(Optional Memorial for Saint Sharbel Makhluf, Priest)
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| “Crossing of the |
Commentary:
Reading 1: Exodus 14:5-18
Commentary on Ex 14:5-18
The great exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt Israel
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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.
Commentary on Ex 15:1bc-2, 3-4, 5-6
This 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.
CCC: Ex 15:1 2810
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Gospel: Matthew 12:38-42
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 that 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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