July 17 Gospel Matthew 12:1-8 The Son of Man is master of the sabbath Jesus took a walk one sabbath day through the cornfields. His disciples were hungry and began to pick ears of corn and eat them. The Pharisees noticed it and said to him, ‘Look, your disciples are doing something that is forbidden on the sabbath.’ But he said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he and his followers were hungry – how he went into the house of God and how they ate the loaves of offering which neither he nor his followers were allowed to eat, but which were for the priests alone? Or again, have you not read in the Law that on the sabbath day the Temple priests break the sabbath without being blamed for it? Now here, I tell you, is something greater than the Temple. And if you had understood the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the blameless. For the Son of Man is master of the sabbath.’ Reflection Jesus redefines the Sabbath ...

July 16 Gospel Matthew 11:28-30 My yoke is easy and my burden light Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’ Short Reflection In today's Gospel, Jesus invites us to come to Him with all our worries, struggles, and burdens. He does not promise a life without challenges, but He promises His presence, peace, and strength. When we trust Him and learn from His gentle and humble heart, we find true rest for our souls. Instead of carrying our burdens alone, we are called to place them in His loving hands. Question for Reflection What burden am I carrying today that I need to surrender to Jesus? Short Prayer Lord Jesus, I come to You with all my worries and burdens. Teach me to trust in Your gentle and humble heart. Grant me Your peace and help me find rest in You. Amen.

July 15 Gospel Matthew 11:25-27 You have hidden these things from the wise and revealed them to little children Jesus exclaimed, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’ Reflection Jesus invites us to humbly approach the mysteries of God, recognizing that true wisdom often rests not in what we can prove or perform, but in openness, trust, and childlike dependence. The Father’s gracious revelation comes to those who become receptive, letting go of pride and simply receiving the gift of knowing the Son. In this space of vulnerably listening, we are drawn into relationship—into the intimate knowledge that morning by morning, we are named...

July 14 Gospel Matthew 11:20-24 It will not go as hard with Sodom on Judgement Day as with you Jesus began to reproach the towns in which most of his miracles had been worked, because they refused to repent.     ‘Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. And still, I tell you that it will not go as hard on Judgement day with Tyre and Sidon as with you. And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be exalted as high as heaven? You shall be thrown down to hell. For if the miracles done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been standing yet. And still, I tell you that it will not go as hard with the land of Sodom on Judgement day as with you.’ Reflection Jesus challenges the towns whose familiarity with his miracles bred complacency rather than repentance. Knowledge of grace is not enough if it does not transform our hearts. Chorazin,...

July 13 Gospel Matthew 10:34-11:1 It is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: ‘Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth: it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies will be those of his own household.     ‘Anyone who prefers father or mother to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who prefers son or daughter to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me. Anyone who finds his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.     ‘Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me; and those who welcome me welcome the one who sent me.     ‘Anyone who welcomes a prophet will have a prophet’s reward; and anyone who welcomes a holy man will have a holy man’s reward.    ...

July 11 Gospel Matthew 10:24-33 Everything now hidden will be made clear Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: ‘The disciple is not superior to his teacher, nor the slave to his master. It is enough for the disciple that he should grow to be like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, what will they not say of his household?     ‘Do not be afraid of them therefore. For everything that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the daylight; what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the housetops.     ‘Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell. Can you not buy two sparrows for a penny? And yet not one falls to the ground without your Father knowing. Why, every hair on your head has been counted. So there is no need to be afraid; you are...