2 Thessalonians 3:6-10, 16-18; Matthew 23:27-32

By Father Peter Latouf

Mass with the School Children – August 26, 2026

What did you do this summer? I went on a trip to Shanghai, China. The reason I went there is because that’s where I worked as a priest in Hong Kong for almost seven years.

We are blessed to be able to come to church!

Hong Kong is a great place to work, but it’s a hard place to go for someone who’s Catholic, like me. You know, we are so blessed that we get to come to church! In Mainland China, if you’re under 16 years of age, you’re not allowed to come into a church. Lots of kids are so sad about that! Their parents can go to church on Sunday, but the children have to stay home. It’s really, really sad. The churches are not even allowed to put crosses on the outside of the church because the Chinese government doesn’t want people to think church is more important than politics, even though it’s true.

Much of the work I did there was to help them know that, even though they couldn’t go to church, they could still pray at home by yourself or with their famlies. But it’s still better to be able to go to church and receive the Holy Communion.

Let’s learn some new words in Cantonese!

One of the things I love about being in Hong Kong is speaking the language. Cantonese is the language that I spoke, so I’m going to teach you some words in Cantonese right now.

1. The first and most important word I want to teach you is the Cantonese word for the name of God. In Cantonese, the word for God is made from two words that mean “sky” and “leader.” (天主 = Lord of Heaven = Sounds like “Teen” + “Jew”) .
2. The second word I want to teach you in Cantonese is the word for the name of Jesus. It’s a little easier because it kind of sounds like Jesus, but with the tone that goes down and up. (耶穌 = Jesus = Sounds like “Yay-so”).
3. The third word is name of Jesus’ mom. In Cantonese, Mary sounds something like Maria. (瑪莉 = Mary = Sounds like “Mah-lay-ah”).
4. I also want to teach you how to say God’s name in Korean. The name for God in Korean means “Mr. Number One.” (하나님 = God = Haneunim = Sounds like “ha-na-nim”).

What I love about these names is that they also tell us something about who God is. It’s true that God is Number One, the Being who has always existed, the One who created the universe. He is also the Leader of the Sky. When we come to Mass, we are saying thank you to God for all of His gifts, remembering how special He is in our life, and we’re respecting Him.

Jesus tells as the Pharisees what’s important to God.

That’s exactly what Jesus is saying to us today. In the gospel. we hear about the Pharisees who were very nervous about saying and doing all the right things on the outside, but inside they weren’t being such good people. They were praying outwardly. They were being nice and polite and reverent, but they weren’t paying attention when Jesus said, “It’s not just the outside. It’s the inside that matters.” We can say over and over, “God is Number One,” and that’s great. But if we don’t do anything, if it doesn’t impact our lives, it doesn’t matter. We say, “God, You are Number One,” but sometimes we are still mean to our brothers and sisters, we don’t listen to our teachers, or we don’t do our homework, or we don’t respect our parents when they tell us to do our chores and go we play Roblox instead. When we die and go before God in heaven, is He going to ask us: What was your top score was in Minecraft? No, He’s going to ask: Were you kind to others? Did you listen to your parents and teachers? What’s most important is what’s on the inside.

What’s important to God is who we are on the inside.

We do so many fun things during the summer to refresh ourselves on the outside, but it’s good to refresh ourselves on the inside as well. That’s why we come to church: To refresh our souls on the inside and take time to align ourselves with Jesus. What’s most important to God is who we are on the inside and how well we treat others. Let’s get our hearts ready to receive Jesus!

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