Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)
Psalm 65 : 1-3a, 5 and 16-17
Shout with joy to God, all you on earth; sing to the glory of His Name; proclaim His glorious praise. Say to God, “How great are Your deeds!”
Come and see God’s wonders, His deeds awesome for humans. All you who fear God, come and listen; let me tell you what He has done. I cried aloud to Him, extolling Him with my tongue.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)
Deuteronomy 34 : 1-12
From the barren plain of Moab, Moses went up to Mount Nebo, to the summit of Pisgah, opposite Jericho. And YHVH showed him all the Land : from Gilead to Dan, the whole of Naphtali, the land of Ephraim, and of Manasseh, the whole land of Judah, as far as the Western Sea, the Negeb, the Plains, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar.
And YHVH said to him : “This is the land about which I swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, promising it to their descendants. I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you shall not enter it.” Moses, the servant of God, died there in the land of Moab, according to the will of YHVH. They buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but to this very day, no one knows where his tomb is.
Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died. He did not lose his vigour and his eyes still saw clearly. The children of Israel mourned for him in the plains of Moab for thirty days. But Joshua, son of Nun, was full of the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands upon him. The children of Israel obeyed him and did as YHVH had commanded Moses.
No prophet like Moses has appeared again. YHVH conversed with him face to face. What signs and wonders He worked in Egypt against Pharaoh, against his people and all his land! What a powerful hand was His that worked these terrible things in the sight of all Israel!
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s Scripture readings have a clear theme, that all of them spoke of the faults and mistakes which all of us have committed in this life, and how we ought to humble ourselves before God and seek His ever great mercy, so that we may be forgiven of our sins and therefore we will not be cast away from His presence and from the life which He had promised to all of us.
In the first reading we heard how in the time during the Exodus from Egypt, Moses had some sort of power struggle with his siblings, namely Miriam and Aaron, his sister and brother respectively. They were unhappy at what they perceived as something unjust when God favoured Moses such that he was the only one through whom God communicated His will to His people.
As his brother and his sister, Miriam and Aaron had that kind of jealousy, thinking that if Moses had received such favours, then they too would deserve it as well. They therefore grumbled and rose up against Moses, all for the sake of the glory and praise which in our opinion, we think that they were expecting by sharing the same power and privilege which Moses had enjoyed.
But God was angry at them, because they had unjustly and wickedly tried to usurp and contest what God had decided, and they tried to wrest the rightful blessings and grace which God had shown His servant Moses, just because they were jealous in their hearts. And as a result, God showed His displeasure at them, and Miriam contracted leprosy, which was a disease that was one of the most taboo and humiliating at the time.
Yet, we should note how Moses did not rejoice over what had happened to his brother and his sister, and instead, he begged God to show mercy on them. Truly, this is something that we have to take note of. This means that, we cannot be like Aaron and Miriam in their behaviour towards Moses, in all the injustice they had shown him. Yet, their behaviour and actions are precisely what many of us mankind are suffering from.
How many of us have this tendency in us to be jealous at the achievement of others? How many of us also covet what others have? If we look at our own lives, then surely we would realise how many times we have caused this great discomfort upon others and bicker with them for what they have, because we are unable to restrain ourselves. We succumb ourselves to the pressure of our desires and wants, and therefore, we fell into sin.
Today, we celebrate the feast of a holy man, a holy saint, whose in life was known as a hardworking and dedicated man of God, whose concerns were for those whose souls were lost in the darkness, for those who were in a state of mortal danger and sin. He was known as the Cure of Ars, also known by his name of St. John Vianney or St. John Mary Vianney.
We know him as the patron saint for priests, who was the one whose examples inspired so many of the priests past and today. Through his hard and tireless works, he had brought about a great transformation in the lives of those people who were around him, transforming his community and many others who flocked to his place to see him and to hear from his teachings, and to be healed by his hands.
Through St. John Vianney and his works, countless souls had been saved, and many others were initiated on their path towards salvation. This is what Jesus in the Gospel today had mentioned, that salvation and someone’s righteousness does not begin with exterior cleanliness and purity, but instead, begins from the inside. St. John Vianney worked to heal not the body but the soul.
And in the Gospel today, we also heard about how Jesus chided Peter for his lack of faith, because he tried to walk on the water as Jesus had done, but the wind and the waves made him to fear, and in his fear, he trembled and started to sink. He lacked faith in the Lord, and the concerns and fears of this world began to affect him, the same things that had brought Aaron and Miriam to commit sin against God by being jealous to their own brother.
Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us no longer remain an unbeliever, and believe! Let us put our trust and faith fully in God and no longer be affected or corrupted by the many desires and worries of this world. Let us purify ourselves, our body, heart and soul from all sorts of jealousy, greed, desire, hatred and all other forms of negativities in us. May Almighty God bless us and guide us on our way. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
Matthew 14 : 22-36
At that time, immediately Jesus obliged His disciples to get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowd away. And having sent the people away, He went up the mountain by Himself to pray. At nightfall, He was there alone.
Meanwhile, the boat was very far from land, dangerously rocked by the waves, for the wind was against it. At daybreak, Jesus came to them walking on the sea. When they saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, thinking that it was a ghost. And they cried out in fear. But at once Jesus said to them, “Courage! Do not be afraid. It is Me!”
Peter answered, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You walking on the water.” Jesus said to him, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water to go to Jesus. But seeing the strong wind, he was afraid and began to sink; and he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately stretched out His hand and took hold of him, saying, “Man of little faith, why did you doubt?”
As they got into the boat, the wind dropped. Then those in the boat bowed down before Jesus, saying, “Truly, You are the Son of God!”
They came ashore at Gennesareth. The local people recognised Jesus and spread the news throughout the region. So they brought all the sick to Him, begging Him to let them touch just the hem of His cloak. All who touched it became perfectly well.
Alternative reading
Matthew 15 : 1-2, 10-14
At that time, some Pharisees and teachers of the Law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. And they said to Him, “Why do Your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders? In fact, they do not wash their hands before eating.”
Jesus then called the people near Him, and said to them, “Listen and understand : What enters into the mouth does not make a person unclean. What defiles a person is what comes out of his mouth.” After a while the disciples gathered around Jesus and said, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended by what You said?”
Jesus answered, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted shall be uprooted. Pay no attention to them! They are blind leading the blind. When a blind person leads another, the two will fall into a pit.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 50 : 3-4, 5-6a, 6bc-7, 12-13
Have mercy on me, o God, in Your love. In Your great compassion blot out my sin. Wash me thoroughly of my guilt; cleanse me of evil.
For I acknowledge my wrongdoings and have my sins ever in mind. Against You alone have I sinned.
What is evil in Your sight I have done. You are right when You pass sentence and blameless in Your judgment. For I have been guilt-ridden from birth, a sinner from my mother’s womb.
Create in me, o God, a pure heart; give me a new and steadfast spirit. Do not cast me out of Your presence nor take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Liturgical Colour : White
Numbers 12 : 1-13
Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married and they said, “Has YHVH only spoken through Moses? Has He not also spoken through us?” And YHVH heard. Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than any man on the face of the earth. Yet suddenly YHVH said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, all three of you, to the Tent of Meeting.” The three of them came out.
YHVH came down in the pillar of cloud and, standing at the door of the Tent, called Aaron and Miriam. They both went out and He said, “Listen carefully to what I say : If there is a prophet among you, I reveal Myself to him in a vision and I speak to him in a dream. It is not so for My servant, Moses, My trusted steward in all My household. To him I speak face to face, openly, and not in riddles, and he sees the presence of YHVH. Why then did you not fear to speak against My servant, against Moses?”
YHVH became angry with them and He departed. The cloud moved away from above the Tent and Miriam was there white as snow with leprosy. Aaron turned towards Miriam and he saw that she was leprous. And he said to Moses, “My lord, I beg you, do not charge us with this sin that we have foolishly committed. Let her not be like the stillborn whose flesh is half-eaten when it comes from its mother’s womb.”
Then Moses cried to YHVH, “Heal her, o God, I beg of you.”
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard in our first reading from the Book of Exodus, how after more than four hundred years of suffering in Egypt in slavery, God sent His saviour and liberator to His people Israel, through Moses His servant, whom He designed to be special from all the others of His people. He has been marked since His birth to bring about God’s deliverance to Israel.
And then in the Gospel, we heard about Jesus denouncing the cities of the people of God, namely the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum in Galilee, all the cities where the Jews, the people of God lived. It was in these cities, in these places that Jesus had taught the people and showed His many works and miracles to them. But then why did Jesus rebuke them and criticise them in today’s readings?
That is precisely because even though Jesus had done so many works and miracles among them, the people there indignantly refused to believe in Him and they also refused to listen to His teachings, and instead they continued to live as how they have lived all that while. That inertia and unwillingness to change, even though they have witnessed all the things God had done through Jesus, was what aroused the great anger of God.
The same had also happened in the event of the Exodus at that time, when the people of Israel had seen the might of God, who brought the Ten Plagues to crush the Egyptians and forced the Pharaoh to let them go to the Promised Land. And when he and the Egyptians tried to capture back the Israelites, God opened the Red Sea before His people and made the sea to destroy the Egyptians.
Such was the great power and majesty which God had shown them, that truly, they should have all believed in Him and walked faithfully in His ways. However, as we have witnessed if we read the rest of the account of the Exodus, that the people of Israel, beginning from the worship of the golden calf as their god, and in many other occasions, have refused to believe in God, and constantly rebelled against Him. And to those who continued to be unrepentant, He showed His great wrath and punishment.
This is therefore a lesson for all of us to take note of. Should we linger longer in our ways of sin, the ways of this world and all of its wickedness? Or shall we instead bring ourselves to greater devotion to our Lord and walk faithfully in His ways? The choice is indeed ours, brothers and sisters in Christ, and all of us have eyes to see, ears to listen, hands and limbs to touch and feel, and minds and hearts to discern and understand.
We may not have seen what the Lord had done in His miraculous works and we may not have heard from Him directly His words and teachings, but we believe in Him all the same. Remember what Jesus told Thomas the doubtful disciple after His resurrection when He appeared to him? He said that he believed because he saw Him, but even more blessed are those who did not see and witness anything and yet still come to believe.
Therefore, let us all not walk in the same path as the people of the cities which Jesus had rebuked in today’s Gospel, as even though they witnessed what the Lord had done, but their hearts were hard as stone and their minds closed against the love and truth of God.
In their pride, in their haughtiness, they have walked the same path as that of their ancestors, and they would meet destruction in the end, just like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, and even worse, as those people did not see God and His works. The greater is the punishment and anger of God for all those who witness His works and yet refused to believe in Him.
Today we commemorate the feast day of St. Camillus de Lellis, an Italian priest who is a preacher and a faithful servant of God, who ministered especially to the sick and wounded, to the poor and those who have nowhere to go to be treated. He founded the Camillian religious order, named after him, which was also known as the Ministers of the Sick.
He and his many other companions worked together to help many people who were suffering from various maladies. They worked together to bring the people who were sick back to good health, and the joy in them, knowing that they were not abandoned but there would still be some out there who cared for them. This was indeed God at His work, which He exercised through St. Camillus de Lellis and those who followed in his footsteps.
Therefore, having heard the story of the works and dedications of St. Camillus de Lellis, are we all moved in our hearts to also do the same for others who are around us? God works through us, and through us He wants to heal us all and make us all whole once again body and soul. If others see what we have done in the Name of the Lord, they may also be stirred in their hearts to come and believe in the Lord as well.
Hence, today, let us all, in the words that Jesus had once spoken, be no longer an unbeliever but believe with the fullness of our hearts, so that through our faith, we may be justified and be brought into the goodness and glory that He has promised to His beloved and faithful ones. May Almighty God guide us in our path, strengthen our faith and bring us all into His everlasting kingdom. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)
Matthew 11 : 20-24
At that time, Jesus began to denounce the cities, in which He had performed most of His miracles, because the people there did not change their ways.
“Alas for you Chorazin and Bethsaida! If the miracles worked in you had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, the people there would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I assure you, for Tyre and Sidon it will be more bearable on the day of judgment than for you.”
“And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? You will be thrown down to the place of the dead! For if the miracles which were performed in you had taken place in Sodom, it would still be there today! But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)
Psalm 68 : 3, 14, 30-31, 33-34
I am sunk in the miry depths where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, swept and engulfed by the flood.
But I pray to You, o Lord, at a time most favourable to You. In Your great love, o God, answer me with Your unfailing help.
But I myself am humbled and wounded; Your salvation, o God, will lift me up. I will praise the Name of God in song; I will glorify Him with thanksgiving.
Let the lowly witness this and be glad. You who seek God, may your hearts be revived. For the Lord hears the needy and does not despise those in captivity.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)
Exodus 2 : 1-15a
Now a man belonging to the clan of Levi married a woman of his own tribe. She gave birth to a boy and, seeing that he was a beautiful child, she kept him hidden for three months. As she could not conceal him any longer, she made a basket out of papyrus leaves and coated it with tar and pitch. She then laid the child in the basket and placed it among the reeds near the bank of the Nile; but the sister of the child kept at a distance to see what would happen to him.
Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe in the Nile; her attendants meanwhile walked along the bank. When she saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maidservant to fetch it. She opened the basket and saw the child – a boy, and he was crying! She felt sorry for him, for she thought : “This is one of the Hebrew children.”
Then the sister of the child said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” Pharaoh’s daughter agreed, and the girl went to call the mother of the child. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take the child and nurse him for me and I will pay you.”
So the woman took the child and nursed him and, when the child had grown, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter who adopted him as her son. And she named him Moses to recall that she had drawn him out of the water.
After a fairly long time, Moses, by now a grown man, wanted to meet his fellow Hebrews. He noticed how heavily they were burdened and he saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his own people. He looked around and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
When he went out the next day he saw two Hebrews quarrelling. Moses said to the man in the wrong, “Why are you striking a fellow countryman?” But he answered, “Who has set you prince and judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must be known.”
When Pharaoh heard about it he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in the land of Midian.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 