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Tuesday – Sixteenth Week – OT2
Readings: Mic 7:14-15, 18-20; Mt 12:46-50.
Reading 1 (Mic 7:14-15, 18-20):
Shepherd your people with your staff,
the flock of your inheritance,
That dwell apart in a woodland,
in the midst of Carmel.
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead,
as in the days of old.
As in the days when you came from the land of Egypt,
show us wonderful signs.
Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt
and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance.
Who does not persist in anger forever,
but delights rather in clemency,
And will again have compassion on us,
treading underfoot our guilt?
You will cast into the depths of the sea
all our sins.
You will show faithfulness to Jacob,
and grace to Abraham,
As you have sworn to our fathers
from days of old.
Gospel (Mt 12:46-50):
While Jesus was speaking to the crowds,
his mother and his brothers appeared outside,
wishing to speak with him.
Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside,
asking to speak with you.”
But he said in reply to the one who told him,
“Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?”
And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said,
“Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father
is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
Fr. Anthony Dinh Minh Tien, O.P.
I. THEME: How are we loved by God and become the members of His household?
When witnessed Jesus’ wisdom and power, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it” (Lk 11:27-28).
Today readings emphasize the conditions to be loved, cared for and considered as the members of God’s household, that are: to listen and to do His will. In the first reading, the prophet Micah provided a hope for the Israelites. If they want God to have mercy and to liberate them from the exile, they must recognize God’s loyal love and repent and return to Him. In the Gospel, when Jesus was made known that his mother and brothers were waiting for him at outside, Jesus provides a hope for his audience: “whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
II. ANALYSIS:
1/ Reading I: Who will again have compassion on us, treading underfoot our guilt?
1.1/ God Himself shall shepherd His flock: Today passage is the last verses of the Book of prophet Micah. Like the majority of the prophetic books, even though Micah foresaw the destruction of the kingdom and the exile which can’t be avoided, but he provided for people a hope in the future if they shall repent and return.
He called people to look back into the past to recognize what God has done for them. The Exodus out of Egypt is the event which God expressed His love for them. In this event, God performed wonderful signs and miracles to bring the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt and to lead them to Canaan, the promise land which is full of meal and honey. He also accompanied them during their forty years in the desert. This event caused all nations where Israel passed through, frightened and trembled.
If they shall repent and return, God Himself shall be the shepherd to care for the sheep which are His inheritance. Micah mentioned two famous regions which all the Israelites are familiar with. Bashan is the highest mountain, located between the frontier of Syria and Israel. This is a very fertile region because the conglomerate of land and the abundance of water. In this place, water from the snow of Bashan Mountain coming down joins water from Syria’s rivers before they flow to Galilee Sea. Bashan is famous for oaks, ideal for growing wheat and stock farming. To the south of Jordan river is Gilead, known as Transjordan; this region is also famous for oaks and pines, and ideal for stock farming. Today, if the pilgrims travel along this region, they can see many banana fields all the way to Jericho.
1.2/ God is loyal to His love though the Israelites betrayed Him.
(1) God must punish the Israelites so that they could recognize their sins, repent and return to Him, not to destroy them forever. Once they repented and returned, God’s anger shall be abated and He shall save them, though only a remnant.
(2) God is the Lord of mercy: As the Father, God isn’t happy when He saw people to live miserable in sufferings. He also understands people’s circumstance, when they are still in body, sins are difficult to avoid. The important and necessary point is that they must recognize their sins and repent. When people recognize their sins and repent, God shall forgive all of their sins and recover their right to be God’s children. The prophet Micah expressed God’s loving forgiveness as follows: “Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance; who does not persist in anger forever, but delights rather in clemency, and will again have compassion on us, treading underfoot our guilt? You will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins”
(3) What God promised to our forefathers, He shall accomplish it: “You will show faithfulness to Jacob, and grace to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from days of old.”
2/ Gospel: “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?”
2.1/ Doing God’s will is the condition to become a member of God’s household.
Matthew reported the event as follows: “While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with him. Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.” But he said in reply to the one who told him, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.””
When said these words, Jesus didn’t intend to insult his mother or familial relationship; but he wanted to emphasize two points:
(1) All can become members of God’s household if they recognize and do God’s will.
(2) The way to become members of God’s household is different with human way. According to human way, one becomes a member of the family either by being born in the family or by adoption. According to God’s way, one becomes God’s children by doing God’s will, or better, by believing Christ as the Son of God (Jn 1:12).
2.2/ Mary, Jesus’ mother, is the one who perfectly did God’s will: Like Jesus, all Mary’s life was dedicated to do God’s will. We can illustrate three main events in her life:
(1) In the Annunciation: When the archangel Gabriel appeared to announce God’s plan of salvation, even Mary vowed to live a chaste life; but after she recognized God’s will, she humbly said to God through the archangel’s presence: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38).
(2) In the wedding at Cana: When the Blessed Mary recognized the wine ran short, “the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:4-5).
(3) When she found Jesus in the Jerusalem temple: After three days of searching for their son, “they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart” (Lk 2:48-51).
III. APPLICATION IN LIFE:
– God is always faithful though people are unfaithful and betrayed. If we repent and return, He is still ready to receive us as His children.
– We become God’s children by believing and doing God’s will, not by any relation or any other reasons.