Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Tuesday of the 17th week in ordinary time, July 29, 2025, Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus

Delivered by Shendy and Andrew Jost from the Parish of Saint Albert the Great in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Exodus 32: 15-24.30-34; Rs psalm 106: 19-20.21-22.23; Matthew 13: 31-35.THE REAL WORLD, NOT A DREAM The title for our meditation today is:The Real World, Not a Dream. We have just heard the Gospel reading about themeaning of sowing seeds and the growth of weeds with them until the harvestseason. One element of the meaning of the parable, said Jesus, is the field orland interpreted as the world. The world meant here is the real world, whereyou and I are in here and now. The real world is filled with ourlives. God is so dear and caring for people in the world, so He sent His onlySon to come to the world to save them. Jesus Christ established His kingdom inthe world through the foundation of the Church to ensure that all God's peoplecould obtain salvation, and finally enter into the eternal kingdom of heaven. This world and the people who inhabitin it become the vineyard to which Jesus Christ came to serve and to lead toperfection. He was willing to die for their salvation. We acknowledge our beingsinners and we also face many difficulties because we are surrounded by allkinds of weeds. But Jesus never gives up or stops giving us His attention. Eventhough we always do good, there are still many around us who dissatisfy,disagree, dislike, slander, envy and bring us trouble. All of them are weedsthat never allow us to walk free. But Jesus Christ does not lose control ofourselves, and the Holy Spirit faithfully accompanies us. We cannot avoid the reality of thisworld. We can only arm ourselves with attitudes and abilities in accordancewith the truth and goodness of God. Like Moses and God's people who returnedfrom practicing idols and turned to God, we also make ourselves alwaysoptimistic and have good intentions while living in this real world. Thisattitude helps us to have feeling at home and to continue renewing ourselvesand the world in which we spend our life. People must be free from dreams andfantasies that can make them pessimistic and fear of the real world. The world’s current situation can makepeople of today dream of being freed from it because they cannot bear its heavychallenges and burdens. This can be compared with a four-wheeled car that runson the road every day. The back wheels keep on dreaming or fantasizing: We wantto be in the front position so that we will arrive first, but when and how canwe... Many of us often fall into this kind dream, which means that they are notcomfortable, not optimistic and realistic about life in this world. We hope weare not of this type, but we are still realistic and optimistic about life hereand now. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O generous heavenly Father, You fill our real world today with allpossibilities that we can make it a happy dwelling place under the guidance ofYour Spirit. May we always be faithful in the way that Jesus Christ Your Sonalways commands us to do in this world. Glory to the Father and to the Son andto the Holy Spirit ... In the name of the Father ...