Monthly Archives: July 2026

Reflecting on 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12

The young Solomon really touches my heart. Here he is, a mere youth, who has suddenly inherited the realm of his father, King David. In time, of course, he will surpass his father’s territory and wealth, but when we meet him today, he is the new king, and appears to be quite terrified.

That alone warms our hearts, that an entitled young man would be terrified of making a mistake with the responsibilities thrust upon him. History has lots of terrible stories of young (or old) kings tearing through their empires just because they could.

But young Solomon has the grace to respond to the Lord’s invitation to ask for anything by asking for an understanding heart. That’s where the term “the wisdom of Solomon” begins to take shape.

We see him in several other encounters— remember the story of the two women who each claimed to be the mother of the baby? You can find it in I Kings 3: 16-28. His wisdom shines in that episode as well.

In fact, there are seven “wisdom books” in the Old Testament, books like Job and the Book of Wisdom, which are thought to be influenced by King Solomon.

I’m sorry to confess that if God invited me to ask for anything, I don’t think an understanding heart would even make my top ten. But how wise King Solomon was to ask for understanding so as to “know what is right.”

My top ten would include pleas for an end to global hunger, devastating climate catastrophes, and an end to divisions in the Church and the world.  Come to think of it, “knowing what is right” pretty much covers all of that.

What would be your first request of God?

Kathy McGovern ©2026

Reflecting on Matthew 13: 24-43

I like that householder. He knows that he didn’t plant weeds in his field of wheat. “The enemy” planted them, but to what avail? To make him look ridiculous when it’s time to harvest? To trick him into pulling the weeds, hence pulling up the wheat as well? To lure him into a revenge plan, which almost never turns out as hoped? He doesn’t fall for any of those traps.

Instead, he does the kind thing, the strong thing. He lets the weeds and wheat grow up together, and then, at harvest, throws the weeds into the fire and saves the wheat.

“You’ve got lipstick on your teeth.” “We caught you in a lie.” “I don’t believe that the dog ate your homework.” Insert your own moments of humiliation, when a kind but firm superior told you that you’re not coming off as well as you hoped.

But wait! That same person of authority then hands you your next assignment (or your next paycheck) and you realize that, mess that you are, those around you continually choose to forgive and overlook the weaknesses you’ve carried around all your life.

I’ll bet you, too, have dear ones in your life whose weaknesses you’d love to pluck out so they could be the full and happy people you long for them to be. But plucking never works. It’s the hard work of patient forbearance that eventually brings us all to the place where we can gratefully look back at those who loved us through it all.

So let the hard things about your students and your kids grow up next to the wonderful things we all love about them. Give them the grace the householder gave his field.

What hard things about you did your loved ones overlook as you were growing up?

Kathy McGovern ©2026

Hearing the parable of the Sower and the seeds again today, I think of the many scriptures that remind us of what true wealth is. If you want to be rich, love true riches It’s that simple. The true riches of this world are people. The next time you’re sitting on a plane, take a minute to meet the person sitting right next to you. Chances are you’ll be so enriched by your short conversation that you’ll wonder why you didn’t initiate the conversation earlier.

“If you value rank and renown”, wrote Pope Gregory the Great, “hasten to be enrolled in the heavenly court of the angels”. Now, finding that heavenly court means payingstrong attention to the seeds of discipline and piety that you probably carefully sowed in your youth, but may have let go by the wayside as you grew into adulthood.   

Store up in your minds the Lord’s words which you receive through the reading of the scriptures at Mass, and in your daily reading and prayer. That’s the truest nourishment there is. But if the words you hear aren’t stored away, they are like good seed on rocky soil. There are so many distractions for the attention of our minds. News stories and baby videos (my particular weakness) jump in to steal the Word from our memories.

Be careful, then, that the word you have received through your ears remains in your heart. Be careful that the seed does not fall along the path, for fear that the evil spirit (or endless internet distractions) may come and take it from your memory.

Good seed is sown through perseverance, through following through, through making the best of the field you’ve been given.

In what ways do you tend the garden of your life?

Kathy McGovern  ©2026

Reflecting on Matthew 11: 25-30

My measly six-block walk feels like six miles when I do it in the heat of the day, which somehow it always is. I always start out early in the morning, with a very light jacket and a water bottle. Three blocks in and I’ve got the jacket wrapped around my waist, and by the time I’m home the water bottle feels like a ten-pound barbell.

My fantasy is always the same, that my husband will come along on his bike and carry the jacket, the bottle, and, finally, me, over the finish line. Somehow, I always make it―tiny workout that it is―but I’ve never once done it without wishing someone would come along and make it easier.

What a heavy load the Jews of Jesus’ day carried. They labored long and hard in the desert sun, and a good portion of what they earned went straight to the Romans. They were also loaded down with the burdens of the Mosaic Law, which, although received in joy centuries before at Mount Sinai, had become impossible to fulfill because of the hundreds of additions and legalities imposed as time went on.

What an enormous relief the gospel was for the disciples, and for all of us who are carrying around too much stuff. In the heat of the summer, it’s best to travel light, and there is nothing lighter than the yoke of forgiveness and unconditional love which Jesus wants to place on our shoulders, while removing the weights of regret and remorse.

Are you heavily burdened and praying for relief? I pray that the Body of Christ is on the way, right  around the corner, ready to carry you, and all your stuff, across the finish line.

How do you help carry the burdens of those who are heavily laden?

Kathy McGovern ©2026