June 30, 2026
Tuesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 378
Reading 1
Hear this word, O children of Israel, that the Lord
pronounces over you,
over the whole family that I brought up from the land of Egypt:
You alone have I favored,
more than all the families of the earth;
Therefore I will punish you
for all your crimes.Do two walk together
unless they have agreed?
Does a lion roar in the forest
when it has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from its den
unless it has seized something?
Is a bird brought to earth by a snare
when there is no lure for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground
without catching anything?
If the trumpet sounds in a city,
will the people not be frightened?
If evil befalls a city,
has not the Lord caused it?
Indeed, the Lord God does nothing
without revealing his plan
to his servants, the prophets.The lion roars--
who will not be afraid!
The Lord God speaks--
who will not prophesy!
I brought upon you such upheaval
as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah:
you were like a brand plucked from the fire;
Yet you returned not to me,
says the Lord.
So now I will deal with you in my own way, O Israel!
and since I will deal thus with you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (9a) Lead me in your justice, Lord.
At dawn I bring my plea expectantly before you.
For you, O God, delight not in wickedness;
no evil man remains with you;
the arrogant may not stand in your sight.
R. Lead me in your justice, Lord.
You hate all evildoers;
you destroy all who speak falsehood;
The bloodthirsty and the deceitful
the Lord abhors.
R. Lead me in your justice, Lord.
But I, because of your abundant mercy,
will enter your house;
I will worship at your holy temple
in fear of you, O Lord.
R. Lead me in your justice, Lord.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I trust in the Lord;
my soul trusts in his word.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
As Jesus got into a boat, his disciples followed him.
Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea,
so that the boat was being swamped by waves;
but he was asleep.
They came and woke him, saying,
“Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
He said to them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?”
Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea,
and there was great calm.
The men were amazed and said, “What sort of man is this,
whom even the winds and the sea obey?”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/063026
Commentary on Amos
3:1-8, 4:11-12
In today’s passage, Amos has a severe warning to his people.
He speaks to “the whole family” that God brought up from the land of Egypt,
apparently addressing all 12 tribes, although the Northern Kingdom only
included 10. The others formed the Southern Kingdom, Judah, of which Amos himself
was a member.
Over all these years God had shown his people a love which
he had not given to any other people:
You only have I known
of all the families of the earth…
However, they had taken this privileged position as a right
and did not respond in love and service, and as such they are told:
…therefore I will punish you
for all your iniquities.
Because of the abundance of love and favours showered on
them, their wrongdoings, far from being overlooked, are considered all the more
serious. Israel’s present strength and prosperity gave rise to a complacency
about her privileged status as the Lord’s chosen people. She is now shockingly
reminded of the long-forgotten responsibilities her privileges entailed.
What is going to happen to them must follow, then, as night
follows the day. And Amos lists a set of rhetorical questions. When things
happen, they demand a cause. There can be no effect without a cause, nor any
cause without an effect. Therefore, the behaviour of the people inevitably
brings a reaction from God expressed through the mouth of his prophet.
Amos builds up a series of questions leading to an
understanding of why God reacts with terrifying punishment on his people. Each
picture is of cause and effect, using figures drawn from daily life—and culminating
in divine action.
The lion has roared;
who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken;
who can but prophesy?
The prophetic call cannot be resisted; in all this passage
the prophet is justifying his intervention. There is neither effect without
cause, nor cause without effect. If the prophet exercises his office, it is
because Yahweh has spoken; if God speaks, the prophet cannot but prophesy. The
images chosen suggest that the message will be one of disaster.
In the past, there had been terrible punishments. When Sodom
and Gomorrah were utterly destroyed in an ‘upheaval’ (perhaps an earthquake?),
Abraham and his family, the only faithful ones left, were “like a brand
snatched from the fire”. The complete destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and its
sinful people had become proverbial. In spite of this and similar experiences
in their history:
…you did not return to me, says the Lord.
Now, God is once again going to deal with his faithless
people in his own way. The passage ends with frightening words:
…prepare to meet your God, O Israel!
And we know that a terrible punishment indeed awaits them,
resulting in the utter and final destruction of the Northern Kingdom.
We too call ourselves God’s people and have been
particularly blessed by the revelations that come to us through Jesus and the
Christian Testament. But this greater knowledge only makes our wrongdoings all
the more serious and deserving of greater punishment. Where God is concerned,
there is no ‘inside’ track by which we can claim privileged treatment over
non-believers. On the contrary, the closer we are to God, the greater our
responsibility. That is why the saints could see themselves as sinners. Their
closeness to God made even their minor shortcomings matters of repentance.
We too can think of many times when God has rescued us or
given us ample warnings and yet we have continued our sinful ways. Are we ready
to meet our God? For some, it is a moment to be dreaded. For others, it is a
day to be looked forward to with a passionate longing. As Paul wrote to the
Christians at Philippi:
For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. (Phil
1:21)
What about for me—which is it?
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Commentary on
Matthew 8:23-27
In the previous verses to today’s reading, Jesus tells his
disciples to get into a boat and cross to the other side of the Sea of Gallilee
(also know as the Lake of Tiberias). As they crossed the lake, a storm suddenly
blew up. It seems this is a common feature of the Sea of Galilee.
The word that Matthew uses for ‘storm’ should actually be
translated ‘earthquake’. It was a word commonly used in apocalyptic literature
for the shaking of the old world as God brings in his Kingdom. The Synoptic
Gospels use the word in describing the events leading up to the final coming of
Jesus. It indicates that there is more to this story than just a narrative.
While waves crashed into the boat, Jesus remained fast
asleep. In great fear, the disciples woke up him:
Lord, save us! We are perishing!
Jesus was not very sympathetic:
Why are you afraid, you of little faith?
Then he stood up and rebuked the wind and sea. There
immediately followed a complete calm.
The disciples were awestruck and, in a way, were more afraid
than ever. A storm they could understand, but not what they saw Jesus doing.
What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea
obey him?
In their book, only one person could have this kind of
power—God himself. Their question contained its own answer. It was a further
step in their realising just who Jesus their Master really was.
We can, however, read another meaning into this story. We
can understand it as a kind of parable about the early Church, the Church for
which Matthew is writing. It was a Church consisting of many, small scattered
communities or churches. They were surrounded by large, pagan and often very
hostile peoples. Each little church community must have felt like those
disciples in the boat with Jesus surrounded by a large expanse of water.
Sometimes that water got very angry and threatened to engulf their boat.
At the same time, Jesus their Lord seemed to be very far
away; he seemed to be asleep, unaware and uncaring of their plight. The fact
that in the Gospel today they address him as “Lord” would indicate that the
story points more to their present situation as isolated communities in a very
uncertain world. Then they would come to realise that Jesus really was with
them and that he did care a lot. And peace would come back to them again. But
the peace would be in their hearts; the sea around them might be just as stormy
as ever.
This is something for us to learn. Most of the time we can
do very little to change the world around us or change the people who bother
us. Maybe we have no right to make them change. But we can change; we can learn
to see things in a different way; we can learn to be proactive instead of
reactive. Above all, we can learn to be aware that God is close to us at all
times, that he does know, that he does care, and that, instead of taking
problems and crises away, he helps us to go through them and keep our peace.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o2133g/
Tuesday,
June 30, 2026
13th
Week in Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Father, you call your children to walk
in the light of Christ. Free us from darkness and keep us in the radiance of
your truth.
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 8: 23-27
Then Jesus got into the boat followed by his
disciples. Suddenly a storm broke over the lake, so violent that the boat was
being swamped by the waves. But he was asleep.
So they went to him and woke him saying,
'Save us, Lord, we are lost!' And he said to them, 'Why are you so frightened,
you who have so little faith?' And then he stood up and rebuked the winds and
the sea; and there was a great calm. They were astounded and said, 'Whatever
kind of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?'
Reflection
Matthew writes for the converted Jews of the
years 70’s who felt lost like a boat in the middle of a stormy sea, without the
hope of being able to get to the desired port. Jesus seems to be asleep in the
boat, and it seems to them that no divine power will come to save them from the
persecution. In the face of this desperate and anguished situation, Matthew
puts together several episodes of the life of Jesus to help the community
discover, in the midst of an apparent absence, the welcoming and powerful
presence of Jesus the conqueror who dominates the sea (Mt 8: 23-27), who
conquers and casts away the power of evil (Mt 9: 28-34) and who has the power
to forgive sins (Mt 9: 1-8). In other words, Matthew wants to communicate hope
and to suggest that the communities have no reason to fear. This is the reason
for the narration of the storm calmed by Jesus in today’s Gospel.
•
Matthew 8: 23: The starting point: to enter into
the boat. Matthew follows the Gospel of Mark, but makes it shorter and inserts
it in the new outline which he has adopted. In Mark, the day had been very
heavy because of the work that they had done. Having finished the discourse of
the parables (Mk 4: 3-34), the disciples take Jesus into the boat and he was so
tired that he fell asleep on a cushion (Mk 4: 38). Matthew’s text is very
brief. It only says that Jesus went into the boat and that the disciples accompanied
him. Jesus is the Master, the disciples follow the Master.
•
Matthew 8: 24-25: The desperate situation: “We
are lost!” The Lake of Galilee is close to high mountains. Sometimes, between
the cracks of the rocks, the wind blows strongly on the lake causing a sudden
storm. Strong wind, agitated sea, the boat full of water! The disciples were
experienced fishermen. If they thought that they were about to sink, it meant
that the situation was truly dangerous! But Jesus is not aware, and continues
to sleep. They cried out: “Save us, Lord, we are lost!” In Matthew the profound
sleep of Jesus is not only a sign of tiredness. It is also the expression of
the calm trust of Jesus in God. The contrast between the attitude of Jesus and
that of the disciples is enormous!
•
Matthew 8: 26: The reaction of Jesus: Why are
you so frightened, you who have so little faith!” Jesus wakes up, not because
of the waves, but because of the desperate cry of the disciples. And he turns
to them saying: “Why are you so frightened, you who have so little faith!” Then
he stood up and rebuked the winds and the sea, because there was no danger. It
is like when one arrives to a friend’s house, and the dog, at the side of his
master, barks very much. But one should not be afraid, because the master is
present and controls the situation. The episode of the storm calmed by Jesus
evokes the episode, when people, without fear, passed across the water of the
sea (Ex 14: 22). Jesus recreates this episode. He recalls the Prophet Isaiah
who said to the people: “If you have to go across the water, I will be with
you!” (Is 43: 2). The episode of the calmed storm recalls and fulfils the
prophecy announced in the Psalm
107:
Those who ploughed the waves in the sea on the ships,
plying their trade on the great ocean.
They have seen the works of the Lord, his wonders in the
deep. By his word he raised a storm-wind lashing up towering waves.
Up to the sky then down to the depths;
their stomachs were turned to water. They staggered and reeled like drunkards,
and all their skill went under.
They cried out to Yahweh in their distress, he rescued
them from their plight. He reduced the storm to a calm, and all the waters
subsided.
He brought them overjoyed at the stillness, to the port
where they were bound (Ps 107: 23-30)
• Matthew 8: 27: The fear of the disciples: “Who is
this man?” Jesus asks: “Why are you so frightened?” The disciples do not know
what to answer. Astounded, they ask themselves: “Whatever kind of man is this,
that even the wind and the sea obey him?” In spite of the long time that they
had lived with Jesus, they still do not know who he is. Jesus seems to be a
foreigner for them! Who is this man?
Who is this man? Who is Jesus for us, for me? This should
be the question which urges us to continue to read the Gospel, every day, with
the desire always to know better the significance and the importance of the
person of Jesus for our life. From this question comes Christology. It does not
come from elevated theological considerations, but from the desire of the first
Christians always to find new names and titles to express what Jesus meant for
them. There are tens of names, titles and attributes, from that of carpenter to
Son of God, which Jesus expresses: Messiah, Christ, Lord, Beloved Son, Holy One
of God, Nazarene, Son of Man, Spouse, Son of God, Son of the Most High God,
Carpenter, Son of Mary, Prophet, Master, Son of David, Rabboni, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; Son,
Shepherd, Bread of Life, Resurrection, Light of the world, Way, Truth, Life,
King of the Jews, King of Israel, etc. Every name, every image, is an effort to
express what Jesus means for them. But a name, no matter how beautiful it is,
never succeeds to reveal the mystery of a person, and much less of the person
of Jesus. Jesus does not enter into any of these names, in no outline, in no
title. He exceeds everything, he is the greatest! He cannot be put into a
frame. Love takes up all this, not the mind! Starting from this experience of a
love which is alive, the names, the titles and the images receive their full
significance. Definitively, who is Jesus for me, for us?
Personal Questions
•
Which was the agitated sea at the time of Jesus?
Which was the agitated sea at the time when Matthew wrote his Gospel? Today,
which is the agitated sea for us? Have you ever been on the point of drowning
in the agitated waters of the sea of your life? What saved you?
•
Who is Jesus for me? Which is the name of Jesus
which expresses my faith and my love better?
Concluding Prayer
Each age will praise your deeds to the next, proclaiming your
mighty works.
Your renown is the splendor of your glory,
I will ponder the story of your
wonders. (Ps 145: 4-5)
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