July 2010 - Bible Diary
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BIBLE DIARY 2010
Liturgical Readings and Reflections
| July 2010 |
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January ♦ February ♦ March ♦ April ♦ May ♦ June ♦ July
August ♦ September ♦ October ♦ November ♦ December
13th Week in Ordinary Time
Bl. Junipero Serra
►1st Reading: Am 7:10–17
Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, then sent word to King Jeroboam of Israel, “Amos is conspiring against you in the very center of Israel; what he says goes too far. These are his very words: Jeroboam shall die by the sword and Israel shall be exiled from its land.”
Amaziah then said to Amos, “Off with you, seer, go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there by prophesying. But never again prophesy at Bethel for it is a king’s sanctuary and a national shrine.”
Amos replied to Amaziah, “I am not a prophet or one of the fellow prophets. I am a breeder of sheep and a dresser of sycamore trees. But Yahweh took me from shepherding the flock and said to me: Go, prophesy to my people Israel.
Now hear the word of Yahweh, you who say: No more prophecy against Israel, no more insults against the family of Isaac! This is what Yahweh says:
Your wife shall be made a harlot in the city, your sons and daughters shall fall by the sword, your land shall be divided up and given to others, and you yourself shall die in a foreign land, for Israel shall be driven far from its land.”
►Gospel: Mt 9:1–8
Jesus got back into the boat, crossed the lake again, and came to his hometown. Here they brought a paralyzed man to him, lying on a bed. Jesus saw their faith and said to the paralytic, “Courage, my son! Your sins are forgiven.”
Then some teachers of the Law said to themselves, “This man insults God.” Jesus was aware of what they were thinking, and said, “Why have you such evil thoughts? Which is easier to say: ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Stand up and walk’? You must know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” He then said to the paralyzed man, “Stand up! Take your stretcher and go home.” The man got up, and went home.
When the crowds saw this, they were filled with awe and praised God for giving such power to human beings.
REFLECTION
“Some people brought to him a paralyzed man lying on a mat.”
Without the help of others
some of us
simply cannot do what the rest of us
take for granted.
Jesus expects for us to take care of one another
so that none of us ever despair of his love.
13th Week in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: Am 8:4–6, 9–12
Hear this, you who trample on the needy to do away with the weak of the land. You who say, “When will the new moon or the sabbath feast be over that we may open the store and sell our grain? Let us lower the measure and raise the price; let us cheat and tamper with the scales, and even sell the refuse with the whole grain. We will buy up the poor for money and the needy for a pair of sandals.”
Yahweh says, “On that day I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.
I will turn your festivals into mourning and all your singing into wailing. Everyone will mourn, covered with sackcloth and every head will be shaved. I will make them mourn as for an only son and bring their day to a bitter end.”
Yahweh says, “Days are coming when I will send famine upon the land, not hunger for bread or thirst for water, but for hearing the word of Yahweh.
Men will stagger from sea to sea, wander to and fro, from north to east, searching for the word of Yahweh, but they will not find it.
►Gospel: Mt 9:9–13
As Jesus moved on from there, he saw a man named Matthew at his seat in the custom-house, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And Matthew got up and followed him. Now it happened, while Jesus was at table in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and other sinners joined Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this they said to his disciples, “Why is it that your master eats with those sinners and tax collectors?”
When Jesus heard this he said, “Healthy people do not need a doctor, but sick people do. Go and find out what this means: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
REFLECTION
“Many tax collectors and other outcasts came and joined Jesus
and his disciples at the table. Some Pharisees saw this and asked the disciples,
‘Why does your teacher eat with such people?’”
To call myself a Christian
but know no outcasts,
socialize with no outcasts,
share life with no outcasts
is to bring the whole definition of ‘Christian’
into question.
Thomas, apostle
►1st Reading: Eph 2:19–22
Now you are no longer strangers or guests, but fellow citizens of the holy people: you are of the household of God. You are the house whose foundations are the apostles and prophets, and whose cornerstone is Christ Jesus. In him the whole structure is joined together and rises to be a holy temple in the Lord. In him you too are being built to become the spiritual sanctuary of God.
►Gospel: Jn 20:24–29
Thomas, the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he replied, “Until I have seen in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
Eight days later, the disciples were inside again and Thomas was with them. Despite the locked doors Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands; stretch out your hand and put it into my side. Resist no longer and be a believer.”
Thomas then said, “You are my Lord and my God.” Jesus replied, “You believe because you see me, don’t you? Happy are those who have not seen and believe.”
REFLECTION
“And Jesus said to him, ‘Do you believe because you see me?
Happy are those who have not seen but have believed.’”
Life with God, the spiritual life, is not
an exercise in miracles.
It is the process of taking on the mind of God.
We do not believe because we see ‘signs and wonders.’
We believe simply because we know within us that, for us,
God is the center, the beginning and the end of life.
14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: Is 66:10–14c
Rejoice for Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her. Be glad with her, rejoice with her, all you who were in grief over her, that you may suck of the milk from her comforting breasts, that you may drink deeply from the abundance of her glory.
For this is what Yahweh says: I will send her peace, overflowing like a river; and the nations’ wealth, rushing like a torrent towards her.
And you will be nursed and carried in her arms and fondled upon her lap.
As a son comforted by his mother, so will I comfort you. At the sight of this, your heart will rejoice; like grass, your bones will flourish. For it shall be known that Yahweh’s hand is with his servant, but his fury is upon his enemy.
►2nd Reading: Gal 6:14–18
For me, I do not wish to take pride in anything except in the cross of Christ Jesus our Lord. Through him the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.
Let us no longer speak of the circumcised and of non-Jews, but of a new creation. Let those who live according to this rule receive peace and mercy: they are the Israel of God! Let no one trouble me any longer: for my part, I bear in my body the marks of Jesus.
May the grace of Christ Jesus our Lord be with your spirit brothers and sisters. Amen.
►Gospel: Lk 10:1–12, 17–20 (or Lk 10:1–9)
The Lord appointed seventy-two other disciples and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place, where he himself was to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is rich, but the workers are few. So you must ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers to his harvest. Courage! I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Set off without purse or bag or sandals; and do not stop at the homes of those you know.
“Whatever house you enter, first bless them saying: ‘Peace to this house.’ If a friend of peace lives there, the peace shall rest upon that person. But if not, the blessing will return to you. Stay in that house eating and drinking at their table, for the worker deserves to be paid. Do not move from house to house.
“When they welcome you in any town, eat what they offer you. Heal the sick who are there and say to them: ‘The kingdom of God has drawn near to you.’
“But in any town where you are not welcome, go to the marketplace and proclaim: ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off and leave with you. But know and be sure that the kingdom of God had come to you.’ I tell you that on the Judgment Day it will be better for Sodom than for this town.”
The seventy-two disciples returned full of joy. They said, “Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we called on your name.” Then Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. You see, I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the Enemy, so that nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, don’t rejoice because the evil spirits submit to you; rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.”
REFLECTION
“There is a large harvest but few workers to gather it in.”
The work of God is the work of us all.
Without a commitment to ministry
the Christian community
will become just one more organization
fed by money, for the sake of profit,
and committed to itself.
The world has too many of those already.
14th Week in Ordinary Time
Anthony Mary Zacarria
►1st Reading: Hos 2:16, 17c–18, 21–22
Thus says Yahweh: “So I am going to allure her,
lead her once more into the desert,
where I can speak to her tenderly.
Then I will give back her vineyards,
make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
There she will answer me as in her youth,
as when she came out of the land of Egypt.
On that day, Yahweh says,
you will call me my husband,
and never again: my Baal.
You will be my spouse forever,
betrothed in justice and integrity;
we will be united in love and tenderness.
I will espouse you in faithfulness
and you will come to know Yahweh.”
►Gospel: Mt 9:18–26
While Jesus was speaking to them, an official of the synagogue came up to him, bowed before him and said, “My daughter has just died, but come and place your hands on her, and she will live.” Jesus stood up and followed him with his disciples.
Then a woman who had suffered from a severe bleeding for twelve years came up from behind and touched the edge of his cloak. For she thought, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” Jesus turned, saw her and said, “Courage, my daughter, your faith has saved you.” And from that moment the woman was cured.
When Jesus arrived at the official’s house and saw the flute players and the excited crowd, he said, “Get out of here! The girl is not dead. She is only sleeping!” And they laughed at him. But once the crowd had been turned out, Jesus went in and took the girl by the hand, and she stood up. The news of this spread through the whole area.
REFLECTION
“A Jewish official came to Jesus, knelt down before him and said,
‘My daughter has just died; but come and place your hands on her and she will live.’”
Sometimes, the Jewish official reminds us,
it is only suffering
that can enable us to move
beyond our boundaries, dissolve our prejudices,
and begin to see God
where we have not seen God before.
14th Week in Ordinary Time
Maria Goretti
►1st Reading: Hos 8:4–7, 11–13
Thus says Yahweh: “Without my approval they set up kings and without my blessing appointed leaders. With their silver and gold they fashioned idols to their own ruin.
To me, Samaria, your calf is loathsome and my anger blazes against you. How long will you remain defiled? The calf is yours, Israel, a craftsman has made it; it is not God and will be broken into pieces. As they sow the wind, they will reap the whirlwind. Like the erect ear of corn they will bear no grain and produce no flour, or if they do, foreigners will devour it.
Ephraim built many altars but his altars made him more guilty. I wrote out for him the numerous precepts of my Law, but they look on them as coming from foreigners.
They offer sacrifices to me because they are those who eat the meat, but Yahweh does not accept their sacrifices for he is mindful of their sin and remembers their wickedness. They will return to Egypt.
►Gospel: Mt 9:32–38
Some people brought to Jesus a man who was dumb because he was possessed by a demon. When the demon was driven out, the dumb man began to speak. The crowds were astonished and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” (But the Pharisees said, “He drives away demons with the help of the prince of demons.”)
Jesus went around all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom, and he cured every sickness and disease. When he saw the crowds he was moved with pity, for they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the workers are only few. Ask the master of the harvest to send workers to gather his harvest.”
REFLECTION
“But the Pharisees said, ‘It is the chief of the demons
who gives Jesus the power to drive out demons.’”
The real social sin may be that
we see whatever we want to see,
When we reject someone,
as the Pharisees did Jesus,
it’s so easy to decide that
even the good we see in them is bad.
14th Week in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: Hos 10:1–3, 7–8, 12
Israel was a spreading vine, rich in fruit. The more his fruit increased, the more altars he built; the more his land prospered, the more he adorned his sacred stones.
Their heart is divided! They shall pay for it. Their altars will be thrown down and their sacred stones broken to pieces.
Now they say, “We have no king (because we have no fear of God) and what good would a king do us?”
As for the king of Samaria, he has been carried off like foam on water.
The idolatrous high places – the sin of Israel – will be destroyed. Thorn and thistle will creep over the altars. Then they will say to the mountains: “Cover us,” and to the hills: “Fall on us.”
Plow new ground, sow for yourselves justice and reap the harvest of kindness. It is the time to go seeking Yahweh until he comes to rain salvation on you.
►Gospel: Mt 10:1–7
Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority over the unclean spirits to drive them out and to heal every disease and sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first Simon, called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon, the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, the man who would betray him. Jesus sent these twelve on mission with the instruction: “Do not visit pagan territory and do not enter a Samaritan town. Go instead to the lost sheep of the people of Israel. “Go and proclaim this message: The kingdom of heaven is near.”
REFLECTION
“Go and preach.”
St. Francis of Assisi said once,
“Preach the gospel.
If necessary,
use words.”
The fullness of the gospel
depends on each of us.
14th Week in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: Hos 11:1–4, 8e–9
I loved Israel when he was a child; out of Egypt I called my son. But the more I have called, the further have they gone from me – sacrificing to the Baals, burning incense to the idols.
Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; yet little did they realize that it was I who cared for them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with leading strings of love, and I became for them as one who eases the yoke upon their neck and stoops down to feed them.
How can I give you up, Ephraim? Can I abandon you like Admah or make you like Zeboiim? My heart is troubled within me and I am moved with compassion. I will not give vent to my great anger; I will not return to destroy Ephraim for I am God and not human. I am the Holy One in your midst and I do not want to come to you in anger.
►Gospel: Mt 10:7–15
Jesus said to his disciples, “Go and proclaim this message: The kingdom of heaven is near. Heal the sick, bring the dead back to life, cleanse the lepers, and drive out demons. You received this as a gift, so give it as a gift. Do not carry any gold, silver or copper in your purses. Do not carry a traveler’s bag, or an extra shirt, or sandals, or walking stick: workers deserve their living. “When you come to a town or a village, look for a worthy person and stay there until you leave. “As you enter the house, wish it peace. If the people in the house deserve it, your peace will be on them; if they do not deserve it, your blessing will come back to you. “And if you are not welcomed and your words are not listened to, leave that house or that town and shake the dust off your feet. I assure you, it will go easier for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than it will for the people of that town.”
REFLECTION
‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’”
The kingdom of heaven
is always just one action away
from what I decide to do next.
If I do good, heaven is nearer to us all.
If I don’t, the whole world must go on waiting.
July 9
Friday
14th Week in Ordinary Time
Augustine Zhao Rong and Companions
►1st Reading: Hos 14:2–10
Return to your God Yahweh, O Israel!
Your sins have caused your downfall.
Return to Yahweh with humble words. Say to him,
“Oh you who show compassion to the fatherless
forgive our debt, be appeased.
Instead of bulls and sacrifices,
accept the praise from our lips.
Assyria will not save us:
no longer shall we look for horses
nor ever again shall we say ‘Our gods’
to the work of our hands.”
I will heal their wavering
and love them with all my heart
for my anger has turned from them.
I shall be like dew to Israel
like the lily will he blossom.
Like a cedar he will send down his roots;
his young shoots will grow and spread.
His splendor will be like an olive tree,
his fragrance, like a Lebanon cedar.
They will dwell in my shade again,
they will flourish like the grain,
they will blossom like a vine,
and their fame will be like Lebanon wine.
What would Ephraim do with idols,
when it is I who hear and make him prosper?
I am like an evergreen cypress tree;
all your fruitfulness comes from me.
Who is wise enough to grasp all this?
Who is discerning and will understand?
Straight are the ways of Yahweh:
the just walk in them, but the sinners stumble.
►Gospel: Mt 10:16–23
Jesus said to his disciples, “Look, I send you out like sheep among wolves. You must be clever as snakes and innocent as doves. Be on your guard with respect to people, for they will hand you over to their courts and they will flog you in their synagogues. You will be brought to trial before rulers and kings because of me, and so you may witness to them and the pagans. “But when you are arrested, do not worry about what you are to say and how you are to say it; when the hour comes, you will be given what you are to say. For it is not you who will speak; but it will be the Spirit of your Father in you.
“Brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his child; children will turn against parents and have them put to death. Everyone will hate you because of me, but whoever stands firm to the end will be saved. “When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. For sure, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”
REFLECTION
“For my sake you will be brought to trial before rulers and kings,
to tell the good news to them and to the Gentiles.”
It’s not unusual
for a Christian to be out of step
with the culture around them.
What is unusual
is for a Christian to refuse
to speak truth to power.
July 10
Saturday
14th Week in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: Is 6:1–8
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; the train of his robe filled the Temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: two to cover the face, two to cover the feet, and two to fly with.
They were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh Sabaoth.
All the earth is filled with his Glory!”
At the sound of their voices the foundations of the threshold shook and the Temple was filled with smoke. I said, “Poor me! I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips living among a people of unclean lips, and yet I have seen the King, Yahweh Sabaoth.”
Then one of the seraphs flew to me; in his hands was a live coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with it and said,
“See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”
Then I heard the voice of the Lord, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” I answered, “Here I am. Send me!”
►Gospel: Mt 10:24–33*(completed)
Jesus said to his apostles, “A student is not above his teacher, or a slave above his master. A student should be glad to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If the head of the family has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of the family! So, do not be afraid of them.
“There is nothing covered that will not be uncovered, and nothing hidden that will not be made known. What I am telling you in the dark, you must speak in the light. What you hear in private, proclaim from the housetops.
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but have no power to kill the soul. Rather be afraid of him who can destroy both body and soul in hell. For only a few cents you can buy two sparrows, yet not one sparrow falls to the ground without your Father’s consent. As for you, every hair of your head has been counted. So do not be afraid: you are worth much more than many sparrows.
Whoever acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven. Whoever rejects me before others I will reject before my Father in heaven.”
REFLECTION
“Not one sparrow falls to the ground without your Father’s consent...So do not be afraid.
You are worth much more than many sparrows.”
We are not at the mercy
of the universe.
We are not alone in life.
The God who made us
sustains us
through all the vagaries of life.
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: Dt 30:10–14
Moses said to the people, “You shall turn to Yahweh, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul, and observe his commandments and norms, in a word, everything written in this book of the Law.
“These commandments that I give you today are neither too high nor too far for you. They are not in heaven that you should say: ‘Who will go up to heaven to get these commandments that we may hear them and put them into practice.’ Neither are they at the other side of the sea for you to say: ‘Who will cross to the other side and bring them to us, that we may hear them and put them into practice.’
“On the contrary, my word is very near you; it is already in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can put it into practice.”
►2nd Reading: Col 1:15–20
Christ Jesus is the image of the unseen God,
and for all creation he is the firstborn,
for in him all things were created,
in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible:
thrones, rulers, authorities, powers...
All was made through him and for him.
He is before all
and all things hold together in him.
And he is the head of the body, that is the Church,
for he is the first, the first raised from the dead
that he may be the first in everything,
for God was pleased to let fullness dwell in him.
Through him God willed to reconcile
all things to himself, and through him,
through his blood shed on the cross,
God establishes peace, on earth as in heaven.
►Gospel: Lk 10:25–37
A teacher of the Law came and began putting Jesus to the test. And he said, “Master, what shall I do to receive eternal life?” Jesus replied, “What is written in the Scripture? How do you understand it?” The man answered, “It is written: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus replied, “What a good answer! Do this and you shall live.” The man wanted to keep up appearances, so he replied, “Who is my neighbor?”
Jesus then said, “There was a man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.
“It happened that a priest was going along that road and saw the man, but passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite saw the man and passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, too, was going that way, and when he came upon the man, he was moved with compassion. He went over to him and treated his wounds with oil and wine and wrapped them with bandages. Then he put him on his own mount and brought him to an inn where he took care of him.
“The next day he had to set off, but he gave two silver coins to the innkeeper and told him: ‘Take care of him and whatever you spend on him, I will repay when I come back.’”
Jesus then asked, “Which of these three, do you think, made himself neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The teacher of the Law answered, “The one who had mercy on him.” And Jesus said, “Go then and do the same.”
REFLECTION
“A teacher came up and asked Jesus, ‘What must I do to receive eternal life?’”
We wonder about a question
Jesus makes so clear.
The relationship
between life here and life to come.
all depends on the way
we love—both God and others.
It’s all so simple—so complex.
July 12
Monday
15th Week in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: Is 1:10–17
Hear the warning of Yahweh,
rulers of Sodom.
Listen to the word of God,
people of Gomorrah.”
‑“What do I care,” says Yahweh
“for your endless sacrifices?
I am fed up with your burnt offerings,
and the fat of your bulls.
The blood of fatlings, and lambs and he-goats
I abhor.
When you come before me and trample on my courts,
who asked you to visit me?
I am fed up with your oblations.
I grow sick with your incense.
Your New Moons, Sabbaths and meetings,
evil with holy assemblies,
I can no longer bear.
I hate your New Moons and appointed feasts
they burden me.
When you stretch out your hands
I will close my eyes;
the more you pray,
the more I refuse to listen,
for your hands are bloody.
Wash and make yourselves clean.
Remove from my sight
the evil of your deeds.
Put an end to your wickedness
and learn to do good.
Seek justice and keep in line the abusers;
give the fatherless their rights
and defend the widow.”
►Gospel: Mt 10:34—11:1
Jesus said to his disciples, “Do not think that I have come to establish peace on earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father and daughter against her mother; a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Each one will have as enemies those of one’s own family.
“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take up his cross and come after me is not worthy of me. One who wants to benefit from his life will lose it; one who loses his life for my sake will find it.
“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes him who sent me. The one who welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive the reward of a prophet; the one who welcomes a just man because he is a just man will receive the reward of a just man. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones, because he is a disciple of mine, I assure you, he will not go unrewarded.”
When Jesus had finished giving his twelve disciples these instructions, he went on from there to teach and to proclaim his message in their towns.
REFLECTION
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the world.
I did not come to bring peace but a sword.”
To grow to full spiritual stature
we must learn to make decisions,
to choose good from good
as well as good from bad.
We must learn to live consciously–
and pay the price for it.
15th Week in Ordinary Time
Henry
►1st Reading: Is 7:1–9
When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, laid siege to Jerusalem but they were unable to capture it.
When the news reached the house of David, “Aram’s troops are encamped in Ephraim,” the heart of the king and the hearts of the people trembled as the trees of the forest tremble before the wind.
Yahweh then said to Isaiah: “Go with your son A remnant will return, and meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Washerman’s Field.
Say to him,
Stay calm and fear not; do not lose courage before these two stumps of smoldering firebrands–the fierce anger of Rezin the Aramean and the blazing fury of the son of Remaliah. You know that Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah’s son have plotted against Judah, saying: Let us invade and scare it, let us seize it and put the son of Tabeel king over it. But the Lord Yahweh says:
It shall not be so,
it shall not come to pass.
For Damascus is only the head of Aram
and Rezin the lord of Damascus.
Samaria is only the head of Ephraim
and Remaliah’s son is only the lord of Samaria.
Within fifty-six years,
Ephraim will be shattered
and will no longer be a people.
But if you do not stand firm in faith,
you, too, will not stand at all.”
►Gospel: Mt 11:20–24
Jesus began to denounce the cities in which he had performed most of his miracles, because the people there did not change their ways, “Alas for you Chorazin and Bethsaida! If the miracles worked in you had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, the people there would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I assure you, for Tyre and Sidon it will be more bearable on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? You will be thrown down to the place of the dead! For if the miracles which were performed in you had taken place in Sodom, it would still be there today! But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”
REFLECTION
“If the miracles which were performed in you had been performed in Sodom,
they would still be in existence today.”
We live lives full of God’s miracles–
we have people who love us,
food to sustain us,
a reason to live—
and yet we want more.
The question is why.
15th Week in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: Is 10:5–7, 13b–16
Thus says Yahweh: “Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger, the staff of my fury!
Against a godless nation I send him,
against a people who provoke my wrath I dispatch him,
to plunder and pillage,
to tread them down like mud in the streets.
But the mind of his king is far from this,
his heart harbors other thoughts;
what he wants is to destroy,
to make an end of all nations.
For the king says;
“By my own strength I have done this
and by my own wisdom, for I am clever.
I have moved the frontiers of peoples,
I have plundered treasures,
I have brought inhabitants down to the dust,
I have toppled kings from their thrones.
As one reaches into a nest,
so my hands have reached into nations’ wealth.
As one gathers deserted eggs,
so have I gathered the riches of the earth.
No one flapped a wing
or opened its mouth to chirp a protest.”
Does the axe claim more credit
than the man who wields it?
Does the saw magnify itself
more than the one who uses it?
This would be like a rod wielding the man who lifts it up;
will those not made of wood, be controlled by the cudgel?
Therefore the Lord, Yahweh Sabaoth,
is ready to send a wasting sickness
upon the king’s sturdy warriors.
Beneath his plenty, a flame will burn
like a consuming fire.”
►Gospel: Mt 11:25–27
On one occasion Jesus said, “Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I praise you, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to simple people. Yes, Father, this is what pleased you.
“Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
REFLECTION
“I thank you because you have shown to the unlearned
what you have hidden to the wise and learned.”
Education is no substitute
for wisdom and insight,
for openness and faith.
What God puts in the heart
is always more important
than what the world puts in books.
15th Week in Ordinary Time
Bonaventure
►1st Reading: Is 26:7–9, 12, 16–19
Let the righteous walk in righteousness. You make smooth the path of the just, and we only seek the way of your laws, O Yahweh.
Your name and your memory are the desire of our hearts. My soul yearns for you in the night; for you my spirit keeps vigil.
When your judgments come to earth, the world’s inhabitants learn to be upright.
Yahweh, please give us peace; for all that we accomplish is your work.
For they sought you in distress, they cried out to you in the time of their punishment.
As a woman in travail moans and writhes in pain, so are we now in your presence.
We conceived, we had labor pains, but we gave birth to the wind. We have not brought salvation to the land; the inhabitants of a new world have not been born.
Your dead will live! Their corpses will rise! Awake and sing, you who lie in the dust!
Let your dew fall, O Lord, like a dew of light, and the earth will throw out her dead.
►Gospel: Mt 11:28–30
Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who work hard and who carry heavy burdens and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart; and you will find rest. For my yoke is good and my burden is light.”
REFLECTION
“For the yoke I will give you is easy and the load I will put on you is light.”
Love God and love your neighbor, Jesus says.
That is the load
we are expected to carry through life.
Great asceticism is of our own making
but good as it may be
only love is the yoke that counts in the end.
15th Week in Ordinary Time
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
►1st Reading: Is 38:1–6, 21–22, 7–8
In those days Hezekiah fell mortally ill and the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, went to him with a message from Yahweh, “Put your house in order for you shall die; you shall not live.”
Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to Yahweh, “Ah Yahweh! Remember how I have walked before you in truth and wholeheartedly, and done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Then the word of Yahweh came to Isaiah, “Go and tell Hezekiah what Yahweh, the God of his father David, says: I have heard your prayer and I have seen your tears. See! I am adding fifteen years to your life and I will save you and this city from the power of the king of Assyria. I will defend it for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.
Isaiah then said, “Bring a fig cake to rub on the ulcer and let Hezekiah be cured!”
Hezekiah asked, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?”
Isaiah answered, “This shall be for you a sign from Yahweh, that he will do what he has promised. See! I shall make the shadow descending on the stairway of Ahaz go back ten steps.” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had covered on the stairway.
►Gospel: Mt 12:1–8
It happened that Jesus walked through the wheat fields on a sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and began to pick some heads of wheat and crush them to eat the grain. When the Pharisees noticed this, they said to Jesus, “Look at your disciples; they are doing what is prohibited on the sabbath!”
Jesus answered, “Have you not read what David did when he and his men were hungry? He went into the house of God, and they ate the bread offered to God, although neither he nor his men had the right to eat it, but only the priests. And have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the Temple break the Sabbath rest, yet they are not guilty?
“I tell you, there is greater than the Temple here. If you really knew the meaning of the words: It is mercy I want, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent.
“Besides the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
REFLECTION
“It is kindness that I want, not animal sacrifices.”
Doing rituals and keeping rules
is easy.
They can make us feel so ‘religious,’
but the core of religion—
loving kindness and care for others—
is what makes us real religious people.
15th Week in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: Mic 2:1–5
Woe to those who plot wickedness and plan evil even on their beds! When morning comes they do it, as soon as it is within their reach.
If they covet fields, they seize them. Do they like houses? They take them. They seize the owner and his household, both the man and his property.
This is why Yahweh speaks, “I am plotting evil against this whole brood, from which your necks cannot escape. No more shall you walk with head held high for it will be an evil time.”
On that day they will sing a taunting song against you and a bitter lamentation will be heard, “We have been stripped of our property in our homeland. Who will free us from the wicked who allots our fields.” Truly, no one will be found in the assembly of Yahweh to keep a field for you.
►Gospel: Mt 12:14–21
The Pharisees went out and made plans to get rid of Jesus. As he was aware of the plot, he went away from that place. Many people followed him and he cured all who were sick. Then he gave them strict orders not to make him known.
In this way Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled:
“Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, and with whom I am pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him and he will announce my judgment to the nations.
“He will not argue or shout, nor will his voice be heard in the streets. The bruised reed he will not crush, nor snuff out the smoldering wick. He will persist until justice is made victorious and in him all the nations will put their hope.”
REFLECTION
“When Jesus heard about the plot against him, he went away
from that place and large crowds followed him. He healed all the sick...”
The mark of Christian courage
is to go on
doing good, doing justice
whatever the cost to ourselves.
Like Jesus
our life is about completing the mission.
16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: Gen 18:1–10a
Yahweh appeared to Abraham near the oak of Mamre. Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent, in the heat of the day, when he looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them. He bowed to the ground and said, “My Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass your servant by. Let a little water be brought. Wash your feet and then rest under the trees. I shall fetch some bread so that you can be refreshed and continue on your way, since you have come to your servant.” They then said, “Do as you say.” Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said to her, “Quick, take three measures of flour, knead it and make cakes.”
Abraham then ran to the herd, took a fine, tender calf, gave it to the servant who hurried to prepare it. He took butter and milk and together with the calf he had prepared laid it all before them. And while he remained standing, they ate. They then asked, “Where is Sarah, your wife?” Abraham answered, “She is in the tent.” And the visitor said, “At this same time next year I will return and Sarah by then will have a son.”
►2nd Reading: Col 1:24–28
At present I rejoice when I suffer for you; I complete in my own flesh what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of his body, which is the Church. For I am serving the Church since God entrusted to me the ministry to make the word of God fully known. I mean that mysterious plan that for centuries and generations remained secret, and which God has now revealed to his holy ones.
God willed to make known to them the riches and even the Glory that his mysterious plan reserved for the pagan nations: Christ is in you and you may hope God’s Glory.
This Christ we preach. We warn and teach everyone true wisdom, aiming to make everyone perfect in Christ.
►Gospel: Lk 10:38–42
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he entered a village and a woman called Martha welcomed him to her house. She had a sister named Mary who sat down at the Lord’s feet to listen to his words. Martha, meanwhile, was busy with all the serving and finally she said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the serving?”
But the Lord answered, “Martha, Martha, you worry and are troubled about many things, whereas only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken away from her.”
REFLECTION
“Mary has chosen the right thing and it will not be taken from her.”
Mary, the disciple, sits at the feet of the rabbi
while he teaches her the scriptures–
a place denied to women then and yet
even though Jesus insists that this
is the right thing for women to do.
Sincere Christians need to wonder why.
16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: Mic 6:1–4, 6–8
Listen to what Yahweh said to me, “Stand up, let the mountains hear your claim, and the hills listen to your plea.”
Hear, O mountains, Yahweh’s complaint! Foundations of the earth, pay attention! For Yahweh has a case against his people, and will argue it with Israel.
“O my people, what have I done to you? In what way have I been a burden to you? Answer me.
I brought you out of Egypt; I rescued you from the land of bondage; I sent Moses, Aaron and Miriam to lead you.
“What shall I bring when I come to Yahweh and bow down before God the most high? Shall I come with burnt offerings, with sacrifices of yearling calves? Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams, with an overabundance of oil libations? Should I offer my firstborn for my sins, the fruit of my body for my wrongdoing?”
“You have been told, O man, what is good and what Yahweh requires of you: to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
►Gospel: Mt 12:38–42
Some teachers of the Law and some Pharisees spoke up, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.” Jesus answered them, “An evil and unfaithful people want a sign, but no sign will be given them except the sign of the prophet Jonah. In the same way that Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the monster fish, so will the Son of Man spend three days and three nights in the depths of the earth. “At the judgment, the people of Niniveh will rise with this generation and condemn it, because they reformed their lives at the preaching of Jonah, and here there is greater than Jonah. At the judgment, the Queen of the South will stand up and condemn you. She came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and here there is greater than Solomon.”
REFLECTION
“Then some teachers of the Law and some Pharisees spoke up,
‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘we want to see you perform a miracle.’”
To believe in Jesus only for the sake
of the miracles
is to reduce the word and will of God
to some kind of magic act.
Then like the Pharisees, we miss the meaning
of the Word of Life completely.
16th Week in Ordinary Time
Apollinarus
►1st Reading: Mic 7:14–15, 18–20
Shepherd your people with your staff, shepherd the flock of your inheritance that dwells alone in the scrub, in the midst of a fertile land. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old, in the days when you went out of Egypt. Show us your wonders.
Who is a god like you, who takes away guilt and pardons crime for the remnant of his inheritance?
Who is like you whose anger does not last? For you delight in merciful forgiveness.
Once again you will show us your loving kindness and trample on our wrongs, casting all our sins into the depths of the sea.
Show faithfulness to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, as you have sworn to our ancestors from the days of old.
►Gospel: Mt 12:46–50
While Jesus was still talking to the people, his mother and his brothers wanted to speak to him and they waited outside. So someone said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are just outside; they want to speak with you.”
Jesus answered, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look! Here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is for me brother, sister, or mother.”
REFLECTION
“Jesus answered, ‘Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?’”
To know the heart
and do the will of Jesus,
–to go through life as he went through life–
is to be grafted to him,
to become Jesus ourselves here and now.
16th Week in Ordinary Time
Lawrence of Brindisi
►1st Reading: Jer 1:1, 4–10
These are the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.
A word of Yahweh came to me, “Even before I formed you in the womb I have known you; even be-fore you were born I had set you apart, and appointed you a prophet to the nations!”
I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! I do not know how to speak; I am still young!”
But Yahweh replied, “Do not say; ‘I am still young’, for now you will go whatever be the mission I am entrusting to you, and you will speak of whatever I command you to say. Do not be afraid of them, for I will be with you to protect you – it is Yahweh who speaks!”
Then Yahweh stretched out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me,
“Now I have put my words in your mouth. See! Today I give you authority over nations and over kingdoms
to uproot and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”
►Gospel: Mt 13:1–9
Jesus left the house and sat down by the lakeside. As many people gathered around him, he got in a boat. There he sat while the whole crowd stood on the shore, and he spoke to them in parables about many things.
Jesus said, “The sower went out to sow and, as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground where there was little soil, and the seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was not deep. But as soon the sun rose the plants were scorched and withered because they had no roots. Again other seeds fell among thistles; and the thistles grew and choked the plants. Still other seeds fell on good soil and produced a crop; some produced a hundredfold, others sixty and others thirty. If you have ears, then hear!”
REFLECTION
“What about those eighteen people in Siloam?
Do you suppose this proves that they were worse
than all of the other people living in Jerusalem?”
The vagaries of life
are that and that only: vagaries, circumstances,
not signs of the punishment of God.
We are meant to live life with trust and faith
knowing that God does not make life miserable.
On the contrary, it is God who carries us through it.
Mary Magdalene
►1st Reading: Song 3:1–4b (or 2 Cor 5:14–17)
The Bride says: “On my bed at night
I looked for the one I love,
I sought him without finding him;
I called him and he did not answer.
I will rise and go about the city,
through the streets and the squares;
I will seek the love of my heart…
I sought him without finding him;
the watchmen came upon me,
those who patrol the city.
“Have you seen the love of my heart?”
As soon as I left them,
I found the love of my heart.
I held him and would not let him go
till I had brought him to my mother’s house
to the room of her who conceived me.”
►Gospel: Jn 20:1–2, 11–18
On the first day after the Sabbath, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark and she saw that the stone blocking the tomb had been moved away. She ran to Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved. And she said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we don’t know where they have laid him.”
Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she bent down to look inside; she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head, and the other at the feet. They said, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She answered, “Because they have taken my Lord and I don’t know where they have put him.”
As she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not recognize him. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and answered him, “Lord, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him, “Rabboni” – which means, Master. Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me; you see I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them: I am ascending to my Father, who is your Father, to my God, who is your God.”
So Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord, and this is what he said to me.”
REFLECTION
“Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’
She turned toward him and said, in Hebrew, ‘Rabboni!’”
It’s not easy to recognize
the presence of Jesus in our lives.
Only by reflecting on the way
life has developed for us
can we finally come to realize
that Jesus has been with us in everything.
16th Week in Ordinary Time
Bridget of Sweden
►1st Reading: Jer 3:14–17
Come back, faithless people – it is Yahweh who speaks – for I am your master. I will select one from a city and two from a family and bring you to Zion. Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and prudence. And when you have increased and multiplied in the land in those days – it is Yahweh who speaks – people will no longer speak of the ark of the covenant of Yahweh; it will not be remembered or missed, nor shall it be made again!
Then they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of Yahweh’ and all the nations will gather there to honor the name of Yahweh and no longer will they follow the stubbornness of their wicked hearts.
►Gospel: Mt 13:18–23
Jesus said to his disciples, “Now listen to the parable of the sower. When a person hears the message of the Kingdom but without taking it to himself, the devil comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed that fell along the footpath. The seed that fell on rocky ground stands for the one who hears the word and accepts it at once with joy. But this fickle and has no roots. No sooner is he harassed or persecuted because of the word, than he gives up. The seed that fell among the thistles is the one who hears the word, but then the worries of this life and the love of money choke the word, and it does not bear fruit. As for the seed that fell on good soil it is the one who hears the word and understands it; this bears fruit and produces a hundred, or sixty, or thirty times more.”
REFLECTION
“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.”
No amount of physical suffering
can ruin life
unless we allow it to do so.
But loss of faith in dark times,
the refusal to trust that God is with us in it,
can sour the soul and crush our spirit.
16th Week in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: Jer 7:1–11
These words were spoken by Yahweh, to Jeremiah, “Stand at the gate of Yahweh’s house and proclaim this in a loud voice: Listen to what Yahweh says, all you people of Judah (who enter these gates to worship Yahweh). Yahweh the God of Israel says this:
Amend your ways and your deeds and I will stay with you in this place. Rely not on empty words such as: ‘Look, the Temple of Yahweh! the Temple of Yahweh! This is the Temple of Yahweh!’
It is far better for you to amend your ways and act justly with all. Do not abuse the stranger, orphan or widow or shed innocent blood in this place or follow false gods to your own ruin. Then I will stay with you in this place, in the land I gave to your ancestors in times past and forever.
But you trust in deceptive and useless words. You steal, kill, take the wife of your neighbor; you swear falsely, worship Baal and follow foreign gods who are not yours. Then, after doing all these horrible things, you come and stand before me in this temple that bears my Name and say, ‘Now we are safe.’
Is this house on which rests my Name a den of thieves? I have seen this myself – it is Yahweh who speaks.
►Gospel: Mt 13:24–30
Jesus told them another parable, “The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and left.
When the plants sprouted and produced grain, the weeds also appeared. Then the servants of the owner came to him and said: ‘Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? Where did the weeds come from?’
He answered them: ‘This is the work of an enemy.’ They asked him: ‘Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?’ He told them: ‘No, when you pull up the weeds, you might uproot the wheat with them. Let them just grow together until harvest; and at harvest time I will say to the workers: Pull up the weeds first, tie them in bundles and burn them; then gather the wheat into my barn.”
REFLECTION
“Let the wheat and the weeds both grow together until harvest.”
We are each given every moment in life
to become everything we are meant to be.
God does not snatch us away in anger.
Instead, God waits patiently for us
to find our way beyond spiritual adolescence
to spiritual adulthood.
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: Gen 18:20–32
Then Yahweh said, “How great is the cry for justice against Sodom and Gomorrah! And how grievous is their sin! I am going down to see if they have done all that they are charged with in the outcry that has reached me. If it is not so, I will know.”
The men with him turned away and went towards Sodom, but Yahweh remained standing before Abraham. Abraham went forward and said, “Will you really let the just perish with the wicked? Perhaps there are fifty good people in the town. Are you really going to let them perish? Would you not spare the place for the sake of these fifty righteous people? It would not be at all like you to do such a thing and you can’t let the good perish with the wicked, nor treat the good and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the judge of all the earth be just?” Yahweh said, “If I find fifty good people in Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
Abraham spoke up again, “I know that I am very bold to speak like this to my Lord, I who am only dust and ashes! But perhaps the number of the good is five less than fifty. Will you destroy the town because of five?” Yahweh replied, “I will not destroy the town if I find forty-five good people there.” Again Abraham said to him, “Perhaps there will be only forty.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” Abraham went on, saying, “May my Lord not be angry, but let me speak. Maybe only thirty good people will be found in the town.” Yahweh answered, “I will not destroy it if I find thirty there.” Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to my Lord, what if only twenty can be found?” He said, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy the place.”
But Abraham insisted, “May my Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found?” And Yahweh answered, “For the sake of ten good people, I will not destroy Sodom.”
►2nd Reading: Col 2:12–14
I refer to baptism. On receiving it you were buried with Christ; and you also rose with him for having believed in the power of God who raised him from the dead.
You were dead. You were in sin and uncircumcised at the same time. But God gave you life with Christ. He forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of our debts, those regulations which accused us. He did away with all that and nailed it to the cross.
►Gospel: Lk 11:1–13
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” And Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say this:
Father, hallowed be your name,
may your kingdom come,
give us each day the kind of bread we need,
and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive all who do us wrong,
and do not bring us to the test.”
Jesus said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to his house in the middle of the night and says: ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine who is traveling has just arrived and I have nothing to offer him.’ Maybe your friend will answer from inside: ‘Don’t bother me now; the door is locked and my children and I are in bed, so I can’t get up and give you anything.’ But I tell you, even though he will not get up and attend to you because you are a friend, yet he will get up because you are a bother to him, and he will give you all you need.
And so I say to you, ‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. For the one who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to him who knocks the door will be opened.
If your child asks for a fish, will you give a snake instead? And if your child asks for an egg, will you give a scorpion? Even you evil people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more then will the Father in heaven give holy spirit to those who ask him!”
REFLECTION
“Lord, teach us to pray.”
Prayer is not something that happens simply with the uttering of formulas.
Real prayer engages us wholly — our minds, our bodies, and our hearts.
It must be done reflectively and continuously.
17th Week in Ordinary Time
Joachim and Ann
►1st Reading: Sir 44:1, 10–15
Let us now glorify illustrious men, the ancestors of our people.
But now consider the godly men whose good deeds have not been forgotten. Those who came after them benefited from the rich legacy they left; their race remained faithful to the Covenant, their children followed their example. Their family will endure forever and never will its glory be tarnished. Their bodies were buried in peace but their memory lives through generations. People will speak of their wisdom and the assembly will celebrate their praise.
►Gospel: Mt 13:16–17
But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears, because they hear.
For I tell you that many prophets and upright people would have longed to see the things you see, but they did not, and to hear the things you hear, but they did not hear it.
REFLECTION
“As for you, how fortunate you are! Your eyes see and your ears hear.”
To grow spiritually means
that we must learn
to see and hear
the signs
of the presence of God in our lives.
Then, nothing is bad; everything is lifegiving.
17th Week in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: Jer 14:17–22
This you will say to them: Let my eyes shed tears night and day without ceasing! For with a great wound has the virgin daughter of my people been wounded, a most grievous wound.
If I go into the country, I see those slain by the sword. If I enter the city I see the ravages of famine. For the prophet and the priest did not understand what was happening in the land.”
Have you then rejected Judah forever? Do you abhor Zion? Why have you wounded us and left us with no hope of recovery?
We hoped for salvation but received nothing good; we waited for healing, but terror came!
Yahweh, we know our wickedness and that of our ancestors, and the times we have sinned against you.
For your name’s sake do not despise us; do not dishonor the throne of your glory. Remember us. Do not break your covenant with us!
Among the worthless idols of the nations, are there any who can bring rain, or make the skies send showers?
Only in you, Yahweh our God, do we hope, for it is you who do all this.
►Gospel: Mt 13:36–43
Jesus sent the crowds away and went into the house. And his disciples came to him saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” Jesus answered them, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed are the people of the Kingdom; the weeds are those who follow the evil one. The enemy who sows them is the devil; the harvest is the end of time and the workers are the angels.
Just as the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of time. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom all that is scandalous and all who do evil. And these will be thrown in the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the just will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. If you have ears, then hear.
REFLECTION
“The Son of Man will send out his angels to gather up
out of his Kingdom all those who cause people to sin.”
Part of what it means to be human
is that we all struggle to be our best selves.
And often we fail.
The real sin, then, is not that we fail.
The real sin lies in seducing others to do things
that destroy them spiritually.
17th Week in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: Jer 15:10, 16–21
Woe is me, Mother, why did you bring me to the light?
A man of dissension throughout the land!
I owe them nothing, neither do they owe me,
yet they all curse me!
I devoured your words when they came.
They were my happiness
and I felt full of joy
when you made your Name rest on me.
Never did I associate with worldly people,
amusing myself with scoffers!
When your hand was upon me I stood apart
and you filled me with your anger.
Why is there no end to my sorrow
or healing for my wound?
Why do you deceive me,
and why does my spring suddenly dry up?
Then Yahweh spoke to me,
“If you return I will take you back
and you will serve me again.
Draw the gold from the dross
and you will be as my own mouth.
You must draw them to you and not go over to them.
I will make you a fortress
and a wall of bronze facing them;
if they fight against you
they will not overcome you;
I am with you to free you and save you.
I will redeem you from the wicked
and free you from the hands of tyrants.”
►Gospel: Mt 13:44–46
Jesus said to the crowds: “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. The one who finds it buries it again; and so happy is he, that he goes and sells everything he has, in order to buy that field.
Again the kingdom of heaven is like a trader who is looking for fine pearls. Once he has found a pearl of exceptional quality, he goes away, sells everything he has and buys it.”
REFLECTION
“The Kingdom of heaven is like this: A person finds a treasure hidden
in a field and is so happy that they sell everything
they have and go back and buy that field.”
When we get to the point
where we choose what is valuable in life
over what’s not;
then we have found true happiness,
then we have found God,
then we have found heaven right here.
17th Week in Ordinary Time
Martha
►1st Reading: Jer 18:1–6
This is the word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah: “Go down to the potter’s house and there you will hear what I have to say.”
So I went to the potter’s house and found him working at the wheel. But the pot he was working on was spoiled in his hands, so he reworked it all over again into another pot that suits his desire.
Meanwhile Yahweh sent me his word, “People of Israel, can I not do with you what this potter does? As clay in the potter’s hand so are you in my hands.
►Gospel: Mt 13:47–53
Jesus said to the crowds, “The kingdom of heaven is like a big fishing net let down into the sea, in which every kind of fish has been caught. When the net is full, it is dragged ashore. Then they sit down and gather the good fish in buckets, but throw the worthless ones away. That is how it will be at the end of time; the angels will go out to separate the wicked from the just and throw them into the blazing furnace, where they will weep and gnash their teeth.”
Jesus asked, “Have you understood all these things?” “Yes,” they answered. So he said to them, “You will see that every teacher of the Law who becomes a disciple of the Kingdom is like a householder who can produce from his store things both new and old.”
When Jesus had finished these parables, he left the place.
REFLECTION
The spiritual life does not demand
that we hide from life
in order not to be tempted by it.
The spiritual life demands that we learn
to choose between good and evil, of course,
but sometimes even good from good.
17th Week in Ordinary Time
Peter Chrysologus
►1st Reading: Jer 26:1–9
At the beginning of the reign of Judah’s king Jehoiakim son of Josiah, the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah: Yahweh says this, “Stand in the courtyard of Yahweh’s House and say to all who come from the towns of Judah to worship in Yahweh’s house – all that I command you to say; do not omit anything! Perhaps they will listen to you. Perhaps each one will turn from his wicked ways. Then I will change my mind and forget the destruction that I have planned to inflict on them because of their wicked deeds.
Tell them: This is what Yahweh says:
“You have not obeyed me and you have failed to walk according to my Law which I have set before you. You have not heeded my servants, the prophets, whom I have persistently sent to you. If you stubbornly close your ears to them, I will treat this House of mine as I treated the sanctuary of Shiloh and let all the nations see that Jerusalem is a cursed city.”
The priests, the prophets and all the people heard what Jeremiah said in Yahweh’s House. When Jeremiah finished saying all that Yahweh had commanded, he was besieged by the priests and prophets saying, “You are bound to die! How dare you speak in Yahweh’s Name telling us that this House will be treated like Shiloh and this city is to become a deserted ruins.” And all the people gathered around Jeremiah in the House of Yahweh.
►Gospel: Mt 13:54–58
Jesus went to his hometown and taught the people in their synagogue. They were amazed and said, “Where did he get this wisdom and these special powers? Isn’t he the carpenter’s son? Isn’t Mary his mother and aren’t James, Joseph, Simon and Judas his brothers? Aren’t all his sisters living here? How did he get all this?” And so they took offense at him.
Jesus said to them, “The only place where prophets are not welcome is their hometown and in their own family.” And he did not perform many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
REFLECTION
“Jesus went back to his hometown and taught in the synagogue.
And those who heard him were amazed. ‘Where did he get such wisdom?’
They asked....And so they rejected him.”
Holy people around us can become so familiar to us
that we fail to see their greatness.
After all, they’re just like us aren’t they?
Then, what a pity, we miss the wisdom figures
who are most capable
of stretching us beyond ourselves to God.
17th Week in Ordinary Time
Ignatius of Loyola
►1st Reading: Jer 26:11–16, 24
Then the priests and the prophets said to the leaders of the people: “This man must die for he has spoken against the city as you have heard with your own ears!”
Jeremiah replied, “I have been sent by Yahweh to prophesy against this House and this city all that you have heard. Hence, reform your ways and your deeds and obey Yahweh your God that he may change his mind and not bring upon you the destruction he had intended.
As for me I am in your hands; do with me whatever you consider just and right. 15‑But know that I am innocent and if you take my life you commit a crime that is a curse on yourselves, on the city and the people. In truth it was Yahweh who sent me to say all that I said in your hearing.”
Then the leaders, backed by the people, said to the priests and the prophets, “This man does not deserve death; he spoke to us in the Name of Yahweh.”
As for Jeremiah he was befriended by Ahikam, son of Shaphan, and was not handed over to those who wanted him put to death.
►Gospel: Mt 14:1–12
On one occasion the news about Jesus reached King Herod. And he said to his servants, “This man is John the Baptist. John has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
Herod had, in fact, ordered that John be arrested, bound in chains and put in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. For John had said to him, “It is not right for you to have her as wife.” Herod wanted to kill him but he did not dare, because he feared the people who regarded John as a prophet.
On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced in the midst of the guests; she so delighted Herod that he promised under oath to give her anything she asked. The girl, following the advice of her mother, said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a dish.”
The king was very displeased, but because he had made this promise under oath in the presence of the guests, he ordered it to be given her. So he had John beheaded in prison and his head brought on a dish and given to the girl. The girl then took it to her mother.
Then John’s disciples came to take his body and bury it. And they went to bring the news to Jesus.
REFLECTION
“Herod wanted to kill John but he was afraid of the Jewish people
because they considered John to be a prophet.”
What I stand up for in public
determines the way the world
will think about its value, its place in life.
The real spiritual question is whether
I stand up for anything at all–
or is my spiritual life more form than substance.
