Father Michael's Thoughts This Week
WEEKLY THOUGHTS -
18th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - AUGUST 3, 2025
Dear Friends,
Welcome to the celebration of the 18th Sunday in Ordinary time and first Sunday in the month of August. Let us be thankful to God for all the blessings He has given us in the past month of July. Last weekend, we celebrated the World Day of the Grandparents and Elderly instituted by Pope Francis. Let us be thankful to this category of people as they still play a role of inspiring the young generation with wisdom and appreciation of the Christian culture and other cultural values.
In the Gospel Reading of last Sunday, Jesus taught us how to pray with persistence in prayer with an attitude of childlike trust and humility.
The Readings of this Sunday continues to focus on the importance of spiritual growth as opposed to material possessions-as vanity.
In Luke 12: 1-12 Jesus had cautioned his disciples about persecution as the cost of discipleship. Jesus continues to caution his disciples as well as the crowd about the final Judgement in the parable of the rich man whose land had yielded a rich harvest. He sought to build more storage facilities instead of sharing the extra food with others and the needy. The rich man will soon die and what good is his possessions?
God desires generosity and love. This is one way of having my life centered on God. This is one aspect of choosing to live by the spirit and by so doing, one gets to know the emptiness of material possessions as vanity.
Human life and happiness should not be measured or rated with material possessions. It is the spirit of detachment from material possessions and sharing what God has given me with the needy that will merit me eternal life at the judgement day. “Whatever you did to the least of my brother you did it to me, come and enter the joy of my heavenly Father.” (Mt 25:34-36)
Have a great week and month of August.
Join us on Assumption of Our Lady Friday August 15th. Mass times:
Holy Infant 10:00AM
Shepherd of the Hills 6:00 PM
