Fr. Maniragaba Galasiano Calls on Christians to Examine Their Choices Before They Shape Their Lives.
Fr. Maniragaba Calls on Kampala Catholics to Examine Their Choices Before They Shape Their Lives
KAMPALA — “If you still have the energy, always thank God.” With that simple reminder, Rev. Fr. Maniragaba Galasiano challenged Catholic faithful from Rushoroza and Kyanamira parishes gathered in Kampala to look beyond the routine of attending Mass and undertake something more difficult: an honest examination of their lives, choices and decisions.
Fr. Maniragaba delivered the message during the Mass for parishioners of Rushoroza and Kyanamira in Kampala on Sunday, September 27, 2026, as the Church marked the Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
His homily centred on a question that, he suggested, every Christian should repeatedly ask: “What am I doing with the life God has given me?”
The Sunday readings provided a strong foundation for the reflection. The first reading from Ezekiel 18:25–28 speaks about turning away from wrongdoing and choosing what is right, while Psalm 25 is a prayer asking God to teach and guide His people. St Paul, in Philippians 2:1–11, calls Christians to humility and places before them the example of Christ. The Gospel, Matthew 21:28–32, presents Jesus' parable of a father and his two sons.
The son who said “no” but eventually went
In the Gospel, Jesus tells of a father who asks his two sons to go and work in his vineyard.
The first initially refuses but later changes his mind and goes. The second agrees to go but ultimately does not.
For Fr. Maniragaba, the story goes beyond the words spoken by the two sons. It is about what happens after the words have been spoken.
A person can make a quick decision, give an immediate response and only later discover that the decision was wrong.
That, he said, makes self-examination an essential part of Christian life.
The Gospel itself places emphasis on action rather than mere words: the son who initially refused eventually did what his father wanted. Jesus uses the story to challenge the religious leaders who had witnessed God's work but had failed to respond appropriately.
“My child” — a word carrying the father's heart
Fr. Maniragaba also drew attention to the relationship between the father and his children.
He reflected on the significance of a parent addressing a child as “my child.”
For him, such words can carry a sense of affection, belonging and responsibility. The father in the Gospel does not simply issue an order to strangers; he speaks to his own children and invites them to participate in the work.
The priest used the image to remind Christians that their relationship with God is not merely about rules and obligations, but also about knowing themselves as God's children and responding to His call.
“Go back and reflect”
One of the strongest appeals in the homily was the need to pause before acting or responding.
Fr. Maniragaba cautioned that people can make mistakes when they respond before thinking.
He encouraged the faithful to develop a habit of going back over their words and actions and asking themselves:
Was what I said good?
What does what I have said require me to do?
Was my decision consistent with the person I want to become?
The message closely resonates with the day's first reading from Ezekiel, where the focus is not simply on someone's past but on the possibility of turning around and choosing a different path. The reading presents both the danger of abandoning righteousness and the possibility of repentance and a new direction.
“An unexamined life is not worth living”
Fr. Maniragaba invoked the well-known philosophical idea that “an unexamined life is not worth living,” using it to underline the importance of reflection.
For Christians, he suggested, self-examination should touch everyday life: relationships, finances, work, friendships, family responsibilities, faith and personal decisions.
A person should not simply ask whether something is possible, he implied, but whether it is right, constructive and consistent with one's values and responsibilities.
The priest warned that choices rarely exist in isolation.
Repeated choices eventually become habits, and habits can shape the direction of a person's life.
The danger of judging people by their past
The homily also challenged the tendency to permanently define people by their previous mistakes.
Fr. Maniragaba referred to the Israelites who considered themselves righteous while judging others, yet failed to recognise that some people they judged had already changed their ways.
That message is particularly relevant to the first reading.
Ezekiel presents a God who allows the sinner to turn away from wrongdoing and live differently. The passage therefore places repentance and personal responsibility at the centre of the believer's relationship with God.
The Gospel reinforces the same point.
Jesus' controversial conclusion—that tax collectors and prostitutes were entering the kingdom of God ahead of some religious leaders—was not praise for wrongdoing. Rather, Jesus was confronting people who had heard the call to righteousness but refused to change, while others whom they despised had responded to repentance.
The cyclist who mistook a wedding for the finish line
Perhaps the most practical illustration in Fr. Maniragaba's homily was the story of a cyclist.
He told of a man who began making progress as a cyclist and eventually moved on to riding a motorcycle.
His progress gave him confidence, and when he got married, he organised a celebration and felt that he had achieved considerable success.
But, according to the story, his priorities gradually changed.
He began setting conditions around his work—he did not want to work when it rained, he avoided working at night—and eventually turned toward betting as a way of seeking quick money.
The consequences, the priest narrated, were severe.
Instead of continuing to build on what he had achieved, the man lost much of what he had accumulated. Even the house he had started was never significantly developed.
Eventually, he could find himself blaming God.
For Fr. Maniragaba, however, the deeper lesson was not about blaming circumstances.
It was about choices.
The man's life did not change through one dramatic decision alone. It changed through a succession of choices that were apparently small at the time but gradually redirected his life.
“Every choice you make, reflect and think”
The story brought the homily back to its central message.
Every choice matters.
A financial decision matters.
A marriage decision matters.
A business decision matters.
A friendship matters.
A word spoken in anger matters.
A decision made today can become tomorrow's habit, and tomorrow's habit can eventually become a person's way of life.
That is why, Fr. Maniragaba urged the faithful, Christians should learn to stop, examine themselves and reconsider their direction before consequences become difficult to reverse.
A Sunday invitation to begin again
The three major readings converge around this call.
Ezekiel speaks about turning away from wrongdoing.
The Psalm asks God to teach and guide His people.
St Paul calls believers to humility and the mind of Christ, who emptied Himself and took the form of a servant.
And Jesus' parable asks a deceptively simple question: Which son actually did the father's will?
The answer is found not merely in what he said, but in what he eventually did.
For the Rushoroza and Kyanamira parishioners gathered in Kampala, Fr. Maniragaba's homily therefore became more than an explanation of Sunday's Gospel.
It became an invitation to look into the mirror.
Before blaming God, examine your choices.
Before judging another person, examine your own life.
Before responding, think.
Before continuing on a wrong path, turn back.
And whenever you still have the energy and opportunity to do what is right, remember to thank God.
The Church's message on this Sunday was ultimately one of responsibility, conversion, humility and hope: your past does not have to dictate your next decision—but your next decision matters.
