Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Thursday of the 17th week in ordinary time, July 30, 2026

Delivered by Eva Glenn Robert from the Parish of Saint Augustine Keinarut in the Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. Jeremiah 18: 1-6; Rs psalm 146: 2abc.2d-4.5-6; Matthew 13: 47-53.GOD DETERMINES AT THE END The theme for our meditation today is: God Decides atthe End. We often tend to surrender when the problem that we face never findsits solution. Surrender means to make a retreat and stop to continue to speakor to act. Surrender is not about someone who is hopeless with greatdisappointment and sadness. Those who surrender over something or someone areactually those who still have room for hope, and they are open for solutionsthat may come in their favor such as time, other people, fortune, and  of course God. The most common one is our surrender to God. Forinstance, there was a fight between two persons that never ended. There werealready many efforts to find solution for their problem such as throughfamily's peace talks, religious assistance and trial in the court but they havenot been able to solve their problem. The loser would always force the issue sothat the problem would just remain disturbing. At certain point both partiesbelieved that there was no longer reason to remain in conflict and fight,therefore, they chose to surrender. The last thing still remained was to bringthe problem to God and He would decide or judge for each of them. God'sjudgement will be made after our death, where every person will be judgedaccording to one's behavior in this life on earth. This example illustrates how God determines at the endof our journey of life. Jesus gave us a proper parable to teach us about thisfinal determination, namely the judgement in heaven that ultimately decides whois right and who is wrong. God has such a wise strategy. He does not make bigand final judgement when there is still time for us to change ourselves whilewe are still on earth. God is patient and tolerant so that the trouble makersand the sinful ones still have opportunity to repent before their death. This strategy of course contradicts with the way wehumans normally do, which is the enjoyment for those who win and the sadnessfor those who lose in the world. People commonly perceive that the joy ofvictory is final or the sadness of losing is the end. Yet the truth is that,those wins and loses are just pieces of life event that cannot be consideredfinal of our journey. Our standard of justice is only to fulfill the demands ofthis world, whereas a judgement which is the highest final is indeed thestandard of the Lord, the almighty. It is our true belief that our finaldetermination is from God. According to the prophet Jeremiah, as long as we livein this world, our lives should follow God's determination, like the way thepotter carves things from clay. Through His will and wisdom, God wants to shapeus in our words and actions every day so that we can experience how Hedetermines our lives from one moment to another, from our wake up in themorning until our sleep at night. This is our way of life that leads us to thefinal judgement in heaven. Let'spray. In the name of the Father ... O Lord Jesus Christ, may we always lookforward to the final moment of your judgement over us with our firm faith andlasting hope. Hail Mary, full of grace ... In the name of the Father ...