Saturday, July 20, 2019
15th Week in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Ex 12:37-42
Gospel: Matthew 12:14-21
The Pharisees went out and made plans to get rid of him. As Jesus was aware of the plot, he went away from that place. Many people followed him and he cured all who were sick. Then he gave them strict orders not to make him known.
In this way Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled: “Here is my servant whom I have chosen… He will not argue or shout, nor will his voice be heard in the streets. The bruised reed he will not crush, nor snuff out the smoldering wick. He will persist until justice is made victorious and in him all the nations will put their hope.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
The Evangelist Matthew is fond of “fulfillment citations”. These are Old Testament quotations he uses in his running commentaries to Jesus’ activities with the intention of presenting Jesus as the fulfillment of Scriptures. Today’s Gospel reading is one of the ten fulfillment citations found in the Gospel according to Matthew. The insertion of Isaiah’s prophecy about the suffering servant (Isaiah 42:1-4) intends to show how the promise of a servant “who will persist until justice is made victorious” is fulfilled in Jesus.
The link between this servant and Jesus is clearer if we read Mark’s expanded version of today’s Gospel reading. Mark writes: “When they heard about all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon… He had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him. Whenever the impure spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” (Mark 3:7-12)”.
The detailed version of Mark is a picture of a Spirit-filled Servant who is gentle and who quietly cares for the weak, the wounded and those discouraged. Jesus was the fulfillment of Yahweh’s promise, as foretold by Isaiah, to send a Servant “on whom all nations will put their hope”.
History continues to reveal the fulfillment of God’s promise as we experience God’s love through the Church. In the Church’s ministry of the Sacrament of Reconciliation our Lord continues to bind our wounds. In the Church’s celebration of the Holy Eucharist Jesus continues to feed and nourish us. In the Church’s ministry of the Sacrament of Baptism, Christ continues to welcome our children and our children’s children to God’s big family. May we respond to the loving care of our Lord Jesus Christ by availing of the sacraments in the Church and by bringing others back to the fold. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.
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