26TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 1 / (Green)
Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Remember your mercies, O Lord.
1st Reading: Ez 18:25-28
But you say: Yahweh‘s way is not just! Why, Israel! Is my position wrong? Is it not rather that yours is wrong? If the righteous man turns from his righteous deeds, and sins, then he dies, because of his sins. And if the wicked man does what is good and right, after turning from the sins he committed, he will save his life. He will live and not die, because he has opened his eyes; and turned from the sins he had committed.
2nd Reading: Phil 2:1-11
If I may advise you, in the name of Christ, and if you can hear it, as the voice of love; if we share the same Spirit, and are capable of mercy and compassion, then I beg of you, make me very happy: have one love, one spirit, one feeling, do nothing through rivalry or vain conceit. On the contrary, let each of you gently consider the others, as more important than yourselves. Do not seek your own interest, but, rather, that of others. Your attitude should be the same as Jesus Christ had:
Though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking on the nature of a servant, made in human likeness, and, in his appearance, found, as a man,
He humbled himself by being obedient, to death, death on the cross.
That is why God exalted him and gave him the name which outshines all names, so, that, at the name of Jesus all knees should bend in heaven, on earth and among the dead, and all tongues proclaim, that Christ Jesus is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Gospel: Mt 21:28-32
Jesus went on to say, ”What do you think of this? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said to him, ‘Son, go and work today in my vineyard.‘ And the son answered, ‘I don‘t want to.‘ But later he thought better of it and went. Then the father went to his other son and said the same thing to him. This son replied, ‘I will go, sir,‘ but he did not go.
Which of the two did what the father wanted?” They answered, ”The first.” And Jesus said to them, ”Truly, I say to you: the publicans and the prostitutes are ahead of you on the way to the kingdom of heaven. For John came, to show you the way of goodness, and you did not believe him; but the publicans and the prostitutes did. You were witnesses of this, but you neither repented nor believed him.”
REFLECTION:
Read: God desires and honors the conversion of a sinner. His love for the sinful humanity impels God to the act of kenosis: emptying one‘s self and privileges as God to become like one of us. Jesus gives the parable of the two sons who had a conversion of heart – one towards obedience and the other, disobedience.
Reflect: Cultures across the world have myths relating to the story of killing the dragon or some wild beast. Often such dragon/beast is a symbol of one‘s own ego. Getting rid of one‘s self – ego – is a hard act. But it is easier when one is full of love for the other. It happens in genuine human love relationships: e.g., between mother and child, husband and wife. When one loves the other, the will of the other becomes a sweet command and one delights in realizing it. When we love God with all our being, we joyfully let God increase and our self decrease in us.
Pray: Like Mary, we shall pray: ”May it be done unto me according to your will.”
Act: Recite the Lord‘s Prayer.
Daily Reflection
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Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL
With permission from the EPISCOPAL COMMISION ON LITURGY of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
Readings and Reflections
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