Monday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Dirty Hands, Pure Hearts
Liturgical Cycle: A | Lectionary Cycle: II
Introduction
Year II. The true prophet is he who says what God inspires him to say, however challenging or unpleasant his word. The false prophet is he who says what people want to hear. He compromises with the truth, with himself. Some talk and oracle to please themselves, to hear their own voice. And those who do not live as they preach also belong somehow among the false prophets.
Gospel. Year A. It is regrettable that the Lectionary has omitted that part of the remark of Jesus that gives the foundation of this episode: “Why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?” Jesus redefines the true understanding of purity. One is pure not because of ritual ablutions but because of one’s fidelity to God’s law. Human traditions that obstruct God’s law should be abolished. And then, too, it is the spirit of the law that counts, not the letter.
Opening Prayer [Year A]
Father, God of the everlasting covenant,
you have tied us to yourself
with leading strings of lasting love;
the words you speak to us
are spirit and life.
Open our hearts to your word,
that they may touch us
in the deepest of ourselves.
May they move us to serve you
not in a slavish way
but as your sons and daughters
who love you and whom you have set free
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Opening Prayer
God, our compassionate Father,
you let your Son Jesus Christ give food
to all who are hungry in any way.
Make us compassionate for all the poor of our day.
Teach us to see their needs,
to suffer with them, to share in their anguish,
to bind their wounds and to appease their hungers.
Give us the strength to do all this
by the strength of the food of himself
that Jesus gives us in each eucharist.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
First Reading
Jeremiah and Hananiah
The prophet Hananiah spoke to me early during King Zedekiah of Judah’s reign, in the fifth month of the fourth year. Hananiah, son of Azzur from Gibeon, declared in the Lord’s house in front of the priests and the people:
“This is what the Lord the God of Hosts and the God of Israel says: I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.
Within two years, I will return to this place all the objects King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took away from the Lord’s house and carried to Babylon.
I will likewise bring back Jeconiah, son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all who were taken from Judah and deported to Babylon. For I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon—word of the Lord.”
Then Jeremiah responded to Hananiah in front of the priests and everyone else:
“So be it! May the Lord fulfill the words you have spoken and bring back from Babylon to this place the objects taken from the house of the Lord and all the exiles.
Yet hear now what I say in your hearing and the hearing of all the people.
The prophets who came before you and me continually prophesied war, disaster, and plague to many nations and great kingdoms.
So the prophet who prophesies peace will not be recognized as truly sent by the Lord until his predictions are fulfilled.”
Then, Hananiah broke the yoke from Jeremiah’s neck.
Hananiah proclaimed in the presence of all the people: “TThen Jeremiah, the prophet, went on his way.he Lord says this: In the same manner, within two years, will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar from the necks of all the nations.”
Some time later, a word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:
“Go and tell this to Hananiah: This is what the Lord says: You have broken a wooden yoke but, in its place, you will get an iron yoke.
For this is what the Lord, the God of Hosts and the God of Israel, says: I am placing a yoke of iron on the neck of all the nations to make them serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they will serve him. I will even give him control over the wild animals.”
Then Jeremiah said to Hananiah: Listen! Hananiah, you have not been sent by the Lord, yet you have deceived these people by giving them false hope with your lies.
That is why the Lord says about you: I am removing you from the face of the earth. You will die this very year because you have counseled rebellion against the Lord.
And in the seventh month of that year, Hananiah died.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 119:29, 43, 79, 80, 95, 102
R. (68b) Lord, teach me your statutes.
Remove from me the way of falsehood,
and favor me with your law.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
Take not the word of truth from my mouth,
for in your ordinances is my hope.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
Let those turn to me who fear you
and acknowledge your decrees.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
Let my heart be perfect in your statutes,
that I be not put to shame.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
Sinners wait to destroy me,
but I pay heed to your decrees.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
From your ordinances I turn not away,
for you have instructed me.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Rabbi, you are the Son of God;
you are the King of Israel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
He Walks On Water
Immediately, Jesus obliged his disciples to get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he sent the crowd away.
After sending the people away, he went up the mountain alone to pray. By nightfall, he was there all alone.
Meanwhile, the boat was far from land, dangerously rocked by the waves, because the wind was against it.
At dawn, Jesus walked on the sea to reach them.
When they saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, thinking it was a ghost. And they cried out in fear.
But immediately, Jesus said to them:
“Take courage! Don’t be afraid. It’s me!”
Peter responded:
“Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water.”
Jesus told him:
“Come!”
Peter stepped out of the boat and walked on the water to go to Jesus.
But seeing the strong wind, he was afraid and began to sink; he cried out:
“Lord, save me!”
Jesus immediately extended his hand and grasped him, saying:
“Man of little faith, why did you doubt?”
As they stepped into the boat, the wind died down.
Then those in the boat bowed down before Jesus, saying:
“Truly, you are the Son of God!”
Healings in Gennesaret
They arrived ashore at Gennesaret.
The local people recognized Jesus and spread the word throughout the region. They brought all the sick to him,
begging him to let them touch just the hem of his cloak. Everyone who touched it was healed.
Prayers of the Faithful
– For the pope, bishops and priests, that they may satisfy the people’s hungers for love and justice, for truth and hope by proclaiming with conviction and love the Lord’s message of the good news, we pray:
– For the political leaders of the world, for scientists and economists, that they may cooperate to solve the problem of hunger in the world and bring to a hungry world not only food but also dignity, justice and peace, we pray:
– For the sick and the lonely, for the handicapped and those who are discouraged, for those who hunger for love and acceptance, that our love and concern may be signs to them that God does not abandon them, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
God our Father,
we give you thanks for bread and wine
and for making them the signs
of your Son’s presence in our midst.
Through him we bring before you
the hungers and aspirations of all.
Let him multiply here for us
the bread of life to make us strong
and the wine of joy to give us hope.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
God our Father,
through the bread of life
of your Son Jesus Christ
multiply in us the capacity to love.
Give us the courage to put into practice
the words spoken to us by your Son:
“You yourselves give people to eat.”
Help us to share our food with them
but also our joy and compassion,
our hopes and our love.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.
Blessing
That Jesus is sharing the food of himself with us in the eucharist is for us a double sign: that we have to care for the hungry and do what we can to help them, and second, that we too commit ourselves to one another, putting ourselves at the service of one another. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
REFLECTIONS
Mt 14:22-36
“Come to me!”
Matthew describes, in biblical language, the situation of the Christian communities of his time. They were "tormented" by many trials. He literally used the term “tortured”, or “tormented”. He had used the same word previously, where the men possessed by the evil spirits asked Jesus: Have you come here before the time torture us? [Matthew 8:29]; in other Jewish writings, this term has been used to refer to political torture and oppression. Matthew had in mind the tortures and confrontations with believers in his community.
Pope Francis had described this passage as a beautiful icon of the faith of the Apostle Peter. In the voice of Jesus who tells him, “Come!”, he recognises the echo of the first encounter on the shore of that very lake, and right away, once again, he leaves the boat and goes toward the Teacher. And this time around, he walks on the waters! A faithful and ready response to the Lord’s call always enables one to achieve extraordinary things. Remember, Jesus himself had told us that we are capable of performing miracles with faith in Him, faith in his word, faith in his voice.
Peter however begins to sink when he allows himself to be overwhelmed by the hardships around him. The character of Peter, with his passion and his weaknesses, can describe our own faith: ever fragile and impoverished, anxious and frightened and yet victorious amid the storms and dangers of the world, the Christian community walks in faith to meet the Risen Lord.
Jesus had let them battle alone on the boat in the dark. Only when it was early in the morning did he approach them. Matthew is giving clear references to the liberating presence and action of Yahweh. The fourth watch of the night had been the time when God had liberated the fleeing Israelites from their oppression under Pharaoh, going before them and leading them across the water.
When Jesus got into the boat, the wind ceased. A boat which braves the storms and sometimes seems on the point of sinking is an image of the Church. What saves her is not the skill and courage of her crew members, but the faith that the Lord would walk through the storms to take his place in the boat. Faith gives us the certainty of Jesus’ presence always beside us, of his hand which grasps us to pull us back from danger.