyone who has ever planted a garden knows that good soil doesn't happen by accident.

Stones have to be removed.

Weeds have to be pulled.

The ground has to be cultivated.

The same is true of the spiritual life.

Prayer prepares the soil.

Listening prepares the soil.

Repentance prepares the soil.

Forgiveness prepares the soil.

Acts of charity prepare the soil.

Growth usually isn't dramatic.

No one sits outside watching the grass grow.

Yet every day it grows.

So does the spiritual life.

You're doing that right now.

We don't come to Mass simply to hear God's Word for one hour each week.

We come here to prepare our hearts to hear God's Word at the dinner table, in our workplaces, in conversations with family and friends, in the quiet of our conscience, and in the ordinary moments of every day.

Forgiveness is part of preparing that soil.

When we forgive someone who has hurt us, it doesn't mean we approve of what happened.

It means we stop allowing yesterday's wounds to keep tomorrow's grace from taking root.

4. Looking Beyond Place, Price, and Privacy

Jesus' image of soil naturally makes us think about land.

And land makes us think about home.

Many of us have worked very hard to own a home, care for a home, or perhaps dream of owning one someday.

Our homes teach us important lessons.

But Jesus invites us to think beyond them.

Place

This summer, some of us will travel to a different home—or perhaps to what we call a "home away from home."

One temptation is to think, "I'm away from home. I'll skip Mass this weekend."

Instead, one of the easiest Google searches you can make is:

"Catholic Mass near me."

The search results remind us that Christ is already waiting there.

The same Eucharist is celebrated throughout the world.

God's presence is not confined to one church building or one place.

Every faithful Mass prepares us for our true homeland—the Father's Kingdom.

Price

Owning a home also makes us think about value.

"What is my home worth today?"

"What will it be worth in five years? Ten years? Twenty years?"

Jesus asks a different question.

What is your soul worth?

Your dignity as a son or daughter of God does not rise or fall with your appearance, your health, your finances, your résumé, or your accomplishments.

From the first moment of your existence, you were created in God's image.

You have been redeemed by the Blood of Christ.

Your dignity has always been, and always will be, immeasurable.

Privacy

Home also reminds us of privacy.

"My house."

"My family."

"My room."

Our relationship with Christ is deeply personal.

But it is never merely private.

We are baptized into one Body.

We carry one another's burdens.

Before Mass ends today, pray for someone you know.

Pray for someone you don't know.

Pray for the person sitting beside you, in front of you, or behind you.

Perhaps he or she is carrying a cross you cannot see.

God knows.

And He invites us to carry one another in prayer.

5. Temporary Turf or Lasting Soil?

This summer, MetLife Stadium is hosting FIFA World Cup matches.

For those games, real grass has been brought into a stadium that normally doesn't have a natural grass field.

It's real grass.

It's real soil.

But it's only temporary.

When the tournament is over, it will all be removed.

Jesus isn't looking for temporary turf.

He's looking for hearts where His Word can put down deep roots and remain for a lifetime.

6. Jesus Is Still the Gardener

There is one more gardening image that has always fascinated me.

On Easter morning, Mary Magdalene mistook the risen Jesus for the gardener.

In one sense she was mistaken.

But in another sense, she was exactly right.

From the Garden of Eden to the Garden of the Resurrection, God has always been cultivating life.

Jesus is still the Gardener.

He removes the stones that harden our hearts.

He pulls away the weeds that choke our faith.

He patiently cultivates every life that is willing to receive Him.

As St. Paul reminds us today, all creation is still groaning, waiting for God's work to be completed.

Sometimes our own spiritual lives feel that way.

We are still growing.

The Gardener has not finished His work.

7. Preparing for Our True Home

Perhaps today's question is not simply,

"Which kind of soil am I?"

Perhaps the better question is,

"What is Jesus trying to cultivate in me today?"

Isaiah assures us that God's Word never returns empty.

Jesus promises that good soil bears abundant fruit.

If we allow Christ to cultivate the soil of our hearts, His Word will bear fruit in our lives—thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold.

Then, after our pilgrimage through this world, the Lord will bring us home.

Not merely to a promised land on a map.

But to our true home:

the Father's Kingdom,

where every burden will be lifted,

every tear wiped away,

and every seed faithfully planted in this life will be gathered into His eternal harvest.