17th Sunday Ordinary Time July 26, 2026

Readings: 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12, Romans 8:28-30, Matthew 13:44-52

The Kingdom of God is both an idea and a reality. It is an idea because we can think about it and ponder it. It is a reality because it is a phrase trying to express God’s presence in our midst every day of our lives. The reality is that we can live our lives without ever thinking about the Kingdom of God. But when we begin to think of Jesus and when we begin to try to live as He taught us, then we are trying to live “in the Kingdom of God.” Our lives don’t look very different when we are aware that we are living in the Kingdom of God. On the other hand, our hearts can have an awareness that we are trying to do God’s will—and this is living in the Kingdom of God.

There are lots of people who try to love others and try to do what is right and just without ever knowing the presence of God. We who are Christians, we who are Catholics, are trying to be faithful to Jesus Christ and should know that this striving to be faithful is about living in the Kingdom of God. At the end of time, we shall all be in God’s Kingdom. Yes, perhaps some may choose for Hell—it is a real choice—but we can work now to choose to live in the Kingdom of God, that has no end. If we look just at the first reading today and the Gospel, we can see that the deepest wisdom of our lives is to choose to live in the Kingdom of God.

The second reading only reaffirms this choice of the Kingdom of God. It does speak about predestination, and that was a huge problem at the time of the Reformation, when many people chose to leave the Catholic Church and belong to other Churches. But today most of us don’t even think about predestination. We all realize that God knows from all time those who will be saved—but we also hope that it will be everyone and not just a small group of people! Every day we should pray for the salvation of everyone else. That is true love for others.

Today, this Sunday, we can ask our Lord for the salvation of every person who has ever lived. We can ask for our own salvation. We can ask that each of us can personally strive to live in the Kingdom of God. May God hear us and answer our prayer.

On this World Day of Grandparents and Elderly, We thank and pray for Grandparents and Elderly of our parishes and families, who teach by example and share their God-given wisdom; and for the growth of faith in both young and old and pray God may bless them with good health and peace.