July 19, 2025
Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 394
Reading I
The children of Israel set out from Rameses for Succoth,
about six hundred thousand men on foot,
not counting the little ones.
A crowd of mixed ancestry also went up with them,
besides their livestock, very numerous flocks and herds.
Since the dough they had brought out of Egypt was not leavened,
they baked it into unleavened loaves.
They had rushed out of Egypt and had no opportunity
even to prepare food for the journey.
The time the children of Israel had stayed in Egypt
was four hundred and thirty years.
At the end of four hundred and thirty years,
all the hosts of the LORD left the land of Egypt on this very date.
This was a night of vigil for the LORD,
as he led them out of the land of Egypt;
so on this same night
all the children of Israel must keep a vigil for the LORD
throughout their generations.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm
136:1 and 23-24, 10-12, 13-15
R. His mercy endures forever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever;
Who remembered us in our abjection,
for his mercy endures forever;
And freed us from our foes,
for his mercy endures forever.
R. His mercy endures forever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Who smote the Egyptians in their first-born,
for his mercy endures forever;
And brought out Israel from their midst,
for his mercy endures forever;
With a mighty hand and an outstretched arm,
for his mercy endures forever.
R. His mercy endures forever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Who split the Red Sea in twain,
for his mercy endures forever;
And led Israel through its midst,
for his mercy endures forever;
But swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea,
for his mercy endures forever.
R. His mercy endures forever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus
to put him to death.
When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place.
Many people followed him, and he cured them all,
but he warned them not to make him known.
This was to fulfill what had been spoken through Isaiah the prophet:
Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved in whom I delight;
I shall place my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the
Gentiles.
He will not contend or cry out,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the
streets.
A bruised reed he will not break,
a smoldering wick he will not quench,
until he brings justice to victory.
And in his name the Gentiles will hope.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071925.cfm
Commentary on Exodus
12:37-42
Yesterday’s reading about the celebration of the Passover is
followed by instructions on the feast of Unleavened Bread and other
instructions on the observance of the Passover. After this, the book then goes
back to the narrative and, considering its climactic role, gives a rather brief
account of the Tenth and most terrible Plague, the killing of all the
first-born Egyptian children and animals. However, Pharaoh has now had enough
and ordered Moses and Aaron to leave with all their people, their herds and
their possessions.
Today’s passage describes the beginning of the long journey
out of Egypt to the Promised Land by way of Mount Sinai. The journey began in
the city of Rameses in the very north of Egypt, where the Hebrews had been
employed virtually as slaves in the Pharaoh’s great construction works. They
set off for Succoth which lay to the southeast about half way between Rameses
and the Sea of Reeds.
Their numbers were estimated to be 600,000 men, “not
counting their families.” There was also a crowd of “people of various sorts”
with them. These were probably the result of mixed marriages between the
Hebrews and the native Egyptians. They also brought with them numerous flocks
of sheep and goats and herds of cattle.
However, they had left in such a rush that the flour they
had with them had no time to be leavened, so they made bread with the
unleavened flour. This is another tradition of the origin of the use of
unleavened bread as part of the Passover celebration. They left in such a rush
that they did not even have time to prepare any proper food for their journey.
It was the end of a long sojourn in Egypt—estimated by the
Bible as 430 years—from the time Joseph had first invited his family to settle
there. The day they left was said to be the exact anniversary date of their
arrival. It was seen as the greatest event in the history of Israel.
They had also started on their journey by night, so future
celebrations of the event were forever more to be observed by a vigil. The
passage ends with:
That was for the Lord a night of vigil, to bring them out
of the land of Egypt. That same night is a vigil to be kept for the Lord by all
the Israelites throughout their generations.
And as we have seen, it will be the foreshadowing of a much
greater Passover, a more significant vigil to come—the Christian Easter Vigil.
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Commentary on
Matthew 12:14-21
Jesus is becoming a figure of controversy. We saw
yesterday how he was accused by Pharisees of condoning the breaking of the
Sabbath on the part of his disciples. Far from apologising, Jesus
defended his followers and implied that he himself was greater than the
Law. Immediately afterwards he went to a synagogue and, in spite of a
challenge about healing on the Sabbath, went ahead and cured a man with a
“withered hand” (Matt 12:9-13). At the end of this story, Matthew says:
But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how
to destroy him. (Matt 12:14)
He was seen as a severe threat to their authority—and this
is where our reading begins today.
Jesus was fully aware of their plotting and so he
disappeared from sight for a while. We should be clear that Jesus did not
go out of his way to confront and attack people. Still less was his
behaviour deliberately designed to create trouble for himself. There are people
like that; they go out of their way to make trouble for others and for
themselves. Jesus never behaved in such a way. He did not want to
attack or be attacked by people. He did not deliberately engineer his own
sufferings and death, quite the contrary. So now, as things get hot for
him, he withdraws for a while.
At this point, Matthew (remember, he is writing for a Jewish
readership) shows how Jesus’ behaviour corresponds to a prophecy in the Old
Testament—something he does a number of times in his Gospel. Jesus quotes the
passage from the prophet Isaiah (42:1-4), and it shows him as full of the
Spirit of God campaigning for justice for peoples everywhere.
He is the servant whom God has chosen, “in whom my soul
delights”. He is no demagogue shouting from a soapbox:
He will not cry out or lift up his voice
or make it heard in the street…
He moves around quietly and, at the same time, is tolerant
and understanding of the weak. His behaviour is described as gentle and kind,
so that:
…a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench…
We, too, are called to live and proclaim the Gospel without
compromise, but to do so without any taint of arrogance or bullying. At the
same time, we need to show patience and understanding for those who are not yet
ready to answer Jesus’ call.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o1157g/
Saturday,
July 19, 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 12: 14-21
The Pharisees went out and
took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. When Jesus realized this, he
withdrew from that place. Many people followed him, and he cured them all, but
he warned them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what had been spoken
through Isaiah the prophet: Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved
in whom I delight; I shall place my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice
to the Gentiles. He will not contend or cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice
in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not
quench, until he brings justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will
hope.
Reflection
The Gospel today has two
parts: (a) describes the various reactions of the Pharisees and of the people
who listen to the preaching of Jesus; and (b) describes what Matthew sees in
these reactions: the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Servant of Yahweh,
announced by Isaiah.
•
Matthew 12: 14: The reaction of the Pharisees: they
decide to kill Jesus. This verse is the conclusion of the previous episode, in
which Jesus challenges the malice of the Pharisees, by curing the man who had a
withered hand (Mt 12: 9-14). The reaction of the Pharisees was to hold a
Council meeting against Jesus. Thus, they come to the breaking of the
relationship between the religious authority and Jesus. In Mark, this episode
is much more explicit and provocative (Mk 3: 1-6). He says that the decision to
kill Jesus was not only that of the Pharisees, but also of the Herodians (Mk 3:
6). Altar and throne joined together against Jesus.
Matthew 12: 15-16: The
reaction of the people: to follow Jesus. When Jesus learned the decision of the
Pharisees, He went away from the place where He was. People follow Him. Even
knowing that the religious authority has decided to kill Jesus, the people do
not go away from Jesus, but rather they follow Him. Many followed Him and He
cured them all but warned them not to make Him known. People know how to
discern. Jesus asks them not to spread the news, not to say what He is doing. A
great contrast! On the one side, the conflict of life and death, between Jesus
and the religious authority, and on the other the movement of the people who
were desirous of encountering Jesus! They were, above all, the marginalized and
the excluded who presented themselves to Jesus with their illness and their
infirmities. They, who were not accepted in society or in the religious field,
were accepted by Jesus.
•
Matthew 12: 17: The concern of Matthew: Jesus is our
Messiah. This reaction, different from that of the Pharisees and of the people,
moved Matthew to see here the realization of the prophecy of the Suffering
Servant. On the one hand, the Servant was persecuted by the authority which
insulted Him and spat on His face, but He does not turn back. He presents His
face hard as a rock, knowing that He will not be disappointed (Is 50: 5-7). On
the other hand, the Servant is sought and expected by the people. The crowd
coming from far is waiting for His teaching (Is 42: 4). This is exactly what is
happening to Jesus.
•
Matthew 12: 18-21: Jesus fulfills the prophecy of the
Servant. Matthew presents the entire first Canticle of the Servant. Read the
text slowly, thinking of Jesus and the poor who today are excluded:
“Look! My Servant whom I
have chosen; My beloved in whom My soul delights,
I will send My Spirit upon
Him, and He will proclaim justice to the nations; He will not brawl or cry out;
His voice is not heard in the streets,
He will not break a bruised
reed, or snuff the faltering wick.
Until he has made justice
victorious; in him the nations will put their hope.”
Personal Questions
•
Do you know of any case in which the religious
authority, in the name of religion, decided to persecute and kill people who,
like Jesus, did good to people?
•
In our community are we servants of God for the
people? What do we lack?
Concluding Prayer
How precious, God, is Your
faithful love.
So the children of Adam take
refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They feast on the bounty of Your house,
You let them drink from Your
delicious streams. (Ps 36: 7-8)
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