July 28, 2026
Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 402
Reading 1
Let my eyes stream with tears
day and night, without rest,
Over the great destruction which overwhelms
the virgin daughter of my people,
over her incurable wound.
If I walk out into the field,
look! those slain by the sword;
If I enter the city,
look! those consumed by hunger.
Even the prophet and the priest
forage in a land they know not.
Have you cast Judah off completely?
Is Zion loathsome to you?
Why have you struck us a blow
that cannot be healed?
We wait for peace, to no avail;
for a time of healing, but terror comes instead.
We recognize, O LORD, our wickedness,
the guilt of our fathers;
that we have sinned against you.
For your name's sake spurn us not,
disgrace not the throne of your glory;
remember your covenant with us, and break it not.
Among the nations' idols is there any that gives rain?
Or can the mere heavens send showers?
Is it not you alone, O LORD,
our God, to whom we look?
You alone have done all these things.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (9) For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver
us.
Remember not against us the iniquities of the past;
may your compassion quickly come to us,
for we are brought very low.
R. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.
Help us, O God our savior,
because of the glory of your name;
Deliver us and pardon our sins
for your name's sake.
R. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.
Let the prisoners' sighing come before you;
with your great power free those doomed to death.
Then we, your people and the sheep of your pasture,
will give thanks to you forever;
through all generations we will declare your praise.
R. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower;
all who come to him will live for ever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house.
His disciples approached him and said,
"Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field."
He said in reply, "He who sows good seed is the Son of Man,
the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom.
The weeds are the children of the Evil One,
and the enemy who sows them is the Devil.
The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire,
so will it be at the end of the age.
The Son of Man will send his angels,
and they will collect out of his Kingdom
all who cause others to sin and all evildoers.
They will throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun
in the Kingdom of their Father.
Whoever has ears ought to hear."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072826.cfm
Commentary on
Jeremiah 14:17-22
This passage was written during a period of death and famine
in Jerusalem preceding the Babylonian captivity in 587 BC. It is also a
response to Yahweh’s anger against false prophets who are raising expectations
among the people that they are not going to experience “sword” and “famine”. In
fact, they are going to experience that and more. Jeremiah, as a true prophet,
will not raise such expectations, but however unpopular his words, will warn
them of what is coming, and why. This won’t make him very popular; real
prophets seldom are.
As written, however, today’s passage is another lovely
reading full of compassion and tenderness. There is no anger in God’s words
today against his people. Rather he is presented as deeply upset over their
sufferings. Through the prophet, God says:
Let my eyes run down with tears night and day…for the
virgin daughter of my people is struck down with a crushing blow…
The “daughter” is Jerusalem. Everywhere God sees people in
the countryside killed by the sword, and in the city sick with hunger. Even the
prophets and priests, who would normally be supported by the people, are
reduced to foraging for food “throughout the land [about which they] have no
knowledge”. All are at their wits’ end.
Jeremiah then expresses his own distress at what is
happening and wonders what the Lord is doing about it. He asks:
Have you completely rejected Judah?
Does your heart loathe Zion?
Why have you struck us down
so that there is no healing for us?
It is the cry of a people deep in despair at their never-ending
sufferings and who lament:
We look for peace but find no good,
for a time of healing, but there is terror instead.
At the same time, the prophet acknowledges that his people
are in no way innocent. They have brought their own tribulations on themselves:
We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord…
for we have sinned against you.
But the prophet reminds the Lord that they are his own
people and, for his own Name’s sake, he prays that they not be rejected:
…remember and do not break your covenant with us.
Their suffering and shame somehow reduces the glory of their
God, especially in the eyes of Gentiles. Who could honour a God who allows his
people to suffer in this way?
But it takes two to make a covenant, and its observance
depends on both sides keeping their promise. He is their God, but they are his
people and must show it by their behaviour. This they have miserably failed to
do.
The prophet concludes by appealing to the unique power of
their God:
Can any idols of the nations bring rain,
or can the heavens give showers?
We remember the challenge that Elijah made to the priests of
Baal about breaking a drought (see Exod 18:25-29). Only Yahweh can bring the
longed-for rain:
Is it not you, O Lord our God?
We set our hope on you,
for it is you who do all this.
We see here, on the one side, the picture of the tender God
who cares so deeply for his people. This was all so graphically illustrated by
the life of Jesus, our God incarnate. We must never forget it.
On the other side, during times of tragedy, pain, loss or
distress it is easy for us to wonder if our God really does care, when he
allows such terrible things to happen to us or to our loved ones. But it is
precisely at such times we need to be aware of the closeness of God’s love to
us. His love for us was most clearly shown as Jesus hung dying in terribly
agony and shame on the Cross. Paul writing to the Romans said:
He who did not withhold his own Son but gave him up for
all of us… (Rom 8:32)
And Jesus himself cried out:
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Mark
15:34)
The words died on his lips and were followed by total
acceptance when he said:
It is finished. (John 19:30)
And he surrendered his life into his Father’s hands. That
was the moment of supreme love, the moment of new life and glory.
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Commentary on
Matthew 13:36-43
Today we have an interpretation of the parable of the wheat
and the weeds (or darnel). Matthew begins by telling us that Jesus left the
crowds and went to “the house”. This is the nameless place where Jesus is at
home with his disciples. As suggested earlier, it is the place for the
‘insiders’, those who are close to Jesus in the sense of following him and
accepting his way; it is also a symbol of where communities of Christians
gathered in the early Church. Here Jesus is alone with his own disciples, away
from the crowd.
His disciples ask for an explanation of the parable about
the wheat and the weeds. Likely enough, what follows is less the actual words
of Jesus than a reflection of the early Christian community applying the
parable to their own situation. The parable, which basically makes one point,
is now turned into an allegory where each part has a symbolic meaning of its
own:
- The
sower is Jesus himself
- The
field is the world
- The
good seed represents the subjects of the Kingdom
- The
weeds are the subjects of the evil one
- The
enemy who sowed the weeds is the devil
- The
harvest is the end of the world
- The
reapers are the angels
Whereas in the original parable, the emphasis seems to be on
the necessary and unavoidable coexistence of good and bad within the Christian
community, the emphasis here is more on what will happen at the end: the
punishment of the wicked and the reward of the good.
Let us pray that we may be found among the good seed of the
Kingdom. We do that by opening ourselves fully to Jesus our King and Lord and
following the way he asks us to follow.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o2173g/
Tuesday, July 28,
2026
Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
God our Father and protector, without you
nothing is holy, nothing has value. Guide us to everlasting life by helping us
to use wisely the blessings you have given to the world.
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 13: 36-43
Then, leaving the crowds, Jesus went to the
house; and his disciples came to him and said, 'Explain to us the parable about
the darnel in the field.' He said in reply, 'The sower of the good seed is the
Son of man. The field is the world; the good seed is the subjects of the
kingdom; the darnel, the subjects of the Evil One; the enemy who sowed it, the
devil; the harvest is the end of the world; the reapers are the angels. Well
then, just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt in the fire, so it will be at
the end of time. The Son of man will send his angels and they will gather out
of his kingdom all causes of falling and all who do evil, and throw them into
the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. Then
the upright will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Anyone who
has ears should listen!
Reflection
The Gospel today presents the
explanation of Jesus, at the petition of the disciples, of the parable of the
wheat grain and the darnel. Some experts think that this explanation, which
Jesus gives to his disciples, is not Jesus’, but of the community. This is
possible and probable, because a parable, because of its nature, requires the
involvement and the participation of the persons in the discovery of the
significance. Like the plant is already contained within the seed, in the same
way, certainly, the explanation of the community is in the parable. And it is
precisely this objective that Jesus wanted and wants to attain with the parable.
The sense which we are discovering today in the parable which Jesus told two
thousand years ago was already enclosed, contained, in the story that Jesus
told, like the flower is already contained in its seed.
•
Matthew 13: 36: The request of the disciples to
Jesus: the explanation of the parable of the wheat grain and the darnel. The
disciples, in the house, speak and ask for an explanation of the parable of the
wheat grain and the darnel. (Mt 13: 24-30). It has been said many times that
Jesus, in the house, continued to teach his disciples (Mk 7: 17; 9: 28, 33; 10:
10). At that time, there was no television and people spent together the long
winter evenings to speak about the facts and events of life. On these
occasions, Jesus completed the teaching and the formation of his disciples.
•
Matthew 13: 38-39: The meaning of each one of
the elements of the parable. Jesus responds taking again each one of these
elements of the parable and giving them significance: the field is the world;
the good seed are the members of the Kingdom; the darnel is the members of the
adversary (the evil one); the enemy is the devil; the harvest is the end of
time; the reapers are the angels. And now reread the parable (Mt 13: 24-30)
giving to each one of these six elements: field, good seed, darnel, enemy,
harvest and reapers, the right significance. In this way the story assumes a
completely new sense and it is possible to attain the objective that Jesus had
in mind when he told people the parable of the darnel and the good seed. Some
think that this parable should be understood as an allegory and not as a
parable properly so called.
•
Matthew 13: 40-43: The application of the
parable or of the allegory. With the information given by Jesus, you will
understand better its application: Just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt
in the fire, so it will be at the end of time. The Son of man will send his
angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of failing and all
who do evil and throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping
and grinding of teeth. Then the upright will shine like the sun in the Kingdom
of their Father.”
The destiny of the darnel is the furnace; the destiny of
the grain is to shine like the sun in the Kingdom of the Father. Behind these
two images there is the experience of the persons. After they have listened to
Jesus and have accepted him in their life, everything has changed for them.
This means that in Jesus what they expected has taken place: the fulfilment of
the promises. Now life is divided into before and after having accepted Jesus
in their life. The new life has begun with the splendor of the sun. If they
would have continued to live as before, they would be like the darnel in the
furnace, life without meaning, which is good for nothing.
•
Parable
and Allegory. There is the parable. There is the allegory. There is the
mixture of both which is the more common form. Generally, everything in the
parable is a call. In the Gospel of today, we have the example of an allegory.
An allegory is a story which a person tells, but when she is telling it, she
does not think about the elements of the story, but about the theme which has
to be clarified. In reading an allegory it is not necessary first to look at
the story, because in an allegory the story is not constructed around a central
point which later serves as a comparison, but rather each element has its own
independent function, starting from the sense which it receives. It is a
question of discovering what each element of the two stories tries to tell us
about the Kingdom, as the explanation which Jesus gave of the parable: field,
good seed, darnel, enemy, harvest, reapers. Generally, the parables are also
allegories, a mixture of both.
Personal Questions
•
In the field everything is mixed up: darnel and
grain. In the field of my life, what thing prevails: darnel or grain?
•
Have you tried to speak with other persons to
discover the sense of some parable?
Concluding Prayer
How blessed is he who has
Jacob's God to help him, his hope is in Yahweh his God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea and all that is in them. (Ps 146: 5-6)
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