Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Tuesday of the twenty-eighth week in ordinary time, October 13, 2026.
The theme for our meditation today is: Don't Force God to Divert. Christians who are also members of the Church are not all holy and righteous. We recognize that we strive from time to time to fulfill God's will to become perfect. Jesus' message for us, His followers, is very clear and revealing, which is to become perfect as our heavenly Father who is ever perfect.
Then what about some Christians who do not feel interested or simply ingnore to carry out God's will? This is the same question that the Parish Priest once asked some of the altar boys whom he met after the celebration of the Holy Mass. "Why don't some of your friends come to church"? One of them honestly said that half of the parish altar boys no longer wanted to pray and come to church.
The parish priest worried about his people, including the altar boys, who according to certain testimonies, some of them have chosen to become servants of the pleasures in the world and not any more servants of God. They think that God doesn't have to be found in the church every Sunday. God is also found in the streets, in sexual exploitation, in adultery, in corruption, and in other crimes. They enjoy this worldly life very much because in there they find satisfaction and pleasure. They really force God to divert or to change from where He is absolutely to be. God is made no longer the Lord who is straight with truth in His will.
Saint Paul in the first reading really hopes that our faith only depends on the straight line from Christ, the Son of God. This emphasis on our obedience or upright fidelity must be consistent in all times and places so that we do not fall into other influences that come and go without end. Nowadays the Pharisees' ways of revealing and promoting truth are made even stronger with the help of advancement in communication technology. Lies and hypocrisy spread so fast and hide behind the ability of the means of communication that can protect them.
It seems that God and his truth will continue to be forced to turn direction. The Lord Jesus strongly condemned this kind of Pharisee lifestyle, namely hypocrisy that is massively propagated and imposed. So with Jesus who is very firm and saint Paul who is so outspoken, we need to hold firmly to this reminder: "Don't force God to divert. Instead, we just follow the direction of Saint Paul and Jesus Christ because this is the straight direction toward the Father.
Let's pray. In the name of the Father ... God almighty, we wish to affirm our confession of faith to follow Christ faithfully and responsibly, and so bless us and our daily efforts to be like You. Hail Mary, full of grace ... In the name of the Father ...
