The Word today, W13B

July 01 - July 06, 2024

Monday 01 July

St Oliver Plunkett, bishop and martyr

Amos 2:6-10, 13-16 Economic prosperity was built on the back of the poor. The prophet does not hesitate to name it as it is. God is a liberator God who wants justice and freedom for his people.

Matthew 8:18-22 The conditions of discipleship are daunting and, yet, the stories are unfinished and open-ended…

Tuesday 02 July

Amos 3:1-8, 4:11-12 Severely, Amos reminds us that everything has its cause and purpose.

Matthew 8:23-27 The storm and the boat symbolize the experience of the church. The prayer of the disciples could easily be ours today.

Wednesday 03 July

St Thomas, apostle

Ephesians 2:19-22 This short reading is rich in resonance: it presents the Christian life as a home coming (something most of us have experienced), a being built into a house of God.

John 20:24-29 It is interesting that this story survives in p o p u l a r m e m o r y a s “ d o u b t i n g Thomas.” And yet, the central point is his tremendous faith and confession: my Lord and my God, the highest confession of Jesus’ identity in the entire Gospel of John.

Thursday 04 July

St Elizabeth of Portugal

Amos 7:10-17 Amos disturbed the powers that be and in response they tried to silence the prophet. The higher clergy collaborate with the king to get at him, but Amos never falters. The silencing of prophets might perhaps have a special resonance for us at this time.

Matthew 9:1-8 The question is a good one: it is apparently much easier to say your sins are forgiven because the effects are unseen!

Friday 05 July

St Antony Mary Zaccaria, priest

Amos 8:4-6, 9-12 Here is a classic prophetic cry. Amos reminds the people that economic prosperity is a passing illusion and won’t last. Rank injustice, a fruit of that false flourishing, will come to the attention of God. Above all, God’s wants justice for all the people.

Matthew 9:9-13 This story is well remembered and with good reason. After the negative reaction of the Pharisees (who seemingly don’t dare to confront Jesus himself), the Lord speaks three sentences, each worth a meditation in itself.

Saturday 06 July

St Maria Goretti, virgin and martyr St Monnine, hermit

Amos 9:11-15 Prophets can seem predominantly negative and certainly Amos had negative things to say. But even these are expressions of God’s faithfulness. In today passage, it is that very faithfulness of God which is the focus: in spite of everything, God will restore his people.

Matthew 9:14-17 The real focus of this little dispute is the sheer novelty of the proclamation of Jesus, a novelty marked by a break in religious practice. Apart from the forty days in the desert, it seems Jesus did not fast and this scandalised some. But old practices were not adequate to celebrate the radically new teaching of Jesus.

References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2024bb, June 30). Thirteenth Sunday in ordinary time. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/063024.cfm

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