FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, JULY 5, 2026

MASS READINGS

Reading 2 Romans 8:9, 11-13

Brothers and sisters:

You are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. 

Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 

If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you.

Consequently, brothers and sisters, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 

For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

REFLECTION

If we read further down this epistle, St. Paul tells us that: "For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, “Abba,^* Father!" (Rom 8:15)

This is called Filial Adoption, or Divina Filiation. It is the profound truth that we are made sons and daughters of God through a gratuitous gift of Grace and through Baptism. When we accept and believe in God we become children of God. To have the ability to follow His example, to act right and do good. (CCC 1709)

When we are baptized, we receive the Holy Spirit. If we choose to believe and follow Jesus, we begin to be transformed. "For those who live according to the flesh are concerned with the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit with the things of the spirit. The concern of the flesh is death, but the concern of the spirit is life and peace" (Rom 8:5-6)

Pope Saint John Paul II tells us in Dominum et Vivificantem:

"This is an exhortation to live in the truth, that is, according to the dictates of an upright conscience, and at the same time it is a profession of faith in the Spirit of truth as the one who gives life. For the body is "dead because of sin, but your spirits are alive because of righteousness." "So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh." Rather we are debtors to Christ, who in the Paschal Mystery has effected our justification, obtaining for us the Holy Spirit: "Indeed, we have been bought at a great price."

In popular culture we say that we don't take our things to the next life. I believe that we take only what we gave: our time, our love, our prayers. We bring to God the good, and the wrong we did in this life. I saw an example of this when one of our PAPA members, Tere Garcia, passed away. She (seemingly) lived a humble and quiet life praying for the nascent babies, and for priests. Her funeral had to be celebrated in her city's cathedral because of the amount of people that attended it. In her day to day, as a clinical psychologist, she had started the pro-life movement and 40 days for life in her province, as well as creating a network of doctors and other people that supported this ministry. She left a legacy in place for this labor to continue (and continues) after her passing. I believe she arrived before God with her arms full of the good she did on earth. Specially of all those babies she saved. And the moms and dads she helped heal.

Let us pray to the Holy Spirit so we can learn to live by the Spirit of God, and concern ourselves with the things that are from God, and not of the things that are of the flesh. So we can do His will on earth, and one day be united with Him forever.

God bless y'all!