Saturday, 25th of July – Feast of St James the Apostle – Matthew 20:20-28
Saturday, 25th of July – Feast of St James the Apostle – Matthew 20:20-28
Today’s text places Jesus on the threshold of his ministry and his approaching suffering, death, and resurrection, with the Gospel leading into Holy Week and his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Just prior to this passage, Jesus predicts his death and resurrection for the third time—proving that even as the crowds cheered his arrival, his eyes were already fixed on the cross.
In the midst of this, Salome, the mother of James and John, steps in to ask for a favor. This was clearly no ordinary request, as she kneels reverently before our Lord. While we cannot know the mind of Christ, his response is striking, “What do you want?” We often fail to realise that Jesus can see right through our grand gestures straight to the true motives of our hearts.
Contrast Salome’s privilege with the desperation of the two blind men sitting by the roadside in Matthew 20:30-31. They, too, seek a favor from Jesus, but while the mother of James and John kneels comfortably to ask for power, these men are forced to aggressively shout through a rebuking crowd, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”.
Both, Salome and the blind men are asking for something. She for her sons the blind men for themselves. Both of them use a different style of approach; one kneels and the other shouts out. Both get the Lord’s attention yet Salome’s wish is not granted but the blind men’s wish is
When Jesus stops to address them in Matthew 20:32, his question shifts slightly to, “What do you want me to do for you?”—proving that those who ask for mercy get a specific offer of service, while those who ask for status get questioned on their motives.
Jesus almost seems peeved with Salome and he sounds curt in his response, yet the blind men get a pointed question from the Lord, as if to suggest that Jesus would do for them what they asked no matter what.
Interestingly, when Salome asks the Lord a question, he does not answer her but turns to ‘her boys’ who seem to have accompanied her or were just hanging around. Relying on the trends our human nature sets, I think it is the former, not the latter. “Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” asks Jesus. Our Lord knew that a couple of verses later he would enter Jerusalem and that would be his darkest hour of suffering.
St. James and his brother John clearly want a share in the glory. They desperately want the crown, but they completely fail to understand that the cross must come first. They wanted the destination of the throne without ever walking the path of the tomb.
They speak out of zeal not out of knowledge when they say, “We are able.” Discernment is so essential to the Christian life. A willing heart without a discerning mind will eagerly volunteer for a battle it does not yet understand. While I am enthusiastic to live for the Lord, he may want me to die for him. Remember he said, “Whoever loves his life will lose it.”
Our Lord’s response to James and John will forever be for each of us a point of constant reflection. How often have we asked the Lord for something that we think we deserve or that we want and his response is the same that he gave to James and John; “You do not know what you are asking.” We so often beg God to open doors of blessing, forgetting that we lack the strength to handle the weight of what lies behind them.
St James did get his cup of suffering. He was the first of the Apostles who suffered martyrdom. Herod Agrippa, the grandson of Herod the Great who had massacred the Holy Innocents, was trying to please the Jews in every possible way. In the year 43, St James became the scapegoat to be used by Herod Agrippa. At this point in time, St James was the authoritative figure in Jerusalem. The church had grown substantially and the beheading of St James, it seems, was the object of appeasement for the Jews. When the truth moves the hearts of the masses, the powerful resort to violence to silence the message.
The Spanish though will vehemently claim that St James preached to them and that his body now rests in Compostela. This place was and still continues to draw thousands of pilgrims from all over the world.
If you are a druggist, potter or pilgrim, then St James is your patron. He is also invoked in times of war and for patients with rheumatism.
Thursday, 16th Week in ordinary time – Matthew 13:10-17
Thursday, 16th Week in ordinary time – 23rd July, 2026 – Matthew 13:10-17
Chapter 13 is the third of the five major bodies of teachings found in the Gospel of Matthew. This section has seven parables and uses examples from everyday Palestinian life that involved farming, trading and fishing.
The parables show how God’s kingdom operates in the world. They also challenge listeners to live by its principles through difficult times until God’s ultimate purpose is fulfilled.
The word ‘parable’ appears twelve times in chapter 13 and one-third of the teaching of Jesus are in parables. A parable comes from a Greek word which means ‘to throw alongside.’ That is, basic to the parable genre is the notion of comparison; one entity is set alongside something else to be illuminated by the comparison.
Scripture tells us that the parables were given ‘that same day’, namely the Sabbath which we learn of in Chapter 12. Chapter 12 narrates several narratives of Jesus’ conflicts with the Pharisees, who are now plotting to destroy him (12:14) and have accused him of working for Satan (12:24).
By the end of chapter 12, Jesus appears to be at odds even with his own family (12:46-50). In spite of the personal attacks of the Pharisees against him in 12:24 and his own rejection by his family members, Jesus chooses to carry on teaching and working; he did not let the barbs of the religious establishment get to him.
Yesterday, because we celebrated the Feast of St Mary of Magdala and being a feast day it had privileged texts at the Eucharist. It is for this reason that the first of the seven parables is skipped and we arrive at verses 10-17.
In the text of today, Jesus has just concluded the first of the seven parables found. The disciples ask Jesus why he speaks to a certain ‘THEM,’ when he uses parables to communicate his message. While I will address who the ‘them’ is, it would be good to hypothesize what was behind this rather curious question.
Perhaps to the mind of the disciples, the presentation of the parable of the ‘soil’ (read previous reflections why I say this) could have been presented in a more scholarly way as the rabbis did. Perhaps, Our Lord could have just dropped the storytelling and gotten to the heart of the matter.
In all probability, the disciples were referring to the Pharisees of chapter twelve as the ‘them’ in verse ten. Their question to Jesus would read, “Why do you speak to the Pharisees in parables?” The answer of Jesus fits in better if we safely assume the ‘them’ to be the Pharisees and this is with good reason, especially when we read this chapter in the context of the attacks on Jesus by the Pharisees in chapter twelve.
It is to the simple and worldly unwise, that Jesus has given the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. If you have any difficulty believing this then all you have to do is to search the annals of history to see that this is a fact. History may be written by the powerful, but the kingdom is inherited by the unassuming.
From the apparitions in Fatima to the ones in Velankanni. From the Popes who sit on the throne of Peter to this author who could not pass his standard seven math examination. God has chosen those who are considered foolish in the eyes of the world and made them his witnesses. True wisdom doesn’t require a resume, just a relationship
Christ is unapologetic with his criticism of the Pharisees. He was never interested in managing their egos, only in exposing their hypocrisy. They have not and will not receive the secrets of the kingdom. They may claim to have ‘knowledge’ but that it seems, is a figment of their imagination; they ‘do not know the scriptures nor the power of God.” (Matthew 22:29). Christ is emphatic, for him the Pharisees are no more than ‘empty vessels’ who know nothing. To add insult to injury, he says that he will take away even that ‘nothing’ from them. (13:12)
It is not without reason that Christ takes on the Pharisees. These were the ‘separated ones;’ the religious elite who set themselves as desirous of being pushed to a higher calling. What they ended up being is not righteous but self-righteous. They became so consumed with looking holy that they forgot how to be human.
Christ now accuses them of, seeing (the works he has done) and yet not perceiving (who he is). Of hearing, (his words) and yet refusing to listen. The problem wasn’t that the words were too quiet, but that their hearts were too hard. They didn’t miss the message; they dismissed it. Having traded their capacity to hear for the comfort of control, they now face judgment—guilty of choosing blindness in broad daylight.
The Pharisees were too buried in heavy theological jargon and religious traditions to find joy in a simple, down-to-earth faith. They rubbished Jesus’ parables as absolute gibberish, completely missing the kingdom secrets that ordinary minds welcomed with open arms. Heaven’s deepest secrets, it turns out, have always been kept in the humblest hands.
Christ continues to speak to us! While theologians have their places in their hallowed study halls of technicality and hair-splitting definitions of the faith and scripture, Our Lord is often heard the loudest by a humble preacher who speaks from his heart and wins over a sinner for heaven. Ink belongs in books, but the Spirit belongs in hearts.
Monday, 16th Week in ordinary time – Matthew 12:38-42
Monday, 16th Week in ordinary time – 20th July 2026 – Matthew 12:38-42
A text taken out of its context is a pretext. It is for this reason that texts must be read in their context. Matthew chapter twelve places us right at the epicenter of the ultimate rejection of Jesus. On Friday, of the last week, we began chapter twelve and at once you will notice that the Pharisees have their swords drawn out to attack Jesus. Our Lord turns the tables on their wickedness, using the very scriptures they claimed to guard, as the weapon to expose them.
While the first controversy was directed towards embarrassing Jesus by pointing at his disciples who were ‘breaking the Sabbath’ (12:1-8) the second attack was more pointed; directed to Jesus; “is it lawful to cure on the sabbath.” (12:10) Jesus’s truth left them burning with embarrassment, but they didn’t back away. They walked out of that room, huddled in the shadows, and began orchestrating a plan to eliminate Him.
Their angst against Jesus was so obvious that word got to Jesus and he departs from that place. Jesus may have relocated, but He never resigned! While our Lord may have left that place, he did not leave his ministry. Again and again, the scriptures bear witness to the attacks against our Lord only to follow it up with his resolve to “cure all of them” (12:15). A change in your geography does not mean a cancellation of your calling.
Sadly, the opposition to Jesus never took a day off. Our Lord’s enemies are a constant shadow. No sooner had the words left the mouth of a newly healed, once-blind-and-mute man than the Pharisees launched their foulest slander: that Jesus was operating under the authority of Beelzebub.
This was the ultimate tipping point: Jesus draws a definitive line in the sand, declaring, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters” (Matthew 12:30). Stripping away all diplomacy, Jesus unleashes an unfiltered rebuke, branding the Pharisees a “brood of vipers” and explicitly calling them “evil” (12:34). Jesus didn’t just critique their theology; He exposed their genealogy, calling them a family of snakes. When mercy is mocked, judgment speaks clearly. It is against this backdrop of intense confrontation that we enter today’s text.
For the fourth time in a single chapter, the Pharisees step to Jesus—and this time, they’ve brought backup. Flanked by the scribes, they demand a miraculous sign, but Christ refuses to perform for their political theater. Instead, He holds His ground and exposes their true identity, calling them exactly what they are: “evil and adulterous”.
The Lord has worked two great miracles in this one chapter and yet they want a sign. They clearly did not want revelation; they wanted a regular routine! They wanted to treat the Son of God like a magician! They wanted Him to jump through their hoops, perform a cheap trick, and satisfy their curiosity. Jesus doesn’t give them a circus show; He gives them a straight-up reality check. He looks right through their religious pedigree and strips away their titles. He exposes their DNA and calls them out on the spot: “An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign!”
Asking for a sign was nothing short of a demand that the heavens open up; a sign was always something from above. Yet they could not see, that the God from whom they wanted a sign, was the God who stood in their midst. Hate takes a terrific hold on us as it did with the Pharisees. It is a terrible architect; it builds walls high enough to block out the Son of God.
Our Lord will not perform on command. He denies their demand for a spectacular display, choosing instead to point toward the only sign that matters: the empty tomb. Using a character from the scriptures, he highlights their incredulity. The people of Nineveh, a hated race of the Israelites, took heed to the words of a very reluctant prophet Jonah, who did not want to preach repentance to them. Jonah gave Nineveh minimum effort and got maximum repentance; Jesus gave Israel maximum grace and got ultimate rejection.
What an absolute twist of divine justice: on Judgment Day, the very outcasts whom these religious leaders looked down upon with such disdain, will step onto the witness stand. Using their own history of heartfelt repentance, they will hammer the final nail into the coffin of Pharisaic pride.
We often focus so much on the fury of the Pharisees that we completely overlook the fractures in the Saviour’s heart; we forget that before the cross pierced His hands, the rejection broke His heart. The true agony of Matthew 12 is not the threat of physical violence; it is the deep, aching grief of a Saviour who came to give His life for a people who couldn’t even stand His presence.
Today, examine your heart. Is there someone you hate so much that it has consumed you? If so it’s time to get RID of ‘hateRID’
Saturday, 15th week in ordinary time – Matthew 12:14-21
Saturday, 15th week in ordinary time – 18th July 2026 – Matthew 12:14-21
Chapters 11 and 12 of the Gospel of Matthew see the unfolding hatred for Jesus. Jesus heals a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. The Pharisees believe Jesus broke the Law by healing; yet, they see no contradiction in plotting a murder on the holy day of rest. Verse 14 makes their intention abundantly clear; “the Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.”
The cornfield controversy and the subsequent synagogue healing pushed the Pharisees over the edge. By claiming to be “Lord of the Sabbath,” Jesus directly threatened their monopoly on spiritual authority. Unable to defeat Him in a theological debate, they resort to the ultimate tool of insecure institutions: elimination.
The Pharisees became monsters while trying to protect their rules. It is a sobering warning for any religious person or institution. When our primary goal becomes defending the system, our traditions, or our personal comfort, we quickly lose the capacity for mercy. The moment we value the “structure” more than the “person,” we are just one step away from joining the council that plots to destroy the work of God.
Interestingly Jesus is least bothered about being on the popularity charts of the Pharisees. He is literally a man for the masses, a man on a mission and that’s what he does in the face of constant opposition. Human tendency, by and large, responds negatively to criticism often causing one to withdraw. For Jesus that was a luxury he could not afford. He had a mission and doing the will of the father was paramount for him.
Scripture tells us that, “When Jesus realized this (the plot of the Pharisees), he withdrew from that place. Many people followed him, and he cured them all.” Jesus does not retreat out of fear, but because his “hour” has not yet come. His mission is governed by a divine timeline, not the anger of His critics.
Jesus neutralizes their conspiracy by continuing to do good in secret. Matthew looks at this quiet, non-violent resistance and realizes it matches the blueprint of Isaiah’s Servant perfectly. The Pharisees brought a knife to a spiritual battle, completely unaware that victory would be won through the very vulnerability they sought to destroy.
We live in a culture that screams in the streets. We think that whoever shouts loudest wins the argument. Our Lord did not bring a microphone to a shouting match; He brought a healing touch to a hurting crowd and won the war through quiet resilience. Jesus reminds us that divine strategy often looks like a quiet withdrawal. Choosing not to engage in toxic arguments, refusing to trade insult for insult, and quietly continuing to heal and help people in the background is not cowardice; it is the ultimate display of Kingdom authority
Perhaps there is something for us to ponder about. It is essential to reflect both on the message and the man, for Jesus’ words were backed by his actions. Jesus is fully human and fully divine and hence Jesus surely experienced the rejection, hate and animosity. He was not protected by a divine shield that sanitized him from human emotions of pain and suffering, yet he chose to focus on the positive, he chose to move on and do not merely good work but God’s work.
If in any way you are experiencing rejection, pain or anxiety, look to the Lord Jesus. Often pain makes us wallow in self-pity. We end up looking at our loss rather than the possibility of making others gain. If you want to step out of negative emotions then fill your life with positive ones. Jesus stepped out and healed people, he continued to bring light to others despite the darkness of men that surrounded him.
You cannot always think your way out of a negative feeling, but you can serve your way out of it. When life deals you pain, the most therapeutic thing you can do is become the answer to someone else’s prayer. You can’t control the storm outside, but you can always choose to be the shelter for someone else. By shifting your focus from your own wounds to someone else’s needs, you break the cycle of self-pity. You don’t have to wait for your circumstances to get better to start doing good. Remember, Self-pity demands a mirror, but purpose gives you a window.
Fr Warner D’souza
Hello!
Fr. Warner D'Souza is a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Bombay. He has served in the parishes of St Michael's (Mahim), St Paul's (Dadar East), Our Lady of Mount Carmel, (Bandra), a ten year stint as priest-in-charge at St Jude Church (Malad East) and at present is the Parish Priest at St Stephen's Church (Cumballa Hill). He is also the Director of the Archdiocesan Heritage Museum and is the co-ordinator of the Committee for the Promotion and Preservation of the Artistic and Historic Patrimony of the Church.
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