Reading 1
Ex 1:8-14, 22
A new king, who knew nothing of Joseph, came to power in Egypt.
He said to his subjects, “Look how numerous and powerful
the people of the children of Israel are growing, more so than we ourselves!
Come, let us deal shrewdly with them to stop their increase;
otherwise, in time of war they too may join our enemies
to fight against us, and so leave our country.”
Accordingly, taskmasters were set over the children of Israel
to oppress them with forced labor.
Thus they had to build for Pharaoh
the supply cities of Pithom and Raamses.
Yet the more they were oppressed,
the more they multiplied and spread.
The Egyptians, then, dreaded the children of Israel
and reduced them to cruel slavery,
making life bitter for them with hard work in mortar and brick
and all kinds of field work—the whole cruel fate of slaves.
Pharaoh then commanded all his subjects,
“Throw into the river every boy that is born to the Hebrews,
but you may let all the girls live.”
124:1b-3, 4-6, 7-8
Responsorial PsalmR. (8a)
Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Had not the LORD been with us–
let Israel say, had not the LORD been with us–
When men rose up against us,
then would they have swallowed us alive,
When their fury was inflamed against us.
R. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Then would the waters have overwhelmed us;
The torrent would have swept over us;
over us then would have swept
the raging waters.
Blessed be the LORD, who did not leave us
a prey to their teeth.
R. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
We were rescued like a bird
from the fowlers’ snare;
Broken was the snare,
and we were freed.
Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
R. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Gospel
Mt 10:34-11:1
Jesus said to his Apostles:
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth.
I have come to bring not peace but the sword.
For I have come to set
a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
and one’s enemies will be those of his household.
“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me,
and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
and whoever does not take up his cross
and follow after me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it,
and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
“Whoever receives you receives me,
and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.
Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet
will receive a prophet’s reward,
and whoever receives a righteous man
because he is righteous
will receive a righteous man’s reward."
When Jesus finished giving these commands to his Twelve disciples,
he went away from that place to teach and to preach in their towns.
Meditation: Psalm 124:1-8
“Our help is the name of the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” (Psalm 124:8)
There’s nothing like experiencing God’s power in delivering us from serious trouble. It can be so breathtaking at times that we can’t help but join the psalmist in proclaiming that our help lies in the Lord, the creator of all. But the real challenge is to be able to proclaim God’s praises a few weeks later, when the next challenge comes our way!
In many ways, our lives are an ongoing progression. Our education starts when we are young, but we keep on building on what we have learned until the day we die. Similarly, the training we receive early on in our jobs can continue over our whole career. And as you might expect, God wants our faith to grow and progress as well. He wants us to keep building our “database” of faith throughout our lives, based on all the times he has worked powerfully in us. He wants us to expand our knowledge of his ways based on the lessons that come from trusting him through a difficult trial and seeing him work victoriously.
This is what the psalmist experienced.
He and his fellow Israelites
were under a threat from their enemies. So great was the danger that it felt as if a torrent of raging water were about to sweep over them. In this dire situation, they cried out to the Lord and were saved. Surely these people had been told that God was faithful. They probably had some experience of his faithfulness beforehand. But now they had experienced it in an extreme way! Now it was permanently logged into their brains as uncontested evidence of God’s power, his love, and his steadfastness.
Today, take a look at your own database of faith. Call to mind—and write down in your prayer journal— all the ways God has blessed you, healed you, and rescued you over the years. Take the time to put these events in writing. That way, you can turn to them for encouragement when the next challenge comes along.
“Father of heaven and earth, thank you for your faithfulness over all these years. Thank you for all the times you have rescued me, taught me, and loved me. Help me to use this knowledge to walk with you today.”
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