Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection August 14, 2024
Nineteenth Week of Ordinary Time
14th August 2024 (Wednesday)
Psalter: Week 3
Reading of the Day
First Reading: Ezekiel 9:1-7; 10:18-22
The Lord cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, “Bring near the executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.” And behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his weapon for slaughter in his hand, and with them was a man clothed in linen, with a writing case at his waist. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar. Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist. And the Lord said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the house. Then he said to them, “Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out.” So they went out and struck in the city. Then the glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth before my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the Lord, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. These were the living creatures that I saw underneath the God of Israel by the Chebar canal; and I knew that they were cherubim. Each had four faces, and each four wings, and underneath their wings the likeness of human hands. And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the Chebar canal. Each one of them went straight forward.
Psalm 113:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6 (R. see 4b)
R/. The glory of the Lord is above the heaven
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Alleluia
R/. Alleluia
V/. In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation
R/. Alleluia.
Gospel : Matthew 18:15-20
At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
Daily Gospel Reflection
Wednesday – Nineteenth Week of Ordinary Time
Guidelines: Love is the driving norm for every disciple of Christ and this must show itself in a spirit of fraternal responsibility
1. The central theme of today’s Word of God is Fraternity. The breath and the motivating force for fraternity is Love. Such a fraternal love shows itself in a deep sense of fraternal responsibility, correction, forbearance and prayer. As brothers and sisters bound together in the fraternal bond of love, we have a mutual responsibility.
2. The good and the growth of the other is an obligation and not an option. No one can shirk this responsibility toward the other under no pretext or excuse. Especially toward those in the wrong, there is a greater and added responsibility.
3. Love and fraternity demand that we should deeply feel responsible toward the erring ones. The purpose is not to judge or condemn them or make them feel guilty or expose their wrong. The sole purpose is to make them aware of their wrongdoing and to win them back. Admonition and correction are integral to fraternal love and one who fails in them, fails in his fundamental duty of fraternity and love.
4. Certainly, there is a strong tendency in a good number to feel uneasy and to shy away from admonition and correction. Perhaps, they do not want to displease others, or do not want to hurt them, or do not want to lose favours, or do not want to strain the relationships. Obviously, to correct the erring is not a pleasant task and it is a very delicate matter because normally no one likes to be shown wrong and to be corrected. It hurts the ego, it touches upon self-esteem.
5. But true love and fraternity obligate us to do all that is possible to gain back the erring ones. It needs tremendous patience, forbearance and courage to confront the person in all charity, to persuade him first personally, then with the help of a couple of others, and finally with the positive coercion of the community of the church. It also summons us to pray together because it is a collective energy.
6. In spite of all these sustained and concerted efforts, still if the erring person is not willing to mend his ways, then leave him to his own personal accountability, with no tag of judgment and slander.
7. This message of today can be a great and fitting lesson for our times, which fail so much in this spirit of fraternal responsibility. Either there is a deep-leveled indifference and unconcern toward others, or there is a false fear not to displease others.
8. Consequently, positive confrontation, correction, direction become very rare and unpleasant. When they are done also, they are not always motivated by fraternity and charity. The result is wide spread of the wrong, a casual and callous approach toward the wrong, a passive allowance of the wrong to have a negative influence on all others.
9. This is what happens in the case of the parents toward their children, in the case of the directors or animators toward those in their care, in the case of the superiors toward their members, in the case of the teachers toward their students.
10. If only there grows a little more sense of fraternal responsibility, driven by love, and strengthened by solidarity in prayer, sustained by persistent and persuasive efforts, certainly our parishes, our communities, our families, our working places, our relationships can become much better.
Practice: Charity demands that we are patient and forbearing to win back the erring person through deep concern, gentle persuasion, positive confrontation, constructive correction, flexible acceptance and solidary prayer
