The Word of God as a Light

  Sunday, 28 June, 2026 From the First Reading of the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A (2 Kings 4:8–16) "One day Elisha went on to Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to eat some food. So whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat food." (2 Kings 4:8) This verse opens today's first reading. We hear of a wealthy woman who urged Elisha to eat some food, and from there, something beautiful gradually became habitual: whenever Elisha passed that way, he would stop to eat. I still remember having a similar experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. One Sunday, a friend insisted that I stay and eat. That simple invitation marked the beginning of one of the best friendships I have ever known. I continue to thank God for him and his family, whose genuine love and hospitality remain unforgettable. May the Lord continue to grant him eternal rest. Back to today's reading and what the text gradually reveals to us. At first glance, one c...

Monday, June 15, 2026 From the Gospel Reading of Monday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time (Matthew 5:38–42) "If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles." (Matt. 5:41) The normal instinct is to resist this instruction of Jesus. We do so because we often cannot see the larger picture. Without the illumination that comes from the Lord, we may fail to discern when God is coming to us in a disguised form, through situations we would not naturally choose. The instruction of Jesus to go the extra mile must also be read together with his earlier call not to retaliate against the evil person (cf. Matt. 5:38–39). At first hearing, this may seem to blur the boundaries of justice. But in truth, it reveals how limited our own capacity for judgment is. We often do not see the full story behind the actions of others. The person who has done wrong may already have begun the journey toward conversion and reparation, however slowly. Such a person may need not only correctio...

  Sunday, 14 June, 2026. From the Gospel of the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Matthew 9:36–10:8) "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd" (Matt. 9:36). Celebrating St. Barnabas last Thursday, we reflected on this Gospel and reminded ourselves that it is now our turn. The word of God, as we were saying yesterday, is always alive. Each time we come to it, we should come with a disposition to receive something new. I actually shared a reflection on this same verse in a video which I will still share here. There, the focus was more on how, due to lack of proper vision and compassion, we sometimes end up rendering the sheep the Lord has entrusted to us harassed and helpless. Today, however, I would like us to look at this passage from another perspective. I would like to remind us that we can become instruments through whom God brings healing and peace to this wounded world. How? We need...

  Saturday 13 June From the Gospel of Saturday, June 13, 2026, Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Luke 2:41–51). "And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart" (Lk 2:51b). We ended our reflection yesterday praying that we may allow the Lord to penetrate and pierce our own hearts with His healing truth and love. It is not the first time that our evangelist tells us of Mary conserving and treasuring things in her heart. After the visit of the shepherds, we read that Mary "treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart" (Lk 2:19). There she was reflecting on all that the shepherds had said about the child. In our Gospel today, after the losing and finding of the child Jesus in the Temple, Jesus responded in such a way that the evangelist tells us that Mary and Joseph "did not understand the saying which he spoke to them" (v. 50). Yet immediately afterwards we read: "His mother treasured up all ...

  Friday 12 June, 2026 From the Gospel of Friday 12 June, 2026, Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Matthew 11:25–30). "Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls" (Matt. 11:29). Who doesn't want serenity, happiness, peace, rest? Who doesn't want freedom from yokes? Who doesn't truly want lasting joy? Who doesn't want a good life? However, since we are mysterious (and perhaps complicated) beings, we can even become confused about what we truly want. I have encountered people who told me—regarding some actions they took in the past—that they were confused and therefore never knew what was truly good for them. Amidst the confusion, and especially the many distractions in which we can find ourselves, we can begin from somewhere: by attempting to listen within and to be silent. This is because it is possible for us to be living in bondage and still be entangling, ruining, and destro...

  Thursday, June 11, 2026 From the Gospel of Thursday, June 11, 2026, Memorial of Saint Barnabas, Apostle (Matthew 10:7–13). "As you go, proclaim the good news, 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.'" (Matt. 10:7) Before the APC presidential primaries of 2022, in Abeokuta, the current President of Nigeria publicly declared his intention to run for office using the famous Yoruba expression "Emi Lokan" ("It is my turn"). Today, borrowing that expression in a completely different sense, I would like to title this reflection: "It Is Our Turn." It is our turn to continue the mission first entrusted to John the Baptist, then to Jesus Christ, and finally to His disciples. "In those days"—our evangelist tells us—"John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, ' Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near '" (Matt. 3:1–2). Matthew continues: "When Jesus heard that John had been arres...

  Wednesday, June 10, 2026 From the Gospel of Wednesday of the 10th Week in Ordinary Time (Matthew 5:17–19). "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill" (Mt 5:17). This statement of Jesus can be read as a response to those who misunderstood His mission. Some accused Him of being too close to sinners and therefore of weakening God's law. Others might wonder whether the way He proposes for His followers—the way of the Beatitudes—is practical at all in a hostile world. It is this second question that I would like to consider today. Yesterday, we reflected on how we are still needed in that world, and how we are to continue allowing ourselves to be consumed in it whenever He asks us to. Someone may ask: when does He not? I would like to call to mind an idea I shared previously about laws being made to guide and protect us who have already been saved, so that we may arrive safely at our destination. I was ...

  Salt and Light in a Hostile World Tuesday 09 June 2026 From the Gospel of Tuesday of the 10th Week in Ordinary Time (Matthew 5:13–16). The worst disservice we do to anyone or anything is to take things out of their context. This is often done because we want quick results and lack the patience, charity, and devotion to allow people and things to reveal themselves for who they truly are. If this comes as a stray bullet to you, receive it. After all, John said regarding being born in the Spirit: "The wind blows where it wills..." (Jn 3:8). But let me return to our Gospel of today before I distract you too much. It would be a mistake to read the words with which Jesus describes who we are outside of their immediate context. I believe that we dislocate these words, "You are the salt of the earth" and "You are the light of the world," if we do not read them in connection with the Beatitudes and receive them as the first hearers did. Another brief aside...

  Monday 08 June, 2026. From the Gospel of Monday of the 10th Week in Ordinary Time (Matthew 5:1–12). These Beatitudes describe our Lord Jesus Christ and who we are in Him through our baptism. We are poor and broken people entering this rough place as lambs, because He is our shield and protection. In our First Reading yesterday, Moses described this place of our sojourn as “the great and terrible wilderness”—an arid wasteland with poisonous snakes and scorpions (see Deut. 8:15). That is why we mourn: because of the bites of these poisonous snakes and scorpions. But when we want to give up and long to rest, He still invites us to be meek. He tells us: “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28–30). And so we do not want the devil to succeed in quenchi...

 *From the Gospel of today, Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (John 6:51–58)* Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you" (Jn 6:53). ### The Very Hard Teaching to Accept I must confess that offering a comment on this verse is one of the most difficult reflections for me in these Daily Bread reflections. This is because it is a very hard message to accept. But I remember what Paul told Timothy in our First Reading yesterday, and so I am doing just that. We heard Paul telling Timothy: "Proclaim the message and, welcome or unwelcome, insist on it. Refute falsehood, correct error, give encouragement—but do all with patience and with care to instruct" (2 Tim 4:2). So Jesus used these words to begin His response to the dispute that arose among the Jews when He said that the bread which He was to give for the life of the world was His flesh (see Jn 6:51). Let me remind you of ...

  From the Gospel of Saturday of the 9th Week in Ordinary Time (Mark 12:38–44). And Jesus called his disciples to him and said to them, "Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For they all contributed out of their abundance; but she, out of her poverty, has put in everything she had, her whole living" (Mk 12:43–44). Talking about love, I once shared how understanding that it is the Lord who is demanding those things from me through other people helped to liberate me from the darkness and pain that often come with loving difficult people. True love is not easy, and often what the Lord is demanding from us is not what we would ordinarily like to do. Most often, He is asking us to call that person personally rather than write that comment in the group. Maybe He wants me to stay and listen to my wife talk rather than focus on writing that great book. Often, writing that great book, making that big donation in c...

  From the First Reading of the Friday of the 9th Week in Ordinary Time (2 Timothy 3:10–17) "Now you have observed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions, my sufferings, what befell me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra, what persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (2 Tim. 3:10–12). These three verses that begin our First Reading today come to me as a great reproach! When I look at my lack of authenticity, genuine witness, and perhaps therefore also the lack of the opposition that often accompanies a truly Christian life, I cannot help but confess my inadequacies as a Christian. The end of this First Reading tells us why God gave us the Scriptures: "All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may...

  From the Gospel of This Day, Thursday of the 9th Week in Ordinary Time (Mark 12:28–34). This Gospel today talks about love. Before I begin, I would like to remind us that by love (or loving), I do not mean that fleeting emotion which changes like the weather; that which makes us feel excited at one moment and sad or cold towards the same person the next; that which makes us present now and switched off the next time. This is often simply a response to our inner brokenness in our attempt to survive. As a result, we often end up deceiving and wounding ourselves and others in the name of love. Rather, by love I mean that delicate and vulnerable experience which each of us inwardly desires and needs. No matter who we are, we need genuine love and are called to give it. Most of us, of course, have been truly hurt while trying to give this genuine love, and many no longer believe that it is possible either to receive it or to give it. So we hear things like, "Who has love ever hel...

 From the Gospel of This Day, Wednesday of the 9th Week in Ordinary Time (Mark 12:18–27). One of the hardest realities we like to avoid is death. Some of us do so by wishing it away or by never wanting to think about it. This is because we truly want to live and to live well. When we look closely, we will discover that the things we do, or avoid doing, are normally motivated by this desire not to die and to live well. I am here to tell you that there is a way to overcome this thing called death and to continue to live. We continue to live when we remember that we are seeds and therefore consciously choose the best way for a seed to continue to live. How? A seed must be sown into the soil, die, and germinate in order to continue its cycle of life. Otherwise, it will still die, but it will be wasted. For us humans, anything (gifts, talents, time, wisdom, wealth) that we retain for ourselves and do not sow will perish with us when we are done living here on earth. Therefore, the path ...

 From the Gospel of today, Monday of the 9th Week in Ordinary Time (Mk 12:1-12) The very stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone (See Mk 12:10). Jesus used this quotation from Psalm 118:22 to respond to the chief priests, scribes, and elders (See Mk 11:27), who asked Him by what authority He had challenged their business in the temple. Remember what we talked about: the real thing we all are bringing to the table—love. The main thing happening here is that the owner of every gift we have received (the vineyard we heard about in today's Gospel), who left us as tenants to manage his vineyard, is accusing most of us of turning his house into a den of robbers (See Mk 11:17) through our acts of stealing and banditry. He created and blessed His world to function in love, a place where everyone responds to the needs of others with the gifts He (the vineyard owner) has given to him or her. He gave to me something that you need and gave to you that which I need. Bu...

 From the Holy Gospel according to Mark (Today's Gospel, Mark 12:13–17) And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to entrap him in his talk. (Mk. 12:13) This world is not neutral ground; you must belong to a group. You must prepare to battle in that camp, give your all, and continue until you pay the last price with your life. There is no better way to say it. Either you are struggling as a son or daughter of the Kingdom and therefore getting up every day to evaluate and realign yourself, or you are working against it ("He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters" [Mt. 12:30]). In this verse (Mk. 12:13), these chief priests, scribes, and elders, who felt that Jesus had touched their interests, now decided to send a delegation from two groups who had always opposed one another regarding how they viewed the Roman occupation—the Pharisees and the Herodians. For the Pharisees, God is the King of Israel, and o...