The Word today, W15B

July 15 - July 20, 2024

Monday 15 July

St Bonaventure, bishop and doctor

Isaiah 1:10-17 Like many another prophet, Isaiah notices the gap between worship and living, between what we say and what we do. God’s assessment is graphically described and the responsorial Psalm is absolutely perfect.

Matthew 10:34-11:1 This passage can surprise and even offend. The sword, however, is not the sword of judgment but the sword of decision, as the following verses show.

Tuesday 16 July

Our Lady of Mt Carmel

Isaiah 7:1-9 A terrifying moment of threat is described: the hearts of the people shuddered as the trees of the forest shudder in front of the wind. It calls for a word of God and that word is strong: God is and will be faithful if you remain faithful.

Matthew 11:20-24 Again, a difficult passage. It portrays Jesus the prophet, encountering rejection. Yet, like the prophets of old he continues to announce his offer, even if in blistering terms.

Wednesday 17 July

Isaiah 10:5-7,13-16 The Assyrian assault was interpreted as God’s reaction to injustice and idolatry. In our reading a merely political or military reading is excluded. Instead, God made use of foreigners and even invasion to call Israel back to fidelity.

Matthew 11:25-27 Jesus exclaims a powerful prayer to God. To understand it well, we need to remember that the learned and the clever are powerful while children are powerless. Thus Jesus’ message is for the oppressed.

Thursday 18 July

Isaiah 26:7-9, 12, 16-19 Today we hear a marvellous cry from the heart. Both the human condition and grace of God come to poetic expression. It would be good to take this passage home and read it quietly to yourself.

Matthew 11:28-30 In Jewish tradition, the Torah or the Law was regarded as a (very) welcome yoke, that is, guidance which you help the faithful plough a straight furrow in life. Jesus’ yoke or burden is, in addition, easy and light.

Friday 19 July

Isaiah 38:1-6,21-22,7-8 A king is seriously ill and bargains with God. We would probably all accept the deal he gets!

Matthew 12:1-8 At a surface level, this passage contrasts in a familiar way legalism and sensible flexibility. At a deeper level, it takes to to the identity of Jesus himself, “something greater than the Temple.”

Saturday 20 July

St Apollinaris, bishop and martyr

Micah 2:1-5 Like Isaiah and many of the prophets, Micah is very much against injustice, exploitation and oppression. He does not mince his words!

Matthew 12:14-21 The historical Jesus did, of course, encounter opposition. (He could hardly have said what he said and done what he did and escape severe criticism.) The historical Jesus may very well have grasped his destiny of suffering in the light of the prophets, and in particular in the light of the Suffering Servant from Isaiah, as in our reading.

References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2024e, July 14). Fifteenth Sunday in ordinary time. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071424.cfm

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