Monday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Optional Memorial for Saint Sharbel Makhluf, Priest)
 
Proper readings for the Memorial of St. Sharbel Makhluf
Biographical information about St. Sharbel Makhluf

“Crossing of the Red Sea”
by Cosimo Rosselli, 1481-82

 
Readings for Monday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading 1: Exodus 14:5-18
 
When it was reported to the king of Egypt
that the people had fled,
Pharaoh and his servants changed their minds about them.
They exclaimed, "What have we done!
Why, we have released Israel from our service!"
So Pharaoh made his chariots ready and mustered his soldiers
six hundred first-class chariots
and all the other chariots of Egypt, with warriors on them all.
So obstinate had the LORD made Pharaoh
that he pursued the children of Israel
even while they were marching away in triumph.
The Egyptians, then, pursued them;
Pharaoh’s whole army, his horses, chariots and charioteers,
caught up with them as they lay encamped by the sea,
at Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.
 
Pharaoh was already near when the children of Israel looked up
and saw that the Egyptians were on the march in pursuit of them.
In great fright they cried out to the LORD.
And they complained to Moses,
"Were there no burial places in Egypt
that you had to bring us out here to die in the desert?
Why did you do this to us?
Why did you bring us out of Egypt?
Did we not tell you this in Egypt, when we said,
'Leave us alone. Let us serve the Egyptians’?
Far better for us to be the slaves of the Egyptians
than to die in the desert."
But Moses answered the people,
"Fear not!  Stand your ground,
and you will see the victory the LORD will win for you today.
These Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again.
The LORD himself will fight for you; you have only to keep still."
 
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me?
Tell the children of Israel to go forward.
And you, lift up your staff and, with hand outstretched over the sea,
split the sea in two,
that the children of Israel may pass through it on dry land.
But I will make the Egyptians so obstinate
that they will go in after them.
Then I will receive glory through Pharaoh and all his army,
his chariots and charioteers.
The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD,
when I receive glory through Pharaoh
and his chariots and charioteers."
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Commentary on Ex 14:5-18
 
The great exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt is complicated as Pharaoh has a change of heart and sends his armies to bring them back to servitude.  Seeing their hopeless fate and lacking faith in God, the Hebrews cry out against Moses.  God prepares a mighty sign for both the people of Israel and the Egyptians as he asks Moses to lift his staff and part the waters of the sea so the people can walk through.
 
"You, too, if you distance yourself from the Egyptians and flee far from the power of demons, will see what great helps will be provided to you each day and what great protection is available to you. All that is asked of you is that you stand firm in the faith and do not let yourself be terrified by either the Egyptian cavalry or the noise of their chariots" (Origen "Homiliae in Exodum", 5, 4).
 
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Responsorial Psalm: Exodus 15:1bc-2, 3-4, 5-6
 
R. (1b) Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.
 
I will sing to the LORD, for he is gloriously triumphant;
horse and chariot he has cast into the sea.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
He is my God, I praise him;
the God of my father, I extol him.
R. Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.
 
The LORD is a warrior,
LORD is his name!
Pharaoh’s chariots and army he hurled into the sea;
the elite of his officers were submerged in the Red Sea.
R. Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.
 
The flood waters covered them,
they sank into the depths like a stone.
Your right hand, O LORD, magnificent in power,
your right hand, O LORD, has shattered the enemy.
R. Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.
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Commentary on Ex 15:1bc-2, 3-4, 5-6
 
This selection from the poem from Exodus celebrates God’s wondrous act of salvation as it recalls the passage of the people of Israel through the depths of the sea, and the destruction of Pharaoh’s army following them.
 
“Red Sea: the traditional translation of the Hebrew yam suph, which actually means ‘Sea of Reeds’ or ‘reedy sea.’ The location is uncertain, though in view of the route taken by the Israelites from Egypt to Sinai, it could not have been the Red Sea, which is too far south. It was probably a smaller body of water south of the Gulf of Suez. The term occurs also in Exodus at 10:19; 13:18; and 23:31.” [4]
 
CCC: Ex 15:1 2810
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Gospel: Matthew 12:38-42
 
Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus,
"Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you."
He said to them in reply,
"An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign,
but no sign will be given it
except the sign of Jonah the prophet.
 
Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights,
so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth
three days and three nights.
At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation
and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah;
and there is something greater than Jonah here.
At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation
and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon;
and there is something greater than Solomon here."
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Commentary on Mt 12:38-42
 
In this passage from St. Matthew’s Gospel, the scribes and Pharisees demand a sign, even though the Lord has been performing cures and exorcisms in front of them. Jesus replies, and tells them in no uncertain terms that no sign will be given to them.

Calling them unfaithful (literally adulterous) in their failure to understand that he is sent by God and his mission, and using a reference first to Jonah, he tells them that just as Jonah “was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights” (Jonah 2:1ff),  the Messiah will also be in the tomb of the earth for the same period. In this way, Jonah prefigured Jesus' death on the cross. He tells the Pharisees that, on the last day (the Day of Judgment), the people Jonah was sent to call to repentance would be raised because they had repented (Jonah 3:5ff). The Pharisees, who believed in the resurrection, believed that the “justified” or “just” would be raised on the last day, see Acts 23:6ff). The Lord concludes his comparison saying, in reference to his identity as the Son of God, “there is something greater than Jonah here.”

Jesus uses a second example, comparing the Pharisees' lack of understanding to the faith of the Queen of Sheba in the wisdom of Solomon. She (“the queen of the south“) was queen in Ethiopia (or western Arabia). She traveled a great distance to hear God’s wisdom from Solomon (1 Kings 10:1-10), who himself followed King David, the line that ultimately produced the Savior. Jesus calls them unfaithful in their failure to understand that he is sent by God, again concluding that: “there is something greater than Solomon here.”
 
CCC: Mt 12:39 994; Mt 12:40 627, 635, 994; Mt 12:41-42 590, 678
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Reflection:
 
There is a great tinge of irony in the Scripture selections provided.  In the first reading from Exodus, God provides a sign for the Israelites that he is with them by thwarting the pharaoh’s army.  This act of salvation by God is recounted through all generations since it took place as a reminder of how God will save his faithful followers from destruction.
 
Placed against this spectacular sign comes the demand by some scribes and Pharisees that Jesus provide them with something similar, so that they might come to believe that he is the “Anointed One” – the Messiah.  Jesus responds to them, telling them that, since they refuse to believe that he is the one who came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets, they completely missed God’s sign to them.  Something greater than the miracle of Jonah or the wisdom of Solomon had come to them, and they could not see. (Here he uses the analogies of two other great signs from the Old Testament, Jonah’s encounter with the whale, and the queen of Sheba’s sacrifice for the sake of the wisdom of Solomon.)
 
Two great signs of God’s love are given (the second given great emphasis for our benefit).  And now we ask ourselves, what sign does this age get to see?  What did God plan to show this age and these generations to bring them to faith?  One answer always surprises and humbles us.  Christ gives us as a sign to the world.  We see, in the huge strokes of the brush with which he paints, the future of humankind. The Lord uses us to show the world what great love he has for us.  We become the sign and instrument of his plan.
 
Today we marvel at God’s great works, recalling how Pharaoh’s army was destroyed in the Red Sea, and how God’s Son brings to fullness the Law and the Prophets. We pledge to do our part as a sign for our generation.  Through our example we pray that others will see how great God’s love for them is and be amazed as we are at the peace that flows from him, through Christ, to us.
 
Pax

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[1] The picture is “Crossing of the Red Sea” by Cosimo Rosselli, 1481-82.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] NAB footnote on Exodus 15:4.