08/31/2026
The Good News and Reflection August 30 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Matthew 16:21-27
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Good News: Matthew 16:21-27
At that time, Jesus began to tell them that anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God, by following him, will not be able to enter it. But if you receive, you will be able to escape from all these things.
So he told them, “If anyone wants to come to me, let him come. I will not refuse him.” But he said, “Whoever wants to come to me must first go to the house of the Lord. And the gates of the kingdom are locked.”
He said this to them to prepare them for the coming of the Lord. And he was about to go to Jerusalem.
And he said to them, “If anyone wants to come to me, let him come. I will not refuse him.”
But he said, “Whoever wants to come to me may come. Whoever wants to go to me may go. For the gate of the kingdom is locked, but the door of the house is to the one who is coming in. And the one who wants to come in may have no trouble coming in.”
He said this to them to remind them that following God does not mean that we will have a life without worries, trials, and hardships.
Faith is not a promise that we will not be hurt or troubled; on the contrary, it is certain that we will not have to face our sufferings alone, for God is always with us.
When Jesus said to His disciples that He would suffer greatly and be killed, Peter rebuked Him, saying, "Do not say that the Lord will not show mercy on us. For the Lord will show mercy on you."
What was Peter thinking when he said this? Perhaps he thought that because Jesus was the Son of God, He should not suffer and could avoid any suffering.
Just as Peter did, sometimes our thinking is like that. Perhaps we think that because Jesus is our Lord and Savior, we should not suffer. But we should know that before we become precious jewels, we must first purify ourselves in the intense fire. Before a diamond becomes a precious jewel, it must first go through cutting, polishing, and refining. Similarly, our faith must also go through trials.
The trials we experience may be God's means to purify our hearts, strengthen our faith, and teach us not to rely solely on our own strength but on His grace.
So, let us not be surprised when hardship comes, and let us not immediately question God when we experience failure, disappointment, and life's problems. Instead, let us remain steadfast in our faith.
When our cross becomes heavy, let us hold on to Jesus even more. When our prayers seem unanswered, let us continue to pray. When we fail, let us rise again with hope.
And when we feel that we can no longer carry our burdens, let us remember that we are not alone. Jesus is with us and invites us to lay everything in His loving hands.
Our faith is not measured by the absence of hardship, but by our faithfulness to God in the midst of it.
The fire may be painful, the struggle may be hard, and the hardship may seem very long. But in the midst of all this, God will do something beautiful from what we have gone through.
So, when hardship comes, what will we choose: to turn away from Jesus because our cross is heavy, or to hold on to Him even more and trust that He can make our faith deeper, our hearts stronger, and our lives more meaningful?
When the time comes when we no longer understand our struggles, will we still hold on to Jesus's hand?—Marino J. Dasmarinas
