Liturgical Readings for : Saturday, 3rd August, 2024
Saturday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
FIRST READING
A reading from the book of the Prophet Jeremiah 26:11-16, 24
The Lord himself sent me to say all the things you have heard.
The priests and prophets then addressed the officials and all the people,
‘This man deserves to die, since he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.’
Jeremiah, however, replied to the people as follows,
“The Lord himself sent me to say all the things you have heard against this Temple and this city.
So now amend your behaviour and actions, listen to the voice of the Lord your God: if you do, he will relent and not bring down on you the disaster he has pronounced against you. For myself, I am as you see in your hands. Do whatever you please or think right with me.
But be sure of this, that if you put me to death, you will be bringing innocent blood on yourselves, on this city and on its citizens, since the Lord has truly sent me to you to say all these words in your hearing.’
The officials and all the people then said to the priests and prophets,
This man does not deserve to die: he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.’
but Jeremiah had a protector in Ahikam son of Shaphan, so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 68
Response In your great love, answer me, O God.
1. Rescue me from sinking in the mud; save me from my foes.
Save me from the waters of the deep lest the waves overwhelm me.
Do not let the deep engulf me nor death close its mouth on me. Response
2. As for me in my poverty and pain let your help, O God, lift me up.
I will praise God’s name with a song; I will glorify him with thanksgiving. Response
3. The poor when they see it will be glad and God-seeking hearts will revive;
for the Lord listens to the needy and does not spurn his servants in their chains. Response
Gospel Acclamation Lk 8: 15
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Blessed are those who with a noble and generous heart, take the word of God to themselves and yield a harvest through their perseverance.
Alleluia!
or Mt 5: 10
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Happy those who are persecuted in the cause of right,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Alleluia !
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 14:1-12 Glory to you, O Lord
Herod sent and had John beheaded. John’s disciples went off to tell Jesus.
Herod the tetrarch heard about the reputation of Jesus, and said to his court,
‘This is John the Baptist himself; he has risen from the dead,
and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.’
Now it was Herod who had arrested John, chained him up and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife: For John had told him,
‘It is against the Law for you to have her.’
He had wanted to kill him but was afraid of the people, who regarded John as a prophet.
Then, during the celebrations for Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and so delighted Herod that he promised on oath to give her anything she asked.
Prompted by her mother she said,
‘Give me John the Baptist’s head, here, on a dish.‘
The king was distressed but, thinking of the oaths he had sworn and of his guests, he ordered it to be given her,
and sent and had John beheaded in the prison.
The head was brought in on a dish and given to the girl who took it to her mother.
John’s disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went off to tell Jesus.
The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Saturday Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time Matthew 14:1-12
The story in today’s gospel reading is one of the darker stories in the gospels. The story of the passion and death of John the Baptist anticipates, in many ways, the story of the passion and death of Jesus. Both John and Jesus were executed by agents of Rome because they proclaimed God’s word to powerful people. John proclaimed God’s word as found in the Jewish Law. Jesus proclaimed God’s word in a new way, which was in continuity with the Jewish Law but went beyond it. Powerful people found God’s word as proclaimed by John and Jesus so disturbing that they wanted the preachers of that word put to death. Jeremiah’s proclamation of God’s word in today’s first reading met with a similarly negative response. Some of the worst instincts of human nature are to be found in the story in today’s gospel reading.
Herod, his wife, Herodias, and their daughter, traditionally named as Salome, have been described as a kind of unholy trinity. Between them they conspired to put a holy man of God to death. Even in situations where the worst instincts of human nature are to the fore, there is often to be found some redeeming feature. The redeeming feature in today’s story is the person of John the Baptist himself. He is the light that shines in this very dark scene. His faithfulness to the Lord’s calling shines brightly against the dark backdrop of the worst instincts of human nature displayed by Herod Antipas, his wife and her daughter. John did not allow his goodness to be overcome by evil. The same is true, to an even greater extent, of Jesus. John and Jesus did not allow the light of God’s loving presence in their lives to be dimmed by the darkness in the lives of others. That is our calling too, as followers of the risen Lord. We are to allow the light of God’s loving presence to shine through us, regardless of the situation in which we find ourselves.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
