Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 394
Reading 1
Micah 2:1-5
Woe to those who plan iniquity,
and work out evil on their couches;
In the morning light they accomplish it
when it lies within their power.
They covet fields, and seize them;
houses, and they take them;
They cheat an owner of his house,
a man of his inheritance.
Therefore thus says the LORD:
Behold, I am planning against this race an evil
from which you shall not withdraw your necks;
Nor shall you walk with head high,
for it will be a time of evil.
On that day a satire shall be sung over you,
and there shall be a plaintive chant:
"Our ruin is complete,
our fields are portioned out among our captors,
The fields of my people are measured out,
and no one can get them back!"
Thus you shall have no one
to mark out boundaries by lot
in the assembly of the LORD.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 10:1-2, 3-4, 7-8, 14
R. (12b) Do not forget the poor, O Lord!
Why, O LORD, do you stand aloof?
Why hide in times of distress?
Proudly the wicked harass the afflicted,
who are caught in the devices the wicked have contrived.
R. Do not forget the poor, O Lord!
For the wicked man glories in his greed,
and the covetous blasphemes, sets the LORD at nought.
The wicked man boasts, "He will not avenge it";
"There is no God," sums up his thoughts.
R. Do not forget the poor, O Lord!
His mouth is full of cursing, guile and deceit;
under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.
He lurks in ambush near the villages;
in hiding he murders the innocent;
his eyes spy upon the unfortunate.
R. Do not forget the poor, O Lord!
You do see, for you behold misery and sorrow,
taking them in your hands.
On you the unfortunate man depends;
of the fatherless you are the helper.
R. Do not forget the poor, O Lord!
Alleluia
2 Corinthians 5:19
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Matthew 12:14-21
The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus
to put him to death.
When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place.
Many people followed him, and he cured them all,
but he warned them not to make him known.
This was to fulfill what had been spoken through Isaiah the prophet:
Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved in whom I delight;
I shall place my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
He will not contend or cry out,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break,
a smoldering wick he will not quench,
until he brings justice to victory.
And in his name the Gentiles will hope.
Reflection 1
Catholic Daily Reflections
A Different Kind of Messiah
The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place. Many people followed him, and he cured them all, but he warned them not to make him known. Matthew 12:14–16
This passage goes on to say that Jesus withdrew to a more deserted place to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah the Prophet (Isaiah 42:1–4). That prophecy is the first of what is referred to as “The Songs of the Suffering Servant.” In these songs or poems of Isaiah, the Messiah is presented to us as one who would be sent on a mission from God, would suffer injustice for the sake of others, would be rejected, and ultimately be vindicated and exalted. The mission of the Suffering Servant was to bring justice and salvation to all, including to the Gentiles.
At that time, the idea of a messianic king was still prominent in the minds of many. They anticipated the coming of a messiah who would be a political leader and would lead the people of Israel out of oppression, making them a free, prosperous and powerful nation. But Jesus acts in the opposite manner. Instead of raising up an army to combat the evil intentions of the Pharisees and to overthrow the Romans, Jesus withdrew from them and invited people to come to Him for healing and to receive His teachings.
Jesus perfectly fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah by becoming the Suffering Servant. And because His messianic role was much different than what many people had anticipated, Saint Matthew points us to the Old Testament prophecy of Isaiah as a way of clearly showing that Jesus truly was the promised Messiah. He was just not the form of messiah that many expected. He was One Who was humble and gentle of heart. He was One Who would redeem people by the Blood of His Cross. And He was One Who would extend salvation to all people, not only the people of Israel.
One lesson this teaches us is that even today we can have false expectations of God. It is easy for us to set forth our own idea of what God should do and what true justice demands. But we also read in Isaiah, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Is. 55:8–9).
Just as it must have been difficult for the people of Israel to come to accept the promised Messiah as a servant Who suffers and Who redeems all people through that suffering, so it is often difficult for us to accept our Lord as He is. It is difficult to shed our own ideas of what we want God to do and this is especially difficult when He calls us to share in His own suffering and servanthood. To serve, suffer, sacrifice our lives, and the like can be difficult to accept. But this is the way of our Lord—it is the way of the Suffering Servant of God.
Reflect, today, upon your own expectations of God. Do you have a long list of things that you think God should do? Do you pray for that list of your ideas, thinking that if you only ask enough, God will grant your requests? If your requests flow from His perfect will, then praying for them in faith will bring them about. But if they flow more from you and your own ideas of what God should do, then all the prayers in the world will not bring them to be. If this is your struggle, then try to start anew by turning your eyes to the Servant Who Suffers for the salvation of all. Reflect upon the fact that God’s thoughts and ways are most often very far above your own thoughts and ways. Try to humble yourself before the Suffering Servant and abandon all ideas that do not flow from His Heart.
Reflection 2
One Bread, One Body
THE TYRANNY OF SELF
“When the Pharisees were outside they began to plot against Him to find a way to destroy Him. Jesus was aware of this.” —Matthew 12:14-15
Jesus was aware that some of the religious leaders of His time were plotting to destroy Him. When we are rejected, hated, and threatened with murder, we normally turn in on ourselves and become preoccupied with our problems. However, Jesus did just the opposite. He reached out to many people and cured them all (Mt 12:15). When we’re wounded, we think of being healed. When Jesus was wounded, He healed others.
When Jesus was hanging on the cross, He did not give in to self-pity. Rather, He kept forgiving those who continued to hurt Him (Lk 23:34), promised paradise to the good thief (Lk 23:43), called Mary to be a mother to His disciples (Jn 19:26-27), and commended His Spirit to His Father (Lk 23:46). Jesus was God-centered, other-centered, and sinner-centered. Even in His agony and pain on Calvary, Jesus was not self-centered.
It’s humanly impossible to die to self when you feel as if you’re dying. However, Jesus lives in all those who have given their lives to Him. The Lord will make us Christ-centered rather than self-centered. He will free us from the tyranny of self.
Prayer: Father, may I not be self-centered so that I can truly love You and myself.
Promise: “Here is My Servant Whom I have chosen, My loved One in Whom I delight. I will endow Him with My Spirit.” —Mt 12:18
Praise: St. Apollinaris continued to return to the place where he was being persecuted in order to spread the Gospel.
Reflection 3
Living His Word, A Day At A Time
Following in the footsteps of Amos, Hosea and Isaiah comes Micah, another prophet sent by God to bring about a social reformation. Micah denounced the brazen exploitation of the weaker sections of society by the rulers, certain elite groups and even the religious leaders. He confronted them about their greed and covetousness that had led them to violate not just all ethics and morality but even basic respect for human life!
We see this disrespect for human life in today’s Gospel as well, as the Pharisees plot to do away with Jesus. Today’s Gospel also recalls a prophecy Isaiah made about God’s suffering servant (later believed to be Jesus). The servant of God will bear the abuse and humiliation without retaliating violently. But His stand for truth and justice will be a source of inspiration to many who will work to establish God’s kingdom on earth.
When I fully understand that respect for life and the dignity of every human being begins with me, I have begun my work, contributing to the building of God’s kingdom.
Prayers
My Suffering Servant, I thank You for Your suffering and death and for the redemption that flows from Your sacrifice of love. Help me to shed all false expectations that I have of You, dear Lord, so that I will be guided by You and Your mission of salvation alone. Jesus, I trust in You.
Lord Jesus, your love and mercy knows no bounds. Give me strength when I am weak, hope when I am discouraged, peace when I am troubled, consolation when I am sad, and understanding when I am perplexed. Make me an instrument of your love and peace to those who are troubled and without hope.
Daily Reflections on Divine Mercy
Reflection 201: The Night with Jesus, In Prison
Imagine what it would be like if you could somehow be mystically transported to the night of Holy Thursday. And imagine if you could somehow see and experience everything that Jesus went through. Imagine the Agony in the Garden, the ridicule and harsh treatment, the mockery, the night alone in prison, the trial, the scourging, the carrying of the Cross and the Crucifixion. This would be too much to bear. To face Jesus and all His interior and exterior sufferings would be overwhelming. But, if you could do it, and face every experience that He had, it would change your life. The sufferings of Christ should not be ignored. They should not be turned away from and they should not be shunned. His Passion must be faced, understood, loved and lived by each one of us. When we do this we will be changed forever (See Diary #1054).
Try to spend time today letting yourself be drawn in, deeply, to the mysterious and profound sufferings of Jesus. Let the Lord reveal to you a taste of what He endured. Facing His sufferings is not only facing a great evil; rather, it’s facing love in its purest form. To face the Cross and all that it encompassed is to face the greatest act of love ever known, revealed through the greatest scandal ever experienced. God is astonishing to us, in a holy way, when we discover His love in His suffering. Ponder it today, let it sit in your heart, seek to understand the mystery and allow God to transform you through it.
Lord, please give me the grace to turn toward You on the throne of Your Cross and to gaze upon You now and for all eternity. Help me to discover Love in its most pure form as I fix my eyes on You and all that You endured. My Suffering Lord Jesus, I love You and I trust in You.
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