June 9, 2026
Tuesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 360
Reading I
The brook near where Elijah was hiding ran dry,
because no rain had fallen in the land.
So the LORD said to Elijah:
“Move on to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there.
I have designated a widow there to provide for you.”
He left and went to Zarephath.
As he arrived at the entrance of the city,
a widow was gathering sticks there; he called out to her,
“Please bring me a small cupful of water to drink.”
She left to get it, and he called out after her,
“Please bring along a bit of bread.”
She answered, “As the LORD, your God, lives,
I have nothing baked;
there is only a handful of flour in my jar
and a little oil in my jug.
Just now I was collecting a couple of sticks,
to go in and prepare something for myself and my son;
when we have eaten it, we shall die.”
Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid.
Go and do as you propose.
But first make me a little cake and bring it to me.
Then you can prepare something for yourself and your son.
For the LORD, the God of Israel, says,
‘The jar of flour shall not go empty,
nor the jug of oil run dry,
until the day when the LORD sends rain upon the earth.’”
She left and did as Elijah had said.
She was able to eat for a year, and Elijah and her son as well;
the jar of flour did not go empty,
nor the jug of oil run dry,
as the LORD had foretold through Elijah.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (7a) Lord, let your face shine on us.
When I call, answer me, O my just God,
you who relieve me when I am in distress;
Have pity on me, and hear my prayer!
Men of rank, how long will you be dull of heart?
Why do you love what is vain and seek after falsehood?
R. Lord, let your face shine on us.
Know that the LORD does wonders for his faithful one;
the LORD will hear me when I call upon him.
Tremble, and sin not;
reflect, upon your beds, in silence.
R. Lord, let your face shine on us.
O LORD, let the light of your countenance shine upon us!
You put gladness into my heart,
more than when grain and wine abound.
R. Lord, let your face shine on us.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Let your light shine before others
That they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples:
“You are the salt of the earth.
But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?
It is no longer good for anything
but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
You are the light of the world.
A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.
Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket;
it is set on a lampstand,
where it gives light to all in the house.
Just so, your light must shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your heavenly Father.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060926.cfm
Commentary on 1
Kings 17:7-16
Elijah and the widow
The effects of the drought now even reach Elijah as the
stream which provided him with water dries up. But it is not a sign of God
withdrawing his providence; rather it is a sign that a new stage in the story
is about to unfold.
God tells Elijah now to go to Zarephath of Sidon, a town on
the Mediterranean coast between the Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon (the
only Gentile places we are told that Jesus visited during his public life). In
effect, Elijah is being told to go to the territory ruled over by Jezebel’s
father and thus to the very centre from which the worship of Baal had
originated. Elijah must have found it a strange command but he put his trust in
the Lord and went. This whole story is about trust in God’s providence and
care.
Elijah receives a promise that he will be looked after there
not now by birds but by a poor widow, herself on the point of starvation.
Moreover, she is a Gentile, in Jewish eyes a pagan. Just one more example of
how God’s people were sustained by people they despised and avoided. Elijah, as
the bearer of God’s word, was now to be sustained by human hands, but they were
the hands of a poor widow facing starvation. She was, moreover, from outside
the circle of God’s own people. She was from the pagan nation that at that time
(much like Egypt earlier and Babylon later) represented the forces arrayed
against God’s people.
Once again, showing his deep trust in God’s care of him,
Elijah goes off and, as promised, finds the widow gathering sticks. He asks for
a little water to drink and she goes off to get some for him. However, as she
is leaving, Elijah also asks for a little bread to eat. Here she demurs.
“As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she began. Her oath
in the name of the Lord was either in deference to Elijah the Israelite or even
a recognition of Elijah’s God. She told him that she had only a very small
amount of flour in her house and a little oil. She was now gathering firewood
to prepare a final meal for herself and her son. After that, with nothing more
to eat, they were prepared to face death.
“Do not be afraid,” said Elijah – a phrase that comes up
again and again in both the Old and New Testaments and often used by Jesus
himself. He tells her to go and make the meal for her son but first to prepare
a small cake for him. The widow is asked to give all she has to sustain the
bearer of the word of God. The demand to give her all is in essence the demand
of the covenant that Israel had broken.
Elijah then cites to her a promise from the Lord: she will
not want for flour or oil until the day the rains return. In a marvellous act
of trust she agrees. She reminds one of the widow in the Gospel who donated all
she had to the Temple treasury. This Gentile woman’s trust is also in strong
contrast to the Israelites who had bound themselves by covenant to
unconditional and total service of their Lord but had reneged on it so often
and were doing so again.
The truth of Elijah’s promise was soon confirmed for the
widow. For the jar of meal and jug of oil were never again empty for one whole
year. By her act of faith the woman received the promised blessing, while
Israel had forsaken the covenant and followed Baal and Asherah in search of
prosperity. Now in the midst of a pagan kingdom a widow realises that the
trustful obedience to the word of God is the way that leads to life.
God miraculously provided for this non-Israelite who, in an
act of faith in the Lord’s word, had laid her life on the line. He gave her
“manna” from heaven even while he was withholding food from his unfaithful
people in the promised land.
The whole story is a teaching about trusting in God’s care
for us. Later, in his home town of Nazareth, Jesus will use the example of this
Gentile woman as well as the cure by Elisha of Naaman the leper from Syria as
examples of Gentiles having more faith than God’s own people. Jesus was not
able to heal many in Nazareth because of their refusal to see in him anyone but
one of their neighbours.
This story reminds us too that the secret of life is for
everyone to share generously of what they have. When that happens, no one is in
want. When everyone gives, everyone gets.
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Commentary on
Matthew 5:13-16
We may be totally filled with the spirit of the Beatitudes,
but it will not do very much good unless their effects are clearly seen in our
lives. To be a Christian, it is not enough to be good; we must be seen to be
so. It is not enough to ‘have a spirituality’ that fills us with a feeling of
peace and tranquillity. The spirituality of the gospel is outreaching. We have
not only to be disciples of Christ but also need to proclaim him.
In today’s reading from the Sermon on the Mount immediately
following the Beatitudes, Jesus presents us with a number of images expressing
this. Jesus first says that his followers should be “the salt of the earth”.
Salt is an essential ingredient in almost all cooked food (even sweet food) to
provide taste. We all know what it is like to have soup that contains no salt;
we know how much part salt plays in flavouring mass-produced fast foods.
We are to be like salt; we are to give taste and zest to our
environment. We do that through the specific outlook on life which we have and
which we invite others to share. At their best, Christians have been very
effective in doing this, and have had a great impact on the values of many
societies and in bringing about great changes.
To be tasteless salt is to be next to useless. Salt that has
lost its taste is fit only to be thrown out. At the same time, in the West we
sometimes, too, put some salt on the side of our plate. That salt, however
tasty it may be, is still not doing any good unless it is put into the food.
And this is an interesting feature of salt, namely, that it blends completely
with food and disappears. It cannot be seen, but it can be tasted.
That reminds us that we as Christians, if we are to have the
effect of giving taste, must be totally inserted in our societies. We have to
resist any temptation, as Christians, to withdraw and separate ourselves from
the world. It is a temptation we can easily fall into, and there are many
places where the Church is absent nowadays. There is no salt there. For
example, in our commercial districts, in our industrial areas, in our
entertainment and media centres, where is the visible Christian presence?
Other images used by Jesus today include being the “light of
the world” or being “a city built on a hill”. There is no way it can be hidden;
it sticks out like a beacon. And what is the point of lighting a candle and
then covering it over with a tub? You light a candle to give light so that
people can see their way and will not fall. To be baptised and to go into
virtual hiding is like lighting and then covering up a candle.
Finally, Jesus gives us the reason for making ourselves so
visible—so that people may see our good works. Is it in order that we can bask
in their admiration and wonder? No! Rather, it is so that people will be led
through us to the God who made them, who loves them and wants to lead them to
himself.
It is for us today to reflect on how visible our Christian
faith is to others, as individuals, as families, as members of a Christian
group, as parishioners and as a diocese. Are there people or places in our area
where a Christian witness is for all intents and purposes absent? Can we do
anything about that?
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o1103g/
Tuesday,
June 9, 2026
10th Week in Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
God of wisdom and love, source of
all good,send your Spirit to teach us your truth and guide our actions in your way of peace.
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 5: 13-16
Jesus said to his disciples: 'You
are salt for the earth. But if salt loses its taste, what can make it salty
again? It is good for nothing and can only be thrown out to be trampled under
people's feet.
'You are light for the world. A city built on a
hill-top cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put
it on the lampstand where it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way
your light must shine in people's sight, so that, seeing your good works, they
may give praise to your Father in heaven.
Reflection
Yesterday, in meditating on the
Beatitudes, we passed through the door of entry of the Sermon on the Mountain
(Mt 5: 1-12). Today in the Gospel we receive an important instruction on the
mission of the Community. It should be the salt of the earth and the light of
the world (Mt 5: 13-16). Salt does not exist for itself, but to give flavor to
the food. Light does not exist for itself, but for the service of people. At
the time when Matthew wrote his Gospel, this mission was very difficult for the
communities of the converted Jews. In spite that they were living in faithful
observance of the Law of Moses, they were expelled from the Synagogues, cut
away from their Jewish past. Regarding this, among the converted pagans, some
said: “After the coming of Jesus, the Law of Moses has become obsolete”. All
this caused tension and uncertainty. The openness of some seemed to be
criticism of the observance of others, and vice versa. This conflict brought
about a crisis which led many to close in their own position. Some wanted to
advance, to go ahead, others wanted to place the light under the table. Many
asked themselves: “In last instance, which is our mission?” Recalling and
updating the words of Jesus, Matthew tries to help them.
•
Matthew 5: 13-16: Salt of the earth. By using
images of daily life, with simple and direct words, Jesus makes known which is
the mission and the reason for being a Christian community: to be salt. At that
time when it was very hot, people and animals needed to consume much salt. The
salt, which was delivered by merchants in great blocks in the public square,
was consumed by the people. What remained fell to the ground and lost its
savor. “It no longer serves for anything, but it is thrown out and trampled
under people’s feet”. Jesus recalls this use in order to clarify for the
disciples the mission which they have to carry out.
•
Matthew 5: 14-16: Light of the world. The
comparison is obvious. Nobody lights a candle and places it under the tub. A
city built on the hilltop, cannot be hidden. The community should be light, it
should enlighten. It should not be afraid to show the good that it does. It
does not do it to make itself seen, but what it does can be seen. The salt does
not exist for itself. The light does not exist for itself! This is how the
community should be. It cannot remain enclosed in itself. “Your light must
shine in people’s sight, so that, seeing your good works, they may give praise
to your Father in Heaven.”
•
Matthew 5: 17-19: Not one dot, not one little
stroke will disappear from the Law. Among the converted Jews there were two
tendencies. Some thought that it was not necessary to observe the laws of the
Old Testament because we are saved by the faith in Jesus and not by the
observance of the Law (Rm 3: 21-26). Others thought that they should continue
to observe the laws of the Old Testament (Ac 15: 1-2). In each one of the two tendencies
there were some more radical groups. Before this conflict, Matthew tries to
find a balance, the equilibrium, over and beyond the two extremes. The
community should be the space, where this equilibrium can be attained and
lived. The response given by Jesus continued to be very actual: “I have not
come to abolish the law, but to complete it!” The communities cannot be against
the Law, nor can they close themselves up in the observance of the law. Like
Jesus did, they must advance forward, and show in a practical way that the
objective which the law wants to attain in life is the perfect practice of
love.
•
The different tendencies in the first Christian
communities. The plan of salvation has three stages united among themselves
from the earth to life:
a)
the Old Testament: the path of the Hebrew
People, orientated, guided by the Law of God.
b)
The life of Jesus of Nazareth: it renews the Law
of Moses starting from his experience of God, Father and Mother.
c)
The life of the communities: through the spirit
of Jesus, they tried to live as Jesus lived it.
The union of these three stages
generates the certainty of faith that God is in our midst. The intention to
break or weaken the unity of this plan of salvation gave rise to various groups
and tendencies in the communities:
•
The Pharisees did not recognize Jesus as Messiah
and accepted only the Old Testament. In the communities there were some people
who sympathized with the thought of the Pharisees (Ac 15: 5).
•
Some converted Jews accepted Jesus as Messiah,
but they did not accept the liberty of spirit with which the communities lived
the presence of the Risen Jesus. (Ac 15: 1).
•
Others, both converted Jews and pagans, thought
that with Jesus had come the end of the Old Testament. From now on, Jesus alone
and the life in the Spirit.
•
There were also Christians who lived so fully
the life in the liberty of the Spirit, that they no longer looked at the life
of Jesus of Nazareth, nor the Old Testament (1Co 12: 3).
•
Now the great concern of the Gospel of Matthew
is that of showing that the Old Testament, Jesus of Nazareth and the life in
the Spirit cannot be separated. The three-form part of the same and only
project of God and give us the central certainty of faith: The God of Abraham
and of Sarah is present in the midst of the communities by the faith in Jesus
of Nazareth.
Personal Questions
•
For you, in your life experience, for what does
salt serve? Is your community salt? For you, what does light signify in your
life? How is your community light?
•
How do the people of the neighborhood see your
community? Does your community have some attraction for others? Is it a sign?
Of what? For whom?
Concluding Prayer
Yahweh judiciously guides the humble, instructing the
poor in his way. Kindness unfailing and constancy mark all his paths, for those
who keep his covenant and his decrees. (Ps 25: 9-10)
