Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Monday of the sixteenth week in ordinary time, July 21, 2025

Delivered by Kristiana Lengkong from the Parish of Saint Theresia in the Archdiocese of Jakarta, Indonesia. Exodus 14: 5-18; Rs psalm 15: 1-2.3-4.5-6; Matthew 12: 38-42.UNFAITHFULNESS The title for our meditation today is: Unfaithfulness.There was a man who had a job to work outside the city for three to six months.During this time he did not return to his home and family. Communication withhis wife and children was done via online messages and video calls. When he returned home after finishing the job, hefound out that almost everything in the house was normal and good, except forhis two beloved dogs who were no longer familiar with him. The two dogs reallyignored him, even though he wanted to play with them. His youngest son, eightyears old, said to him in this way: "The problem is you haven't been closeand played with them, so they have become strangers to you." Infidelity that happens in our relationship is causedby many factors, and one of them is that people are not close to each other.They do not communicate, there is no news shared and there is no sharing ofattention between them. This also happens between us and the Lord. There is along history about people who have been unfaithful to God where in the end theymust be subjected to the punishment imposed on them because of theirinfidelity. The Lord Jesus was sent by the Father into the world to bring themback to faithfulness and true faith. The people of God, and especially theIsraelites, were expected to be the first to renew this broken relationship andto walk on the new way initiated by Jesus Christ. However, they did not even want to know andacknowledge Jesus. They asked for signs that could help them to believe in Him.This is why Jesus gave them a very strong reaction. They openly opposed God byrejecting and not recognizing that Jesus was sent by God, whom they believedaccording to the faith of their fathers. This is a great sin of unfaithfulness.They preferred such worldly things like money, position, flesh, pleasure,social status and fame. Then, God alone and His teachings brought by Jesus of Nazarethwas not their priority. According to our Lord Jesus Christ, this is a sinagainst the Holy Spirit, and it will never be forgiven. The temptation to deny God by not making Him ourpriority in life is really very big. In general there are three greattemptations that threaten us anytime and anywhere in this world, namely money,power and flesh. The holy Scriptures always say that we need to be sincereabout ourselves. Whether we can overcome the temptation or we are alwaysovercome by it, the world around us is the witness. If we stay with God and letourselves be guided by the Holy Spirit, we are the ones who overcome temptation. Let's pray. In the name of the Father ... Our almighty God,may Your Spirit help us to be faithful always in the way of Your Son JesusChrist, and keep us from all temptations that cause us to be away from Yourpath. Hail Mary full of grace ... In the name of the Father ...