Liturgical Readings for : Saturday, 20th July, 2024
Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle 2
Optional memorial of St Apollinaris, bishop and martyr
FIRST READING
A reading from the book of the Prophet Micah 2:1-5
Seizing the fields they take over houses as well.
Woe to those who plot evil, who lie in bed planning mischief!
No sooner is it dawn than they do it – their hands have the strength for it.
Seizing the fields that they covet, they take over houses as well,
owner and house they confiscate together, taking both man and inheritance.
So the Lord says this:
Now it is I who plot such mischief against this breed as your necks will not escape; nor will you be able to walk proudly, so evil will the time be.
On that day they will make a satire on you, sing a dirge and say,
‘We are stripped of everything; my people’s portion is measured out and shared,
no one will give it back to them, our fields are awarded to our despoiler.’
Therefore you will have no one to measure out a share in the community of the Lord.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 9b
Response Lord, do not forget the poor.
1. Lord, why do you stand afar off and hide yourself in times of distress?
The poor man is devoured by the pride of the wicked:
he is caught in the schemes that others have made. Response
2. For the wicked man boasts of his heart’s desires; the covetous blasphemes and spurns the Lord.
In his pride the wicked says: ‘He will not punish’ There is no God.’ Such are his thoughts. Response
3. His mouth is full of cursing, guile, oppression, mischief and deceit under his tongue.
He lies in wait among the reeds; For you are the helper of the orphan. Response
Gospel Acclamation Ps 118:27
Alleluia, alleluia!
Make me grasp the way of your precepts, and I will muse on your wonders.
Alleluia!
Or 2 Cor 5: 19
Alleluia, alleluia!
God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself,
and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled.
Alleluia
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 12: 14-21
Jesus warned them not to make him known. This was to fulfil the prophecy.
The Pharisees went out and began to plot against him, discussing how to destroy him.
Jesus knew this and withdrew from the district. Many followed him and he cured them all, but warned them not to make him known.
This was to fulfil the prophecy of Isaiah:
Here is my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved, the favourite of my soul. I will endow him with my spirit, and he will proclaim the true faith to the nations.
He will not brawl or shout, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.
He will not break the crushed reed, nor put out the smouldering wick
till he has led the truth to victory:
in his name the nations will put their hope.
The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ
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Gospel Reflection Saturday Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time Matthew 12:14-21
Half of this morning’s gospel reading is taken up with a quotation from the prophet Isaiah. It is a long quotation in comparison to other quotations from the Jewish Scriptures in the gospels. The evangelist, Matthew, clearly regarded this text from Isaiah as speaking powerfully about the person of Jesus and the nature of his mission. In the quotation from Isaiah, God addresses someone whom he describes as his chosen servant, whom he has endowed with his spirit. Jesus was certainly God’s chosen servant, on whom the Holy Spirit had come down at the time of his baptism. It is said of this servant in the quotation that he will neither brawl nor shout. That reflects Jesus’ reference to himself as ‘gentle and humble in heart’.
It is also said in that quotation from Isaiah that the servant will ‘not break the crushed reed, nor put out the smouldering wick’. This reflects the portrayal of Jesus in the gospel as one who is attentive and sensitive to the weakest and most vulnerable, who calls out to the burdened to come to him and find rest, refreshment. A reed that is crushed is easily broken; a wick that is smouldering is easily put out. Jesus had a special care for those who were frail and weak, all who were just hanging on by the skin of their teeth, as we often say. The risen Lord has the same loving concern for us when we are at our most vulnerable, when, in the imagery of Saint Paul, we are aware of ourselves as earthen vessels, prone to being broken. At such times, the Lord is present to us as strength in our weakness, as sustenance in our frailty. He not only comes to us as strength in our weakness, but, having done so, he wants to come through us as strength in the weakness of others. He looks to us to be as attentive to the crushed reeds and the smouldering wicks as he was.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
