!6th Sunday of the Year (c)
Ordinary Season of the Year. (c)
Weekdays – Year 2
Sunday 17th July: 16th Sunday of the Year. (c)
The first reading is from the Book of Genesis. When Abraham offered hospitality to three strangers, he did not know that he was entertaining God, himself, who would reward him with good news. His wife would bear him a child.
The second reading is from the Letter to the Colossians. Paul, a minister of the good news of the calling of the non-Jewish people to salvation, suffers for his converts. He speaks of the mystery of Christ, our hope and our glory.
The Gospel contrasts Martha’s activity and Mary’s quiet devotion to the Lord.
Monday 18th July: Monday in 16th week of the year.
Today the Prophet Micah speaks very clearly to those who think they can placate God by offering ritual sacrifice whereas he stresses that what God really wants is sincerity of heart. They have been reminded about this many times but have failed to respond.
In the Gospel, the people are looking for a sign from Jesus that he is from God. They won’t simply accept his words or his miracles. He reminds them of the sign of Jonah from the Old testament and uses this to teach about his forthcoming Resurrection.
Tuesday 19th July: Tuesday in 16th week of the year.
Micah was a prophet who lived about the same time as Isaiah but in the Southern Kingdom. He is driven by social justice and the impending invasion from Assyria. In this passage, he gives the people in exile a message of hope. He sees God as the gentle shepherd leading his flock to new pastures. If the people try to follow, God will not let them down.
We reminded in Matthews’s Gospel passage that anyone who does the will of the Father is part of his family.
Wednesday 20th July: Wednesday in 16th week of the year.
We move to the writings of Jeremiah today. He was the second major prophet after Isaiah. In many ways we was a reluctant prophet, shy and sensitive but gives in to the Lord and he begins his ministry during which Judah had five kings and also he saw the destruction of Jerusalem and the fall of the kingdom of Judah.
The well-known parable of the sower and the seed is put before us today. It is a challenge to each one of us to let the seed of God’s word grow in our own hearts and lives.
Thursday 21st July: Thursday in 16th week of the year.
Jeremiah is in a sad if not depressed mood in the extract today. He is anxious about the people and fears for them now that they have abandoned God.
Jesus continues to speak to the people in parables which always have a deeper message, a spiritual message. Only those who close their hearts and their ears will miss the message.
Friday 22nd July: Feast of St. Mary Magdalene.
Mary Magdalene was one of the first to meet the risen Christ. There has been much confusion through the Church’s history as to her real identity. Some thought she was the Mary who washed the Lord’s feet with her tears, others Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. It is accepted now that she was one of the good women who followed Jesus and she is named as one of those standing at the foot of the cross when others had fled. Very little is known about her life.
Saturday 23rd July: Feast of St. Bridget.
St. Bridget is the patron saint of Sweden. She was born in 1304. From a very early age, she devoted her life to Christ in prayer. She married a Swedish Prince and was totally committed as a wife and as mother. On his death, she founded a convent and this was the beginning of new order of nuns – the Bridgettines. Initially men and women lived in separate buildings but used the same church in a ‘double monastery’. She died in Rome in 1373.
ACT JUSTLY
LOVE TENDERLY
WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD
This is what God asks of each one of us.