August 13, 2025
Wednesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 415
Reading 1
Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo,
the headland of Pisgah which faces Jericho,
and the LORD showed him all the land—
Gilead, and as far as Dan, all Naphtali,
the land of Ephraim and Manasseh,
all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea,
the Negeb, the circuit of the Jordan
with the lowlands at Jericho, city of palms,
and as far as Zoar.
The LORD then said to him,
"This is the land
which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
that I would give to their descendants.
I have let you feast your eyes upon it, but you shall not cross over."
So there, in the land of Moab, Moses, the servant of the LORD,
died as the LORD had said; and he was buried in the ravine
opposite Beth-peor in the land of Moab,
but to this day no one knows the place of his burial.
Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died,
yet his eyes were undimmed and his vigor unabated.
For thirty days the children of Israel wept for Moses
in the plains of Moab, till they had completed
the period of grief and mourning for Moses.
Now Joshua, son of Nun, was filled with the spirit of wisdom,
since Moses had laid his hands upon him;
and so the children of Israel gave him their obedience,
thus carrying out the LORD's command to Moses.
Since then no prophet has arisen in Israel like Moses,
whom the LORD knew face to face.
He had no equal in all the signs and wonders
the LORD sent him to perform in the land of Egypt
against Pharaoh and all his servants and against all his land,
and for the might and the terrifying power
that Moses exhibited in the sight of all Israel.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (see 20a and 10b) Blessed be God who filled my
soul with fire!
Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;
sing praise to the glory of his name;
proclaim his glorious praise.
Say to God: "How tremendous are your deeds!"
R. Blessed be God who filled my soul with fire!
Come and see the works of God,
his tremendous deeds among the children of Adam.
Bless our God, you peoples;
loudly sound his praise.
R. Blessed be God who filled my soul with fire!
Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare
what he has done for me.
When I appealed to him in words,
praise was on the tip of my tongue.
R. Blessed be God who filled my soul with fire!
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,
And entreating to us the message of reconciliation.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples:
"If your brother sins against you,
go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.
If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.
If he does not listen,
take one or two others along with you,
so that every fact may be established
on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church.
If he refuses to listen even to the Church,
then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.
Amen, I say to you,
whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth
about anything for which they are to pray,
it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081325.cfm
Commentary on
Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Our final reading from the book of Deuteronomy is also the
whole of the final chapter of the book. It is also our last reading from the
Pentateuch.
The death of Moses ends the long saga which began when he
first received the call to lead his people out of slavery in Egypt, through the
great experiences on Mount Sinai, the tribulations of the 40 years in the
desert until the moment when they reach the threshold of the Promised Land.
As the reading opens, we see Moses leaving the plains of
Moab and climbing Mount Nebo, described as:
…the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho.
He went in obedience to the Lord’s command (mentioned
earlier—see Deut 32:48-52).
On the mountain, Moses has a vision which embraces the whole
Promised Land, into which he will not go, but of which he thus takes possession
on behalf of the people. While he could not actually see the whole territory
with the naked eye from the top of the mountain:
…the Lord showed him the whole land: Gilead as far as
Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as
far as the Western Sea, the Negeb, and the Plain—that is, the valley of
Jericho, the city of palm trees—as far as Zoar.
Dan was in the very north of the country (the names of the
provinces come from the names of Jacob’s sons). Naphtali lay immediately
to the south and southwest of Dan. Manasseh and Ephraim occupied the
centre of the country, just north of Jerusalem. Judah stretched
southwards from Jerusalem (Jerusalem was in Judah). South of Judah was
the Negeb, lying west of the Dead Sea. Jericho was on the north end of
the Dead Sea and Zoar at the southern end. The “Plain” refers to the plain
lying between the mountains of Moab, which lie to the east of the Dead Sea, and
the River Jordan.
Pointing to the whole territory spread out below, Yahweh
says to Moses:
This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac,
and to Jacob…I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over
there.
Moses’ life work was now over. He had been shown the goal of
all his labours, but not permitted to enjoy it. However, he did take possession
of it in the name of the people.
Then we are told:
…Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land
of Moab, at the Lord’s command.
‘Servant of the Lord’ is a special title used to refer to
those whom the Lord, as the Great King, has taken into his service; they serve
as members of God’s royal administration. For example, it was used especially
of Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, the prophets, Israel collectively, and even a
foreign king the Lord used to carry out his purposes (Nebuchadrezzar, see Jer
25:9). In Nebuchadrezzar’s case, the king becomes an instrument by which God
can reveal his power and glory.
Earlier God told Moses he would actually die on Mount Nebo
itself (Deut 32:50). He was buried in the valley below, in the country of Moab,
opposite Beth-peor, to the east of the northern shores of the Dead Sea.
However, the author says:
…no one knows his burial place to this day.
Moses was “was one hundred twenty years old when he died”,
but in full use of his faculties:
his sight was unimpaired, and his vigor had not abated.
This is perhaps a round number, indicating three generations
of about 40 years each.
The mourning by the Israelites went on for 30 days. Once
this period was over, Joshua, son of Nun, assumed leadership. He was full of
wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him, and the Israelites accepted him
as the successor to Moses.
In a final encomium, the author says:
Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like
Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.
Finally, we are told Moses:
…was unequaled for all the signs and wonders that the
Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his
servants and his entire land, and for all the mighty deeds and all the
terrifying displays of power that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.
That is, no one could compare to Moses until the coming of
Jesus (see the Letter to the Hebrews 3:1-6, where Moses the “servant” is
contrasted with Christ the “son”).
We Christians also owe a lot to this great man. His story
and the story of his people are also part of our story, part of our tradition
and heritage. And it has much to teach us.
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Commentary on
Matthew 18:15-20
Today’s part of the ‘discourse on the church’ shifts from
the harm that we can do to others, to the harm that others can do to the
community, and how the community and its members should respond. Clearly we are
speaking here of some serious wrong which hurts the mission of the Church
community.
The wrongdoer is to be tackled on three levels, and this
reflects what has just gone before about bringing back the sheep which is lost.
Reconciliation, not punishment, is the objective.
If the wrong directly affects one person, then that person
or another should go along to the wrongdoer privately and try to help the
individual change their ways. If this works, then that is the end of the
matter. However, if the wrongdoer will not listen, then one or two others who
are also aware of the wrongdoing should be brought along as corroboration. This
is based on a passage from Deuteronomy:
A single witness shall not suffice to convict a person of
any crime or wrongdoing in connection with any offense that may be committed.
Only on the evidence of two or three witnesses shall a charge be sustained. (Deut
19:15)
If the wrongdoer remains obstinate in the face of this
evidence, then the whole community is to be brought in. And if in the face of
the whole community, there is still no sign of repentance, then the person is
to be expelled and treated like a “gentile and a tax collector”, in other
words, as a total outsider. The tax collectors were among the most despised
people in the community. They were local people employed by Roman tax
contractors to collect taxes for them. Because they worked for Rome and often
demanded unreasonable payments (they had to make a profit!), they gained a bad
reputation and were generally hated and considered traitors to their own people
and their religion.
The word Matthew uses for ‘community’ here is
‘church’, ekklesia or, in Hebrew, qahal, which
refers to the gathering of a Christian community. As mentioned earlier, this is
only one of two places where this term is used in the Gospels (the other is
Matt 16:18).
Jesus now goes further in saying that all such decisions by
the community have God’s full endorsement:
…whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. [i.e.
by God]
Jesus also tells them:
…if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it
will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are
gathered in my name, I am there among them.
This mandate seems to be given to the community as a whole
and not just to specific individuals.
It would be worth our while going carefully through this
text and seeing how it applies to our church situation today. To what extent do
we feel responsible for the wrongdoings of our fellow-Christians? To what
extent do we realise that our behaviour, both as individuals and groups,
reflects on the overall witness that the Church is called to give as the Body
of Christ? Do people clearly see the message of the Gospel from the way we live
both individually and corporately?
While, on the one hand, we are told to be compassionate and
non-judgmental, are we over-tolerant of people in the community who believe
that anything they do is just their own business? Every Christian community has
a solemn responsibility to give witness to the vision of life that Jesus gave
to us. There have then to be standards of behaviour which bind all. Moments of
weakness can be and should be treated with compassion, but deliberate and
continued flouting of our central commitment to truth, love, justice and other
foundational principles cannot be overlooked or allowed to undermine the
central mission of the Christian community to be a sacrament of the Kingdom. It
is not a question of image but of our integrity.
What has all this to do with the way we use the sacrament of
reconciliation, and what is the relationship of the sacrament to this passage?
The passage is closely linked with what Jesus says about the problem of giving
scandal, of being a stumbling block in people’s coming to Christ. At the same
time, as tomorrow’s passage will indicate, the long-term aim—above all—is not
punishment, but reconciliation and healing of divisions.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o1194g/
Wednesday,
August 13, 2025
Ordinary
Time
Opening Prayer
Almighty and ever-living God, Your Spirit
made us Your children, confident to call You Father. Increase Your Spirit
within us and bring us to our promised inheritance. 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 18: 15-20
Jesus said to his
disciples: "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his
fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your
brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that
every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he
refuses to listen to them, tell the Church. If he refuses to listen even to the
Church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. Amen, I say
to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you
loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, amen, I say to you, if two of
you agree on earth about anything for which they
are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two
or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of
them."
Reflection
In the Gospel of today and of tomorrow
we read and meditate on the second half of the Discourse on the Community.
Today’s Gospel speaks about fraternal correction (Mt 18: 15-18) and of prayer
in common (Mt 18: 19-20). The Gospel of tomorrow speaks about pardon (Mt 18:
21-22) and presents the parable of pardon without limitations (Mt 18: 23-35).
The key word in this second part is “to forgive.” The accent is on
reconciliation. In order that there may be reconciliation which will allow the
little ones to return, it is important to know how to dialogue and to forgive,
because the foundation of fraternity is the gratuitous love of God. It is only
in this way that the community will be a sign of the Kingdom. It is not easy to
forgive. There is a certain grief which continues to strike the heart as with a
hammer. There are those who say, “I forgive, but I do not forget!” There is
resentment, tensions, clashes, diverse opinions, and offenses, provocations
which render pardon and reconciliation difficult.
•
The organization of the words of Jesus in
the five Great Discourses of the Gospel of Matthew indicates that at the end of
the first century, the communities had very concrete forms of catechesis. The
Discourse of the Community (Mt 18: 1-35), for example, gives updated instructions of how to proceed
in case of any conflict among the members of the community and how to find
criteria to solve the conflicts. Matthew gathers together those sayings of
Jesus which can help the communities of the end of the first century to
overcome the two more acute problems which they had to face at that moment,
that is, the exodus of the little ones because of the scandal given by some and
the need to dialogue in order to overcome the rigor of others in accepting the
little ones, the poor, in the community.
•
Matthew 18: 15-18: Fraternal correction
and the power to forgive. These verses give simple norms of how to proceed in
case of conflicts in the community. If a brother or a sister should sin, if
they had behavior not in accordance to the life of the community, they should
not be denounced immediately. First, it is necessary to try to speak with them
alone. Then it is necessary to try to know the reasons of the other. If no
results are obtained, then it is necessary to take two or three persons of the
community to see if it is possible to obtain some result. Only in extreme cases
is it necessary to expose the problem to the whole community. If the person
refuses to listen to the community, then they should be considered by you as “a
sinner or a pagan,” that is, as someone who is not part of the community.
Therefore, it is not you who excludes, but it is the person himself/herself who
excludes himself/herself. The community gathered together only verifies or
ratifies the exclusion. The grace to be able to forgive and to reconcile in the
name of God was given to Peter (Mt 16: 19), to the Apostles (Jn 20: 23) and,
here in the Discourse on the Community, to the community itself (Mt 18: 18).
This reveals the importance of the decisions which the community assumes in
regard to its members.
•
Matthew 18: 19: Prayer in common. The exclusion
does not mean that the person is abandoned to his/her own fate. No! The person
may be separated from the community, but will never be separated from God. In
the case in which the conversation in the community does not produce any
result, and the person does not want to be integrated in the life of the
community, there still remains the last possibility to remain together with the
Father to obtain reconciliation, and Jesus guarantees that the Father will
listen: “If two of you agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you
by My Father in Heaven; for where two or three meet in My Name, I am there
among them.”
•
Matthew 18: 20: The presence of Jesus in
the community. The reason of the certainty of being heard by the Father is the
promise of Jesus: “Because where there are two or three who meet in My name, I
am there among them!” Jesus is the center, the axis, of the community, and, as
such, together with the community, will always be praying with us to the
Father, in order that He may grant the gift of the return of the brother or the
sister who have excluded themselves.
Personal Questions
•
Why is it so difficult to forgive? In our
community, is there some space for reconciliation? In which way?
•
Jesus says: "For wherever there are two or
three who meet in My Name, I am also there among them.” What does this mean for
us today?
•
What is the balance between forgiveness and the
protection of others which we have responsibility for? Both as individuals and
as a society or community, what does it mean to forgive, forget, and still
protect the vulnerable?
Concluding Prayer
Praise, servants of Yahweh, praise the
name of Yahweh. Blessed be the name of Yahweh, henceforth and for ever. (Ps
113: 1-2)
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