First reading Exodus 2:1-15
Pharaoh’s daughter finds Moses among the bulrushes
There was a man of the tribe of Levi who had taken a woman of Levi as his wife. She conceived and gave birth to a son and, seeing what a fine child he was, she kept him hidden for three months. When she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him; coating it with bitumen and pitch, she put the child inside and laid it among the reeds at the river’s edge. His sister stood some distance away to see what would happen to him.
Now Pharaoh’s daughter went down to bathe in the river, and the girls attending her were walking along by the riverside. Among the reeds she noticed the basket, and she sent her maid to fetch it. She opened it and looked, and saw a baby boy, crying; and she was sorry for him. ‘This is a child of one of the Hebrews’ she said. Then the child’s sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, ‘Shall I go and find you a nurse among the Hebrew women to suckle the child for you?’ ‘Yes, go,’ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her; and the girl went off to find the baby’s own mother. To her the daughter of Pharaoh said, ‘Take this child away and suckle it for me. I will see you are paid.’ So the woman took the child and suckled it. When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter who treated him like a son; she named him Moses because, she said, ‘I drew him out of the water.’
Moses, a man by now, set out at this time to visit his countrymen, and he saw what a hard life they were having; and he saw an Egyptian strike a Hebrew, one of his countrymen. Looking round he could see no one in sight, so he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. On the following day he came back, and there were two Hebrews, fighting. He said to the man who was in the wrong, ‘What do you mean by hitting your fellow countryman?’ ‘And who appointed you’ the man retorted, ‘to be prince over us, and judge? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?’ Moses was frightened. ‘Clearly that business has come to light’ he thought. When Pharaoh heard of the matter he would have killed Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and made for the land of Midian.
Responsorial Psalm 68(69):3,14,30-31,33-34
Seek the Lord, you who are poor, and your hearts will revive.
I have sunk into the mud of the deep
and there is no foothold.
I have entered the waters of the deep
and the waves overwhelm me.
This is my prayer to you,
my prayer for your favour.
In your great love, answer me, O God,
with your help that never fails.
As for me in my poverty and pain
let your help, O God, lift me up.
I will praise God’s name with a song;
I will glorify him with thanksgiving.
The poor when they see it will be glad
and God-seeking hearts will revive;
for the Lord listens to the needy
and does not spurn his servants in their chains.
Gospel Matthew 11:20-24
It will not go as hard with Sodom on Judgement Day as with you
Jesus began to reproach the towns in which most of his miracles had been worked, because they refused to repent.
‘Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. And still, I tell you that it will not go as hard on Judgement day with Tyre and Sidon as with you. And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be exalted as high as heaven? You shall be thrown down to hell. For if the miracles done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been standing yet. And still, I tell you that it will not go as hard with the land of Sodom on Judgement day as with you.’
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Stepping out of pride and opening ourselves to grow
We are used to seeing Jesus showing His compassionate love to the vulnerable and those in need, and we prefer to hear Him speaking of love, mercy and forgiveness. However, in today’s gospel, we might not be comfortable with the harsh words that Jesus used against people too proud to accept Him and whose hearts are hardened to God. Jesus spoke in such a manner against the people of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum because He wanted them to learn to be humble, listen to Him and follow Him. Out of love, Jesus wanted to break down their walls of complacency.
Jesus continues to call us to be careful not to be too self-satisfied with how we live our Christian faith. To be His disciples demands constant openness to learn from Him, to be willing to grow in greater humility and to have the desire to live out the gospel values. Today, let us allow Jesus’ words to challenge us to go beyond our selfish and prideful motivations and follow Jesus the way He wants us to.
Reflective question:
Do I allow Jesus to challenge me so that I can grow in my following of Him?
Do I allow Jesus to challenge me so that I can grow in my following of Him?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year A” by Sr Sandra Seow FMVD.
