18th JULY. SATURDAY IN WEEK 15

1.Exodus 12: 37-42

2.Matthew 12:14-21

The first reading from the book of Exodus invites us to learn to respect racial difference. There was a separation between the chosen people and non chosen people. Jesus today also is inviting us to meditate about the role that those who do not belong to our family, tribe, or nation play in the plan of God. We hear from the book of Exodus that, “mixed ancestry” also went up with them. Israel was not to put too high value on purity of racial origin. The presence of foreigners within them is something they share with other oppressed peoples.  Israel was “the smallest of nations” that God chose to manifest his love and fidelity (Dt 7:7). If we wish to embrace the privilege of being God’s elect people, called to be his own, we need to embrace diversity whereby in that diversity we will manifest kindliness, compassion, and humility. We need to understand that the world we are living today is the multi-ethnic society. Jesus wants each one of us to reveal him in such multi- ethnic society.

The evangelist Matthew quotes prophet Isaiah about the suffering servant. The mission and apostolate of Jesus is portrayed in advance by this passage, written during the Babylonian exile. Its message was rejected in his own day, as its attitude towards the gentiles seemed too mild, even hopeful for their salvation. Jesus is described as; “my servant whom I have chosen, my loved one in whom I delight; He will not contend nor cry out; the bruised reed he will not crush; in his name the gentiles will find hope.” We learn a lesson from the readings that if we disregard our neighbour in time of sickness and troubles, then we do not deserve to be called Christians, for like Jesus we are called to cure and heal. When we disregard the outsider then we will be called to account by God.

From the gospel reading we learn that there is a sharp contrast between the plotting of the Pharisees against Jesus discussing how to destroy him, and the description of him from the prophet Isaiah. It is really a contrast between a kind of power that damages the innocent and a very different kind of power that protects and nurtures what is vulnerable. The second power is the power of the spirit; it is the power which filled the life of Jesus and which is to fill all our lives. In the course of our lives we will encounter crushed reed and the smoldering wick. Whenever we feel weak, we need the power that has to nurture us and renews us. Such power is the power of the risen Lord in all our lives, the power of the spirit, and our calling is to be the channels of that life-giving power of the Lord to each other.