August 19, 2025
Tuesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 420
Reading I
The angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth in
Ophrah
that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite.
While his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press
to save it from the Midianites,
the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said,
“The LORD is with you, O champion!”
Gideon said to him, “My Lord, if the LORD is with us,
why has all this happened to us?
Where are his wondrous deeds of which our fathers
told us when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’
For now the LORD has abandoned us
and has delivered us into the power of Midian.”
The LORD turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have
and save Israel from the power of Midian.
It is I who send you.”
But Gideon answered him, “Please, my lord, how can I save Israel?
My family is the lowliest in Manasseh,
and I am the most insignificant in my father’s house.”
“I shall be with you,” the LORD said to him,
“and you will cut down Midian to the last man.”
Gideon answered him, “If I find favor with you,
give me a sign that you are speaking with me.
Do not depart from here, I pray you, until I come back to you
and bring out my offering and set it before you.”
He answered, “I will await your return.”
So Gideon went off and prepared a kid and a measure of flour
in the form of unleavened cakes.
Putting the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot,
he brought them out to him under the terebinth
and presented them.
The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and unleavened cakes
and lay them on this rock; then pour out the broth.”
When he had done so,
the angel of the LORD stretched out the tip of the staff he held,
and touched the meat and unleavened cakes.
Thereupon a fire came up from the rock
that consumed the meat and unleavened cakes,
and the angel of the LORD disappeared from sight.
Gideon, now aware that it had been the angel of the LORD,
said, “Alas, Lord GOD,
that I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!”
The LORD answered him,
“Be calm, do not fear. You shall not die.”
So Gideon built there an altar to the LORD
and called it Yahweh-shalom.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (see 9b) The Lord speaks of
peace to his people.
I will hear what God proclaims;
the LORD–for he proclaims peace
To his people, and to his faithful ones,
and to those who put in him their hope.
R. The Lord speaks of peace to his people.
Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.
R. The Lord speaks of peace to his people.
The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.
R. The Lord speaks of peace to his people.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus Christ became poor although he was rich
so that by his poverty you might become rich.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich
to enter the Kingdom of heaven.
Again I say to you,
it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.”
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said,
“Who then can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said,
“For men this is impossible,
but for God all things are possible.”
Then Peter said to him in reply,
“We have given up everything and followed you.
What will there be for us?”
Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you
that you who have followed me, in the new age,
when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory,
will yourselves sit on twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters
or father or mother or children or lands
for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more,
and will inherit eternal life.
But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081925.cfm
Commentary on Judges
6:11-24
We read today of the call of Gideon, one of the ‘major’
judges or leaders of the people. The story of Gideon is instructive of Israel’s
condition at this time. The Hebrews had taken to agriculture and, like the
other settled peoples, were threatened by nomads invading their territory to
get food. To some extent they had adopted the worship of the Baalim, the local
gods who guaranteed the annual yield of wheat and oil. Only a select few
remained faithful to Yahweh.
The passage combines an account of the calling of Gideon and
an account of the founding of a sanctuary, in the manner of those in Genesis,
with a theophany (a divine appearance), a message of salvation
and the inauguration of the cult.
At the beginning of this section, we are told that, because
the Israelites had done evil in Yahweh’s eyes, they had been subjected to the
power of the Midianites for seven years. The Midianites were a nomadic people
living in north-western Sinai (remember that Moses’ wife came from this
people). All efforts of the Israelites to support themselves by pasturing and
farming were regularly pillaged by the Midianites. In their desperation, the
Israelites cried out to God for help. And once again, God intervened on their
behalf.
As our reading opens, we are told that the “angel of the
Lord” (indistinguishable from Yahweh) came and sat under the terebinth tree at
Ophrah, which belonged to a man called Joash of Abiezer. The Abiezrites were
from the tribe of Manasseh, one of the tribes descended from Joseph. The
terebinth was a sacred tree and the location of the Ophrah mentioned here is
not certain. The angel of the Lord evidently appeared in human shape, which led
to Gideon’s exclamation at the end of the passage.
Joash’s son, Gideon, was threshing wheat inside a
wine-press, in order to remain hidden from the Midianites who might otherwise
attack and take away the crop. Normally, threshing would take place in the open
so that the wind could blow away the chaff, but Gideon felt more secure
threshing in this better protected, but very confined space.
The ‘angel’ then greets Gideon with the words:
The Lord is with you, you mighty warrior.
By addressing him this way it would seem that Gideon
belonged to the upper class, perhaps a kind of aristocracy, in spite of his
disclaimer a little later on. He was more than a simple farmer.
Gideon’s response to the angel’s greeting is immediate and
to the point:
But sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this
happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our ancestors
recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the
Lord has cast us off and given us into the hand of Midian.
At this, Yahweh turns to him and, without challenging
Gideon’s complaint, instead suggests Gideon himself do something about it. He
gives Gideon a mission:
Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the
hand of Midian; I hereby commission you.
Now, it is Yahweh who speaks and not just the ‘angel of the
Lord’. We are dealing not just with a divine messenger, but with an appearance
of Yahweh himself, a theophany. This is a commission to deliver
Israel just as Moses had been sent.
Gideon does not feel up to the challenge:
But sir, how can I deliver Israel? My clan is the weakest
in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.
But as is the case so often, the Lord usually calls the
lowly rather than the mighty to act for him (e.g. Jacob the younger chosen
before Esau in Gen 25:23; Saul, the least in the tribe of Benjamin; David, the
shepherd in the field; and, of course, Mary, the ‘nobody’ from Nazareth).
But Yahweh promises to be with Gideon:
But I will be with you, and you shall strike down the
Midianites, every one of them.
Gideon then requests that, if he has found favour in
Yahweh’s sight, he be given a sign to confirm that the words come from Yahweh
himself. He asks Yahweh to stay where he is while Gideon goes off to bring back
an offering. Gideon now realises that he is addressing someone very special.
His request is similar to Moses’ asking for signs as assurance that Yahweh
would be with him in his undertakings.
Yahweh then makes a promise:
I will stay until you return.
Gideon then goes off. He prepares a young goat and an ephah
of flour to make unleavened cakes. He puts the meat in a basket and the soup in
a pot and brings them to the terebinth tree. Yahweh then tells him to put the
meat and the cakes on a rock and to pour the soup over them.
The offerings are carefully chosen—a kid, the most suitable
sacrificial animal; a measure of flour; loaves unleavened, because otherwise
they would be ‘unclean’. All are placed on a rock, a primitive rite
characteristic of peasants fresh from nomadic life.
Then (the angel of) the Lord touched the meat and the cakes
with the staff he was carrying. Fire sprang from the rock and consumed the meat
and cakes. The meal prepared by Gideon for the angel of the Lord—whether it has
a sacrificial character or not—is turned into a burnt offering (holocaust) by
the divine fire. There is a similar event, though more dramatically told, later
on in Judges (13:15-20). The rock on which the offerings were placed becomes
consecrated and Gideon builds an altar on it. The place becomes a sacred
shrine.
Gideon then realises he has been speaking with the angel of
the Lord and he exclaims:
Help me, Lord God! For I have seen the angel of the Lord
face to face.
But Yahweh assures him:
Peace be to you; do not fear; you shall not die.
The traditional belief was that no one could look on the
face of God and live. The great exception was Moses.
Gideon then builds an altar to Yahweh in that place and
calls it “The Lord is Peace”. The author says that the altar still stands at
Ophrah of Abiezer. But later, no one knew where it was.
As we read this story we may remind ourselves that God, too,
is constantly calling us. Our lack of talent or education or ability will never
be an excuse. We can trust, too, that he is always on our side and we do not
need extraordinary signs of his presence, although things may happen which will
surprise us. He is, after all, the ‘God of surprises’.
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Commentary on
Matthew 19:23-30
After hearing the sad story of the rich young man who could
not accept his invitation to be a disciple, Jesus gives some comments on the
effects of wealth. Jesus says:
Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to
enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom
of God.
It could be that Jesus was referring to a narrow entrance in
the city wall of Jerusalem called the ‘eye of the needle’. In either case,
Jesus is indicating something which is extremely difficult, in fact, next to
impossible.
Some of us may likely feel discomfort about this. Even if we
are not rich ourselves, we might like to see our children get rich some day, or
we admire people who have, by their hard work, become wealthy. What is wrong
with having a lot of money which one has earned by the one’s own sweat and
labour?
What does the Gospel mean by being rich? To be rich here
means to have a large surplus of money and possessions while around one are
people who do not have what they need to live a life of dignity. How can I
continue to hold on to ‘my’ possessions when such a situation prevails? How can
I claim to belong to the Kingdom, the reign of God, which is a kingdom of love and
justice? Jesus said that “you” did not give me to eat or drink; “you” did not
visit me or show any compassion when I was:
…hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in
prison… (Matt 25:44)
Instead, “you” piled up all that money in the bank or on the
stock exchange or you splurged it on fancy cars, restaurants and expensive
clothes.
In the Gospel, to be rich means refusing to share what you
have with those who have not. As long as you behave like that, you cannot be
eligible for the Kingdom. It really is like trying to get a
camel through the eye of a needle. There is a radical incompatibility.
The disciples were quite amazed at Jesus’ words. They were
thinking along lines traditional to their culture and their religion. Wealth
was a sign of God’s blessings—poverty and sickness a sign of his punishment.
But Jesus is turning their traditions on their head.
It was something the young man could not understand either.
He was under the impression that his wealth was a grace, a sign of God’s
favour. The idea of giving alms was to be highly commended, but to share his
wealth with the poor and create a more just playing field was something for
which he felt no obligation and which made no sense.
Then Peter, the optimist, begins to see the bright side:
Look, we have left everything and followed you. What then
will we have?
Jesus gives a twofold reply. As the leaders of the new
community and people who have generously put their whole security in Jesus, his
disciples will be especially rewarded. And indeed everyone who leaves family
and goods for Jesus’ sake will be rewarded many times over with father, mother,
brothers, sisters, goods. This is not just a pie-in-the-sky promise. It is one
that can be realised and, in many parts of the world, is being realised. When
everyone works for the good of the other, everyone benefits.
The wealth-is-good world believes that it is every man for
himself. There is only a limited amount of the cake and it is up to each one to
get as big a piece as he can—too bad about the losers.
In the world of Jesus, everyone gets because everyone gives;
because everyone gives, everyone receives. It is not a ‘gimme’ world; it is a
‘reaching out to others’ world. And when everyone reaches out, everyone is
benefiting. In such a world, I do not have to worry about a roof over my head,
or about brothers and sisters, or property or security. It is where love and
justice meet. For too many people in our world, there is neither love nor
justice.
If the rich man had liberated himself from his wealth and
shared it with the poor and become a follower of Jesus in the new community, he
might never have been rich again but he would have had all his needs attended
to.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o1203g/
Tuesday,
August 19, 2025
Ordinary
Time
Opening Prayer
God our Father,
may we love you in all things and
above all things and reach the joy you have prepared for us beyond all our
imagining.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Matthew 19: 23-30
Jesus said to his disciples,
'In truth I tell you, it is hard for someone rich to enter the kingdom of
Heaven. Yes, I tell you again, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye
of a needle than for someone rich to enter the kingdom of
Heaven.'
When the disciples heard this
they were astonished. 'Who can be saved, then?' they said. Jesus gazed at them.
'By human resources', he told them, 'this is impossible; for God everything is
possible.'
Then Peter answered and said, 'Look, we have left everything
and followed you.
What are we to have, then?'
Jesus said to them, 'In truth I tell you,
when everything is made new again and the Son of man is seated on his throne of
glory, you yourselves will sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of
Israel. And everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother,
children or land for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times as much,
and also inherit eternal life.
'Many who are first will be last, and the last, first.'
Reflection
The Gospel today is the immediate continuation of
yesterday’s Gospel. It gives the commentary of Jesus regarding the negative
reaction of the young rich man.
•
Matthew
19: 23-24: The camel and the eye of
the needle. After the young man left, Jesus comments his decision and says:
“In truth I tell you, it is hard for someone rich to enter the kingdom of
Heaven. Yes, I tell you again, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye
of a needle than for someone rich to enter the kingdom of Heaven.” Two
observations concerning this affirmation of Jesus:
•
a) the proverb of the camel and of the eye of
the needle was used to say that something was impossible and unthinkable,
humanly speaking.
•
b) The expression “that someone rich enters the
kingdom of Heaven,” is a question, in the first place, not of entrance into
Heaven after death, but of entering into the community around Jesus. And even
now this is true.
It is very difficult for the rich to enter and to feel at
home in the communities which try to live the Gospel according to the demands
of Jesus and which try to be open to the poor, the migrants and to those
excluded by society.
•
Matthew
19: 25-26: The fear of the disciples. The young man had observed the
commandments, but without understanding the reason for the observance.
Something similar was happening with
the disciples. When Jesus called them, they did exactly the same thing which
Jesus had asked the young man: they left everything and followed Jesus (Mt 4:
20, 22). But they were astonished at this affirmation of Jesus concerning the
impossibility for someone rich to enter the Kingdom of God. This was a sign
that they had not understood well the response which Jesus had given to the
young rich man: “Go, sell all you possess, give it to the poor and then come
and follow me!” Because if they had understood, they would not have remained so
surprised by the requests of Jesus. When wealth or the desire for riches
occupies the heart and the look, the person does not succeed to understand the
sense of life and of the Gospel. God alone can help! “This is impossible for
man, but for God all is possible!”
•
Matthew
19: 27: The question of Peter. The background of the misunderstanding of
the disciples appears in the question asked by Peter: “Look, we have left
everything and have followed you. What are we to have then?” In spite of the
beautiful generosity of abandoning everything, they still have the old
mentality. They have abandoned everything in order to get something in exchange.
They still had not understood well the sense of service and of gratuity.
•
Matthew
19: 28-30: The response of Jesus. "In truth I tell you, when
everything is made new again and the Son of Man is seated on his throne of
glory you yourselves will sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of
Israel. And everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother,
children or land for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times as much
and also inherit eternal life. Many, who are first, will be last, and the last,
first.” In this response, Jesus describes the new world, the foundation of
which had been placed by his work and that of the disciples. Jesus stresses
three important points:
•
(a) The disciples will sit on twelve thrones
next to Jesus to judge the twelve tribes of Israel (cfr. Rev 4: 4).
•
(b) In exchange they will receive many things
which they had abandoned:
houses, brothers, sisters, mother, children land and will
inherit eternal life.
•
(c) The future world will be the reverse of the
present world. There, the last ones will be the first ones and the first ones
will be the last ones. The community around Jesus is the seed and the
manifestation of this new world. Up until now the small community of the poor
continues to be the seed and manifestation of the Kingdom.
Every time that in the history of the people
of the Bible a new movement arises to renew the Covenant, it begins by
re-establishing the rights of the poor, of the excluded. Without that, the
Covenant will not be reconstructed. This is the sense and the reason for the
insertion and the mission of the community of Jesus, in the midst of the poor.
It draws from the roots and it inaugurates the New Covenant.
Personal Questions
•
To abandon houses, brothers, sisters, father,
mother, children fields, for the sake of Jesus: how does this take place in
your life? What have you already received in exchange?
•
Today, the majority of poor countries is not of
a Christian religion, while the majority of the rich countries are. How can the
saying be applied today that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye
of a needle?
Concluding Prayer
Even were I to walk in a ravine as dark as death I
should fear no danger, for you Lord, are at my side.
Your staff and your crook are there to soothe me. (Ps 23: 4)
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