June 17, 2026 Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time Gospel: Matthew 5:43–48
Today is Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time. The text from the Gospel according to Saint Matthew continues the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount. In this discourse, Jesus teaches us the norm of Christian conduct in matters of faith.
We often see people praying in churches and on the streets. Among those who pray in churches and on the streets, some choose to pray in a contemplative manner, while others pray aloud. Jesus says to these people: “And when ye pray, ye shall not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.” He further says: “But thou, when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret: and thy Father who see in secret will repay thee.” (cf. Matt. 6:5-6) Simply put: prayer must proceed from the heart, and through prayer, one must return to one’s innermost self, thereby deepening one’s union with God.
We often see people fasting. They fast or abstain to restore their bodies to a state of equilibrium. Likewise, the Church requires us to fast and abstain. For instance, on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, the Church obliges us to observe the laws of fasting and abstinence; every Friday, the Church requires us to abstain, so that through bodily austerity, we may experience the tenderness God holds for us, and through such penance, complete what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ. Some brethren in the Lord say: “If you eat the flesh of warm-blooded animals on Friday, you commit a sin.” I wish to remind these brothers and sisters: Jesus does not ask us to pursue external fasting, nor does He ask us to harm our bodies through abstinence. Rather, He asks for an interior fast, that bodily discipline may help us return to our true selves, experience the love of the Heavenly Father, feel the dialogue between the Divine Word and our soul in its depths, and sense the warm presence of the Holy Ghost, ever filled with the manifold graces bestowed upon us by God.
O God, strength of those who hope in you, graciously hear our pleas, and, since without you mortal frailty can do nothing, grant us always the help of your grace, that in following your commands we may please you by our resolve and our deeds. 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
June 16, 2026 Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time Gospel: Matthew 5:43–48
Today is Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time. The passage from the Gospel of Matthew continues Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. In this teaching, Jesus reveals to us a way of living and shows us the face of a merciful Father. I would like to offer some further reflections.
In life, it is nearly impossible to live in isolation or to avoid relationships with others, for we are not meant to be alone. Yet when we interact with others, we often follow the logic and norms of this world—a world that says: “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; love your neighbor and hate your enemy.”
Broadly speaking, our “neighbor” refers to those who live alongside us and care for us. Our “enemies” are those who oppose us, who stand in our way, or who disagree with us. But the neighbor Jesus speaks of is not limited to those close to us; He includes the vulnerable—the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned. Likewise, our enemies are not only those who oppose us on earth; they are also, in a spiritual sense, those who accuse us before God because of our sins and wrongdoing.
Today, Jesus calls us to abandon the logic of this passing world. The world tells us: “You must repay evil with evil, or you will be seen as weak and others will take advantage of you.” But Jesus teaches: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven” (cf. Matt 5:43–45). To be children of the Father means to resemble Him in every way. For our heavenly Father does not punish us; He loves us—even anticipating our needs and pouring out grace upon us before we even ask.
Jesus tells us: “He makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust” (cf. Matt 5:45). That “sun” is the Word of God, the true Light that enlightens everyone, as St. John says (cf. John 1:9). It shines not only on those who accept the Kingdom Jesus proclaims, but also on those who reject it—so that through His word, the world may come to know the true face of the Father.
Likewise, having been baptized and anointed with the Holy Spirit, we are called to live as God’s children. We must let the light of Christ, received in the initiatory sacraments, shine through us—drawing near to those who do not yet know the God Jesus reveals. We are to bring them the Gospel, so that they too may be illumined by Christ’s light and no longer live according to their former ways, but according to the way Jesus taught us—so that our thoughts, words, and deeds may reflect the perfection of our heavenly Father.
O God, strength of those who hope in you, graciously hear our pleas, and, since without you mortal frailty can do nothing, grant us always the help of your grace, that in following your commands we may please you by our resolve and our deeds. 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
Look at the crowd. Matthew says Jesus saw them and felt pity—literally, a visceral compassion. Because he saw what they really were: troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.
Let us sit with the metaphor of the sheep. A sheep is not like other animals. Threaten a cat, and it will arch its back and strike. Threaten a dog, and it will growl and bite. Even a cornered rat will fight back. But a sheep? No claws, no sharp teeth, no speed, no camouflage. It cannot fight. It cannot run fast enough. Its only defence is the shepherd. Without the shepherd, a sheep is not just vulnerable—it is helpless. Predators do not have to work hard. The sheep simply stands there and is devoured.
Look at our daily news. Leaders sit in safe rooms and call for wars. They speak of strategy, of interests, of acceptable losses. And then the bombs fall. Soldiers—most of them young, most of them poor, most of them with no real hatred for the enemy on the other side—are sent to kill and be killed. Civilians, entire families, children in hospital beds, old people who cannot flee, are buried under rubble. And the rest of us? We watch. We scroll. We feel a knot in our stomachs, but we do not know what to do. We are like sheep watching other sheep being torn apart by wolves. Helpless. Troubled. Abandoned. No shepherd to stop the slaughter. No one with authority to say, “This ends now.”
Jesus still sees us. Not as a mass of sinners to condemn. Not as a political problem to manage. A flock of defenceless sheep scattered and bleeding, with no one to gather them, no one to protect them, no one to stop the predators.
Jesus sees and declares: “The harvest is abundant, but the labourers are few.” He calls them a harvest. Not a problem. Not a burden. A harvest. Something ripe, valuable, ready to be gathered into life and safety. Then he tells the disciples to pray for labourers. But immediately after, he summons his twelve disciples and gives them authority. He does not wait for volunteers. He creates them. And the labourers he sends are not generals or politicians. They are twelve nobodies. Fishermen. A tax collector. A zealot. And one who would betray him.
Jesus looks at this collection of mismatched, untrained, argumentative men—and he gives them authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. Authority. Real power to confront the forces that tear sheep apart. He dares to dream big with these twelve. Not because they are powerful, but because the sheep are helpless and the harvest is abundant. The need creates the sending. The compassion creates the commissioning.
Now look at the instructions. “Do not go into pagan territory… Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Start where you are. Start with your own people, your own wounded neighbours. And what are they to do? “Make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons.” The proclamation comes first. Then the actions prove it. Healing, raising, cleansing, driving out—these are the signs that the shepherd has arrived. Where Jesus sends his labourers, chaos turns to order, death turns to life, bondage turns to freedom. The defenceless sheep are gathered into safety. Wars do not have the last word.
Then the final instruction: “Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.” You received everything freely—the call, the authority, the healing, the forgiveness. You did not earn it. So give it away. Do not turn the gospel into a transaction. The only appropriate response to grace is gratuitous generosity. That includes the generosity of refusing to participate in the machinery of death. The generosity of saying, “I will not be a wolf. I will be a labourer for the shepherd.”
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