17th Week in Ordinary Time
04th August 2023 (Friday) Readings and Reflection
Psalter: Week 1
Reading of the Day
First Reading: Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, the holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight, is the Lord's Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. But you shall present a food offering to the Lord for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work.” And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, when you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the Lord. Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present a food offering to the Lord. On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the Feast of Booths to the Lord. On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. For seven days you shall present food offerings to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the Lord. It is a solemn assembly; you shall not do any ordinary work. These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the Lord food offerings, burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day.”
Psalm 81:3-4, 5-6ab, 10-11ab (R. 2a)
R/. Sing joyfully to God our strength.
Alleluia
V/. Alleluia R/. Alleluia
V/. The word of the Lord remains for ever; and this word is the good news that was preached to you.
R/. Alleluia
Gospel : Matthew 13:54-58
At that time: Coming to his hometown Jesus taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mothercalled Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honour except in his hometown and in his own household.” And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.
Daily Gospel Reflection
Highlight: Content or contempt?
Guidlines: We are living in a “show world” where the quality of a person or thing is judged by what is shown, by what appears, and not by what that really is{alertSuccess}
1. Life of today has become like a public stage where everyone wants to play the key role and show that they are the best and the vital figures. It has become a display board where everyone wants to present a thing of his own so that all are drawn to them and acclaim their greatness.
2. Accordingly, in life often people look and judge, based on what is visible, perceptible, and apparent. Consequently, perspectives, judgments, decisions, and actions are very superficial and biased.
3. They are led by external factors like colour, caste, race, region, religion, language, culture, position, power, money, intelligence, relation, etc. Many do not have the heart nor patience or goodness to go deeper and discover and savour the goodness and worth of persons.
4. Jesus too was subjected to contempt because of his humble origins and familiar surroundings. His own people despise Jesus because they think that they know all about him. They know his family, his parents, his brothers and sisters. They know his father’s profession of carpentry. They know the status and the standard of his family. They know none of them were outstanding.
5. Therefore, their whole problem was, how could he become so great, powerful, and outstanding? How could he outsmart them? They thought they knew everything. But what they actually knew was the outer layers and covers and not the inner lining.
6. They knew only his earthly human origins, but not his heavenly origin. They knew only his blood affinities but not the Spirit's identity. They knew his earthly father Joseph but not the real heavenly Father.
7. They knew his secular profession as carpentry but not his substantial mission of interior, spiritual carpentry of hearts and souls. They thought only about academic education but lost sight of his eternal wisdom. Their realm and perspective were totally low and below.
8. The listing of various feasts of Israel in the first reading, Leviticus 23 such as the Passover, the feast of the Unleavened Bread, the feast of Booths, etc. also points to this getting stuck to the mere externals. All the traditions and laws were meant to make the people close to God and holy.
9. But in the course of time, the people simply fall to legalism, rigidity, and collective biases. How sad it is that the worth of a book is judged by its cover, which is often deceptive! Our relationships are often at the “rut level” (ruin), because our hearts are at the “nut level” (crank and foolish).
Practice: Let us become more receptive to God’s grace, so as not to be misled by what is merely perceptual or conceptual because it makes us very fragmentary and defective {alertSuccess}