Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection July 21, 2025

21st July 2025 (Monday)

Psalter: Week 4

Readings of the Day

First Reading: Exodus 14:5-18

In those days: When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed towards the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly. The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

Exodus 15:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6 (R. 1b)

R/. I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously

Gospel Acclamation

V/. Alleluia

R/. Alleluia

V/. Today, harden not your hearts, but listen to the voice of the Lord.

R/. Alleluia

Gospel: Matthew 12:38-42

At that time: Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great sea creature, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

Daily Gospel Reflection

Monday – 16th Week in Ordinary Time

Main Point: Signs are not tests or proofs for the power of God or the efficacy of faith. They are reminders and reassurances of God’s unfailing intervention and the reward for one’s trust

1. In the gospel of Matthew 12. 38-42, some Pharisees and scribes demand a sign from Jesus to convince them and make them believe him. Signs are meant to deepen and strengthen the faith.

2. But their intention is the opposite. They want to validate their unfaith, and not consolidate their faith. They seek excuses for not believing, rather than confirmations for believing. True faith generates from a humble openness to God’s grace, a profound experience of God and a strong conviction.

3. In this way, no one can generate or create faith. A faith that is based on mere favours and signs, a faith that builds itself on proofs and evidence, will be shallow and unsteady. Signs must help us to deepen our faith, because they are manifestations of God’s powerful and merciful intervention.

4. There is nothing wrong with expecting signs. But the problem is to expect them as proof of God’s power. Signs are not the measuring rods for the power of God or the power of faith. They are not the primary things.

5. Unfailing trust in God and a loyal relationship with Him are the real matters. Signs can make sense only in such an atmosphere of trust and loyalty. Jesus accuses those people as “an evil and adulterous generation” because they were evil-intentioned and unfaithful, as marital infidelity.

6. Had they not seen the mighty works of God in their history? Do they easily forget how God worked wonders to liberate them from slavery in Egypt? Do they forget the sign of God’s sparing the Ninevites at the preaching of Jonah and their consequent repentance? Do they easily lose sight of the wisdom of Solomon? Are these and numberless acts of God’s intervention not enough signs to stabilize their faith?

7. And Jesus himself is the greatest sign of God’s love, wisdom and mercy. The authenticity of his life, the effectiveness of his ministry are the most compelling signs.

My Practice: In times of adversity and crisis, the solution is not to lament or reproach like the frightened Israelites. The fitting response is: Not to fear, but stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will work for you today. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be still