Monday, July 12, 2021

Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

1st Reading: Exodus 1:8-14, 22

A new Pharaoh enslaves the Israelites and threatens them with extinction

Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labour. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites, and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labour. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.
Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live.”

Responsorial: Psalm 123

R./: Our help is in the name of the Lord

‘If the Lord had not been on our side,’
this is Israel’s song,
‘If the Lord had not been on our side
when men rose against us,
then would they have swallowed us alive
when their anger was kindled. (R./)
Then would the waters have engulfed us,
the torrent gone over us;
over our head would have swept the raging waters.’
Blessed be the Lord who did not give us a prey to their teeth! (R./)
Our life, like a bird, has escaped
from the snare of the fowler.
Indeed the snare has been broken
and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth. (R./)

Gospel: Matthew 10:34, 11:1

Jesus foresees division within families about the gospel

Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up he cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple, truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”

Peace and Conflict

Beginning today, the readings from the Book of Exodus lead up to the appearance of God on Mount Sinai (chap. 19), followed by the guidelines for keeping the covenant (chaps. 20-23), and its solemn ratification (chap. 24). Fidelity to God will be Israel’s way to stay at peace with God and with each other. The omitted verses (Ex 1:15-21) tell of the heroic refusal of Pharaoh’s orders by the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, who spare the lives of the boys. Their bravery surely deserves a mention, since it ensured the ultimate survival of the Hebrews.
Our Gospel for today concludes a major sermon, the missionary discourse, spoken by Jesus to those who were to continue his work in the world. We are reminded, implicitly by Exodus and explicitly in the Gospel, that following the will of God can be hard, even at times disruptive of peace . Jesus paradoxically states, “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”
He refers to suffering and conflict that can arise in the course of our lives. We may remember Simeon’s “blessing” and words to Mary as she held the infant Jesus in her arms: “This child is destined to be the downfall and the rise of many in Israel, a sign that will be opposed” (Luke 2:34). The sword of division is raised for freedom in the Book of Exodus and by family disputes according to Jesus’ words. Exodus records how a new king who “did not know Joseph” came to power in Egypt. A native Egyptian dynasty had finally driven out the old and hated Asiatic (Hyksos) dynasty from Egypt, and in the backlash of fear and hatred towards all Asiatics, the Israelites were reduced to slave labour. God’s people were oppressed because of racial bias and nationalistic envy.
Disagreements about religion can stir trouble in families. What the Lord gives is not “peace at any price”, but a special kind of peace that comes from staying close to Jesus. If there is discord within our family, let it be for the sake of personal conscience, and not from any dominating or judgmental spirit. We are called to be sincere, not authoritarian. Basically, Jesus wants us to be welcoming people, thankful for what others may offer us. Even such a simple gift as a cup of cold water will be noted to one’s credit, in the book of life.