July 24, 2021 Saturday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

2021년 7월 24일 연중 제16주간 토요일  

오늘의 복음 : http://info.catholic.or.kr/missa/default.asp 

제1독서

<이는 주님께서 너희와 맺으신 계약의 피다.>

탈출기. 24,3-8
 그 무렵 3 모세가 백성에게 와서 주님의 모든 말씀과 모든 법규를 일러 주었다.

그러자 온 백성이 한목소리로
“주님께서 하신 모든 말씀을 실행하겠습니다.” 하고 대답하였다.
4 모세는 주님의 모든 말씀을 기록하였다.
그는 다음 날 아침 일찍 일어나 산기슭에 제단을 쌓고,
이스라엘의 열두 지파에 따라 기념 기둥 열둘을 세웠다.
5 그는 이스라엘 자손들 가운데 몇몇 젊은이들을 그리로 보내어,
번제물을 올리고 소를 잡아 주님께 친교 제물을 바치게 하였다.
6 모세는 그 피의 절반을 가져다 여러 대접에 담아 놓고,
나머지 절반은 제단에 뿌렸다.
7 그러고 나서 계약의 책을 들고 그것을 읽어 백성에게 들려주었다.
그러자 그들은 “주님께서 말씀하신 모든 것을
실행하고 따르겠습니다.” 하고 말하였다.
8 모세는 피를 가져다 백성에게 뿌리고 말하였다.
“이는 주님께서 이 모든 말씀대로 너희와 맺으신 계약의 피다.”

복음

<수확 때까지 둘 다 함께 자라도록 내버려 두어라.>

마태오. 13,24-30
 그때에 24 예수님께서 비유를 들어 군중에게 말씀하셨다.

“하늘 나라는 자기 밭에 좋은 씨를 뿌리는 사람에 비길 수 있다.
25 사람들이 자는 동안에 그의 원수가 와서
밀 가운데에 가라지를 덧뿌리고 갔다.
26 줄기가 나서 열매를 맺을 때에 가라지들도 드러났다.
27 그래서 종들이 집주인에게 가서,
‘주인님, 밭에 좋은 씨를 뿌리지 않았습니까?
그런데 가라지는 어디서 생겼습니까?’ 하고 묻자,
28 ‘원수가 그렇게 하였구나.’ 하고 집주인이 말하였다.
종들이 ‘그러면 저희가 가서 그것들을 거두어 낼까요?’ 하고 묻자,
29 그는 이렇게 일렀다.
‘아니다. 너희가 가라지들을 거두어 내다가
밀까지 함께 뽑을지도 모른다.
30 수확 때까지 둘 다 함께 자라도록 내버려 두어라.
수확 때에 내가 일꾼들에게,
먼저 가라지를 거두어서 단으로 묶어 태워 버리고
밀은 내 곳간으로 모아들이라고 하겠다.’”

July 24, 2021

Saturday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Daily Readings — Audio

Daily Reflections — Video

http://www.usccb.org/bible/ 

Daily Mass : http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass 

Reading 1

Ex 24:3-8
When Moses came to the people
and related all the words and ordinances of the LORD, 
they all answered with one voice,
“We will do everything that the LORD has told us.”
Moses then wrote down all the words of the LORD and,
rising early the next day,
he erected at the foot of the mountain an altar
and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. 
Then, having sent certain young men of the children of Israel
to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice young bulls
as peace offerings to the LORD,
Moses took half of the blood and put it in large bowls;
the other half he splashed on the altar.
Taking the book of the covenant, he read it aloud to the people,
who answered, “All that the LORD has said, we will heed and do.”
Then he took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, saying,
“This is the blood of the covenant
that the LORD has made with you
in accordance with all these words of his.”

Responsorial Psalm

50:1b-2, 5-6, 14-15

R. (14a) Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.
God the LORD has spoken and summoned the earth,
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
From Zion, perfect in beauty,
God shines forth.
R. Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.
“Gather my faithful ones before me,
those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
And the heavens proclaim his justice;
for God himself is the judge.
R. Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.
“Offer to God praise as your sacrifice
and fulfill your vows to the Most High;
Then call upon me in time of distress;
I will rescue you, and you shall glorify me.”
R. Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.

Gospel

Mt 13:24-30

Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds.
“The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man
who sowed good seed in his field.
While everyone was asleep his enemy came
and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off.
When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well.
The slaves of the householder came to him and said,
‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?
Where have the weeds come from?’
He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’
His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds
you might uproot the wheat along with them.
Let them grow together until harvest;
then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters,
“First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning;
but gather the wheat into my barn.”

http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html

 The parable in today’s Gospel reading (Matthew 13:24-30) is entirely apropos the growing season we’re in, here in Nebraska!  The person Jesus described selected and planted in their field “good seed.”.  At least in my yard, there is evidence of the beautiful flowers, herbs, and vegetables carefully selected and planted strategically to either capture sun, or benefit from shade, or simply to add color or height in a particular spot.  Similarly, God gifts each of us with our own personalities and capabilities, placing us exactly where we need to be (even though we can’t always see or know why!).  The saying “Bloom where you’re planted” comes to mind.  God wants each of us to contribute the best we have, as best we can, where we are.  We’re good seed.

There is also plentiful evidence in my garden beds of plants that I didn’t choose!  In the parable, Jesus tells his followers that the person believed an enemy (the devil?) came when all were sleeping, to sow weeds into the field.  This householder had slaves, who asked about removing the weeds, but the person said no, directing them to wait until the harvest to separate the weeds from the wheat. 

The optimist in me wants to believe that the weeds (evil humans?) might be redeemed, might find faith, might ask forgiveness, might accept Christ as their savior.  In that way, on harvest day, they would find their way into the barn, (the Kingdom of Heaven?) along with the wheat. 

The pessimist in me felt immediate concern for the damage the weeds could do in the meantime!  Weeds can absorb water and nutrients from the wheat; unwanted vines can pull desirable plants to the ground to rot; large weeds can shade smaller plants needing sunlight.  Evil humans among us can influence us.  They can sow doubt, foment anger, tempt us with earthly desires, turn us from our better angels.  On this front, I want to shout “Pull the weeds!  Rid the field of all weeds!”  I’m afraid to have to fight for my air, sun and water.  But this is the challenge.  Can we believers keep our faith, walk the right road, not be led into temptation, and remain in God’s grace when the world around us doesn’t want us to? 

God (the householder of the parable?) trusts us to remain steadfast in his word.  Prayer, being in community, acting in service to others, and other spiritual disciplines help us to do so.  I pray today that we have the optimism, discipline, and trust in the grace of our Lord, to grow into tall, healthy wheat that will be harvested into the barn.  Healthy in faith despite any weeds that work to distract us. 

“Lord, let my heart be good soil,” fertile for the “good seed” you’ve sown in me.  Amen.

 http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp

 

“THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT” (MT 26:28)

“This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words of His.” —Exodus 24:8

Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the Ten Commandments and the Law. When he related to the people “all the words and ordinances of the Lord, they all answered with one voice, ‘We will do everything that the Lord has told us’ ” (Ex 24:3). After having written down the Law, Moses reconvened the people the next day. He built an altar and sacrificed holocausts (Ex 24:4-5). Half of the blood from the sacrificed animals he splashed on the altar (Ex 24:6). The other half he sprinkled “on the people, saying, ‘This is the blood of the covenant’ ” (Ex 24:8).

Imagine seeing animals sacrificed and large quantities of blood splashed on the altar. Imagine how it would feel to have blood sprinkled on you and dripping down your face, hair, and clothes. Although this seems more peculiar to us than it would to a Jew, we can still get the message. Our covenant with God is the most serious commitment possible for a human being. When we give our word that we will obey God’s Word, He takes us at our word and leads us into a new, grace-filled, and mysterious dimension of human existence. When we covenant with God, we decide to love Him even to the point of giving our lives for Him. Covenanting to obey God is serious, bloody, eternal, sacrificial, and mysterious.

Prayer:  Father, I covenant with You and express it in today’s Mass and Communion.

Promise:  “Offer to God praise as your sacrifice and fulfill your vows to the Most High.” —Ps 50:14

Praise:  St. Sharbel Makhluf, from the Maronite Rite of the Catholic Church, devoted his life to a covenant with God. He was a priest, monk, and hermit, spending his life in contemplation and worship of God.

 http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/

 What can malicious weed-sowing tell us about the kingdom of God? The image Jesus uses here is a common everyday example of planting, harvesting, and sorting the good fruit from the bad. Weeds can spoil and even kill a good harvest if they are not separated and destroyed at the proper time. Uprooting them too early, though, can destroy the good plants in the process.

Guard God's implanted word in your heart
Just as nature teaches us patience, so God's patience also teaches us to guard the word which he has planted in our hearts and to beware of the destructive force of sin and deception which can destroy it. God's word brings life, but Satan, the father of lies, seeks to destroy the good seed which God plants in the hearts of those who listen to his word.

God's judgment is not hasty, but it does come. And in the end, God will reward each person according to what he or she has sown and reaped in this life. In that day God will separate the evil from the good. Do you allow God's word to take deep root in your heart?

Lord Jesus, may your word take deep root in my heart and may I bear good fruit for your glory. May I hunger for your righteousness now that I may also look forward to the day of judgment with joy rather than with dismay.

Psalm 50:1-5, 23

1 The Mighty One, God the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.
3 Our God comes, he does not keep silence, before him is a devouring fire, round about him a mighty tempest.
4 He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High;
15 and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me."

Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: The Lord sows good seeds in our heart, by Chromatius (died 406 AD)

"The Lord clearly points out that he is the sower of good seeds. He does not cease to sow in this world as in a field. God's word is like good seed in the hearts of people, so that each of us according to the seeds sown in us by God may bear spiritual and heavenly fruit." (excerpt from TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 51.1)

[Note: Chromatius was an early Christian scholar and bishop of Aquileia, Italy. He was a close friend of John Chrysostom and Jerome. He died in 406 AD. Jerome described him as a "most learned and most holy man."]

 

 

More Homilies

July 27, 2019 Saturday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time