July 24, 2025
Thursday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 398
Reading 1
In the third month after their departure from the land of
Egypt,
on its first day, the children of Israel came to the desert of Sinai.
After the journey from Rephidim to the desert of Sinai,
they pitched camp.
While Israel was encamped here in front of the mountain,
the LORD told Moses,
"I am coming to you in a dense cloud,
so that when the people hear me speaking with you,
they may always have faith in you also."
When Moses, then, had reported to the LORD the response of the people,
the LORD added, "Go to the people
and have them sanctify themselves today and tomorrow.
Make them wash their garments and be ready for the third day;
for on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai
before the eyes of all the people."
On the morning of the third day
there were peals of thunder and lightning,
and a heavy cloud over the mountain,
and a very loud trumpet blast,
so that all the people in the camp trembled.
But Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God,
and they stationed themselves at the foot of the mountain.
Mount Sinai was all wrapped in smoke,
for the LORD came down upon it in fire.
The smoke rose from it as though from a furnace,
and the whole mountain trembled violently.
The trumpet blast grew louder and louder, while Moses was speaking
and God answering him with thunder.
When the LORD came down to the top of Mount Sinai,
he summoned Moses to the top of the mountain.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (52b) Glory and praise for ever!
"Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever;
And blessed is your holy and glorious name,
praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages."
R. Glory and praise for ever!
"Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory,
praiseworthy and glorious above all forever."
R. Glory and praise for ever!
"Blessed are you on the throne of your Kingdom,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever."
R. Glory and praise for ever!
"Blessed are you who look into the depths
from your throne upon the cherubim,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever."
R. Glory and praise for ever!
"Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven,
praiseworthy and glorious forever."
R. Glory and praise for ever!
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
The disciples approached Jesus and said,
"Why do you speak to the crowd in parables?"
He said to them in reply,
"Because knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven
has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.
To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich;
from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
This is why I speak to them in parables, because
they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.
Isaiah's prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:
You shall indeed hear but not understand,
you shall indeed look but never see.
Gross is the heart of this people,
they will hardly hear with their ears,
they have closed their eyes,
lest they see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their hearts and be converted
and I heal them.
"But blessed are your eyes, because they see,
and your ears, because they hear.
Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people
longed to see what you see but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear but did not hear it."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072425.cfm
Commentary on Exodus
19:1-2,9-11,16-20
We begin today the story of the great encounter with Yahweh
at Mount Sinai—a mountain whose exact location is in doubt. Its importance was
in its holiness and not in its geographical location. According to the Jerusalem
Bible commentary:
“Tradition locates it in the southern region of the Sinai
peninsula at Jebel Musa (2,500 m), the northern rock-face of
which dominates a barren plain surrounded by mountains. This locality admirably
satisfies the data of the text. It was at Sinai, also called Horeb or
‘Mount of God’, that Moses received his vocation and had his second meeting
with his father-in-law Jethro. At Sinai, the Law was given and the Covenant
concluded. At Sinai, God placed himself at the head of his people for the
journey to the Promised Land. It was to Sinai that Elijah the prophet returned
as to the pure spring of divine revelation. Sinai also stands for the Old
Covenant that was eventually superseded (see Gal 4:24).”
It was three months after leaving Egypt that the Israelites
arrived in the desert of Sinai and set up camp there. In a paragraph omitted
from our reading, God speaks to Moses with a message for the people. He reminds
them of all that he has done for them:
You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore
you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. (Exod 19:4)
Though the whole earth belongs to God, if the Hebrews listen
to his voice and observe the covenant he has made with them, they shall be his
special possession, dearer to him than all other people.
…you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy
nation. (Exod 19:6)
In this context, “holy” means ‘set apart’.
When Moses passed on the message to the people, they
responded together:
All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do. (Exod
24:3)
Sadly, this is a promise they will continually make—and break.
We now come back to our reading. The Lord tells Moses that
he is going to come to him in a thick cloud. When the people, who have grumbled
so much against Moses, will hear God speaking to him (but not able to see
anything), they will have their trust in Moses restored. At the same
time, the people are told to prepare themselves on that day and the next. They
are to wash their clothes and to be ready for the third day, but they are not
to have any sexual intimacy during these days. They were told:
…on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount
Sinai in the sight of all the people.
On this day, the great theophany takes place. God is not
seen face to face, but his presence is evident through all the symbolic signs
of thunder and lightning, a heavy cloud and trumpet blasts.
Not surprisingly, the people are filled with fear and
trembling. The thunderstorm is the chosen scene of God’s self-manifestation;
the gale is his herald’s trumpet, the thunder his voice, the cloud and the fire
the signs of his presence. (Compare the encounter of Elijah with God in 1 Kings
19:11-12.) The purpose of this theophany is not only to show God’s mastery of
nature, but also his majesty, his sublimity and the religious awe that he
inspires.
Moses then led the people to the foot of the mountain. God
had earlier indicated the limits of their approach. Anyone who even touched the
holy mountain itself was himself not even to be touched, but to be killed from
a distance by stoning or by being shot with an arrow. This also applied to
their animals.
Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the Lord came down
on it in fire. The smoke rose as if from a furnace and the whole mountain
trembled violently, as if there was an earthquake. The trumpet blasts grew
louder and louder, while Moses spoke with God and God replied with peals of
thunder. ‘Thunder’ here may mean the voice of God, which sounded like thunder.
Finally, when God came down on the mountain, he invited
Moses to the top of the mountain and Moses went up to meet him. We are
preparing for what is perhaps the most awesome moment in the whole of the
Hebrew Testament. The stage is now set for God to communicate his Law to the
people, the Law which will seal the covenant between the two sides. We see here
the paradoxical remoteness of our transcendent God and, at the same time, his
closeness in speaking intimately with Moses.
Obviously, the images here are not to be taken literally.
They are intended to convey the awesomeness, the unapproachability and
unknowability of God, his simultaneous transcendence and immanence.
Strangely, those who are most aware of this are those who
have been closest to him—the great mystics like Teresa of Avila, John of the
Cross or Ignatius Loyola. The nearer they come to God, the deeper their
awareness of his total transcendence. Thomas Aquinas will also say that every
statement made about God must be at once denied—God is Truth, but not the truth
that we can reach; God is Love, but love far beyond our most intense experience
of it. At the same time, God is closer to us than breathing, and penetrates the
deepest recesses of our being. Where God is concerned, familiarity breeds
awe—but not fear. It also generates an indescribable love.
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Commentary on
Matthew 13:10-17
Today’s passage continues from the Parables of the Kingdom
and forms an interlude between the parable of the sower and its interpretation.
Jesus is asked by his disciples why he speaks to the people in parables. The
implication is that he does not speak in parables to his own disciples.
It would be possible to interpret Jesus’ reply as meaning
that he speaks clearly to his disciples but to the people in riddles because
they are outsiders. This would seem to contradict the purpose of speaking in
parables, which is to use helpful and familiar images in order to lead towards
a better understanding of a deeper message (the parable of the sower is a good
example).
The Jerusalem Bible sees it somewhat
differently:
“Those who saw so dimly could be further blinded by the
light of full revelation. Jesus, therefore, does not reveal with complete
clarity the true nature of the messianic kingdom which is unostentatious.
Instead he filters the light through symbols; the resulting half-light is
nevertheless a grace from God, an invitation to ask for something better and
accept something greater.”
It seems that we are dealing here again with the difference
between ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’. The ‘insiders’ are those who give Jesus a
ready hearing. Naturally, they are more open to hearing about the ‘mysteries’
of the Kingdom and to assimilating what they hear. The ‘outsiders’ on the other
hand, are precisely that because they have closed minds; they are not ready to
listen.
In the particular context of Matthew’s Gospel, those who
refuse to listen are those who have rigidly bound themselves within the
confines of the Mosaic Law and who refuse to listen to the message of Jesus.
His message is a “fulfilment” as well as being a radical restatement of the Law
and the proclamation of a totally new covenant in the person of Jesus as
Messiah. Or, as the Jerusalem Bible puts it:
“The ill-disposed will even lose what they have, namely,
that Jewish Law which, without the perfection Christ brings to it, is destined
to become obsolete.”
This gives meaning to the words which Jesus uses. Speaking
of the ‘insiders’ he says:
For to those who have, more will be given, and they will
have an abundance, but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be
taken away.
Those who have opened themselves to the Word of God will
find themselves evermore enriched, while those who have not even begun to
accept the Word will end up in even a worse situation than they are now.
Similarly, those to whom the parables are addressed:
…look but do not see, listen but do not hear or
understand.
This happens, not because the parables are difficult, but
because the hearers are not prepared to listen. In fact, they are, one might
almost say, watered down and easily digestible versions of the full message.
And Jesus quotes words of Isaiah (9:13) which are not meant
to be understood as God deliberately blocking his Word from reaching people as
this would not make any sense. The prophet is better understood as speaking in
a strongly sarcastic tone:
You will indeed listen but never understand,
and you will indeed look but never perceive.
For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and their ears are hard of hearing,
and they have shut their eyes,
so that they might not look with their eyes,
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart and turn—
and I would heal them.
That is where the issue lies. If we are prepared to see and
to listen, it will mean a radical change in our lives, in our attitudes, in our
values and priorities, in our relationships. Many are not ready to have their
lives turned upside down. They prefer to remain blind and deaf.
On the contrary, Jesus says to the ‘insiders’:
But blessed are your eyes, for they see [i.e.
understand and accept], and your ears, for they hear. Truly I tell you, many
prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it and
to hear what you hear but did not hear it [i.e. listen, accept and
carry out].
And to the extent that we have become ‘insiders’ with
Christ, we too are deeply blessed. But we do need to be sensitive to our own
tendencies not to see or not to listen because of our unreadiness to go all the
way in our following Jesus, or in our reluctance to let go and make the changes
in our lives he is asking of us.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o1165g/
Thursday,
July 24, 2025
Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Lord, be
merciful to Your people.
Fill us with Your gifts
and make us always eager to
serve You in faith, hope and love.
You live and reign with the
Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Matthew 13: 10-17
The disciples
approached Jesus and said, "Why do you speak to the crowd in
parables?" He said to them in reply, "Because knowledge of the
mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has
not been granted. To anyone who has, more will be given, and he will grow rich;
from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I
speak to them in parables, because they look but do not see and hear but do not
listen or understand. Isaiah's prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says: You
shall indeed hear but not understand, you shall indeed look but never see.
Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they
have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears
and understand with their hearts and be converted and I heal them. "But
blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.
Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you
see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it."
Reflection
•
Chapter 13 speaks to us about the discourse on the
parables. Following the text of Mark (Mk 4: 1-34), Matthew omits the parable of
the seed which germinates alone (Mk 4: 26-29), and he stops at the discussion of
the reason for the parable (Mt 13: 10-17), adding the parable of the wheat and
the darnel (Mt 13: 24-30), of the yeast (Mt 13: 33), of the treasure (Mt
13:4 4), of the pearl (Mt 13: 45-46) and
of the dragnet (Mt 13: 47-50). Together with the parable of the sower (Mt 13:
4-11) and of the mustard seed (Mt 13: 31- 32), there are seven parables in the
Discourse on the Parables (Mt 13: 1-50).
•
Matthew 13: 10: The question. In the Gospel of Mark,
the disciples ask for an explanation of the parables (Mk 4: 10). Here in
Matthew, the perspective is different. They want to know why Jesus, when He
speaks to the people, speaks only in parables: “Why do You talk to them in
parables?” What is the reason for this difference?
•
Matthew 13: 11-13: “Because to you is granted to
understand the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not
granted. Anyone who has will be given more and will have more than enough; but
anyone who has not will be deprived even of what he has. The reason I speak to
them in parables is that they look without seeing and listen without hearing or
understanding. Jesus answers: “Because to you is granted to understand the
mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven. Anyone who has will be given more and will
have more than enough; but anyone who has not will be deprived even of what he
has.” Why is it granted to the Apostles to know and not to others? Here is a
comparison to help us understand. Two people listen to the mother who teaches:
A person must not cut and sew.” One of them is the daughter and the other is
not. The daughter understands and the other one understands nothing. Why?
Because in the mother’s house the expression “cut and sew” means to slander.
Thus, the mother’s teaching helps the daughter to understand how to put love
into practice, helping her so that what she already knows may grow, develop.
Anyone who has will be given more. The other person understands nothing and
loses even the little that she knew regarding love and slander. She remains
confused and does not understand what love has to do with cutting and sewing!
Anyone who has not will be deprived even of what he has. A parable reveals and
hides at the same time! It reveals for “those who are inside,” who accept Jesus as the Messiah Servant. It
hides from those who insist on saying that the Messiah will be and should be a
glorious King. These understand the image presented by the parable, but they do
not understand the significance. The disciples, instead, grow in what they
already know concerning the Messiah. The others do not understand anything and
lose even the little that they thought they knew about the Kingdom and the
Messiah.
•
Matthew 13: 14-15: The fulfillment of the prophecy of
Isaiah. Just as at another time (Mt 12: 18-21), in this different reaction of
the people and the Pharisees to the teaching of the parables, Matthew again
sees here the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. He even quotes at length the
text of Isaiah which says, “Listen and listen, but never understand! Look and
look, but never perceive! This people’s heart has grown coarse, their ears
dulled, they have shut their eyes tight to avoid using their eyes to see, their
ears to hear, their heart to understand, changing their ways and being healed
by Me.”
•
Matthew 13: 16-17: “But blessed are your eyes because they
see, your ears because they hear.” All this explains the last sentence: “But
blessed are your eyes because they see, your ears because they hear. In truth I
tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see and
never saw it, to hear what you hear and never heard it!”
•
The Parables: a new way of speaking to the people
about God. People remained impressed by the way in which Jesus taught. “A new
way of teaching! Given with authority! Different from that of the scribes!” (Mk
7: 28). Jesus had a great capacity for finding very simple images to compare
the things of God with the things of life which people knew and experienced in
the daily struggle to survive. This presupposes two things: to be in touch with
the things of the life of the people, and to be in touch with the things of
God, of the Kingdom of God. In some parables there are things that happen and
that seldom take place in life. For example, when has it ever happened that a
shepherd, who has one hundred sheep, abandons the flock with 99 to go and look
for the lost sheep? (Lk 15: 4). Where have we ever seen a father who accepts
with joy and a feast his son who had squandered all his goods, without saying a
word of reproach to him? (Lk 15: 20-24). When has it been seen that a Samaritan
man is better than a Levite, than a priest? (Lk 10: 2937). The parable makes
one think. It leads the person to enter into the story beginning from the
experience of life. And through our experience it urges us to discover that God
is present in our daily life. The parable is a participative form of teaching
and educating. It does not change everything in one minute. It does not make
one know; it makes one discover. The parable changes our perspective; it makes
the person who listens a contemplative; it helps her to observe reality. This
is the novelty of the teaching of the parables of Jesus, different from that of
the doctors who taught that God manifests Himself only in the observance of the
law. “The Kingdom is present in your midst” (Lk 17: 21). But those who listened
did not always understand.
Personal Questions
•
Jesus says, “To you it has been granted to know the
mysteries of the
Kingdom.” When I read the
Gospels, am I like those who understand nothing or like those to whom it has
been granted to know the Kingdom?
•
What role does the Father’s gratuitous grace have in
understanding these parables?
•
Which is the parable of Jesus with which I most
identify ? Why?
Concluding Prayer
Yahweh, Your faithful love
is in the heavens; Your constancy reaches to the clouds;
Your saving justice is like
towering mountains, Your judgments like the mighty deep. (Ps 36: 5-6)
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