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Good News Reflection for
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 9, 2026
1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13a
Ps 85:8-14
Roman 9:1-5
Matthew 14:22-33
How to achieve a well-balanced faith
In the Gospel reading for this Sunday, Jesus finishes with the miracle of multiplying a few loaves and fish to feed thousands of people, and then he goes off by himself to pray.
When you host a large dinner party or complete a big project or overcome difficult obstacles, do you give yourself time to recuperate and let God minister to you?
After spending time alone with his Father, Jesus was so uplifted by the experience that he walked on water!
Jesus frequently spent time in prayer. He probably went off by himself to pray a lot more often than what is written in scripture. So why did Matthew mention it here? What was significant about this particular prayer time?
Through Matthew, God is showing us how to achieve a well-balanced faith.
We need periods of prayer-filled solitude to restore our energies and renew our vision of what God is inspiring us to do. We all have work to do for God in our families, in our workplaces, in social gatherings, in our parishes and in every problem that arises. Giving of ourselves to others will always drain us; to thrive and grow in our usefulness to God, we must allow him to replenish us often.
Prayer helps us to prepare for whatever lies ahead, even when we don’t know what we’re walking into. What we gain from the Lord in our time alone with him is a gift designed for our benefit and for responding to the needs of others. It strengthens our faith, teaches us how to walk on water, and sends us to the next shore where people who need God’s help are waiting. God wants to minister to them through us. Are you prayed up and ready?
Questions for Personal Reflection:
How much time do you spend in quiet aloneness with the Lord? Is it enough to restore the inner peace that comes from staying in touch with God? Or do you feel drained and unprepared to continue?
Questions for Community Faith Sharing:
What’s your favorite way of praying? What kind of prayer makes you feel most connected to God? Why? How does this help you in the tasks of your daily life?
Good News Reflection for
18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 2, 2026
Isaiah 55:1-3
Ps 145:8-9, 15-18
Romans 8:35, 37-39
Matthew 14:13-21
Are you dissatisfied with anyone?
The readings for this Sunday make me thirsty and hungry! Can we go out to dinner after Mass?
As we say in the responsorial Psalm, “The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.” Yet, despite knowing this, we think we never have enough. We are not content with what we have.
Even when things go well, we’re not fully satisfied. We want more. Especially in relationships. We feeling like we’re starving for more affection. We crave more attention. Our guts grumble over not getting enough concern and support and approval from those who should give it to us.
Every person in our lives has been called by God to be a provider of his love and concern for us. But no one loves us fully and perfectly, and some totally reject this calling. If because of this we live in a state of frustration and anger or cynicism or self-protective isolationism, we’re always hungry.
When we choose instead to forgive the imperfect people and turn to Jesus, he miraculously multiplies a little into a lot. By keeping our eyes on Jesus rather than on those who fail to love us fully, his love for us fills our hearts to overflowing.
Feeling dissatisfied is a sign that Jesus is trying to get our attention; there’s something he wants to give us that we’re not yet open to receive. Our problem is: How is Jesus going to give us what we need if we can’t see him and feel touched by him?
To feel satisfied by an invisible God, we have to stay closely connected to him in prayer and in the Christian community that he’s given us. We have to pay attention to what he’s doing and through whom he’s chosen to do it. That means getting more involved and expecting the unexpected!
Questions for Personal Reflection:
What are you hungry for? Who’s not giving you enough of what you need? How can you find other ways of receiving this, with the help of God?
Questions for Community Faith Sharing:
Describe a time when God met your needs in an unexpected way. Who did you expect to get it from, and how did it happen that you received it another way? Did you receive more — or less — than what you had wanted? Was it satisfying?
Good News Reflection for
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 26, 2026
1 Kings 3:5, 7-12
Ps 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-130
Romans 8:28-30
Matthew 13:44-52
The treasures of God’s kingdom
In this Sunday’s Gospel reading, Jesus tells us that the kingdom of God is like a buried treasure, a pearl purchased at all cost, and a net from which the bad catch of fish will be tossed away and the good catch will be valued.
In other words, our Christian lives are a huge cache of valuables. If our treasure chest has any worthless trash, the garbage needs to be tossed away to make room for more valuables. Some of our treasures have only temporary, earthly value, and ultimately they will be worthless unless they’re used for the kingdom of God.
The reading from Romans tells us that all things work together for the good of those who love God. As we purge our lives of false pearls and dead fish, we become more like our Lord. We become more useful to the kingdom of God. Even the bad things that happen to us, under the creative hand of our all-powerful, mercifully loving God, get put to good use as polishing cloths that brighten our pearls and bring out from us a better shine.
In the first reading, Solomon could have asked God for great wealth and he would have received it, but he asked for an understanding heart so that he’d have wisdom to rule the nation well. Even though he ruled imperfectly, his reputation as the wisest king on earth spread throughout the known world and he accumulated great wealth.
This is meant to teach us that when we seek first the treasures of God’s kingdom, then we can safely use the treasures of the earth, because God’s wisdom guides us in using them for the benefit of his kingdom. The more we love Christ and follow his ways, the easier it is to identify what’s really valuable, separate out the junk that does not belong to God, and use everything else for his purposes.
Questions for Personal Reflection:
What treasures are buried within you? What pearls of wisdom have you gained, and what did it cost you to learn these? Write a list of your many good qualities. How do they prove that the Lord’s presence is within you?
Questions for Community Faith Sharing:
Choose one treasure, gift, or pearl that God has given to you — something that reveals the kingdom of God. How did you discover it or gain it? What effect does it have on others?
Good News Reflection for
16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 19, 2026
Wisdom 12:13,16-19
Ps 86:5-6,9-10,15-16
Romans 8:26-27
Matthew 13:24-43
Three layers of evangelization
Go and Make Disciples: A National Plan and Strategy for Catholic Evangelization in the United States (published in 1992) names three important layers of evangelization: (1) Nurture your own faith-growth, (2) invite others to conversion, and (3) transform society through true Christian living. In this Sunday’s Gospel reading, Jesus teaches us these same three strategies, using parables.
(1) Nurture your own faith-growth: In the kingdom of God, we are like good wheat growing amidst weeds. This takes effort; the weeds will take over if we’re not working daily at growing in holiness. What have you been doing to prevent the weeds around you from taking over and strangling your holiness? How is your faith life benefiting from living in the midst of non-believers and evil? Your Father-Creator is empowering you to grow.
(2) Invite others to conversion: In the kingdom of God, we are like the tiniest of seeds that grow into a bush so large that others benefit from our growth. Who is benefiting from your faith? How is your spiritual growth inviting them into a closer relationship with Jesus? The Holy Spirit is empowering you to evangelize others if you’re willing to minister to them using what you’ve learned from your experiences.
(3) Transform society: In the kingdom of God, we are like yeast that helps the whole batch swell up and mature into the bread of life that nourishes others. What are you involved in, as a Christian, that improves the world? Is your faith making a difference in your workplace, your community, and your parish? During Mass, as you receive the nourishment of the Eucharist, you are empowered to become Eucharist for the world. Mass ends with Christ commissioning you, through the presider, to be the yeast of goodness that affects those around you.
Questions for Personal Reflection:
Maybe you never saw yourself as an “evangelist”, but you are! This is your calling as a baptized Christian. Which of the above three areas of evangelization are you most actively doing? Which needs more of your attention?
Questions for Community Faith Sharing:
Give an example from your own life (or from the life of someone you know or have heard about) that illustrates one of the three goals above. What about the other goals? Make sure that, in your discussion as a faith sharing group, examples are given for all three goals of evangelization.
Good News Reflection for
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 12, 2026
Isaiah 55:10-11
Ps 65:10-14 (with Luke 8:8)
Romans 8:18-23
Matthew 13:1-23
The seed sown on rich soil
This Sunday’s readings are about sowing seeds. The important thing to remember about seed sowing is that the effort is worthless if the seeds are not changed by being cast to the ground. Each seed must give up its former self, dying in the dirt while new life stirs within it. Only then can it send out a tender, first root, which will multiply and grow stronger and deeper to support upward growth. Even so, it has to be properly nourished to survive.
If all this takes place, the end result is a plant that looks nothing like the seed, which as it grows develops the ever-more important mission of benefitting the wider world of Nature beyond itself.
As we listen to Jesus explain the parable, we say yes, we want to be seeds that become fruitful lives. But desiring it does not automatically transform us. What is it that makes the soil of our lives rich and growth-producing?
The reading from Isaiah tells us that it is God himself who is the rich soil — God and his Word. Saint Paul reminds us in the second reading that suffering is part of creation (seeds must fall in the dirt and die in order to produce a fruitful life). Redemption grows from suffering and death.
We will never feel truly fulfilled until we’ve surrendered to the soil and have allowed God to nourish our growth.
Questions for Personal Reflection:
What tender, new roots do you have that are sprouting from times of suffering and loss? What blessings are springing up from them? What ministry (what benefit to others) could be a fruitful gift of these blessings?
Questions for Community Faith Sharing:
Share what it means to give up your former self to allow new life to stir and grow. What is the will of God (what does the Word say) regarding the end result? Give examples from your life or from the lives of others.
© 2026 by Terry A. Modica, Good News Ministries, GNM.org
Used by permission
Good News Reflection for
14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 5, 2026
Zechariah 9:9-10
Ps 145:1-2, 8-11, 13-14
Romans 8:9, 11-13
Matthew 11:25-30
How to make burdens feel light
Does the yoke of Jesus weigh you down or does it feel light? His yoke — according to what he exampled with his life — is servanthood, a ministry that cares for others, a love that makes sacrifices.
We feel weighed down by personal struggles; we have so many of our own crosses to carry and so many people need our attention that we’re exhausted from it all. We need a vacation, an escape, time out! So why does Jesus tell us that his yoke is easy? Why does he say that the burdens of servanthood are light?
How can sharing in the ministry of Jesus be restful?
When the burdens of life wear us down and tire us out, it’s usually because we’ve taken on more responsibility than God has actually given to us.
Or else it’s because we’re expending energy trying to get rid of a cross after Jesus has yoked us to it. If the burden leads to burn-out, God lets us get tired, because he’s warning us: “Slow down! Simplify your life! Make a change! Spend more time in prayer!”
If it leads to anger and resentment, God is showing us that our selfish desire for an easier life is, in reality, making our lives more difficult.
In other words, when we strain and pull against the yoke — against our union with Christ — we suffer from our own mistaken ideas of what we should be doing. It is when we remember that we’re yoked to Someone who is infinitely stronger and wiser than we are that the burden becomes light. The yoke becomes a source of joy.
Jesus offers us everything we need for plowing the fields that God assigns to us. When we cooperate with him, the burden is indeed light. We find rest in Jesus and we benefit from his strength. Our anger and resentment and weariness disappear. We experience holy pleasure in our tasks, because we’re yoked to the goodness and the energy of Jesus himself.
Questions for Personal Reflection:
What are you doing that seems like a good idea but is wearing you out? What part of it is not God’s idea for you? What can you do to slow down, simplify, make a change, and become more aware of the strength of Jesus?
Questions for Community Faith Sharing:
Become accountable for the answer to the above personal questions by speaking of it to friends in your faith community: What changes are you going to make to allow Jesus to refresh and renew you? How might this make a difference?
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