First reading Isaiah 38:1-6,21-22,7-8
The Lord hears Hezekiah’s prayer and heals him
Hezekiah fell ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came and said to him, ‘The Lord says this, “Put your affairs in order, for you are going to die, you will not live.”’ Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and addressed this prayer to the Lord, ‘Ah, Lord, remember, I beg you, how I have behaved faithfully and with sincerity of heart in your presence and done what is right in your eyes.’ And Hezekiah shed many tears.
Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, ‘Go and say to Hezekiah, “The Lord, the God of David your ancestor, says this: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will cure you: in three days’ time you shall go up to the Temple of the Lord. I will add fifteen years to your life. I will save you from the hands of the king of Assyria, I will protect this city.”’
‘Bring a fig poultice,’ Isaiah said, ‘apply it to the ulcer and he will recover.’ Hezekiah said, ‘What is the sign to tell me that I shall be going up to the Temple of the Lord?’ ‘Here’ Isaiah replied ‘is the sign from the Lord that he will do what he has said. Look, I shall make the shadow cast by the declining sun go back ten steps on the steps of Ahaz.’ And the sun went back the ten steps by which it had declined.
Responsorial Psalm Isaiah 38:10-12,16
The canticle of Hezekiah
You have held back my life, O Lord, from the pit of doom.
I said, ‘So I must go away,
my life half spent,
assigned to the world below
for the rest of my years.’
I said, ‘No more shall I see the Lord
in the land of the living,
no more shall I look upon men
within this world.
‘My home is pulled up and removed
like a shepherd’s tent.
Like a weaver you have rolled up my life,
you cut it from the loom.
‘For you, Lord, my heart will live,
you gave me back my spirit;
you cured me, kept me alive,
changed my sickness into health.’
Gospel Matthew 12:1-8
The Son of Man is master of the sabbath
Jesus took a walk one sabbath day through the cornfields. His disciples were hungry and began to pick ears of corn and eat them. The Pharisees noticed it and said to him, ‘Look, your disciples are doing something that is forbidden on the sabbath.’ But he said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he and his followers were hungry – how he went into the house of God and how they ate the loaves of offering which neither he nor his followers were allowed to eat, but which were for the priests alone? Or again, have you not read in the Law that on the sabbath day the Temple priests break the sabbath without being blamed for it? Now here, I tell you, is something greater than the Temple. And if you had understood the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the blameless. For the Son of Man is master of the sabbath.’
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Compassion first
As Jesus and his disciples walk through the cornfields, they become hungry and begin picking ears of corn to eat. The Pharisees then accuse them of breaking the Sabbath law. Jesus defends them by recalling King David and his people eating the loaves in the Temple when in need. Then He says, “What I want is mercy, not sacrifice.”
In this Gospel, Jesus wants us to know that God’s law is intended to bring life, and not to burden and weigh people down. When rules are used without compassion, they can distort our understanding of God rather than reveal Him as He truly is: a God of love and mercy. Today, we are invited to place people’s needs before rigid rule-keeping, and to remember that norms and rules are pathways to love, not tools used to hurt others and put them down.
Reflective question:
How can I put compassion first rather than clinging to external sacrifices, rules and appearances?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year A” by Sr Maria Jose FMVD
