Homily: July 27, 2026 Monday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time (God is closer)

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 “I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world.”

Jesus came into the world to save us, and also to reveal to us who God truly is. Through Jesus, we have come to know that God is love.

God has always loved his people. But again and again, humanity rebelled against God, failed to appreciate His love and took His patience for granted.

From today's first reading, we get a good sense of how intimate God wants to be with His people, how much He longs for us to cling to Him. He used the image of a loincloth clinging to a man to protect his modesty and accord him respect, something very essential and important to every man in Jeremiah’s time. His listeners could immediately visualize and understand the analogy.

They would understand also the description of a dirty loincloth, good for nothing, having lost its purpose for existence. It was a warning for the people to recall their identity as God’s people, at the same time reminding them of God’s invitation to remain close to Him.

Around the world, people still reject God’s love and disregard a relationship with Him. People search for love and happiness in all the wrong places, while the God who loves them is still waiting for them to know Him and love Him, and find their true and lasting happiness with Him.

God is really very close to us. St. Catherine of Siena expressed this beautifully that “God is closer to us than water is to a fish.”

Sometimes we may not feel that closeness. When we experience suffering, disappointment, loneliness, or unanswered prayers, we may question, “Where is God?” 

But if we look carefully at the crucifix, we can see how close God is to us in our hardships. He knows our pains because He has tasted it. Jesus did not simply tell us that God loves us; he showed us. On the Cross, the love that has lain hidden, now becomes visible.

The Kingdom of God is likened to a mustard seed in today’s Gospel text, small and unassuming in its exterior but powerful and full of life when it starts growing. God’s love is the seed. A small act of kindness, a word of forgiveness, a sincere prayer or a simple act of faith may seem insignificant, but when planted in the right place, you will see it grow and transform lives.

So today, the Lord invites us to do what Israel struggled to do: to cling to him intimately and guard His glory carefully. May we remain close to God who is already close to us. May His seed of love grow in us and go with us to whoever we may meet.

Amen.


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