My faith demands I speak out against injustice, yet fear often silences me. Social media, with its potential for backlash, can feel like a minefield. It’s easier to remain silent to avoid the discomfort of confrontation.

But silence, I’ve come to realize from my Social Justice and Advocacy class, is not neutral. It’s complicity. It allows suffering to continue, betraying the very core of my Christian faith. This realization is unsettling but also a call to action.

The Gospel calls me to be a voice for the voiceless, to stand up for justice, even when it’s difficult. It requires courage, humility, and a willingness to step outside my comfort zone.

This journey is challenging, with setbacks and disappointments. But with God’s grace, I will strive to break the silence, to live out my faith authentically, and be a true witness to Christ’s love and justice. 

Hermie Morelos (hrm9224@gmail.com) 

reflect

When do you remain silent when faced with injustice? What steps can you take to break that silence and live out your faith more authentically?

Lord, grant me the courage to speak the truth, the wisdom to discern the best course of action, and the strength to persevere in the face of opposition. May my words and actions reflect Your love and justice in the world. Amen.

St. Bernardine of Siena, priest, pray for us.

Jesus came to serve, not to be served. Like Him, service should be one of the central focuses of our lives. Let us reflect on the kind of service and love we offer to our families, our parishes or faith communities, and our neighbors. This is just the starting point of our reflection, not the end. Let us remain open to going wherever the Lord calls us to serve.

²⁸ At Miletus, Paul spoke to the presbyters of the Church of Ephesus: “Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, in which you tend the Church of God that he acquired with his own Blood. ²⁹ I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock. ³⁰ And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth to draw the disciples away after them. ³¹ So be vigilant and remember that for three years, night and day, I unceasingly admonished each of you with tears. ³² And now I commend you to God and to that gracious word of his that can build you up and give you the inheritance among all who are consecrated.  ³³ I have never wanted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. ³⁴ You know well that these very hands have served my needs and my companions. ³⁵ In every way, I have shown you that by hard work of that sort we must help the weak, and keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus who himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” ³⁶ When he had finished speaking, he knelt down and prayed with them all. ³⁷ They were all weeping loudly as they threw their arms around Paul and kissed him, ³⁸ for they were deeply distressed that he had said that they would never see his face again. Then they escorted him to the ship.   

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 68:29-30, 33-35, 35-36

R: Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.

²⁹ Show forth, O God, your power, the power, O God, with which you took our part; ³⁰ for your temple in Jerusalem let the kings bring you gifts. (R) ³³ You kingdoms of the earth, sing to God, chant praise to the Lord 34 who rides on the heights of the ancient heavens. Behold, his voice resounds, the voice of power: ³⁵ “Confess the power of God!” (R) Over Israel in his majesty; his power is in the skies. ³⁶ Awesome in his sanctuary is God, the God of Israel; he gives power and strength to his people. (R)  

Gospel | John 17:11-19

Jesus prays and consecrates us through the truth. Today, the world faces a crisis of truth. People tend to define what is true for themselves, rather than recognizing truth for what it truly is. This is a false dichotomy. Truth applies to all people, across all time. Without it, moral right and wrong—and the foundation of society itself—collapse. There must be universal moral truths, or else right and wrong cease to exist. 

Gospel Acclamation

Your word, O Lord, is truth; consecrate us in the truth.

¹¹ Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed, saying: “Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one. ¹² When I was with them, I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled. ¹³ But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely. ¹⁴ I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. ¹⁵ I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. ¹⁷ Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. ¹⁸ As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. ¹⁹ And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.”

Reflect

“Truth, according to our Christian faith, is God’s love for us in Jesus Christ. Therefore, truth is a relationship.” (Pope Francis)

Read the Bible in one year! Read RUTH 1 - 4 today.

A Lasting Inheritance

Today’s First Reading and the Gospel paint scenes of heartfelt farewells between people who have touched one another’s lives in a most intimate way. In the First Reading, Paul bids farewell amidst copious tears and hugging to the beloved church community he had established at Ephesus.

The scene is most touching—it is worth illustrating: “When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. . . . Then they accompanied him to the ship” (Acts 20:36-38).

Paul did not leave any heirloom or treasure behind. His inheritance for his beloved at Ephesus was the truth of the faith in Jesus.

In the Gospel, Jesus leaves behind a most personal prayer to the Father. Later centuries will call that prayer “The Priestly Prayer” of Jesus. In that dialogue with the Father, Jesus consecrates to the Father the men who have become His closest collaborators and prayed that, in the Father’s providence, they be preserved in the truth, from all harm, and amidst all adversities and trials.

My father died during my first year in the seminary. He didn’t have a lot to leave behind when he passed on to eternal life, but he gave me his treasure. When I entered the seminary at the age of 16, my father gave me his Bible. I knew it was his Bible because it was “dirty.” The pages were worn out: it had highlights and marks on it, and even some scribbled little notes. You can tell he read it and prayed with it. 

Like Paul and Jesus, my father did not leave behind any valuables. In fact, he left the family with a little debt owing from his hospital bills. But I don’t mind. The values he left me are far more important than any valuables he could have left behind. 

Fr. Joel O. Jason

reflection question

Will you be passing on an heirloom that withstands corruption, consumption, and decay?

Lord, help me build a treasure chest that neither moth nor insects can destroy. Amen.

Today, I pray for ________________________________________