Readings and Reflection for July 27, Wednesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

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FIRST READING

“Why is my pain unceasing? If you return, you shall stand before me.”

A reading from the Book of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 15:10.16-21)

Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me. Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts. I did not sit in the Company of merrymakers, nor did I rejoice; I sat alone, because your hand was upon me, for you had filled me with indignation. Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will you be to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail? Therefore thus says the Lord: “If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth. They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them. And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, says the Lord. I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.”

The word of the Lord.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 59:2-3.4.10-11.17.18 (R. l7d)

R/. God is my refuge in the day of my distress.

Rescue me from my foes, O God;

protect me from those who attack me.

O rescue me from those who do evil,

and save me from bloodthirsty men. R/.

See, they lie in wait for my life;

the strong band together against me.

For no offence, no sin of mine, O Lord. R/.

O my Strength, for you will I watch,

for you, O God, are my stronghold,

the God who shows me merciful love.

Now God will proceed before me,

God will let me look upon my foes. R/.

R/. God is my refuge in the day of my distress

As for me, I will sing of your strength,

and acclaim your mercy in the morning,

for you have been my stronghold,

a refuge in the day of my distress. R/.

O my Strength, to you I will sing praise,

for you, O God, are my stronghold,

the God who shows me merciful love. R/.

ALLELUIA John 15: 15b

Alleluia. I have called you friends, says the Lord, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

“He sells all that he has and buys that field.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Matthew 13:44-46)

At that time: Jesus said to the crowds, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Today’s Reflection

When asked to explain the parable of the weeds, Jesus gives an allegorical explanation. An allegorical exposition relativises the purely literal meaning of a text to aim at its deeper sense. In the explanation given by Jesus, each item in the parable has an equivalent in the spiritual sense, such as: the Sower is Jesus Himself; the field is the world; the good seed are the sons of the kingdom; and the enemy who sows the weed is the devil. A well-known illustration is St Augustine’s allegorical interpretation of the parable of the Good Samaritan. Augustine equates the man who goes down from Jerusalem to Jericho with Adam; Jerusalem with the heavenly city of peace from which Adam was expelled; and Jericho with the moon, the symbol of man’s mortality. Jesus also hints at the final judgement, when the just and the unjust will be separated, along with appropriate rewards and punishments.

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