Scripture Reflection and Prayer : Journeying together

Monday, 7 September 2026

FAITH IN GOD’S WAYS, NOT OURS

20260908 FAITH IN GOD’S WAYS, NOT OURS

08 September 2026, Tuesday, Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary

First reading

Micah 5:1-4

He will stand and feed his flock with the power of the Lord

The Lord says this:

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

the least of the clans of Judah,

out of you will be born for me

the one who is to rule over Israel;

his origin goes back to the distant past,

to the days of old.

The Lord is therefore going to abandon them

till the time when she who is to give birth gives birth.

Then the remnant of his brothers will come back

to the sons of Israel.

He will stand and feed his flock

with the power of the Lord,

with the majesty of the name of his God.

They will live secure, for from then on he will extend his power

to the ends of the land.

He himself will be peace.

How to listen

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 12(13):6-7

I exult for joy in the Lord.

Lord, I trust in your merciful love.

Let my heart rejoice in your saving help.

I exult for joy in the Lord.

Let me sing to the Lord for his goodness to me,

singing psalms to the name of the Lord, the Most High.

I exult for joy in the Lord.

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia!

Blessed are you, holy Virgin Mary,

and most worthy of all praise,

for the sun of justice, Christ our God,

was born of you.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Matthew 1:1-16,18-23

The ancestry and conception of Jesus Christ

A genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham:

Abraham was the father of Isaac,

Isaac the father of Jacob,

Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,

Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah, Tamar being their mother,

Perez was the father of Hezron,

Hezron the father of Ram,

Ram was the father of Amminadab,

Amminadab the father of Nahshon,

Nahshon the father of Salmon,

Salmon was the father of Boaz, Rahab being his mother,

Boaz was the father of Obed, Ruth being his mother,

Obed was the father of Jesse;

and Jesse was the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,

Solomon was the father of Rehoboam,

Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa,

Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat,

Jehoshaphat the father of Joram,

Joram the father of Azariah,

Azariah was the father of Jotham,

Jotham the father of Ahaz,

Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,

Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh,

Manasseh the father of Amon,

Amon the father of Josiah;

and Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers.

Then the deportation to Babylon took place.

After the deportation to Babylon:

Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel,

Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud,

Abiud the father of Eliakim,

Eliakim the father of Azor,

Azor was the father of Zadok,

Zadok the father of Achim,

Achim the father of Eliud,

Eliud was the father of Eleazar,

Eleazar the father of Matthan,

Matthan the father of Jacob;

and Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary;

of her was born Jesus who is called Christ.

This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son

and they will call him Emmanuel,

a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’

FAITH IN GOD’S WAYS, NOT OURS

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [MICAH 5:1-4 OR ROMANS 8:28-30; MATTHEW 1:1-16, 18-23]

Today, we celebrate the nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. While we do not have many historical details regarding her birth, what is most important for the Church is her role in salvation history.

The birth of any baby brings joy and hope to a community because we never know what that child will become–or how he or she might grow up to lead a nation, or even nations. The birth of a child keeps a community alive and hopeful for the future. In the case of Mary, her birth was no less significant. Of course, we only recognise this with hindsight. Mary did not come from a noble line, but from an ordinary family. No one–including Mary herself and her parents, Joachim and Anne–would ever have imagined that God would choose her to be the Mother of the Messiah. It was unthinkable and truly miraculous.

The Scripture readings for today’s feast invite us to share Mary’s faith in the way God works in our lives. Mary was taken aback when the angel announced that God had chosen her to be the mother of the Saviour. After asking how this could be, since she was a virgin, the angel told her: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” (Lk 1:35-37). In deep faith, Mary trusted the angel’s words and responded: “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” (Lk 1:38).

With that same faith, Joseph was asked to accept Mary as his wife when he was planning to divorce her quietly to spare her public shame. Joseph was a “man of honour”–a man of integrity–who was likely unable to explain Mary’s mysterious, supernatural claim. He may have felt that if it were true, he was unworthy to be the father of Jesus and should not stand in the way of God’s plan. Yet, “having made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said: ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.'”

In his Gospel, Saint Matthew, from his Jewish perspective, takes great care to underscore that Jesus is the fulfilment of the Scriptures: “Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet: The Virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel, a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.'” Throughout his Gospel, Matthew cites Old Testament passages to substantiate that Jesus fulfils God’s divine plan. A case in point is his use of genealogy to establish how Jesus, though born of Mary, is the true successor to the Davidic dynasty from which the Messiah would come.

Matthew demonstrates that Jesus is central both to Israel’s history and to God’s plan to save the Gentiles. He provides a list of Jesus’ ancestors with particular emphasis on two pivotal figures: Abraham (showing Jesus as the ideal Israelite) and David (showing Him as the Messiah). Through Christ, God bestows upon His people the blessings promised to Abraham. As the Son of David, Jesus is the true heir to David’s throne–the Messianic King who restores Israel and establishes an everlasting kingdom. Matthew leaves no doubt that Jesus is the climax of salvation history.

What is miraculous is not only that Jesus was conceived in Mary without an earthly father, but that His family history was far from pristine. The generations listed include five women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba (the wife of Uriah), and Mary. Four of these women were Gentiles! Tamar and Rahab were Canaanites, and Ruth was a Moabite. Uriah was a Hittite, and though Bathsheba was likely an Israelite, through marriage she was legally linked to the Hittites. In other words, while Jesus came from the royal line, it was a lineage marred by human brokenness.

It was not just the women; Jesus’ male ancestors were far from flawless. Many of the kings mentioned were corrupt, unfaithful to God, and guilty of severe sins. The genealogy includes evil kings such as Rehoboam, Abijah, Joram, Ahaz, Manasseh, and Amon, whose actions led to the Babylonian exile (cf. 2 Kings 24-25). Jesus did not come from a lineage of pure respectability; His lineage included murderers, cheats, cowards, adulterers, and liars!

Yet, God never allowed human failure to defeat His plan. He protected the royal line of David even when all seemed lost during the exile. Jechoniah and Shealtiel were two Davidic heirs who lived during the Babylonian captivity, and Zerubbabel later helped lead the first wave of Jews who returned from exile to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple.

All of this was part of God’s plan. God chose to bring Jesus through a line of both saints and sinners so that Christ could identify with us in every way, except sin. As Saint Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans: “We know that by turning everything to their good, God cooperates with all those who love him, with all those that he has called according to his purpose. They are the ones he chose specially long ago and intended to become true images of his Son, so that his Son might be the eldest of many brothers. He called those he intended for this; those he called he justified, and with those he justified he shared his glory.”

God never gives up on His chosen people; He continually supplies the grace necessary for our salvation. If He allows us to experience the consequences of our sins, it is to draw us back to Him. Even when we make mistakes, God uses those moments to redeem us and bring about radical conversion.

This is why, as we celebrate the nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we are called to trust in God’s divine providence and His divine plan for us. We should not be overly ambitious, striving to force things our own way or seeking positions not meant for us. As St Paul wrote, in His divine providence God is actively at work in our lives, guiding all events according to His sovereign will. Everything will attain the purpose God intends for it. Even when circumstances seem wrong, we can trust His providence, knowing that He works all things for the good of those who love Him.

God is love, and whatever happens to us will ultimately serve our good. Our task is to view everything through the lens of God’s love. There is a reason for everything that happens in our lives: God is directing us to fulfil the purpose for which we were created–to become His children. This requires us to confess in God’s foreknowledge in choosing us out of love. We are called to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that Christ may be the firstborn among many brothers.

We, too, are called to celebrate our birth and life in union with Jesus and Mary, remembering that our lives are safely in God’s hands. As the responsorial psalm reminds us: “Lord, I trust in your merciful love. Let my heart rejoice in your saving help. Let me sing to the Lord for his goodness to me, singing psalms to the name of the Lord, the Most High.”

We can take comfort in our own smallness, clinging to God’s way of reckoning, which is not in accordance with the standards of the world. The prophet Micah reminds us that God consistently chooses the humble and the lowly for His purpose. Just as He chose Bethlehem–an insignificant town in Judah–to be the birthplace of the Davidic line, so too, among the many sons of Jesse, David, the youngest, was chosen to be king. Mary too, in her Magnificat acknowledged her lowliness: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.” (Lk 1:47-49).

We, too, must join Mary in saying “Yes” to His holy will.

Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections

Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.

Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.

Sunday, 6 September 2026

BLIND ZEAL VERSUS COMPLACENCY

20260907 BLIND ZEAL VERSUS COMPLACENCY

07 September 2026, Monday, 23rd Week in Ordinary Time

First reading

1 Corinthians 5:1-8

Get rid of the old yeast of evil and wickedness

I have been told as an undoubted fact that one of you is living with his father’s wife. This is a case of sexual immorality among you that must be unparalleled even among pagans. How can you be so proud of yourselves? You should be in mourning. A man who does a thing like that ought to have been expelled from the community. Though I am far away in body, I am with you in spirit, and have already condemned the man who did this thing as if I were actually present. When you are assembled together in the name of the Lord Jesus, and I am spiritually present with you, then with the power of our Lord Jesus he is to be handed over to Satan so that his sensual body may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.

The pride that you take in yourselves is hardly to your credit. You must know how even a small amount of yeast is enough to leaven all the dough, so get rid of all the old yeast, and make yourselves into a completely new batch of bread, unleavened as you are meant to be. Christ, our passover, has been sacrificed; let us celebrate the feast, then, by getting rid of all the old yeast of evil and wickedness, having only the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

How to listen

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 5:5-7,12

Lead me, Lord, in your justice.

You are no God who loves evil;

no sinner is your guest.

The boastful shall not stand their ground

before your face.

Lead me, Lord, in your justice.

You hate all who do evil;

you destroy all who lie.

The deceitful and bloodthirsty man

the Lord detests.

Lead me, Lord, in your justice.

All those you protect shall be glad

and ring out their joy.

You shelter them; in you they rejoice,

those who love your name.

Lead me, Lord, in your justice.

Gospel Acclamation

Ps118:105

Alleluia, alleluia!

Your word is a lamp for my steps

and a light for my path.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Luke 6:6-11

Is it against the law on the sabbath to save life?

On the sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees were watching him to see if he would cure a man on the sabbath, hoping to find something to use against him. But he knew their thoughts; and he said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Stand up! Come out into the middle.’ And he came out and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, ‘I put it to you: is it against the law on the sabbath to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to destroy it?’ Then he looked round at them all and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He did so, and his hand was better. But they were furious, and began to discuss the best way of dealing with Jesus.

BLIND ZEAL VERSUS COMPLACENCY

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 COR 5:1-8; PS 5:5-7,12; LK 6:6-11]

We must state right from the outset that the Pharisees and the scribes were not as bad as the Gospels portray them to be. In truth, most Pharisees and scribes were good Jews seeking to be faithful to the Covenant and live out their lives in fidelity to the commandments of Moses. They were good, sincere, and pious Jews. The problem was that, in their zeal to be faithful to the Law of Moses, some of them were carried away by blind zeal in their commitment to the Law. Not only did they strive to be faithful to the letter of the law themselves, but they also expected their fellow Jews to observe it as meticulously as they did.

Indeed, while zeal is good, the downside occurs when zeal gets out of proportion. Without zeal and passion, there would be no great leaders and no radical change in society. Only leaders with zeal and passion can realise their vision and mission for society. However, those who are so passionate in their calling or in their mission can be blinded to other aspects of life. They can be so narrowly focused that they see only their own concerns and not the situation from a wider perspective. Tunnel vision can result in dire consequences.

We lose our perspective on the different demands in life. Some of us are so fixated on certain moral or doctrinal issues that everything in life is centred on those issues. Some Catholics are only concerned about observing liturgical laws to the letter that they forget the primary purpose of the liturgy, which is to lead people to worship God in spirit and in truth. Some of them appoint themselves as inspectors to check which priest, church, or organisation fails to observe these liturgical laws. Others are always condemning sexual immorality, divorce, and same-sex unions, so much so that they forget the larger picture that morality is about more than just sex and marriage. There are other equally important issues in life, such as social justice, integrity, and helping the poor and the marginalised. Then, of course, we have those who are so involved in social and humanitarian work that they think life is nothing else than helping the poor and fighting for justice. Those who do not join them are condemned and despised. They become resentful, bitter, and angry just because there are some who do not support their cause.

This is why a narrow understanding of life leads to self-righteousness. The constant temptation for people who strive for holiness and fidelity to their vocation is their tendency to think that they are so much better than others. That was the attitude of the Pharisees and the scribes in today’s Gospel. They were not so much concerned about themselves or examining their own lives and motives in what they did. Rather, they were observing Jesus, looking for ways to trap Him or to find fault with Him so that they could condemn Him. This preoccupation with attacking Jesus made them lose sight of the bigger reality, which is the observance of the Law in its fullness. The Lord pointedly asked them, “Is it against the law on the Sabbath to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to destroy it?” They could no longer see themselves or their motives in wanting to keep the Law.

It is ironic that, in their zeal to protect the Law, they broke a more grievous law by seeking to destroy Jesus and destroying themselves. How true for us as well! Those who fight for justice can become unjust themselves. Those who are against sexual offenses can go to the extreme of punishing these offenders without mercy, or even justice. Indeed, we are horrified when we read of how Elijah, in his zeal to keep the faith of Israel uncontaminated, killed 450 false prophets of Baal. So, too, Saul, before he became Paul, was so zealous in keeping the Law that he pursued all those Jews who became Christians and persecuted them. Such zeal can turn against us and destroy what we seek to protect.

In contrast, while Jesus was certainly zealous for the House of the Lord, He kept everything in perspective without falling into self-righteousness or resentment. He was not against the Law. In fact, He declared, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfil. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished” (Mt 5:17-18). However, He qualified, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:20). It is about more than merely keeping the letter of the Law; it is keeping the entire Law–the letter and the spirit. All laws, including the Sabbath Law, are meant to serve people, to give life, to protect order, and to serve unity.

At the other end of the spectrum is complacency with respect to righteous living. St. Paul was shocked to hear of a case of sexual immorality involving a believer who married his stepmother. It was not just against the Mosaic Law, but also “unparalleled even among pagans. How can you be so proud of yourselves? You should be in mourning.” However, he was even more shocked that the Christian community could allow such a believer to continue to live in sin without taking action. In his view, such public immorality demanded excommunication: “A man who does a thing like that ought to have been expelled from the community. Though I am far away in body, I am with you in spirit, and have already condemned the man who did this thing as if I were actually present.” The reason was clear. He was afraid that if the believer was not penalised or excluded from the Christian community, his scandalous behaviour might be seen as an accepted way of life for a disciple of Christ. He gave the analogy of the yeast that grows like a cancer cell: it starts small, but it will infect the rest of the community.

The action of St. Paul in excommunicating a public sinner seems to be rather harsh. How do we reconcile this with the call not to judge and to be compassionate? Just earlier on, St. Paul told the Corinthians not to judge each other: “Do not pronounce judgement before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation from God” (1 Cor 4:5). Jesus also said, “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged” (Mt 7:1). And to the adulterous woman, the Lord said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again” (Jn 8:11).

This calls for prudent pastoral judgement when we apply the laws, just as Jesus did in the Gospel. In principle, the law must always be upheld. Yet it is not for us to judge the individual conscience of everyone. Only God can do that. This is why we cannot condemn a sinner. Some are divorced and remarried, and receiving Communion because they have truly repented. Some have same-sex relationships, but they try to keep themselves chaste as far as possible. Pope Francis invites us to journey with them and consider such cases individually.

However, if we are speaking about public sinners who could give a wrong impression that the Church endorses such irregular relationships, then it is a different matter. When it concerns a public sin and a public sinner, the Church has to repudiate it; otherwise, as St. Paul says, it will gradually infect the rest of the community. There is a need to protect the larger community. We are no longer dealing with an individual struggling to be faithful to the Gospel. While the Church forbids divorce and same-sex unions, we do not condemn individuals who are struggling through the situation they find themselves in. However, it is a different thing to ask the Church to publicly and officially endorse the reception of Communion by those who are divorced and remarried, or to permit same-sex unions. Such acknowledgment would go against Scripture, and the Church has no authority to change the Word of God! Hence, the Church resists attempts by those who promote abortion, divorce, same-sex unions, and IVF with a view to normalising these anomalies. What is objectively sinful remains sinful because we cannot go against the order of creation. However, we can be compassionate, understanding, and supportive of those who are in that situation. In this way, we protect the larger community from the sins of the individual.

Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections

Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.

Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.