FIRST READING
Micah 6:1-4, 6-8
Hear what the LORD says:
Arise, present your plea before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice! Hear, O mountains, the plea of the LORD, pay attention, O foundations of the earth! For the LORD has a plea against his people, and he enters into trial with Israel.
O my people, what have I done to you, or how have I wearied you? Answer me! For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, from the place of slavery I released you; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow before God most high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with myriad streams of oil? Shall I give my first-born for my crime, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? You have been told, O man, what is good, and what the LORD requires of you: Only to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Psalm 50:5-6, 8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23
R. (23b) To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Gather my faithful ones before me, those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” And the heavens proclaim his justice; for God himself is the judge.
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you, for your burnt offerings are before me always. I take from your house no bullock, no goats out of your fold.”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Why do you recite my statutes, and profess my covenant with your mouth, Though you hate discipline and cast my words behind you?”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it? Or do you think that I am like yourself? I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes. He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me; and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
ALLELUIA
Psalm 95:8
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GOSPEL
Matthew 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.”
REFLECTIONS:
What would the Lord Jesus say about our generation?
Jesus gave a rather stern warning to his generation when they demanded
a sign from him. It was characteristic of the Jews that they demanded "signs"
from God's messengers to authenticate their claims. Jesus faulted them
for one thing: spiritual adultery. The image of adultery was often
used in the scriptures for describing apostasy or infidelity towards God.
When the religious leaders pressed Jesus to give proof for his claims,
he says in so many words that he is God's sign and that they need no further
evidence from heaven than his own person. The Ninevites recognized God's
warning when Jonah spoke to them, and they repented (Jonah 3:5). And the
Queen of Sheba recognized God's wisdom in Solomon (1 Kings 10:1-9). Jonah
was God's sign and his message was the message of God for the people of
Nineveh. Unfortunately the religious leaders were not content to accept
the signs right before their eyes. They had rejected the message of John
the Baptist and now they reject Jesus as God's Anointed One (Messiah)
and they fail to heed his message. Simeon had prophesied at Jesus' birth
that he was "destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be opposed so that inner thoughts of many will
be revealed" (Luke 2:34- 35). Jesus confirmed his message with many
miracles in preparation for the greatest sign of all his resurrection
on the third day.
The Lord Jesus through the gift of his Holy Spirit offers us freedom
from sin and ignorance and he gives us wisdom and understanding so that
we may grow in knowledge of God and his ways. Do you thirst for God and
for the wisdom which comes from above? James the Apostle says that the
wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason,
full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity (James
3:17). A double-minded person cannot receive this kind of wisdom. If we
wish to be wise in God's ways, then we must humble ourselves before him,
like attentive students who wish to learn, and submit our heart and mind
to his will for our lives. The single of heart and mind desire one thing
alone God who is the source of all wisdom, goodness, truth, and knowledge.
Do you wish to be wise and loving as God is wise and loving? Ask the Holy
Spirit to fill you with the wisdom which comes from above and to free your
heart from all that would hinder God's loving action in your life.
"Lord Jesus, fill me with your Holy Spirit that I may grow in wisdom
and knowledge of your love and truth. Free me from stubborn pride and wilfulness
that I may wholly desire to do what is pleasing to you."
No comments:
Post a Comment