As a leader, mentor, and father, I realize that no amount of wisdom and knowledge can have a lasting impact if those I lead or mentor do not feel valued or cared for. It’s easy to focus on imparting knowledge, but the foundation of any meaningful relationship—whether in leadership, mentorship, or parenting—is built on trust and love.

This was Jesus’ approach. He first addressed their physical needs, healing the sick before He taught about the Kingdom of God. His compassion and care for people were evident in His actions. He showed us an important lesson: love and care should come before teaching.

When people know that we genuinely care about their well-being, they are more likely to listen, learn, and grow from our guidance. As I reflect on Jesus’ example, I recognize the importance of showing love first—healing wounds and building trust—before teaching people how to do better in business, nurture loving families, and lead them to know God and grow in faith. 

Rex Mendoza (rex.mendoza@yahoo.com)

reflect

Do you show people that you care before you share what you know? Do you genuinely love the people you lead and nurture?  

Lord Jesus, guide me to be like You. Help me to teach, lead, and mentor with compassion.

St. John Neumann, bishop, pray for us.

The gift of discernment is important, especially since we live in a world with diverse and conflicting ideas about faith and morals. True discernment of spirits is a gift that helps us discern between right and wrong, according to God's will alone and not on anyone else. God is the Creator of all things, so His intention should be our primary guide in discerning the path of life toward fulfillment.

²² Beloved: We receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. ²³ And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us. ²⁴ Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit that he gave us. ^4:1 Beloved, do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² This is how you can know the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh belongs to God, ³ and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus does not belong to God. This is the spirit of the antichrist who, as you heard, is to come, but in fact is already in the world. ⁴ You belong to God, children, and you have conquered them, for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. ⁵ They belong to the world; accordingly, their teaching belongs to the world, and the world listens to them. ⁶ We belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us, while anyone who does not belong to God refuses to hear us. This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 2:7-8, 10-12

R: I will give you all the nations for an inheritance.

⁷ The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; this day I have begotten you. ⁸ Ask of me and I will give you the nations for an inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession.” (R) ¹⁰ And now, O kings, give heed; take warning, you rulers of the earth. ¹¹ Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice before him; with trembling ¹² rejoice! (R)

Gospel | Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25

Jesus simply calls us back to the true intention of the Father when He created us and the world. We need to discern God’s intention in creation and live according to His will. We will not find fulfillment in any other way. The ways of the world are merely illusions of fulfillment and, in the end, fail to satisfy those who devote their lives to them.

Gospel Acclamation

Jesus proclaimed the Gospel of the Kingdom and cured every disease among the people.

¹² When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. ¹³ He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴ that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled: ¹⁵ Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, ¹⁶ the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen. ¹⁷ From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” ²³ He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people. ²⁴ His fame spread to all of Syria, and they brought to him all who were sick with various diseases and racked with pain, those who were possessed, lunatics, and paralytics, and he cured them. ²⁵ And great crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan followed him.

Read the Bible in one year! Read JOHN 17 - 21 today.

Today’s Gospel begins with a somber note. Jesus heard that “John has been arrested.” John the Baptist was His cousin. He was the forerunner of the Messiah. John prepared the people for His coming. It must have been distressing and discouraging for Jesus to learn about the fate of John the Baptist. It could have even instilled fear in His heart that He would suffer the same fate as John’s. Perhaps. Soon after, Jesus would learn that John had been beheaded in prison.

And so when we read next in the Gospel that Jesus “withdrew to Galilee” (see v. 12), we think that was the last that we will hear and see from Him. Perhaps the experience completely dejected, depleted, or defeated Jesus. But no. Jesus was not deterred from His mission. On the contrary, He went to the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali and began to preach the message of the Kingdom.

Jesus lived the life principle, “If you’re going through something, go through it.” All of us are going through something in life. But unlike Jesus, we stay there—nay, encamp there. Unlike Jesus, we often end up defeated, depleted, and depressed.

Was Jesus pained by the fate of His cousin John? Surely, He was. But Jesus did not waste His pain. He did not only go through His pain; He grew through His pain. This is why, perhaps as a tribute to John, Jesus instead went about His own mission with much vigor throughout Galilee, “teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people . . .”

Friends, don’t waste your pain. Jesus raised the bar higher. Don’t just go through your pain—grow through your pain. 

Fr. Joel O. Jason

reflection question

While we suffer by chance, we come out of them better by choice.

Lord, I choose to bear my struggles today—with You, in You, and through You. Amen.

Today, I pray for: _______________________________