Tuesday 13 July

FIFTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

 

SEEING SIGNS – CONVERSION

 

Introduction

      Moses had to be saved from the waters so that he could share the same experience as his people when they were to be saved by passing through the waters.

      The poor and the oppressed are often more open to salvation than the self-satisfied, sophisticated city dwellers; the latter are often in the Bible the image of rationalistic and corrupt people, also among the Jews. As they are more individualistic, they do not easily form a community of salvation. In the noise and bustle of a busy life, they do not see the signs of God’s presence.

 

Opening Prayer

Lord our God,
we are often blind and insensitive
to the wonderful things you do among us
and to the love people show us.
Open our minds and hearts
to see the signs of your presence
in the good people do to one another and to us.
Make us also see the presence of our crucified Lord
in people who suffer.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

 

Reading 1: Ex 2:1–15a

A certain man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman,
who conceived and bore a son.
Seeing that he was a goodly child, she hid him for three months.
When she could hide him no longer, she took a papyrus basket,
daubed it with bitumen and pitch,
and putting the child in it,
placed it among the reeds on the river bank.
His sister stationed herself at a distance
to find out what would happen to him.

Pharaoh’s daughter came down to the river to bathe,
while her maids walked along the river bank.
Noticing the basket among the reeds, she sent her handmaid to fetch it.
On opening it, she looked, and lo, there was a baby boy, crying!
She was moved with pity for him and said,
“It is one of the Hebrews’ children.”
Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter,
“Shall I go and call one of the Hebrew women
to nurse the child for you?”
“Yes, do so,” she answered.
So the maiden went and called the child’s own mother.
Pharaoh’s daughter said to her,
“Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will repay you.”
The woman therefore took the child and nursed it.
When the child grew, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter,
who adopted him as her son and called him Moses;
for she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

On one occasion, after Moses had grown up,
when he visited his kinsmen and witnessed their forced labor,
he saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his own kinsmen.
Looking about and seeing no one,
he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
The next day he went out again, and now two Hebrews were fighting!
So he asked the culprit,
“Why are you striking your fellow Hebrew?”
But the culprit replied,
“Who has appointed you ruler and judge over us?
Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?”
Then Moses became afraid and thought,
“The affair must certainly be known.”

Pharaoh, too, heard of the affair and sought to put Moses to death.
But Moses fled from him and stayed in the land of Midian.

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 69:3, 14, 30-31, 33-34

(see 33)  Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
I am sunk in the abysmal swamp
where there is no foothold;
I have reached the watery depths;
the flood overwhelms me.
R. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
But I pray to you, O LORD,
for the time of your favor, O God!
In your great kindness answer me
with your constant help.
R. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your saving help, O God, protect me;
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving.
R. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
“See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.”
R. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.

 

Alleluia: Ps 95:8

Alleluia, alleluia.
If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel: Mt 11:20-24

Jesus began to reproach the towns
where most of his mighty deeds had been done,
since they had not repented.
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!

For if the mighty deeds done in your midst
had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.
And as for you, Capernaum:

Will you be exalted to heaven?
You will go down to the netherworld.

For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom,
it would have remained until this day.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

 

Intercessions

–   For men and women who have lowly and depressing jobs, that we may appreciate them, we pray:

–   For all who have been baptized in the saving waters of baptism, that they may remain faithful to their baptismal promises, we pray:

–   For all those who see the good deeds done by believing people, that they may discover the Lord Jesus who inspires these good people, we pray:

 

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord our God,
let this bread and wine we bring before you
become to us clear signs
of how you make yourself near to us
in Jesus Christ your Son.
Give us a deep faith to discover
the love you constantly show us in him
and to respond eagerly to it
with deeds of compassion and service
for all those who need us.
Grant us this through Christ our Lord.

 

Prayer after Communion

Lord God,
we deserve the harsh words
which Jesus spoke to us today
to prompt us to seek conversion.
Make us accept these words
spoken out of deep concern
for those he loves.
Give us an open attitude
that makes us see how you care for us
and how you are near to us in everyday life.
Help us to respond to your loving care
through Christ our Lord.

 

Blessing

Repent. Perhaps we think that these words of the Lord do not apply to us. If we are open-minded, we will probably notice that there are many things in us that we wish to change. Perfection is not of this world. May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Commentary

Exodus gives a popular explanation for the name of Moses by relating it to the account of the child’s discovery by Pharaoh’s daughter and his being taken out of the water. Not strict etymol­ogy but not bad catechesis!

It is interesting to note how often water in the scriptures becomes a symbol of baptism. It is true of the Noah story, the Red Sea crossing, and the Israelites crossing the Jordan. It is always a question of a deliverance through water. The Moses story lends itself to such symbolism.

Moses is first and foremost a Hebrew. When he comes upon a fight between an Egyptian and a Hebrew, he unhesitatingly kills the Egyptian. When he later learns the homicide has become known, he flees to Midian.

Jesus today speaks of the imminence of judgment. Clear signs of the final age in the person of Jesus had been given, but still there was hardness of heart. Who can honestly say that the opportunity to turn from a life of sin to God is not given? But how often do we pass up the chances he offers us! Let us always respond to the voice of the Lord.

 

Points to Ponder

Moses: delivery from the water

Turning to God

The joy of the life of grace.