Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Monday of the 32nd week in ordinary time, November 10, 2025, Memorial of Saint Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church

Delivered by Johana from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Wisdom 1: 1-7; Rs psalm 139: 1-3.4-6.7-8.9-10; Luke 17: 1-6. DON'T BECOME ASCANDAL The theme of ourmeditation today is: Don't Become a Scandal. A parish priest shared that on oneoccasion he was involved in a misunderstanding with the staff and severalfamilies in the parish he served. The misunderstanding escalated into anuncontrolled argument, causing most of the faithful to become inflamed andangry. However, the parish priest did not appear to become emotional or angry.He remained calm and controlled. He kept his words as gentle as possible anddid not offend any body. He had to continue treating them as his people whoneeded to be listened to, understood, and loved. If the Priest alsogot emotional and angry, then treated his parishioners with violence, then ofcourse he would become a scandal for them and also the entire members of theParish. The word "scandal" in Greek is scandalon. Its meaning is atrap or stumbling block that causes others to be trapped and fall. Thescriptures explicitly warn us about scandals or tricks that keep people fromtheir Lord and bring them into sin. Psalm 141.9 says: Free me from the trapthey have put to trap me, and from the deception of the wicked. Similar tothis, the first letter of John says: Whoever loves his brother or sister livesin the light, in that person there is no stumbling block. Our big challenge asthe followers of Christ is: don't become a scandal. Jesus says in the Gospel oftoday that we must not cause one of the weakest among us to fall into sin.Those who are classified as the weakest among us are the little ones, sick, childrenand young people, poor, abandoned and those who are not taken into account.Their lives have been difficult physically, mentally and spiritually, so theyshould not be made more difficult in life. Those that cause them difficult andso deprived are those who have power, the smart ones, rich, those who havepositions and influences. If you feel yourself part of these categories, try toavoid being a scandal for the weakest ones. One good suggestionhere is this: we should not show bad or negative examples, which may bringothers to sin. Priests and religious persons can become scandalous because ofdirty talks they utter in front of the people. Parents become scandalousbecause of fighting between them and seen their own children. The teacher islazy in the midst of his students. The big brother steals something andwitnessed by his younger brother. And, there are many more examples that areoften done intentionally by those who are not supposed to do those acts. Let us learn to avoidscandalous acts by showing good and right examples. Let's pray. In the name of the Father... O Father almighty, may we open ourselves sincerely to Your Spirit, so thatwe are always renewed and purified, then come to renew the world from all formsof scandal. Hail Mary, full of grace ... In the name of the Father ...