July 15, 2025
Memorial of Saint Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the
Church
Lectionary: 390
Reading 1
A certain man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman,
who conceived and bore a son.
Seeing that he was a goodly child, she hid him for three months.
When she could hide him no longer, she took a papyrus basket,
daubed it with bitumen and pitch,
and putting the child in it,
placed it among the reeds on the river bank.
His sister stationed herself at a distance
to find out what would happen to him.
Pharaoh's daughter came down to the river to bathe,
while her maids walked along the river bank.
Noticing the basket among the reeds, she sent her handmaid to fetch it.
On opening it, she looked, and lo, there was a baby boy, crying!
She was moved with pity for him and said,
"It is one of the Hebrews' children."
Then his sister asked Pharaoh's daughter,
"Shall I go and call one of the Hebrew women
to nurse the child for you?"
"Yes, do so," she answered.
So the maiden went and called the child's own mother.
Pharaoh's daughter said to her,
"Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will repay you."
The woman therefore took the child and nursed it.
When the child grew, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter,
who adopted him as her son and called him Moses;
for she said, "I drew him out of the water."
On one occasion, after Moses had grown up,
when he visited his kinsmen and witnessed their forced labor,
he saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his own kinsmen.
Looking about and seeing no one,
he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
The next day he went out again, and now two Hebrews were fighting!
So he asked the culprit,
"Why are you striking your fellow Hebrew?"
But the culprit replied,
"Who has appointed you ruler and judge over us?
Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?"
Then Moses became afraid and thought,
"The affair must certainly be known."
Pharaoh, too, heard of the affair and sought to put Moses to death.
But Moses fled from him and stayed in the land of Midian.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (see 33) Turn to the Lord in your need, and you
will live.
I am sunk in the abysmal swamp
where there is no foothold;
I have reached the watery depths;
the flood overwhelms me.
R. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
But I pray to you, O LORD,
for the time of your favor, O God!
In your great kindness answer me
with your constant help.
R. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your saving help, O God, protect me;
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving.
R. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
"See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not."
R. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus began to reproach the towns
where most of his mighty deeds had been done,
since they had not repented.
"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!
For if the mighty deeds done in your midst
had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.
And as for you, Capernaum:
Will you be exalted to heaven?
You will go down to the netherworld.
For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom,
it would have remained until this day.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071525.cfm
Commentary on Exodus
2:1-15
Having heard described the difficult situation in which the
Hebrews were living in Egypt, we are now introduced to the hero of our story.
Moses was born of parents who both came from the tribe of Levi. This tribe will
also form the priestly caste in Israel through his brother Aaron, whom we will
meet later on.
Per the Pharaoh’s decrees, all male Hebrew children were to
be drowned at birth, but the baby—who does not yet have a name—was hidden by
his mother for three months. However, the bigger he grew the more difficult it
was to hide him, so she took the drastic step of waterproofing a basket and
sent it floating down the river—the Nile or one of its branches.
The Hebrew word for ‘basket’ here means literally a ‘chest’
or an ‘ark’ and is the word used in Genesis for Noah’s ark. Unlike Noah’s ark,
of course, this basket would have been made of papyrus stalks. Both ‘vessels’
were to be the source of salvation for God’s people, and it is not difficult to
extend the image to the saving waters of baptism.
In a clearly providential happening, the Pharaoh’s daughter
and her retinue had gone to the river to bathe. The floating basket and child
are found and the child was immediately recognised as Hebrew (perhaps he was
already circumcised?) and Pharaoh’s daughter was full of pity for the abandoned
baby. Moses’ aunt who had been watching the whole affair innocently came
forward and offered to find a Hebrew woman to wet-nurse the baby. She brought
the child’s own mother who was appointed to nurse the child.
When the boy had grown, he was adopted by Pharaoh’s
daughter. This probably happened when the child was weaned or a little later.
Pharaoh’s daughter:
…named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I drew him out of
the water.”
Actually, ‘Moses’ in Hebrew is mosheh, but the word
translated ‘draw out’ is mashah. The words are not linguistically connected and
it is rather a play on words (something we have frequently seen in one of the
authors of Genesis). In fact, the name is probably derived from an Egyptian
word for ‘has been born’, referring the birth to a god thought to be his
sponsor.
Then we are suddenly brought to a time when Moses was
already a grown man. In the Acts of the Apostles, Stephen during his trial
states that Moses was 40 when he took leadership of his people (Acts 7:23) and,
when he later was bargaining with the Pharaoh, Exodus says he was 80 years old
(Exod 7:7). The ancient historians, Josephus and Philo, give legendary details
of Moses’ education. Stephen in the same speech observes that:
…Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.
(Acts 7:22)
Obviously, too, Moses is fully aware of his Hebrew identity,
which he no doubt learnt secretly from his mother who nursed him.
Moses could not but be aware of the way his people were
being maltreated. Once on seeing an Egyptian strike—probably flog, but perhaps
even kill—a Hebrew, he killed the man and buried the body, hoping that he had
not been seen.
Later he scolded two Hebrews who were fighting among
themselves, telling them that was no way to win their freedom. They, however,
turned on him and asked if he was going to kill them in the same way he had
killed the Egyptian. Moses, aware that his secret was out and that it had even
reached the Pharaoh’s ears (there was a warrant out for his execution), fled
into hiding and stayed in the land of Midian.
Midian lies to the south of Edom and to the east of the Gulf
of Aqaba in what is now the southern tip of Israel. The Midianites are
connected in Genesis (25:1-4) with a group of Arab tribes descended from Keturah,
one of Abraham’s wives. The Jerusalem Bible tells us:
“These nomads frequented the highways of Palestine, and of
the Sinai peninsula; they raided as far afield as Moab, where they later came
to blows with the Hebrews. They were to be soundly beaten by Gideon. At “the
end of times” Midian will come and pay homage to Yahweh (Is 60:6).”
Later, Moses would indeed liberate his people, but in a very
different and unexpected way.
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Commentary on
Matthew 11:20-24
After the apostolic discourse of chapter 10, Matthew goes
back to narrative. In the passages preceding today’s Gospel reading, Jesus
reassures the disciples of John the Baptist, saying to them:
Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive
their sight, the lame walk, those with a skin disease are cleansed, the deaf
hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. (Matt
11:4)
In other words, he says that he is indeed “the one who is to
come”, the Messiah and Saviour-King.
This is followed by a passage where Jesus complains of those
who close their minds to God’s word. John the Baptist led the life of an
ascetic in the wilderness, and they did not listen to him. Jesus socialised
freely with all kinds of people, and they accused him of being a glutton and a
drunkard.
So today Jesus warns three towns where he spent much of his
time: Chorazin, Bethsaida and especially Capernaum. If Jesus had done in the
pagan towns of Tyre and Sidon what he had done in these predominantly Israelite
towns, they would have converted long ago. Even Sodom, the biblical image of
the very worst in immorality, would have done better.
It is important for us to realise that in this Gospel, Jesus
is primarily speaking to us today. If many non-Christians had
been given the opportunities that we have received through our membership in
the Christian community, they could very well be living much more generously
than we do.
To what extent are we listening to God’s word? How much of
it do we try to understand? And how much of it is reflected in our lifestyle?
Are we clearly and obviously followers of Christ and his Way?
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o1153g/
Tuesday,
July 15, 2025
Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
God our
Father, Your light of truth guides us to the way of Christ. May all who follow
Him reject what is contrary to the gospel.
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 11: 20-24
Jesus began to reproach the
towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not
repented. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!
For if the mighty deeds done
in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have
repented in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for
Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And as for you, Capernaum:
Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the nether world. For if the
mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom, it would have remained
until this day. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom
on the day of judgment than for you.”
Reflection
The
Discourse on the Mission occupies chapter 10. Chapters 11 and 12 describe the
mission which Jesus carried out and how He did it. The two chapters mention how
the people either adhered to Him, doubted the evangelizing action of Jesus, or
rejected it. John the Baptist, who looked at Jesus with the eyes of the past,
does not succeed in understanding Him (Mt 11: 1-15). The people, who looked at
Jesus out of interest, were not capable of understanding Him (Mt 11: 16-19).
The great cities around the lake, which listened to the preaching of
Jesus and saw His miracles,
did not want to open themselves up to His message (this is the text of today’s
Gospel) (Mt 11: 20-24). The wise and the doctors, who appreciated everything
according to their own science, were not able to understand the preaching of Jesus
(Mt 11: 25). The Pharisees, who trusted only in the observance of the law,
criticized Jesus (Mt 12: 1-8) and decided to kill Him (Mt 12: 9-14). They said
that Jesus acted in the name of Beelzebul (Mt 12: 22-37). They wanted a proof
in order to be able to believe in Him (Mt 12: 38-45). Not even His relatives
supported Him (Mt 12: 46-50). Only the little ones and the simple people
understood and accepted the Good News of the Kingdom (Mt 11: 25-30). They
followed Him (Mt 12: 15-16) and saw in Him the Servant announced by Isaiah (Mt
12: 17-21).
This way of describing the
missionary activity of Jesus was a clear warning for the disciples who together
with Jesus and walked through Galilee. They could not expect a reward or praise
for being missionaries of Jesus. This warning is also valid for us who today
read and meditate on this discourse on the mission, because the Gospels were
written for all times. They invite us to confront the attitude that we have
with Jesus with the attitude of the people who appear in the Gospel and to ask
ourselves if we are like John the Baptist (Mt 11: 1-15), like the people who
were interested (Mt 11: 16-19), like the unbelieving cities (Mt 11: 20-24),
like the doctors who thought they knew everything and understood nothing (Mt 11:
25), like the Pharisees who only knew how to criticize (Mt 12: 1-45) or like
the simple people who went seeking for Jesus (Mt 12: 15) and who, with their
wisdom, knew how to understand and accept the message of the Kingdom
(Mt 11: 25-30).
•
Matthew 11: 20: The word against the cities which did
not receive Him. The space in which Jesus moved during those three years of His
missionary life was small; only a few square kilometers along the Sea of
Galilee around the cities of Capernaum, Bethsaida and Chorazin. Only that! So
it was in this very limited space where Jesus made the majority of His
discourses and worked His miracles. He came to save the whole of humanity, and
almost did not get out of the limited space of His land. Tragically, Jesus had
to become aware that the people of those cities did not want to accept the
message of the Kingdom and were not converted. The cities become more rigid in
their beliefs, traditions and customs and did not accept the invitation of
Jesus to change their life.
•
Matthew 11: 21-24: Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum
are worse than Tyre and Sidon. In the past, Tyre and Sidon, inflexible enemies
of Israel, ill-treated the People of God. Because of this they were cursed by
the prophets. (Is 23: 1; Jer 25: 22; 47: 4; Ezek 26: 3; 27: 2; 28: 2; Joel 4:
4; Am 1: 10). And now Jesus says that these cities, symbols of all evil, would
have already been converted if in them had been worked all the miracles which
were worked in Chorazin and Bethsaida. The city of Sodom, the symbol of the
worst perversion, was destroyed by the anger of God (Gen 18: 16 to 19: 29). And
now Jesus says that Sodom would exist today, because it would have been
converted if it had seen the miracles that Jesus worked in Capernaum. Today we
still live this same paradox. Many of us who are Catholics since we were
children, have many solid and firm convictions, so much so that we stop
reaching for perfection of charity. And in some places, Christianity, instead
of being a source of change and of conversion, becomes the refuge of the most
reactionary forces of the politics of the country.
Personal Questions
•
How do I place myself before the Good News of Jesus:
like John the Baptist, like the interested people, like the doctors, like the
Pharisees or like the simple and poor people?
•
Does my city, or my country, deserve the warning of
Jesus against Capernaum, Chorazin and Bethsaida?
•
If someone, a Christian, already follows Jesus, how
does this passage apply?
What is the message for
them?
Concluding Prayer
Great is Yahweh
and most worthy of praise in the city of our God, the holy mountain, towering
in beauty, the joy of the whole world. (Ps 48: 1-2)
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