Jesus Is Lord Of The Sabbath

July 16, 2021, Friday
FEAST OF OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL (White)
Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Green)
CYCLE B - YEAR I
Lectionary: 393

Reading I
Ex 11:10—12:14

Although Moses and Aaron performed various wonders
in Pharaoh’s presence,
the LORD made Pharaoh obstinate,
and he would not let the children of Israel leave his land.
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
“This month shall stand at the head of your calendar;
you shall reckon it the first month of the year.
Tell the whole community of Israel:  On the tenth of this month
every one of your families must procure for itself a lamb,
one apiece for each household.
If a family is too small for a whole lamb,
it shall join the nearest household in procuring one
and shall share in the lamb
in proportion to the number of persons who partake of it.
The lamb must be a year-old male and without blemish.
You may take it from either the sheep or the goats.
You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, and then,
with the whole assembly of Israel present,
it shall be slaughtered during the evening twilight.
They shall take some of its blood
and apply it to the two doorposts and the lintel
of every house in which they partake of the lamb.
That same night they shall eat its roasted flesh
with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
It shall not be eaten raw or boiled, but roasted whole,
with its head and shanks and inner organs.
None of it must be kept beyond the next morning;
whatever is left over in the morning shall be burned up.
“This is how you are to eat it: 
with your loins girt, sandals on your feet and your staff in hand,
you shall eat like those who are in flight.
It is the Passover of the LORD.
For on this same night I will go through Egypt,
striking down every first born of the land, both man and beast,
and executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt—I, the LORD!
But the blood will mark the houses where you are.
Seeing the blood, I will pass over you;
thus, when I strike the land of Egypt,
no destructive blow will come upon you.
“This day shall be a memorial feast for you,
which all your generations shall celebrate
with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution.”

Responsorial Psalm
116:12-13, 15 and 16bc, 17-18

R.    (13)  I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.

How shall I make a return to the LORD
    for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
    and I will call upon the name of the LORD.

R.    I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.

Precious in the eyes of the LORD
    is the death of his faithful ones.
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
    you have loosed my bonds.

R.    I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.

To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,
    and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
    in the presence of all his people.

R.    I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.

Alleluia
Jn 10:27

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord,
I know them, and they follow me.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GOSPEL
Mt 12:1-8

Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath.
His disciples were hungry
and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them.
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him,
“See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath.”
He said to them, “Have you not read what David did
when he and his companions were hungry,
how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering,
which neither he nor his companions
but only the priests could lawfully eat?
Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath
the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath
and are innocent?
I say to you, something greater than the temple is here.
If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
you would not have condemned these innocent men.
For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.”

REFLECTION:

The Pharisees were quick to point out the traditional observances of the Sabbath according to the Law and failed to understand the teaching of Jesus that ‘the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.' They were too preoccupied with rules, regulations, and empty sacrificial offerings that they missed the meaning of the message of Jesus – the mercy and love of God.

God wants to free me from my anxieties, fears, and burdens through the gift of his unconditional mercy and love. Can I extend to others the gift of mercy and love so generously shared with me?

PRAYER:

Lord, there are times when I throw rule violations at people who in your eyes are doing what is innocent and natural. Forgive my foolish judgments.