Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection July 20, 2024
Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time
20th July 2024 (Saturday)
Psalter: Week 3
Reading of the Day
First Reading: Micah 2:1-5
Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil on their beds! When the morning dawns, they perform it, because it is in the power of their hand. They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them away; they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance. Therefore thus says the Lord: behold, against this family I am devising disaster, from which you cannot remove your necks, and you shall not walk haughtily, for it will be a time of disaster. In that day they shall take up a taunt song against you and moan bitterly, and say, “We are utterly ruined; he changes the portion of my people; how he removes it from me! To an apostate he allots our fields.” Therefore you will have none to cast the line by lot in the assembly of the Lord.
Psalm 10:1-2, 3-4, 7-8, 14 (R. 12b)
R/. Do not forget the poor, O Lord
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Alleluia
R/. Alleluia
V/.In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation
R/. Alleluia.
Gospel : Matthew 12:14-21
At that time: The Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all and ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:“Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory; and in his name the Gentiles will hope.”
Daily Gospel Reflection
Saturday – Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time
Guidelines: Mind is the seedbed of all wickedness. It devises all evil designs and works upon them. Evil thoughts will result in the destruction
1. “Conspiracy” or “devising wickedness” is one common thread that runs in both the readings. In the first reading, we are told about the wicked who are evil-minded. They devise wickedness and work evil on their beds and perform it when the morning dawns. Their wickedness includes greed and covetousness, coercion and grabbing, oppression and injustice.
2. Similarly in the gospel, the Pharisees conspired against Jesus how to destroy him. He was day by day becoming for them a thorn in the flesh. Their self-righteousness, stubbornness, and self-glory led them to heights of jealousy against Jesus. There was no way to stop his authenticity and popularity. Therefore the only way left for them was to finish him off.
3. Being aware of their evil plotting, Jesus withdrew from their sight. His withdrawal however was in no way an act of cowardice or compromise. It was just an act of prudence and patience waiting for his appointed “hour”. He had so much to do and complete. Merely opposing or confronting the Pharisees was not his main agenda. It was only a part of his larger mission of authentic living.
4. If he were to be a coward or escapist, he would have gone into hiding. He would have stopped all his ministry. But he continues his mission. Many continue to follow him and he healed them all. He was totally faithful to fulfilling His Father’s will.
5. His Father’s will is not to fight or make noise, not instigate the crowds, or intimidate the authorities. It was not to a mission of destruction but reconstruction of new hearts and lives. It was a mission of justice coupled with charity. His whole focus was to remain as God’s “servant whom He had chosen, God’s beloved with whom His soul is well pleased”.
Practice: When opposition and afflictions come on our way, when evil forces join together to trouble us and put us down, what is our attitude and reaction? Do we persevere undauntedly or do we succumb to the pressure and give up?
