The Word today, W20B

August 19 - August 24, 2024

Monday 19 August

St John Eudes

Ezekiel 24:15-24 The prophets are called sometimes to illustrate their teaching with an action. This is perhaps the most disturbing prophetic gesture—and the message could hardly be clearer.

Matthew 19:16-22 A failed calling is always tough to listen to. It does remind us that we become disciples not because we choose it but rather the Lord chooses us.

Tuesday 20 August

St Bernard, abbot and doctor

Ezekiel 28:1-10 Today we hear a fierce critique of absolute rulers who set themselves up as gods over their people. “Being swollen with pride,” they are now severely corrected by God.

Matthew 19:23-30 The “eye of an needle” is not to be allegorized (there was no such “gate” in Jerusalem). Instead, we have grossly exaggerated image to make the point with wit and inescapable clarity.

Wednesday 21 August

St Pius X, bishop of Rome

Ezekiel 34:1-11 Ezekiel—whose ministry took place just before and then during the great Exile in Babylon—read that disaster as punishment for the total failure of leadership, both political and religious. He is very hard (rightly) on the shepherds who feed themselves instead of feeding the flock.

Matthew 20:1-16 Our parable today has not lost its capacity to shock and disturb. Originally, it was aimed at those who objected to God’s gracious inclusion of Gentiles in his plan of salvation.

Thursday 22 August

Our Lady, queen and mother

Ezekiel 36:23-28 Eventually, Ezekiel comes to the question of renewal and restoration. In a marvellous passage he describes this as a conversion of heart, achieved not by human effort but by God alone. Long before transplants were thought of, Ezekiel portrays God as a heart surgeon.

Matthew 22:1-14 To “get” this parable, it is vital to hear it on two levels. There is the level of the historical Jesus, using traditional festal and nuptial imagery for the kingdom. There is the level of church, looking back and what actually happened to Jesus, the messiah and prophet.

Friday 23 August

St Rose of Lima; St Eugene, bishop

Ezekiel 37:1-14 We need a double lens to listen to this reading. First a political lens: the vision is a parable of restoration after the disaster of the Exile in Babylon. In other words, another generation will rise and return. At the same time, the metaphor of resurrection works only because some people were already coming to some kind of faith in life after death.

Matthew 22:34-40 In a memorable encounter, Jesus goes to the heart of the Gospel of love. This great teaching is never, ever “out of date.”

Saturday 24 August

St Bartholomew, apostle

Apocalypse 21:9-14 What will heaven be like? Using a rich array of metaphors—marriage, jewelry, a city, the twelves tribes and the Lamb of God—our reading offers a stunning, vibrant and inviting portrait.

John 1:45-51 In this Gospel, the spread of the Good News is a kind of wildfire, with one person drawing another in. Symbolically, the fig tree referred to knowledge of God and evil and hence to the Torah which gives us this knowledge.

References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2024bl, August 18). Twentieth Sunday in ordinary time. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081824.cfm

-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings/

The Word today, W19B

August 12 - August 17, 2024

Monday 12 August

St Jane Frances de Chantal, religious; St Muredach, bishop; St Attracta, virgin; St Lelia, virgin.

Ezekiel 1:2-5, 24-28 For the next two weeks, we hear from the extraordinary book of the prophet Ezekiel. Some of the most beguiling and upsetting passages in the Old Testament come from his pen. Our reading of Ezekiel begins today with the story of his calling as a prophet.

Matthew 17:22-27 Jesus’ own real freedom in relation to civil authorities is wittily reflected in this rather legendary story.

Tuesday 13 August

Sts Pontian, bishop of Rome, and Hippolytus, Priest, martyrs; St Fachtna, bishop

Ezekiel 2:8-3:4 In a very graphic way, the function or role of a prophet is illustrated. The prophet must ingest and digest the message and only then may he or she speak.

Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14 Familiarity can blunt our appreciation of biblical imagery. In this case, a child is as symbol of powerlessness rather than innocence. In the case of the shepherd, it against common sense to abandon ninety-nine is search of just one.

Wednesday 14 August

St Maximilian Kolbe, religious, priest, martyr.

Ezekiel 9:1-7, 10:18-22 Ezekiel lived at a time of tremendous unfaithfulness. The story we read today is not meant as a description of something which actually happened but rather a warning, even a threat that people should reform their lives. Ezekiel is always aware of God as mystery, greater than our words, our minds and our heart.

Matthew 18:15-20 In this Gospel we are overhearing practices developed in the community of Matthew, most likely centred in Antioch. What to do with people who “stray”? The procedure is in several stages, following common sensitivity and biblical precedent.

Thursday 15 August

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Apocalypse 11:19, 12:1-6, 10 This unusual reading is really about the motherhood of the church and the martyrdom of early Christians. By an accommodated interpretation, it is read for the feast.

1 Corinthians 15:20-26 Our text is really a good example of Christian apocalyptic. One of the concerns of apocalyptic writings was the sequence of the end or when we will see the total victory over death. Paul believed in this, but knew it was not yet.

Luke 1:39-56 The prayer of Mary can still cause surprise because it is not about having a baby but about social reversal or revolution. We overhear in these words the prayer of the Christian anawim YHWH or the poor of the Lord.

Friday 16 August

St Stephen of Hungary

Ezekiel 16:1-15, 60, 63 In the Old Testament, marriage symbolism is used frequently for God’s relationship with his people. Partly, this is because the word covenant and (marriage) bond are identical in Hebrew. In today’s reading, Ezekiel—never short of a word —exploits the metaphor to reawaken the people’s original love for God.

Matthew 19:3-12 This important passage goes back to Jesus himself. He upholds the ideal of life-long marriage.

Saturday 17 August

Our Lady of Knock.

Ezekiel 18:1-10,13, 30-32 If we listened carefully to this reading it is extraordinary. It move from the traditional collective and generational guilt to individual responsibility. It thus fits in with the Axial Age, observed by Karl Jaspers, when humanity underwent a change of consciousness.

Matthew 19:13-15 It might be reassuring that the disciples got in the way so early!! Jesus corrected them and received the little children. Perhaps today we still stand in need such re-orientation…

References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2024bj, August 11). Nineteenth Sunday in ordinary time. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081124.cfm

-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings/

The Word today, W18B

August 05 - August 10, 2024

Monday 05 August

Dedication of St Mary Major, Rome

Jeremiah 28:1-17 In critical times, there can be prophets who tell us what we want to hear. This was true in the past, as we hear in this gripping story of contrasting “words of the Lord.” Jeremiah is steadfast as usual.

Matthew 14:13-21 The multiplications in the desert has direct echoes of Moses and the manna. Our question might be “what happened?” “Matthew wants us to go a bit deeper: who is Jesus, our new Moses, who guides and nourishes us today?”

Tuesday 06 August

The Transfiguration of the Lord

Daniel 7:9-10,13-14 Our reading takes us to the heavenly court. It uses a key phrase: one like a son of man, used by J e s u s a b o u t himself. The ending of the reading is very like the ending of Matthew’s Gospel: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (Matthew 28:18)

2 Peter 1:16-19 Is the Christian proclamation just stories or “clever myths”? Emphatically not, according to this reading. Jesus was a real historical person about whom believers hold well-grounded beliefs. The last sentence in the reading is very uplifting: take [prophecy] as a lamp for lighting a way through the dark until the dawn comes and the morning star rises in your minds.

Mark 9:2-10 What kind of experience was the Transfiguration for Jesus and for those present? It Mark’s version it was a spiritual experience in which the true identity of Jesus was disclosed and the right responses to him indicated: Listen, to him. This echoes again our human condition: we are hearers of the Word, as Rahner put it.

Wednesday 07 August

Sts Sixtus II, bishop of Rome and his companions, martyrs

Jeremiah 30:1-2,12-15,18-22 A double message marks this passage from Jeremiah, weal and woe or rather the other way around, woe and weal! Yes, the disaster of the Exile brought about tremendous destruction. No, God’s love has never been taken away.

Matthew 14:22-36 The Gospels as a whole were written in the light of Easter and to proclaim the resurrection. This is true of the walking on the water. In this case, we are to understand that the risen, living Lord is with his church always, no matter what storms and tempests we face.

Thursday 08 August

St Dominic, priest and religious

Jeremiah 31:1-7 The second part of Jeremiah is full of surprising and abundant consolation. Nowhere is this more evident is these lines today, “I have loved you with an everlasting love, so I am constant in my affection for you.” It was good news for the exiles; it is good new for us today.

Matthew 15:21-28 The story of the Canaanite woman is remarkable on several counts. First of all, a woman teaches Jesus. Secondly, Matthew underlines that Jesus came “only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” This exception anticipates the Gentile mission, found at the close of this Gospel.

Friday 09 August

St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, (Edith Stein) virgin and martyr

Hosea 2:16, 17, 21-22 The lectionary offers a powerful reading for the feast of Edith Stein, underlining the loving intimacy of God’s call.

Matthew 25:1-13 Our reading—quite traditional for the feast of virgins—reminds us that there are some things others cannot do for us: making journey inward to the heart of God.

Saturday 10 August

St Laurence, deacon and martyr

2 Corinthians 9:6-10 Originally, this reading was about the collection for the Judean Christians, who were poor and under pressure. Paul’s reflection on generosity in giving in general, however, is always up to date.

John 12:24-26 This short reading, also special for the feast, takes up an image from the parables of Jesus and applies it directly to the cost of discipleship then and now.

References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2024bh, August 4). Eighteenth Sunday in ordinary time. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080424.cfm

-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings/