A Jesuit Adventure

  27 Sep Ezekiel 18:25-28 ; Philippians 2:1-11 ; Matthew 21:28-32   We all make promises, make mistakes, and sometimes even change our minds. On t he Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A , the readings remind us that what matters is not where we started, but whether we are willing to change and say “yes” to Him with our lives. The prophet Ezekiel speaks to the people of Israel during a very difficult time. They had been conquered, taken from their homes and were living in exile in Babylon. Many of them felt that they were suffering because of the sins of their ancestors. They used a proverb: “The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” In other words, “We are suffering because of what others did.” But God challenges this way of thinking. He tells them that each person is responsible for his or her own choices. A person who turns away from sin and begins to live rightly can have a new beginning. The past does not have to determine...

  20 Sep 2026 Isaiah 55:6-9 ; Philippians 1:20c-24, 27a ; Matthew 20:1-16a   My dear friends, today we celebrate the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A. Today, Jesus reminds us that God’s grace is not a reward we earn, but a gift of His generous and boundless love. The first reading taken from the prophet Isaiah comes in the context of Israel's experience of exile. The people had known suffering, displacement and the consequences of turning away from God. Yet God does not abandon them. Instead, He invites them to return, seek Him and receive His mercy. There is a sense of urgency in the reading. God’s invitation is being offered now. We can easily postpone prayer, forgiveness, conversion and reconciliation, telling ourselves, “I will do it later.” But grace calls us in the present moment. The prophet then says, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous his thoughts.” Conversion is not merely changing what we do; it also means allowing God to change th...

  13 Sept 2026 Sirach 27:30—28:7 ; Romans 14:7-9 , Matthew 18:21-35 My dear friends today we celebrate the Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A. The readings remind us that because we belong to Christ and have received God’s abundant mercy, we are called to forgive—not by forgetting the hurt, but by refusing to let it control our lives. The Book of Sirach was written by Jesus ben Sirach, a Jewish wisdom teacher in Jerusalem, probably in the early second century BC. He was concerned with helping people live faithfully in ordinary family and community life. This passage comes within his teaching about relationships, friendship, anger and the danger of allowing resentment to destroy our lives. Sirach warns us that anger can easily become something we hold on to. When we are hurt, we may feel that we have every right to remain angry. We replay the incident, remember the words spoken against us and sometimes even imagine how we might get revenge. But the longer we hold on to r...

  6 sep 2026 Ezekiel 33:7-9 ; Romans 13:8-10 ; Matthew 18:15-20   Christian love is more than being kind to people we like; it also means having the courage to correct, the humility to listen, and the grace to forgive. In the readings from the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A, Jesus teaches us how to deal with broken relationships—not by gossip or revenge, but through truth, love, forgiveness and prayer. Ezekiel lived during a painful period in Israel’s history. Jerusalem was under threat from Babylon, and many Israelites had already been taken into exile. In this situation, God gives Ezekiel a particular mission: “I have appointed you as watchman for the house of Israel.” A watchman stood on the city walls, watching for danger and sounding the trumpet when danger appeared. His responsibility was to warn the people; whether they listened or not was their responsibility. This image of the watchman speaks powerfully to us today. We are not responsible for changi...

  30 Aug 2026 Jeremiah 20:7-9 ; Romans 12:1-2 ; Matthew 16:21-27     My dear friends, all of us experience struggles, disappointments and moments when we feel like giving up. Today, on the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time year A, God invites us to see these crosses not as the end of our journey, but as opportunities to grow in faith, courage and love. Jeremiah lived during a very difficult period in Judah’s history, when Babylon was becoming a powerful threat and Jerusalem was facing a political and religious crisis. Jeremiah had been called by God to warn the people about their unfaithfulness and the coming destruction. Because his message was unpopular, he was mocked, beaten and even put in the stocks. In today’s passage, Jeremiah speaks his heart out to God.   He feels deceived, rejected and tired. He even thinks of giving up his prophetic ministry. But then he says that God’s word is “like a fire shut up in my bones.” He cannot keep it inside. The...

  23 aug Isaiah 22:19-23 , Romans 11:33-36 , Matthew 16:13-20   My dear friends today we celebrate the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A. Today's readings invite us to reflect on trust, servant leadership, and our personal relationship with Jesus. They challenge us not only to ask, “Who is Jesus?” but also to ask, “Who is Jesus for me, and who am I becoming because I know Him?” The first reading from the prophet Isaiah speaks about a change in leadership during a difficult period in the history of Judah. Jerusalem was under threat from the powerful Assyrian empire. Shebna was an important royal official, but he had become proud and concerned more about his own position and honour than about serving the people. God removes him and chooses Eliakim in his place. God calls him “my servant” and says that he will be “a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.” He is given “the key of the house of David”, a sign of authority and responsibility. God will also fasten him ...