July 6, 2026 Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time / Optional Memorial of Saint Maria Goretti Gospel: Matthew 9:18–26
Today is Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time. The Church celebrates the Optional Memorial of Saint Maria Goretti. The Roman Martyrology tells us: Saint Maria Goretti (1890–1902) was born in Corinaldo near Ancona, Italy, the third of six children. She was known for her cheerfulness and piety. At the age of twelve, while resisting an attacker, she was mortally wounded and shed her blood defending her chastity. Before dying in the hospital, she forgave her murderer. Her assailant was subsequently imprisoned and experienced a profound conversion of heart; he was present at her canonization in 1950 and later lived out his days as a Capuchin brother.
Today’s Gospel passage from Saint Matthew presents us with two accounts of healing by Jesus. I would like to take this opportunity to offer some reflections.
First, Matthew tells us that an official came and knelt before Jesus, asking Him to restore his deceased daughter to life (cf. Mt 9:18). Who was this official? Matthew does not tell us. Luke identifies him as Jairus, the synagogue leader of Capernaum (cf. Lk 8:41). He could have commanded Jesus to come to his house to restore his daughter, yet he did not. Instead, as a father, he knelt before Jesus and begged Him to raise his daughter to life. He sets an example for us; the faith he demonstrated is admirable and worthy of our imitation.
Next, Matthew introduces us to another person in need of Jesus’ healing: a woman suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years (cf. Mt 9:20–22). She courageously stepped beyond the legal boundaries of her time, for the Law clearly stated that anyone with a flow of blood, or anything touched by such a person, was ritually unclean. She displayed a different kind of courage, marked by prudence; she did not touch Jesus directly but reached out to touch the tassel of His cloak. By her faith, she was healed.
Finally, I would like to reflect on what Jesus said when He arrived at Jairus’ house. He said, “Go away! The girl is not dead but asleep.” And they ridiculed Him (cf. Mt 9:23–24). When He said she was asleep, He intended to show that although the world saw her as dead, in God’s eyes she was still alive. For God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Do you recall what Jesus said to the Sadducees—who denied the resurrection—when discussing the resurrection? Jesus said to them: “The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection from the dead do not marry, nor can they die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. Even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called ‘Lord’ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to Him all are alive” (cf. Lk 20:34–38).
Today, having received the Baptism of Christ and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, we are called to be His children. We must learn to view life and death through the lens of faith, live out the love of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ in our earthly lives, and worthily love this world—by meeting the Risen Lord Jesus Christ through firm faith, earnest hope, and the reception of His Most Precious Body and Blood.
O God, author of innocence and lover of chastity, who bestowed the grace of martyrdom on your handmaid, the Virgin Saint Maria Goretti, in her youth, grant, we pray, through her intercession, that, as you gave her a crown for her steadfastness, so we, too, may be firm in obeying your commandments. 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.
July 5, 2026 Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Gospel: Matthew 11:25–30
Today is the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The passage from the Gospel according to Saint Matthew presents to us the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Indeed, we have already proclaimed this text on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus this year. Yet, re-reading it within the context of the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time may offer us a different spiritual resonance.
In the Daily Reflection for this year’s Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, I cited the teaching of Pope Saint John Paul II, who instructed us: To venerate the Sacred Heart of Christ is to enter into the contemplation of the innermost core of the Savior’s Heart; Scripture indicates that this Heart is the very center of His Person and the abode of that love which has saved the world.If the human heart is already a fathomless mystery known only to God, how much more sublime and exalted is the Heart of Jesus—for within it beats the pulse of the life of the Word. As revealed in Scripture and celebrated in the Litany of the Sacred Heart, we discover in the Heart of Jesus all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and the fullness of divinity. To save humanity lost through disobedience, God wills to grant us a “new heart” conformed to His merciful will; this Heart is the Sacred Heart of Jesus, it is the masterpiece of the Holy Spirit—which began to beat within the virginal womb of Mary and was pierced by the lance upon the Cross, thereby becoming an inexhaustible fountain of life for all. This Heart has now become a powerful testament of hope for all men and women throughout the world. (Cf. Pope Saint John Paul II, Angelus, June 23, 2002.)
Today, we are invited once again to gaze upon the Heart of Jesus. It is this Heart—which, out of love for us, bore our burdens, reveals to us in meekness the Face of the Merciful Father, and invites us to come to Him to lay down our heavy loads so as to receive peace and joy—that calls us to embody its spirit in our daily lives. As I noted in my reflection during the 2022 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity: We often find ourselves constrained by our habitual ways of acting and perceiving the world. When these ways or “paths” are closed, we begin to seek how to move forward and continue our journey. There, the will of God frequently manifests itself, revealing another way prepared for us. When we encounter obstacles, God is there to renew the covenant and raise us up from our discouragement. We need only to trust in God, who gives us light and endures forever, that when our paths are blocked, we may always find a way forward. When we are willing and open to the working of the Holy Spirit, a new beginning is always possible. As the Church, let us constantly look to the past to seek the true Light, and look to the future to discern new paths, so that we may continue to shine with the light of the Gospel through new graces. As Christians, may we glorify God by mutually accepting one another. (Cf. Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Reflection for the Eighth Day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, 2022.)
To achieve genuine mutual acceptance, we must identify the factors that hinder it. Here, I wish to name a few: money, power, social status. When our hearts are captivated by these things, we cease to be children of God and become children of the world. Then, we no longer accept one another sincerely; any occasional acceptance is born of temporary common interest, and once that interest fades, we turn against one another.
Therefore, on this Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, let us become like little children in purity: viewing God with the eyes of faith, listening to the Divine Word with the ears of faith, and proclaiming the Word with the mouth of an infant at the breast. Let us seek God alone, long for Heaven alone, and thirst for the will of God alone. Thus, the Word of God will reveal to us ever more profound mysteries of the Kingdom, drawing us closer to Heaven, even allowing us to dwell therein, and to remain in God’s presence at every moment.
O God, who in the abasement of your Son have raised up a fallen world, fill your faithful with holy joy, for on those you have rescued from slavery to sin you bestow eternal gladness. 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
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