Reading 1 Is 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8
the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came and said to him:
“Thus says the LORD: Put your house in order,
for you are about to die; you shall not recover.”
Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD:
“O LORD, remember how faithfully and wholeheartedly
I conducted myself in your presence,
doing what was pleasing to you!”
And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: “Go, tell Hezekiah:
Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David:
I have heard your prayer and seen your tears.
I will heal you: in three days you shall go up to the LORD’s temple;
I will add fifteen years to your life.
I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria;
I will be a shield to this city.”
Isaiah then ordered a poultice of figs to be taken
and applied to the boil, that he might recover.
Then Hezekiah asked,
“What is the sign that I shall go up to the temple of the LORD?”
Isaiah answered:
“This will be the sign for you from the LORD
that he will do what he has promised:
See, I will make the shadow cast by the sun
on the stairway to the terrace of Ahaz
go back the ten steps it has advanced.”
So the sun came back the ten steps it had advanced.
Responsorial Psalm Is 38:10, 11, 12abcd, 16
Once I said,
“In the noontime of life I must depart!
To the gates of the nether world I shall be consigned
for the rest of my years.”
R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.
I said, “I shall see the LORD no more
in the land of the living.
No longer shall I behold my fellow men
among those who dwell in the world.”
R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.
My dwelling, like a shepherd’s tent,
is struck down and borne away from me;
You have folded up my life, like a weaver
who severs the last thread.
R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.
Those live whom the LORD protects;
yours is the life of my spirit.
You have given me health and life.
R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.
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
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 the 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.”
"A KINGDOM OF PRIESTS" (Ex 19:6; see Rv 1:6)
"Have you not read what David did when he and his men were hungry, how he entered God's house and ate the holy bread, a thing forbidden to him and his men or anyone other than priests?" –Matthew 12:3-4
Something greater than what meets the eye was taking place in today's Gospel reading. The hungry apostles were snacking on grain on the Sabbath. The Pharisees (who were working on the Sabbath as self-appointed law enforcement officers) accused the apostles of "harvesting" on the Sabbath, thus violating one of the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:8-11).
Jesus responds by referring to an act of King David, who allowed his warriors to eat the showbread. Only Old Testament priests were allowed to eat this bread (see 1 Sm 21:2-7; Lv 24:5-9). Jesus thus compared His apostles to priests, and allowed them to perform a priestly act! Not only is Jesus defending His accused apostles, He is also defending their upcoming priesthood. He says, "There is something greater here" (see Mt 12:6). Jesus was raising His twelve apostles to be priests. He was transforming the Levitical priesthood of the Old Testament into His new covenant priesthood. His apostles would belong to a new, "more excellent" priesthood (see Heb 8:1-6).
Jesus was fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy in today's first reading to put His house in order (Is 38:1). Jesus foretold that His house would be a house of prayer (Is 56:7; Mt 21:13). His house would be "greater than the Temple" (Mt 12:6); it will be His Body, the Church, the new house of God, the new Temple where the mercy and holiness God desires would abound (Mt 12:7-8). Join Jesus. Lay down your life for His Body, the Church.
| PRAYER: | Father, may all Your children be one (Jn 17:21). |
| PROMISE: | "Those live whom the Lord protects." –Is 38:16 |
| PRAISE: | St. Bonaventure became friends with St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Louis at school in Paris. |
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