THE GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY : Monday - July 24, 2023

 

Monday - July 24, 2023

While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart.

 

-- St. Francis of Assisi

July 24, 2023

Monday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 395

 

Reading I     

                                                                                                Ex 14:5-18

 

When it was reported to the king of Egypt

that the people had fled,

Pharaoh and his servants changed their minds about them.

They exclaimed, "What have we done!

Why, we have released Israel from our service!"

So Pharaoh made his chariots ready and mustered his soldiers—

six hundred first-class chariots

and all the other chariots of Egypt, with warriors on them all.

So obstinate had the LORD made Pharaoh

that he pursued the children of Israel

even while they were marching away in triumph.

The Egyptians, then, pursued them;

Pharaoh's whole army, his horses, chariots and charioteers,

caught up with them as they lay encamped by the sea,

at Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

 

Pharaoh was already near when the children of Israel looked up

and saw that the Egyptians were on the march in pursuit of them.

In great fright they cried out to the LORD.

And they complained to Moses,

"Were there no burial places in Egypt

that you had to bring us out here to die in the desert?

Why did you do this to us?

Why did you bring us out of Egypt?

Did we not tell you this in Egypt, when we said,

'Leave us alone. Let us serve the Egyptians'?

Far better for us to be the slaves of the Egyptians

than to die in the desert."

But Moses answered the people,

"Fear not! Stand your ground,

and you will see the victory the LORD will win for you today.

These Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again.

The LORD himself will fight for you; you have only to keep still."

 

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me?

Tell the children of Israel to go forward.

And you, lift up your staff and, with hand outstretched over the sea,

split the sea in two,

that the children of Israel may pass through it on dry land.

But I will make the Egyptians so obstinate

that they will go in after them.

Then I will receive glory through Pharaoh and all his army,

his chariots and charioteers.

The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD,

when I receive glory through Pharaoh

and his chariots and charioteers."

 

Responsorial Psalm                                                          Ex 15:1bc-2, 3-4, 5-6

 

R. (1b) Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.

 

I will sing to the LORD, for he is gloriously triumphant;

horse and chariot he has cast into the sea.

My strength and my courage is the LORD,

and he has been my savior.

He is my God, I praise him;

the God of my father, I extol him.

R. Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.

The LORD is a warrior,

LORD is his name!

Pharaoh's chariots and army he hurled into the sea;

the elite of his officers were submerged in the Red Sea.

R. Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.

The flood waters covered them,

they sank into the depths like a stone.

Your right hand, O LORD, magnificent in power,

your right hand, O LORD, has shattered the enemy.

R. Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.

 

Alleluia         

 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

If today you hear his voice,

harden not your hearts.

R. Alleluia

 

Gospel                                                                                   Mt 12:38-42

 

Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus,

"Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you."

He said to them in reply,

"An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign,

but no sign will be given it

except the sign of Jonah the prophet.

Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights,

so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth

three days and three nights.

At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation

and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah;

and there is something greater than Jonah here.

At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation

and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth

to hear the wisdom of Solomon;

and there is something greater than Solomon here."

 

**********************************

Why do we need a sign?

To know Jesus and recognize what he’s doing, we have to be able to read the signs of the times. When our focus is self-centered, we don’t notice the signs of God working through another person to give us what we need. When our focus is on what we want or what we think God should do to fix a problem, we can’t see what he’s really doing and thus we miss the joy that should be ours even in the midst of troubles.

 

The scribes and Pharisees in the Gospel reading today failed to read the signs that identified Jesus as the Messiah, because they were arrogantly certain that they knew the correct way to interpret the scriptures. So, when they asked Jesus to give them a sign, he knew that nothing would change their minds — nothing, that is, except humility.

 

Jonah learned humility in the belly of a whale. By referring to this story, Jesus was doing more than making a connection between Jonah’s whale ride and his own upcoming three-day ordeal with death. Not even his closest disciples could recognize this sign yet. So why would Jesus use Jonah as a sign in an effort to inspire a change of heart in the scribes and Pharisees?

 

Always hoping that the blind would see, he was trying to evangelize them.

 

As he so often did (and still does), Jesus didn’t directly answer their request. Although this is frustrating when we want to be in control instead of trusting Jesus, he always has our best interests in mind. He is trying to redirect the discussion to help us dig deeper and get to the truth that can change our hearts.

 

Has Jesus ever said to you, “I hear what you’re asking, but I won’t give it. Instead, I’m asking you to make a change”? Of course he has! I cannot count the times he has said that to me. And every time he does, there’s a need for it.

 

If we rely on our own understanding of what we need, we get confused and we side-track ourselves from the deeper issues where our souls cry out for healing. The greatest answer to prayer is purification so that our hearts rest fully in the Lord. Are you sure you want to skip this opportunity?

 

If God gave us everything we asked for at the same moment we ask for it, how would we become more mature in our faith? Pride would immediately tell us that we can control God.

 

More important than getting what we ask for is discovering the deeper truth, which perfects us. Oftentimes, God gives us what we want only after we have first grown spiritually stronger.

 

True faith means having the humility to let God be God; let him remain in charge of your life no matter how well or how poorly you think he’s doing his job.

 

Do we need a sign to build up our faith when we pray for a miracle? No! We need only Jesus. We already have the sign. It’s in every Catholic Mass when the bread and wine are transformed into Jesus himself.

 

What sign are you seeking today? Turn it into a spiritual growth spurt by smiling at Jesus and saying, “You are so-o-o-o good to me! Thank you. Do with my life as you will. I place my trust in you, for you are worthy of trust.”

 

Prayer

 

Forgive me Lord for not appreciating Your wonderful works in everything around me, what I have and what I am. Thank You because You are the only one who can make everything new. Amen.

 

God Bless You.....

The Rosary Family

The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”