Choosing what truly matters each day is how God's Kingdom gradually takes root in people's lives, Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, vice president of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC) and bishop of Kalookan, Philippines, said as he reflected on Jesus' parables of the fisherman and the householder.
In his homily for Thursday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time, Cardinal David said the Gospel invites believers to practice discernment by learning to distinguish what is worth keeping from what should be set aside.
"People who live with purpose also learn how to choose. They decide what deserves their attention, their energy, and their time. They ask: Is this important? Is it meaningful? Will it help me fulfill the purpose for which I live?" Cardinal David said.
Reflecting on the parable of the fisherman who separates the good fish from the bad and the householder who brings out both new and old treasures, Cardinal David said both figures make their decisions according to the same standard: what is truly valuable and useful.
Cardinal David warned that a life without purpose easily becomes overwhelmed by distractions, making it difficult to recognize what truly matters.
"Life becomes cluttered when it has no clear purpose. Without a guiding vision, we lose the ability to distinguish between what is essential and what is trivial. We no longer know what deserves to be remembered and what should be forgotten, what merits our attention and what should be set aside, what is worth doing and what is not," Cardinal David said.
Cardinal David also linked the Gospel to the Lord's Prayer, noting that the petitions "Your Kingdom come" and "Your will be done" are inseparable. He said people cannot truly welcome God's Kingdom unless they first seek to understand and embrace God's will by asking how God chooses, what God values, and what God considers meaningful.
Concluding his reflection, Cardinal David said the values of God's Kingdom spread through the witness of people who take the initiative to care for others and for creation.
"Care is contagious. When a good habit, born of personal conviction, is gradually shared by many people, it becomes a culture. People begin to do the right thing, not because they are forced to, but because it has become part of who they are," Cardinal David said.
Cardinal David said the Kingdom of God grows not only through prayer or extraordinary deeds but through the countless everyday choices that reflect God's own way of ordering life and caring for what is truly valuable.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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