Bombay Jesuits

26/08/2026

27/08/2026 (St. Monica)
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Awake and Ready, Faithful and Wise

"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their allowance of food at the proper time?" (Mt 24:45).

Today's Gospel is taken from the fifth and the final discourse in the Gospel of Matthew, known as the eschatological discourse. In today's Gospel, Jesus highlights four characteristics which all of us are supposed to imbibe as we prepare ourselves for his second coming. We are called to be awake and ready; and for that we need to be faithful and wise. The wisdom which Jesus speaks about is God's wisdom that inspires us to be faithful and diligent, awake and ready for action.

This kind of wisdom, faithfulness, wakefulness, and readiness is amply seen in the Saint we commemorate today. St. Monica, the mother of wayward Augustine, felt that God had entrusted to her family to her care. She was always awake and ready to provide spiritual nourishment to her husband and her children, especially to Augustine. As a faithful and wise servant of God, she kept on praying for the conversion of Augustine with bitter tears for 20 long years and finally she was rewarded.

Let us take inspiration from St. Monica and aspire to be awake and ready, faithful and wise!

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼🧐

26/08/2026

25/08/2026

26/08/2026 (Onam)
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Toiling Apostles Vs Whitewashed Tombs

"We did not eat anyone's bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you" (2 Thess 3:8).

Today's readings present before us two contrasting groups of individuals. The first reading provides us with an example which we should emulate and the Gospel gives us an example which we should avoid. In the first reading, St. Paul sets before the Thessalonians the exam of three missionaries, himself, Silvanus, and Timothy. As apostles of Jesus Christ, they had every right to receive support from the community they evangeluzed. However, they worked hard day and night and did not become a burden for others.

In the Gospel, we have the negative example of scribes and Pharisees. Jesus compares them with whitewashed tombs. The painted tombs look clean and beautiful from outside, but within the tombs, there are bones of the dead and all kind of filth. In the same way, the Pharisees appear to be pious and holy, but their hearts were full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Let us introspect our lives today and see which example we are following, that of toiling apostles or that of hypocritical Pharisees?

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼🧰⚰️

25/08/2026

24/08/2026

25/08/2026 (Sts. Louis and Joseph Calasanz)
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Addressing the Elephant in the Room

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cu**in, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others" (Mt 23:23).

The idiomatic expression "the elephant in the room" means a big, obvious problem or difficult truth that everyone knows about, but no one wants to talk about because it feels awkward or scary. The Pharisees were the powerful religious elite at the time of Jesus. They wielded great influence on the ordinary people. Although the ordinary people detested their ways, the Pharisees were feared and respected.

No one would date to enter into a direct confrontation with such a powerful group of people. In today's Gospel, Jesus addresses the elephant in the room; he calls a spade a spade, and exposes the hypocrisy of the Pharisees.

How long are we going to tolerate injustices perpetuated by the majoritarian regime? Following the example of Jesus, when are the Church leaders going to address the elephant in the room?

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼🐘

24/08/2026

Called to serve. Called to lead. Called to give🌱
Here’s Br. Wencesl sharing his journey to Jesuit priesthood.

23/08/2026

24/08/2026 (St. Bartholomew)
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The Vision of the Son of Man and Jacob's Ladder

And Jesus said to Nathanael, "Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man" (Jn 1:51).

Today we celebrate the feast of the Apostle Bartholomew, who according to an ancient tradition visited the Western coast of India near Mumbai and established a Christian community there. The encounter between Bartholomew, who is called Nathanael in today's Gospel, and Jesus is very interesting. In spite of his scepticism, he pays heed to the invitation of Philip and comes to see Jesus, and confesses Jesus as the Son of God and the King of Israel.

Jesus greets Nathanael as "truly an Israelite in whom the is no deceit" (Jn 1:47). The confession of Nathanael makes him a true Israelite, who is guileless, unlike Jacob. The encounter ends with Jesus' promise that Nathanael will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. This reference also reminds us of Jacob's vision of a ladder in Genesis 28. Here Jesus takes the place of the ladder connecting heaven and earth.

Let us rejoice at the fact that we have with us Jesus, the Son of Man, who has become the ladder for us connecting us to heaven!

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼🪜