Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A (2026)
Sunday, August 2, 2026
Benedict Arnold went from celebrated hero of the American Revolution to infamous traitor when financial troubles and wounded pride led him, in 1780, to plot the surrender of West Point to the British in exchange for money and a military commission. Like the story of Judas Iscariot and countless others, Benedict Arnold’s story shows how a change of heart can lead people to abandon the very principles for which they were once celebrated.
But God is different from human beings. “For I, the Lord, do not change.” —Malachi 3:6. Unlike human promises that can be broken and convictions that can change, God’s promises and commandments, revealed to us throughout human history, remain true today. As Scripture reminds us, “God is not a human being who speaks falsely, nor a mortal, who feels regret. Is God one to speak and not act, to decree and not bring it to pass?” —Numbers 23:19. In today’s readings, God invites us, without money and without price, to eat and drink; makes an everlasting covenant; and promises that nothing can separate us from Christ’s love in suffering, and Jesus, moved by compassion, feeds a multitude with five loaves and two fish.
God’s love is absolute and unconditional. The Church teaches that God’s initiative does not depend on what we have done: “By giving up his own Son for our sins, God manifests that his plan for us is one of benevolent love, prior to any merit on our part: “In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins.'” —Catechism §604. God’s love comes to us while we are still sinners, not after we become worthy. In other words, God’s grace does not wait for our competence or compliance; it gives first so that we can respond in faith and gratitude.
God’s love is ceaseless. The Catechism teaches that with creation, God does not merely “start” the world and then step back: “With creation, God does not abandon his creatures to themselves. He not only gives them being and existence, but also, and at every moment, upholds and sustains them in being, enables them to act and brings them to their final end. Recognizing this utter dependence with respect to the Creator is a source of wisdom and freedom, of joy and confidence.” —Catechism §301. God’s providence is not occasional but continuous, and trust in God is not fragile hope but steady hope grounded in his unceasing care.
So, when we feel like we’re on an island spiritually, or when life makes us doubt that God is still near, today’s readings invite us to “come” to the Lord. Isaiah promises that God’s covenant is steadfast, and Jesus shows what that steadfastness looks like: compassion that feeds, more than enough grace that leaves leftovers, and a table where no one is excluded because of inability. Romans assures us that even suffering cannot sever us from Christ’s love. In a world that changes its promises, God gives himself without condition and then asks us to become, in our own measure, instruments of that same mercy: patient, generous, and fearless.
Go in Peace to Love and Serve the Lord.