28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isa 25:6-10
Phi 4:12-14,19-20
Mt 22:1-14
There is nothing I cannot master with the help of the One who gives me strength.
Were there times in the past week or month where you thought you could not carry on?
Perhaps you are a caregiver for a loved one. You have a son or daughter who is no longer going to church. Your friend is depressed and suicidal. A relationship has failed or is on the verge of breaking down. Your job situation is uncertain or you have been retrenched. Financial stressors are mounting and there is uncertainty about paying bills or making ends meet. Someone you love has passed away. Or you are dealing with multiple responsibilities that seem manageable on their own, but have cumulatively become overwhelming.
You are on the verge of giving up.
This verse should then cause us pause to reflect – are we relying on our own strength or on God’s?
I went through such a period in March this year where the tensions between being a husband and father of two (fairly) young children, an employee as well as a part-time student, had me on the precipice of giving up. The climax of which saw me in a foreign land on the way to the airport at the end of a business trip, multitasking during the train commute to ‘get things done’ and being separated from my backpack containing my passport and wallet.
During that nerve-wrecking hour as I mumbled fervent prayers in between trying to get help and be reunited with my belongings, I recognized that this wasn’t tenable. I was dealing with my various demands by relying solely on my own conscientiousness, by meticulously trying to maximise whatever time I had in my day.
Though I prayed daily, it oftentimes involved me petitioning God to help me do all that I needed to do. On my terms. With my strengths. Despite my limitations.
I knew in my head that I should lean on Him, but how should I go about doing so?
St Therese of Lisieux shows us the way when she wrote:
“It hasn’t seemed difficult any longer, Mother, this work you gave me to do, since I realised that I couldn’t do anything in my own strength. I came to see that only one thing matters: uniting myself more closely to our Lord all the time; whatever else I want will be given me ‘without the asking’.” – Autobiography of a Saint, p. 206
Hence, the first step is acknowledging our ‘littleness’ and the second is uniting ourselves more closely with God.
We can acknowledge our ‘littleness’ by setting aside our pride and accepting that all we do is only possible through God; even if our intellect, fortitude or a particular trait is thought to have been used to achieve certain outcomes, all these were possible only because God first gave us those talents and graces.
Following, how should we unite ourselves more closely to God? Archbishop William Cardinal Goh in his scripture reflections on 2 August 2026 proposed that we “invest time in prayer – praying with your heart and soul” so that God enlightens, empowers, and refreshes us with His love.
The common refrain to this suggestion is to counter that we are too busy and there is not enough time to pray. Yet, the truth is that the issue is not about having time to pray, but that prayer is not one’s priority.
Steven Covey’s ‘Seven Habits of Effective People’ teaches that we should fill up the ‘jar’ of time with the big rocks first – those of the highest priority and importance; only when the big rocks enter the jar do we put in the smaller pebbles and sand representing activities of lesser importance. Looking towards the example of Saint Teresa of Calcutta, she was said to double her time spent in Eucharistic Adoration the busier she was, as she drew her strength through the real presence of Jesus.
Counterintuitively, the more time we spend with Jesus and cling onto Him, the more strength (and even time) we have to do all that we are called to do.
Finally, the verse could also be a call for us to persevere in our fight against sin. All of us are of the flesh and subject to the temptations that turn us away from God. Thankfully, God has stated that we need not fight this battle alone as there is nothing we cannot overcome with His help.
Let us not confuse our struggles with sin as a war that is won once and for all; it is likely more like a series of battles that require daily commitment to overcoming. In the same vein, when we stumble and succumb to temptation, let us not be discouraged; but with humility, repent, turn back to Him, and press on. This may be a lifelong endeavour for many of us, but we should take heart that it is something we can master with God’s help. As St Augustine himself, who struggled with the sin of lust, declared:
“O Lord our God, under the shadow of your wings let us hope. Protect us and carry us. You will carry us when we are little, and even down to our gray hairs you will carry us; for when you are our strength, then is it strength indeed; but when it is our own, then it is weakness.” – The Confessions of St. Augustine, p. 77
So, whatever it is that we are struggling with, let us turn to God and rely on Him.
Just as St. Paul, who was imprisoned and facing potential death when he wrote this letter to the Philippians, let us be content and even grateful in the midst of the challenges we are facing in life.
For by His strength, there is nothing we cannot master.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Nick Netto)
Prayer: Jesus the source of all our strength, all glory and praise is yours. I am sorry for the times when I relied on my own strength, too proud to turn to you for help. I pray that you deliver me from the sins of pride and expedience that prevent me from surrendering totally to You.
Thanksgiving: I thank You for granting me the graces to turn to You daily, relying on Your strength to do all that you have entrusted to me. Amen.
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