20260710 Friday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Hos 14:2-10, Mt 10:16-23): Seek the Path to the Eternal Rather Than What Is Fading Away Where are you looking, and where are you directing your steps today? As you walk that long journey, what part of the landscape unfolding before your eyes catches your attention? Is it the deep, beautiful greenery of the trees, the contrasting deep blue of the sky, or the faces of the people passing by? In truth, on a journey where we must run without ceasing, the one thing we must never forget is to keep sight of our final destination. So, let me ask you once again: where is your gaze fixed? In his book Religion and Personality, Adrian van Kaam once noted, “The Christian's joy is based on the knowledge that our Savior is alive, never on success.” Just like that, before we reach the very end of our life’s journey, we are met with countless worldly temptations stretching out their hands to us. It is just like the people of Israel in today’s first reading, stumbling in their guilt by relying on war horses and calling the work of their own hands their god. Even today, how rampant is the foolishness of leaning on the power of money and status, assigning absolute value to one's own comfort and wealth as if they were God? When we feel like "sheep in the midst of wolves" (Matthew 10:16), how much courage is required to struggle to find the Lord’s word, to strive toward true values in the midst of such a world, and to cry out in protest for the restoration of justice? Yet, the Lord speaks to us in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 10, verses 20 and 22: “For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you... You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved.” Even if the majority nods along, says "Yes," and follows the crowd, we need to make the effort to boldly witness with our lives by saying "No." Conversely, even if everyone says "No," we need the wisdom of discernment to say "Yes" to the will of the Lord. Standing up against corruption and the personal wounds caused by the logic of power in the workplace, or countering a world of indifference by offering attention, prayers, and help to the sufferings of our fellow parishioners and neighbors—these are things we cannot achieve by our own strength alone. This is a responsibility we must fulfill through true humility, entirely entrusting ourselves to the faith that God, who fills our spirit, is with us, and through active, resolute action. In the Book of the Prophet Hosea, chapter 14, verses 6 and 10, the Lord awakens our hearts and promises to give us the strength to walk the straight path: “I will be like the dew for Israel: he shall blossom like the lily; He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar... Straight are the paths of the LORD, in them the just walk, but sinners stumble in them.” Today, when daily challenges approach us within our own lives and relationships, let us pray for the courage to live proudly as Christians through discerning words and responsible actions that fulfill the Lord's will. And I pray with all my heart that we may fully carry out our role as disciples of the Lord, using that light to guide ourselves and the world around us back onto the straight path. Amen.