Witnessing God's Power
Jul 16: Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s readings reflect on God’s power, and how we respond to it. Interestingly, Father Casey just released a good video about how to respond to God’s plan:
Reading 1
Is 7:1-9
In the days of Ahaz, king of Judah, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, king of Israel, son of Remaliah, went up to attack Jerusalem, but they were not able to conquer it. When word came to the house of David that Aram was encamped in Ephraim, the heart of the king and the heart of the people trembled, as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind.
Then the LORD said to Isaiah: Go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller’s field, and say to him: Take care you remain tranquil and do not fear; let not your courage fail before these two stumps of smoldering brands the blazing anger of Rezin and the Arameans, and of the son Remaliah, because of the mischief that Aram, Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, plots against you, saying, “Let us go up and tear Judah asunder, make it our own by force, and appoint the son of Tabeel king there.”
Thus says the LORD: This shall not stand, it shall not be! Damascus is the capital of Aram, and Rezin is the head of Damascus; Samaria is the capital of Ephraim, and Remaliah’s son the head of Samaria.
But within sixty years and five, Ephraim shall be crushed, no longer a nation. Unless your faith is firm you shall not be firm!
God has a plan for nations, as well as people. There’s an order that he wants kept. It does not involve Israel’s capital moving to Damascus, under the rule of Samaria.
But God’s plans are also long term. There will be trial and struggle, but after six and a half decades, Ephraim will be gone. That’s not much comfort to King Ahaz right now, but a good leader should be looking for the good of his entire people, not his personal reign.
Responsorial Psalm
PS 48:2-3a, 3b-4, 5-6, 7-8
R. (see 9d) God upholds his city for ever.
Great is the LORD and wholly to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain, fairest of heights,
is the joy of all the earth.
R. God upholds his city for ever.
Mount Zion, “the recesses of the North,”
is the city of the great King.
God is with her castles;
renowned is he as a stronghold.
R. God upholds his city for ever.
For lo! the kings assemble,
they come on together;
They also see, and at once are stunned,
terrified, routed.
R. God upholds his city for ever.
Quaking seizes them there;
anguish, like a woman’s in labor,
As though a wind from the east
were shattering ships of Tarshish.
R. God upholds his city for ever.
In some ways, God is distant, as if on a high mountain. We can never approach His holiness. To be “holy” literally means “set apart.”
But when Great Men try to defy God, they’ll see just how little control they really have. God intervenes in ways large and small, but no matter what, we can all see we’re as powerless as a ship on a stormy sea.
Alleluia
Ps 95:8
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Those verse refers to an event later in life, when the Jews demand to know why God took them from Egypt. They saw God part the sea for them, and yet still doubted. We should not harden our hearts in the same way.
Gospel
Mt 11:20-24
Jesus began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented. "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And as for you, Capernaum: Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld. For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you."
The scene takes place after John the Baptist, in prison, sent his followers to see if Jesus was truly the Messiah.1
Jesus sounds a little bit sick of people questioning him. He’s performing miracles. How are people still doubting?
Yet, it happens all the time. We see wonders all around us—sunshine, flowers, children playing. Every day, we see someone being kind to a stranger for no reason other than it’s the right thing to do. We see charity and humility and faithfulness, if we just look and listen for the miracles in our midst.