July 28, 2026
Tuesday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time
Gospel: Matthew 13:36-43

Today is Tuesday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time. The passage from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew continues with Jesus’ parable of the Sower. Let us continue our reflection.

Like the disciples who came to Jesus and asked Him to explain the parable of the Sower (cf. Matthew 13:36), we too can fail to understand the parables spoken by Jesus. The reason they could not understand this parable is that although they were willing to accept the Kingdom of God proclaimed by Jesus, their fixed patterns of thought still conformed to this world—a world whose worldview, philosophy of life, and values are incompatible with those firmly believed and embraced by the Church. Therefore, they could not comprehend it.

Commenting on this passage, St. John Chrysostom said: In order to make the meaning clearer, Jesus said, “This is why I speak to them in parables, because they look but do not see…” If this were natural blindness, the Lord would have healed it long ago. But this is a blindness of their own choosing. They witnessed miracles with their own eyes, yet claimed they were done by the prince of demons; they heard the truth with their own ears, yet refused to listen. Therefore, although the Lord spoke plainly at first, and it was they who distorted His words, He now speaks in parables to prevent them from accusing Him of deliberate slander. (cf. Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew by St. Thomas Aquinas)

Today, within our Church, there are often brothers and sisters like this. Although they come to church to participate in the Mass and frequently listen to the Holy Word of God and read the spiritual books published by the Church, they do not interpret the Holy Word they hear during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with the eyes of faith. Even less are they willing to obey the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and, using physical eyes, understand the Holy Word with which God, in His providence and according to their capacity, inspires them in the Church’s publications. To them, the Holy Word of God is simply incomprehensible. Even when the shepherds of the Church explain it to them, they refuse to listen, because they are unwilling to open their hearts to the Holy Word, to open the eyes of their faith, and to unstop the ears of their faith, so that the soul dwelling within their perishable body may hear the Holy Word, understand the holy will of God, and be converted.

May we all become good soil capable of receiving the Holy Word of God, so that the seed of the Holy Word sown in our hearts by God may take root in the soil of our hearts, and we may live out the spirit of the Holy Word. Thus, through our remarkable transformation, the people of the world may see the beauty of humanity as created by God and also accept the Holy Word of God that has already taken root in our hearts, so that this imperfect world may, through the acceptance of the Holy Word, recover the beauty it possessed when God first created it.

O God, protector of those who hope in you, without whom nothing has firm foundation, nothing is holy, bestow in abundance your mercy upon us and grant that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may use the good things that pass in such a way as to hold fast even now to those that ever endure. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,God, for ever and ever

©Totus Tuus 2026
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica