The Word Today : August 13, 2013 Tuesday 19th Week in Ordinary Time Year I Memorial, Saints Pontian, pope, and Hippolytus, priest, martyrs Dt 31:1-8 / Dt 32: 3-4ab. 7. 8. 9 and 12 / Mt 18:1-5,10,12-14 READINGS Deuteronomy 31:1-8 When Moses finished telling all Israel these words, he said, “I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I can no longer deal with anything—Remember that Yahweh told me that I shall not cross the Jordan River. Now Joshua shall be at your head, as Yahweh has said. He, your God, will go before you to destroy these nations before you, and you will drive them away. Yahweh shall deal with these cities as he dealt with Sihon and Og, the Amorite kings, and their land, which he destroyed. So when he has given these nations over to you, you shall do the same, according to what I have commanded you. Be valiant and strong, do not fear or tremble before them for Yahweh, your God, is with you; he will not leave you or abandon you.” After this, Moses called Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel: “Be valiant and strong, you shall go with this people into the land which Yahweh swore to their ancestors he would give them and you shall give it to them as their possession. Yahweh shall go before you. He shall be with you; he shall not leave you or abandon you. Do not fear, then, or be discouraged.” Matthew 18:1-5,10,12-14 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked him, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Then Jesus called a little child, set the child in the midst of the disciples, and said, “I assure you that, unless you change and become like little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes lowly like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and whoever receives such a child in my name receives me. See that you do not despise any of these little ones, for I tell you: their angels in heaven continually see the face of my heavenly Father. What do you think of this? If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them strays, won’t he leave the ninety-nine on the hillside, and go to look for the stray one? And I tell you: when he finally finds it, he is more pleased about it than about the ninety-nine, that did not get lost. It is the same with your Father in heaven: your Father in heaven doesn’t want even one of these little ones to be lost. REFLECTION In the first reading, the Israelites were commanded by Yahweh to put to death anyone who would entice them to worship idols – even if the person were a blood relative. For the Israelites, it was very clear that they were to worship Yahweh alone. In our Gospel today, Jesus calls his believers “little ones.” He shows his protectiveness towards them and warns others not to lead them astray. In our society, these “little ones” are the simple folk who believe in Jesus, or children and widows who are defenseless, or those who do not have great wealth and authority but live simple lives dedicated to the Lord. Jesus warns ruthless and opportunistic people who make it a habit to oppress these “little ones.” In our Gospel today, Jesus also shows compassion to those people who go astray. These are people who, because of their frailty and naiveté, are easily seduced by the devil and turn away from God and enter into a life of sin and meaninglessness. Jesus tells us to bring them back to the sheepfold, back to God. We are to pray for them, guide them with kindness and without judgment, and help them to rediscover Jesus, the Good Shepherd. If we are able to bring a person who has strayed from the faith back to the Church, there will be tremendous rejoicing in heaven, says Jesus in the Gospel.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 00:49:54 +0000