FIRST READING
She named him Moses, for she said, “Because I drew him out of the water”; and when he had grown up, he went out to his people.
A reading from the Book of Exodus (Exodus2:1-15a)
In those days: A man from the house of Levi went and took to wife a daughter of Levi. The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. And when she could hide him no longer she took for him a basket made of bulrushes, and daubed it with bitumen and pitch; and she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds at the river’s brink. And his sister stood at a distance, to know what would be done to him. Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, and her maidens walked beside the river; she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to fetch it. When she opened it she saw the child; and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away, and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son; and she named him Moses, for she said, “Because I drew him out of the water.” One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together; and he said to the man that did the wrong, “Why do you strike your fellow?” He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh, and stayed in the land of Midian.
The word of the Lord.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 69:3.14.30-31.33-34 (R. see 33)
R/. You who are poor, seek God, and your hearts will revive.
I have sunk into the mud of the deep,
where there is no foothold.
I have entered the waters of the deep,
where the flood overwhelms we. R.
But I pray to you, O Lord,
for a time of your favour.
In your great mercy, answer me, O God,
with your salvation that never fails. R.
R/. You who are poor, seek God, and your hearts will revive.
As for me in my poverty and pain,
let your salvation, O God, raise me up.
Then I will praise God’s name with a song;
I will glorify him with thanksgiving. R.
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 own in their chains. R.
ALLELUIA Psalm 95:7d.8a
Alleluia. Today, harden not your hearts, but listen to the voice of the Lord. Alleluia.
GOSPEL
“It shall be more tolerable on the day of judgement for Tyre and Sodom than for you.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Matthew 11:20-24)
At that time: Jesus began to upbraid the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! woe to you, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgement for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgement for the land of Sodom than for you.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Today’s Reflection
Moses was saved from the genocide of the Hebrew children by a miraculous intervention by God. The subsequent events would show that Moses had his shortcomings and weaknesses, yet he responded to God’s plan for him positively. He became the instrument of God in freeing the Hebrew people from Egyptian slavery and he led them through the deserts to the threshold of the Promised Land. He always stood between God and his chosen people as a strong leader and mediator. We see in today’s gospel Jesus upbraiding the towns of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum. They were towns where Jesus intervened and worked most of is miracles. But they, unlike Moses, refused to listen and respond positively to Jesus. He feels disappointed at their stubbornness. Our own lives are miracles of God. He intervenes in our lives every day, every moment. God has a plan and a mission for each of us, as he did have for Moses. He blesses us with his real presence and miraculous interventions as Jesus did for those three towns. How do I respond to him? Is my life a blessing for others.