Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection August 16, 2024
Nineteenth Week of Ordinary Time
16th August 2024 (Friday)
Psalter: Week 3
Reading of the Day
First Reading: Ezekiel 16:1-15, 60, 63
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations, and say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth are of the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. And as for your birth, on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, but you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, on the day that you were born. And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ I made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall and arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet you were naked and bare. When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, and you became mine. Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk. And I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour and honey and oil. You grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord God. But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore because of your renown and lavished your whorings on any passer-by; your beauty became his. Yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord God.”
Isaiah 12:2-3, 4bcde, 5-6 (R. 1de)
R/. Your anger turned away and you comforted me
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Alleluia
R/. Alleluia
V/. Accept the word of God, not as the word of men, but as what it really is, the word of God.
R/. Alleluia.
Gospel : Matthew 19:3-12
At that time: Pharisees came up to Jesus and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.” The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”
Daily Gospel Reflection
Friday – Nineteenth Week of Ordinary Time
Guidelines: Life loses its meaning, value, beauty, and joy when it loses the spirit of fidelity. Fidelity to God and one another is the greatest remedy
1. Covenant and fidelity to it are the underlying themes of today’s word of God. God enters into a covenantal relationship with the people of Israel. Thereupon, He gives them identity, dignity, beauty, prosperity, and commendability. But unfortunately, they turn ungrateful and unfaithful. They trust in themselves and become whorelike.
2. Every marriage is also a covenantal relationship with God and with each other. Today, the stability of marital bond is cracking because its fidelity is shaking. Fidelity is shaking because its sacredness is crumbling. This is because many lose sight of the nature of a covenant. For many, practically, marriage is no more a covenant but a contract that is workable and profitable.
3. It has become a matter of convenience and not commitment. When the essential components of sacredness, covenant, fidelity, and commitment are lost, automatically its beauty, meaning, stability, and joy are lost.
4. The feel-good that exists at the beginning of the marriage evaporates within no time. Ego clashes, hurt feelings, resentments, unbridled reactions, and retaliatory acts increase as the days and years pass. Aggression or depression, agitation or indifference, arrogance or inferiority seems to be the dominant behavioural patterns that govern many families.
5. We do not say that there are no problems in married life. Surely, the challenges are increasing. But all what we want to say is, that divorces are not the only and immediate solution. If only a little more sense of covenant with God and each other increases, if only a little more patience and humility are practiced, surely there can be a greater fidelity.
6. The same principle of fidelity holds good for the consecrated people as well. They are the “eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of God”. But they are really worth the name if only they remain faithful to their covenantal relationship with God.
Practice: Fidelity is at the root of all Christian life, be it married or consecrated. When fidelity crumbles, the whole edifice collapses
