The Word today, W17B
- Admin
- Jul 26, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 27, 2024
July 29 - August 03, 2024
Sts Martha, Mary and Lazarus
Jeremiah 13:1-11 From time to time the prophets use an illustration—a prophetic gesture—to get their message across. Today’s is quite dramatic!!
John 11:19-27 John’s symbolic narratives offer real human emotions, easy to connect to. The context here is loss and bereavement, known to us all. At the heart of the story is one of the seven great I AM sentences in John’s Gospel: challenging faith and offering consolation.
St Peter Chrysologus, bishop and doctor
Jeremiah 14:17-22 In the face of tragedy, today we hear a heart felt prayer, true at almost any time in human history. The person praying shows tremendous faith in God: O our God, you are our hope, since it is you who do all this.
Matthew 13:36-43 The parable of the darnel teaches patience and a certain non-interfering tolerance. In case this might lead to complacency (not much of risk these days!), the community developed this rather threatening interpretation.
St Ignatius Loyola, religious and priest
Jeremiah 15:10, 16-21 Jeremiah really did suffer for his calling as prophet. Not only had he difficult things to proclaim but he was personally treated very badly. In this passage, he brings his pain before the Lord.
Matthew 13:44-46 These two simply and direct parabolic sayings teach something we all know but lose sight of from time to time: discipleship “costs not less than everything.”
St Alphonsus Mary de' Liguori, bishop, doctor
Jeremiah 18:1-6 Again, we have a prophetic gesture with a very clear message: Yes, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so you are in mine, House of Israel.
Matthew 13:47-53 The gospel of Matthew can be uncomfortable and today he does teach that there will be a judgment and a sorting at the end. It is, of course, not a literal description but an invitation not to lose the potential of the present moment.
St Eusebius of Vercelli, bishop
Jeremiah 26:1-9 The Lord entrusts a message to the people, to be proclaimed in the holiest place the Temple. Will people pay attention? The reaction is forthright.
Matthew 13:54-58 As we say, familiarity breeds contempt. Because they think they are utterly familiar with this neighbour of theirs, their minds are blinded. This can happen to us too in our piety—we may think we know this Jesus, but do we really?
Jeremiah 26:11-16, 24 Continuing from yesterday, we hear the divided reaction to Jeremiah’s proclamation. Fortunately for him, he has a supporter and a protector.
Matthew 14:1-12 The death of John the Baptist is a sad, even absurd ending to a fiery career. It is reported Mark and Matthew, both of whom use it a warning about the cost of discipleship. It is omitted in Luke and John, probably to avoid any comparisons with the unique death of Jesus. We know a little more about it from Josephus, who writes: “Accordingly John was sent as a prisoner, out of Herod's suspicious temper, to Machaerus, the castle I already mentioned, and was put to death. Now the Jews thought that the destruction of his army was sent as a punishment upon Herod, and a mark of God’s displeasure with him.” (Jewish Antiquities 18).
References
-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2024bf, July 28). Seventeenth Sunday in ordinary time. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072824.cfm
-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings/
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