July 28, 2025
Monday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 401
Reading 1
Moses turned and came down the mountain
with the two tablets of the commandments in his hands,
tablets that were written on both sides, front and back;
tablets that were made by God,
having inscriptions on them that were engraved by God himself.
Now, when Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting,
he said to Moses, “That sounds like a battle in the camp.”
But Moses answered, “It does not sound like cries of victory,
nor does it sound like cries of defeat;
the sounds that I hear are cries of revelry.”
As he drew near the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing.
With that, Moses’ wrath flared up, so that he threw the tablets down
and broke them on the base of the mountain.
Taking the calf they had made, he fused it in the fire
and then ground it down to powder,
which he scattered on the water and made the children of Israel drink.
Moses asked Aaron, “What did this people ever do to you
that you should lead them into so grave a sin?”
Aaron replied, “Let not my lord be angry.
You know well enough how prone the people are to evil.
They said to me, ‘Make us a god to be our leader;
as for the man Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt,
we do not know what has happened to him.’
So I told them, ‘Let anyone who has gold jewelry take it off.’
They gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out.”
On the next day Moses said to the people,
“You have committed a grave sin.
I will go up to the LORD, then;
perhaps I may be able to make atonement for your sin.”
So Moses went back to the LORD and said,
“Ah, this people has indeed committed a grave sin
in making a god of gold for themselves!
If you would only forgive their sin!
If you will not, then strike me out of the book that you have written.”
The LORD answered, “Him only who has sinned against me
will I strike out of my book.
Now, go and lead the people to the place I have told you.
My angel will go before you.
When it is time for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”
Responsorial Psalm
R. (1a) Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
Our fathers made a calf in Horeb
and adored a molten image;
They exchanged their glory
for the image of a grass-eating bullock.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
They forgot the God who had saved them,
who had done great deeds in Egypt,
Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham,
terrible things at the Red Sea.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
Then he spoke of exterminating them,
but Moses, his chosen one,
Withstood him in the breach
to turn back his destructive wrath.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Father willed to give us birth by the word of truth
that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds.
“The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed
that a person took and sowed in a field.
It is the smallest of all the seeds,
yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants.
It becomes a large bush,
and the birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.”
He spoke to them another parable.
“The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast
that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour
until the whole batch was leavened.”
All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables.
He spoke to them only in parables,
to fulfill what had been said through the prophet:
I will open my mouth in parables,
I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072825.cfm
Commentary on Exodus
32:15-24,30-34
Before we actually look at today’s reading, we need to see
the context in which it takes place. We have skipped several chapters in which
God gives instructions to Moses on the design and furnishings of a sanctuary
which is to accompany the Israelites on their journey, as a sign of God’s
continuing presence among them. Central to this sanctuary was the Ark of the
Covenant which contained the tablets of the Law which Moses had brought down
from Mount Sinai after his dialogue with God.
The instructions cover items like the Ark, the table on
which it is placed, the seven-branched lampstand, the altar of holocausts, oil
for the lamps, the priestly vestments, consecration of priests, ordination
sacrifices, altar of incense, anointing oil and incense. Much of what is
described seems to apply more to the situation that existed in the Temple after
it was built at a much later date.
In the meantime, while Moses was getting these instructions
from the Lord up on the mountain, the people below began to become impatient.
They say to Aaron:
Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for
this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know
what has become of him. (Exod 32:1)
So Aaron told the men to gather all the jewellery from their
wives, sons and daughters and to bring it to him. From these offerings Aaron
made a golden calf. The ‘golden calf’, a term of contempt, was in fact the
statue of a young bull—a common symbol of divinity in the ancient east.
It seems that a group in competition with Moses’ group, or a
dissident faction of his own group, had or wished to have the figure of a bull
to symbolise the presence of God, instead of the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark
is not, however, an idol in the strict sense because it represents Yahweh, the
Yahweh who brought Israel out of Egypt.
The people then cried out with enthusiasm: “This is your
god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!” The bull was not even
intended to be an image of Yahweh; like other Eastern parallels, it was
regarded as the footstool of the unseen deity, which was also the role played
by the Ark of the Covenant.
On the following day, having seen the reaction of the
people, Aaron built an altar before the calf and proclaimed:
Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord. (Exod
32:5)
It is clear from this that the golden calf was intended as
an image, not of a false god, but of the Lord himself, his strength being
symbolised by the strength of a young bull. The Israelites, however, had been
strictly forbidden to represent the Lord under any visible form. It was part of
the First Commandment:
You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the
form of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or
that is in the water under the earth. (Exod 20:4)
Early in the morning, the people offered holocausts and
brought peace offerings before the calf and then celebrated with food and
drink.
Meanwhile, up on the mountain, God began to tell Moses what
was going on. He was not at all pleased. The Lord said to Moses:
Now let me alone so that my wrath may burn hot against
them and I may consume them, and of you I will make a great nation. (Exod
32:10)
In saying, “Let me alone”, the Lord anticipates the
remonstration Moses is going to make. And indeed, Moses, immediately pleaded on
his people’s behalf. Moses is regularly presented as the great mediator: at the
time of the plagues; on behalf of his sister Miriam; and especially on behalf
of the people on their journey through the desert.
Moses gave two reasons why God should not take vengeance on
his people. First, the Egyptians will say that the Hebrews were led out into
the desert just so that their God could exterminate them. Second, he reminded
the Lord of the sacred promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Israel that their
descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. So the Lord relented
and held back his anger against his people and it is at this point that our
today’s reading begins.
Moses leaves the presence of God and comes down the mountain
bringing with him the two stone tablets on which the Law was written. They were
written on both sides and had been engraved by God himself. When Joshua heard
the noise in the Israelite camp, he thought there was a battle going on. Moses
replied that they were neither the sounds of victory or defeat, but of pure
revelry, people having a good time.
As Moses got near to the camp, he saw the calf and the
people dancing around it. He became so angry at the sight that he threw down
the two tablets which were smashed into pieces. He took the golden calf and
ground it to powder, scattered it on the water of the stream that flowed down
the mountainside and forced the Israelites to drink it.
Moses then asked his brother, Aaron, what the people could
have done to him that he should lead them into such a terrible sin. Aaron very
blandly passed the responsibility to the people, who were so prone to evil. He
told Moses what they asked him to do and how he had asked them to offer their
jewellery, saying:
…they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and
out came this calf!
Just like that!
The next paragraph is omitted from our reading and it is not
pleasant reading. When Moses saw the situation he immediately challenged all
those who were for the Lord to stand by him. All the Levites rallied round him
(Moses himself was from the tribe of Levi). He then gave them instructions to
go round the camp and put to the sword even their kinsmen, friends and
neighbours. Their kinsmen would have been Levites and hence especially guilty
of idolatry. Altogether about 3,000 people were killed in the operation.
Moses tells those who had sided with him that, by their
action, they are specially dedicated to the Lord and have brought a blessing on
themselves. And, because of their zeal for the true worship of the Lord, the
Levites were chosen to be special ministers of ritual service.
Finally, we go back to the last paragraph of our reading.
Moses tells the people that they have committed a very serious sin, but that he
is going back up to the Lord to ask forgiveness for them:
…perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.
Then in the presence of the Lord, Moses acknowledges the
seriousness of the people’s sin and begs forgiveness for them:
…if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, please
blot me out of the book that you have written.
This ‘book’ is the list of God’s intimate friends. If it
will save his people from destruction, Moses is willing to be excluded from
this book. Paul speaks in a similar vein when expressing his grief that so many
of his fellow-Jews have not accepted Christ:
I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from
Christ for the sake of my own brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood. (Rom
9:3)
And we know how passionately close to Christ Paul was.
In reply, the Lord says he will strike from his book only
those who have sinned against him. In the meantime, Moses is to continue
leading his people according to the Lord’s instructions. God’s protecting angel
will be with them, and God says:
Nevertheless, when the day for punishment comes, I will
punish them for their sin.
The Chosen People are full of goodwill. They ratify the most
solemn covenants with the Lord with sacrifices and holocausts. Yet they can so
easily fall away. It is not for us to blame them. For we, by and large, are no
better. We have so many aids in our Christian faith for leading good lives and
yet we fail so often. Let us renew once more our promises to be faithful. It is
something, of course, that we can only do with His help.
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Commentary on
Matthew 13:31-35
Today we have two short parables which reflect both the
experience of the early Church and also highlight features of the Kingdom.
Considering when they were written, they exude an extraordinary level of trust
and confidence in God’s power, a trust which was not disappointed although the
results were not seen for generations.
The first is the parable of the mustard seed. The mustard
seed is not actually the smallest seed known today, but it was the smallest
seed used by Palestinian farmers and gardeners. Nor did it, strictly speaking,
produce the largest of trees, but under favourable conditions, it could reach
some 10 feet (or 3 metres) in height, big enough to provide shelter for birds.
The early Church, scattered in tiny communities, largely cut
off from each other, all over the Mediterranean area must have felt very small,
very vulnerable. The idea that in time it would become the central cultural
influence all over Europe, Roman and barbarian, must have been beyond the
wildest dreams of those early Christians. But that tiny seed did become a large
tree providing shelter and comfort to millions and, from the Mediterranean,
spread to every corner of the world.
The second parable about yeast in the dough is similar, but
with a different nuance. In the Bible, yeast is usually a symbol of that which
is evil and corrupt. Jesus warned his disciples about the yeast of the
Pharisees (Mark 8:15). Similarly, at the Passover, the Jews eat unleavened
bread, that is, bread free from leaven or yeast. In this parable, however,
yeast is presented as a symbol of growth.
A tiny amount of yeast put into a large batch of dough
produces striking results. (The 3 measures would produce enough to feed 100
people!) A dough batch, over a matter of hours, can swell to twice its original
size as the process of fermentation takes place. The effects of the yeast,
quite invisible, reach to every corner. Again, when this was written, that was
not yet the case. The Church had made very little impact on its surrounding
societies. But over the years, its influence grew until Christianity became the
prevailing faith and cultural influence of the whole of Europe and then
continued to spread out to other parts of the world.
This second parable points to a very important element in
the life and work of the Church. It only exerts its influence when it is
totally immersed in the society it wishes to reach and influence. And it can do
this while still being only a small part of the whole. While never identifying
itself with many of the prevailing ideologies and values of our societies,
Christian communities must at the same time never separate themselves from
their surroundings. There is a danger that we become inward-looking and spend
most of our energies on the already converted. There is a strong evangelising
element in this parable which cannot be ignored.
We need to remember that these are primarily parables of the
Kingdom and not just of the Church, which is the imperfect sign of the work of
the Kingdom going on in our world. And what these parables say applies first of
all to the work of building the Kingdom in our world—it is a work which will go
on inexorably, because it is based on truth, love and justice, and which slowly
penetrates every corner of every society.
We can become aware to the point of depression at the amount
of evil that we see around us and yet there is a gradual forward movement at
all levels. But, as the previous parable reminds us, the wheat has always to co-exist
with the weeds—both inside and outside the Church, both inside and outside the
Kingdom.
Today’s reading concludes with a repetition of the statement
that Jesus only spoke to the crowds in parables. And Matthew sees this as the
fulfilment of a prophetic text from the Old Testament. It is in fact a
quotation from Psalm 78:
I will open my mouth to speak in parables… (Ps
78:2)
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o1172g/
Monday,
July 28, 2025
Ordinary Time
LECTIO
a) Opening Prayer:
Lord Jesus, help us understand the mystery of
the Church as community of love. When you gave us the new commandment of love
as the charter of the Church, you told us that it is the highest value. When
you were about to leave your disciples, you wished to give them a memorial of
the new commandment, the new statute of the Christian community. You did not
give them a pious exhortation, but rather a new commandment of love. In this
‘relative absence’, we are asked to recognize you present in our brothers and
sisters. In this Easter season, Lord Jesus, you remind us that the time of the
Church is the time of charity, the time of encounter with you through our
brothers and sisters. We know that at the end of our lives we shall be judged
on love. Help us encounter you in each brother and sister, seizing every little
occasion of every day.
b) Gospel Reading – Mt. 13: 31-35
31
When he had gone, Jesus said: Now has the Son of man been glorified, and in him
God has been glorified. 32 If God has been glorified in him, God will in turn
glorify him in himself, and will glorify him very soon. 33 Little children, I
shall be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and, as I told
the Jews, where I am going, you cannot come.
34 I give you a new commandment: love one another; you must love
one another just as I have loved you. 35 It is by your love for one another,
that everyone will recognise you as my disciples.
c) A Moment of Prayerful Silence:
The passage of the Gospel we are about to
meditate, recalls Jesus’ farewell words to his disciples. Such a passage should
be considered a kind of sacrament of an encounter with the Person of Jesus.
MEDITATIO
a) Preamble to Jesus’
Discourse:
Our passage is the conclusion to chapter 13
where two themes crisscross and are taken up again and developed in chapter 14:
the place where the Lord is going; and the theme of the commandment of love.
Some observations on the context within which Jesus’ words on the new
commandment occur may be helpful for a fruitful reflection on their content.
First, v. 31 says, «when he had gone», who is
gone? To understand this we need to go to v. 30 where we read that «as soon as
Judas had taken the piece of bread he went out. It was night.» Thus the one who
went out was Judas. Then, the expression, «it was night», is characteristic of
all the «farewell discourses», which take place at night. Jesus’ words in Jn
13: 31-35 are preceded by this immersion into the darkness of the night. What
is the symbolical meaning of this? In John, night represents the peak of
nuptial intimacy (for instance the wedding night), but also one of extreme
anguish. Other meanings of the dark night are that it represents the moment of
danger par excellence, it is the moment when the enemy weaves plans of
vengeance against us, it expresses the moment of desperation, confusion, moral
and intellectual disorder. The darkness of night is like a dead end.
In Jn 6, when the night storm takes place, the
darkness of the night expresses an experience of desperation and solitude as
they struggle against the dark forces that stir the sea. Again, the time marker
"while it was still dark" in Jn 20: 1 points to the darkness which is
the absence of Jesus. Indeed, in John’s Gospel, the light of Christ cannot be
found in the sepulchre, that is why darkness reigns (20: 1).
Therefore, “farewell discourses” are rightly
placed within this time framework. It is almost as if the background color of
these discourses is separation, death or the departure of Jesus and this
creates a sense of emptiness or bitter solitude. In the Church of today and for
today’s humanity, this could mean that when we desert Jesus in our lives we
then experience anguish and suffering.
When reporting Jesus’ words in 3: 31-34,
concerning his departure and imminent death, John recalls his own past life
with Jesus, woven with memories that opened his eyes to the mysterious richness
of the Master. Such memories of the past are part of our own faith journey.
It is characteristic of “farewell discourses”
that whatever is transmitted in them, especially at the tragic and solemn
moment of death becomes an inalienable patrimony, a covenant to be kept
faithfully. Jesus’ “farewell discourses” to synthesize whatever he had taught
and done so as to draw his disciples to follow in the direction he pointed out
to them.
b) A Deepening:
As we read
the passage of this Sunday of Easter, we focus, first of all, on the first word
used by Jesus in his farewell discourse: “Now.” «Now has the Son of man been
glorified.» Which «now» is this? It is the moment of the cross that coincides
with his glorification. This final part of John’s Gospel is a manifestation or
revelation. Thus, Jesus’ cross is the «now» of the greatest epiphany or
manifestation of truth. In this glorification, there is no question of any
meaning that has anything to do with “honor” or “triumphalism,” etc.
On the one hand there is
Judas who goes into the night, Jesus prepares for his glory: «When he had gone,
Jesus said: “Now has the Son of man been glorified, and in him God has been
glorified. If God has been glorified in him, God will in turn glorify him in
himself and will glorify him very soon” (v. 31-32). Judas’ betrayal brings to
maturity in Jesus the conviction that his death is «glory.» The hour of death
on the cross is included in God’s plan; it is the «hour» when the glory of the
Father will shine on the world through the glory of the «Son of man». In Jesus,
who gives his life to the Father at the «hour» of the cross, God is glorified
by revealing his divine essence and welcoming humankind into communion with
him.
Jesus’ (the Son’s) glory
consists of his «extreme love» for all men and women, even to giving himself
for those who betray him. The Son’s love is such that he takes on himself all
those destructive and dramatic situations that burden the life and history of
humankind. Judas’ betrayal symbolizes, not so much the action of an individual,
as that of the whole of evil humanity, unfaithful to the will of God.
However, Judas’ betrayal
remains an event full of mystery. An exegete writes: In betraying Jesus, «it is
revelation that is to blame; it is even at the service of revelation» (Simoens,
According to John, 561). In a way,
Judas’ betrayal gives us the chance of knowing Jesus better; his betrayal has
allowed us to see how far Jesus loves his own. Don Primo Mazzolari writes: «The
apostles became Jesus’ friends, whether good friends or not, generous or not,
faithful or not, they still remain his friends. We cannot betray Jesus’
friendship: Christ never betrays us, his friends, even when we do not deserve
it, even when we rebel against him, even when we deny him. In his sight and in
his heart we are always his “friends.” Judas is the Lord’s friend even at the
moment when he carries out the betrayal of his Master with a kiss» (Discourses 147). c) The New Commandment:
Let us focus our attention
on the new commandment.
In v. 33 we note a change in
Jesus’ farewell discourse. He no longer uses the third person. The Master now
addresses “you.” This «you» is in the plural and he uses a Greek word that is
full of tenderness “children” (teknía).
In using this word and by his tone of voice and openness of heart, Jesus
concretely conveys to his disciples the immensity of the tenderness he holds
for them.
What is also interesting is
another point that we find in v.34: «that you love one another as I have loved
you». The Greek word Kathòs «as” is
not meant for comparison: love one another as I have loved you. Its meaning may
be consecutive of causal: «Because I have loved you, so also love one another».
There are those who like Fr. Lagrange see in this commandment an eschatological
meaning: during his relative absence and while waiting for his second coming,
Jesus wants us to love and serve him in the person of his brothers and sisters.
The new commandment is the only commandment. If there is no love, there is
nothing. Magrassi writes: «Away with labels and classifications: every brother
is the sacrament of Christ. Let us examine our daily life: can we live with our
brother from morning till night and not accept and love him? The great work in
this case is ecstasy in its etymological sense, that is, to go out of myself so
as to be neighbor to the one who needs me, beginning with those nearest to me
and with the most humble matters of everyday life» (Living the Church, 113).
d) For Our Reflection:
• Is our love
for our brothers and sisters directly proportional to our love for Christ?
• Do I see
the Lord present in the person of my brother and sister?
• Do I use
the daily little occasions to do good to others?
• Let us
examine our daily life: can I live with my brothers and sisters from morning
till night and not accept and love them?
• Does love
give meaning to the whole of my life?
• What can I
do to show my gratitude to the Lord who became servant for me and consecrated
his whole life for my good? Jesus replies: Serve me in brothers and sisters:
this is the most authentic way of showing your practical love for me.
ORATIO
a) Psalm 23: 1-6:
This psalm presents an image
of the church journeying accompanied by the goodness and faithfulness of God,
until it finally reaches the house of the Father. In this journey she is guided
by love that gives it direction: your goodness and your faithfulness pursue me.
Yahweh is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
In grassy
meadows he lets me lie. By tranquil
streams he leads me to restore my spirit.
He guides me in paths of
saving justice as befits his name.
Even were I
to walk in a ravine as dark as death I
should fear no danger, for you are at my
side.
Your staff and your crook
are there to soothe me.
You prepare
a table for me under the eyes of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil; my
cup brims over.
Kindness
and faithful love pursue me every day of my life. I make my home in the house of Yahweh for all time to come.
b) Praying with the Fathers of the Church:
I love you for yourself, I
love you for your gifts,
I love you for love of
you
And I love you in such a
way,
That if ever Augustine were
God
And God Augustine,
I would want to come back
and be who I am, Augustine,
That I may make of you who
you are,
Because only you are worthy
of being who you are.
Lord, you see,
My tongue
raves, I cannot express myself, But my heart does not rave. You know what I experience And what I cannot express.
I love you, my God,
And my
heart is too limited for so much love,
And my strength fails before so much love,
And my being is too small for
so much love.
I come out of my
smallness
And immerse
my whole being in you, I transform and
lose myself. Source of my being,
Source of my every
good:
My love and my God. (St. Augustine: Confessions)
Closing
Prayer:
Blessed Teresa Scrilli,
seized by an ardent desire to respond to the love of Jesus, expressed herself
thus:
I love you,
O my God,
In your gifts;
I love you in my
nothingness,
And even in this I
understand,
Your infinite wisdom;
I love you in the many
varied or extraordinary events,
By
which you accompanied my life…
I love you in everything,
Whether painful or peaceful;
Because I do not seek,
Nor have I ever sought,
Your consolations;
Only you, the God of
consolations.
That is why I never gloried
Nor delighted in,
That which you made me
experience entirely gratuitously in your Divine love,
Nor did I distress and upset
myself,
When left arid and small. (Autobiography, 62)
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