My Monday Daily Blessings
Be still, quiet your heart and mind, the Lord is here loving you, talking to you.................
Monday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Roman Rite Calendar)
*First Reading: Ex 14:5-18
When it was reported to the king of Egypt that the people had fled,
Pharaoh and his servants changed their minds about them.
They exclaimed, “What have we done!
Why, we have released Israel from our service!”
So Pharaoh made his chariots ready and mustered his soldiers six hundred first-class chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt, with warriors on them all.
So obstinate had the LORD made Pharaoh that he pursued the children of Israel
even while they were marching away in triumph.
The Egyptians, then, pursued them;
Pharaoh’s whole army, his horses, chariots and charioteers, caught up with them as they lay encamped by the sea, at Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.
Pharaoh and his servants changed their minds about them.
They exclaimed, “What have we done!
Why, we have released Israel from our service!”
So Pharaoh made his chariots ready and mustered his soldiers six hundred first-class chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt, with warriors on them all.
So obstinate had the LORD made Pharaoh that he pursued the children of Israel
even while they were marching away in triumph.
The Egyptians, then, pursued them;
Pharaoh’s whole army, his horses, chariots and charioteers, caught up with them as they lay encamped by the sea, at Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.
Pharaoh was already near when the children of Israel looked up and saw that the Egyptians were on the march in pursuit of them.
In great fright they cried out to the LORD.
And they complained to Moses,
“Were there no burial places in Egypt that you had to bring us out here to die in the desert?
Why did you do this to us?
Why did you bring us out of Egypt?
Did we not tell you this in Egypt, when we said,
‘Leave us alone. Let us serve the Egyptians’?
Far better for us to be the slaves of the Egyptians than to die in the desert.”
But Moses answered the people,
“Fear not! Stand your ground, and you will see the victory the LORD will win for you today.
These Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again.
The LORD himself will fight for you; you have only to keep still.”
In great fright they cried out to the LORD.
And they complained to Moses,
“Were there no burial places in Egypt that you had to bring us out here to die in the desert?
Why did you do this to us?
Why did you bring us out of Egypt?
Did we not tell you this in Egypt, when we said,
‘Leave us alone. Let us serve the Egyptians’?
Far better for us to be the slaves of the Egyptians than to die in the desert.”
But Moses answered the people,
“Fear not! Stand your ground, and you will see the victory the LORD will win for you today.
These Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again.
The LORD himself will fight for you; you have only to keep still.”
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me?
Tell the children of Israel to go forward.
And you, lift up your staff and, with hand outstretched over the sea, split the sea in two, that the children of Israel may pass through it on dry land.
But I will make the Egyptians so obstinate that they will go in after them.
Then I will receive glory through Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots and charioteers.
The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I receive glory through Pharaoh and his chariots and charioteers.”
Tell the children of Israel to go forward.
And you, lift up your staff and, with hand outstretched over the sea, split the sea in two, that the children of Israel may pass through it on dry land.
But I will make the Egyptians so obstinate that they will go in after them.
Then I will receive glory through Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots and charioteers.
The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I receive glory through Pharaoh and his chariots and charioteers.”
*Responsorial Psalm: Ex 15:1bc-2, 3-4, 5-6
"Let us sing to the Lord; He has covered Himself in glory."
*Gospel: Mt 12:38-42
Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus,
“Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”
He said to them in reply,
“An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it
except the sign of Jonah the prophet.
Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.
At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and there is something greater than Jonah here.
At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here.”
“Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”
He said to them in reply,
“An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it
except the sign of Jonah the prophet.
Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.
At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and there is something greater than Jonah here.
At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here.”
***Reflection:
Who is that “evil and unfaithful generation that seeks a sign?” Certainly, Jesus (as portrayed by Matthew) goes after the scribes and Pharisees. They have refused to accept his preaching and to discern the hand of God in his healing.
It seems that this was a very lively question in the early Church – why didn’t everyone accept Jesus as the Messiah who had come into the world? Why did the scribes and Pharisees reject him?
I can see several aspects of this question today that hearken back to the early Church’s plea. Yet, I also sense some differences that our situation promotes.
Why don’t more people accept the preaching of the Gospel?
Why have so many left the Church?
Why does a spirit of lethargy seem to permeate the Church?
Why is conversion so difficult?
One thing that I believe I have learned is that I always have to include myself in any ‘condemnation’ or ‘judgment’ of others. When I see lethargy in the Church, I look for its roots and tangles in my life. When I wonder why “they” don’t accept the Word, I also have to wonder why I am so slow to let it in. And when I criticize American culture for its narcissistic individualism, I look for its manifestation in my awareness and actions.
At least, that’s my intention. Sometimes I do it fairly well. Sometimes so poorly.
It seems that this was a very lively question in the early Church – why didn’t everyone accept Jesus as the Messiah who had come into the world? Why did the scribes and Pharisees reject him?
I can see several aspects of this question today that hearken back to the early Church’s plea. Yet, I also sense some differences that our situation promotes.
Why don’t more people accept the preaching of the Gospel?
Why have so many left the Church?
Why does a spirit of lethargy seem to permeate the Church?
Why is conversion so difficult?
One thing that I believe I have learned is that I always have to include myself in any ‘condemnation’ or ‘judgment’ of others. When I see lethargy in the Church, I look for its roots and tangles in my life. When I wonder why “they” don’t accept the Word, I also have to wonder why I am so slow to let it in. And when I criticize American culture for its narcissistic individualism, I look for its manifestation in my awareness and actions.
At least, that’s my intention. Sometimes I do it fairly well. Sometimes so poorly.
***Prayer:
I pray that we all can reckon with the meaning of the sign of Jonah and so learn from Jesus’ preaching the Word of Life.
AMEN.Sources:
The readings on this page are from the Jerusalem Bible, which is used at Mass in most of the English-speaking world.
*Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
**Don Schwager
Author and Writer for The Word Among Us
Member, Servants of the Word (c) 2006
Word Life Community
***Daily Reflections Creighton University
On-line Ministry - Roc O'Connor, S.J. Rector
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