First reading
Leviticus 23:1,4-11,15-16,27,34-37
The Lord spoke to Moses. He said: ‘These are the Lord’s solemn festivals, the sacred assemblies to which you are to summon the sons of Israel on the appointed day. ‘The fourteenth day of the first month, between the two evenings, is the Passover of the Lord; and the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of Unleavened Bread for the Lord. For seven days you shall eat bread without leaven. On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly; you must do no heavy work. For seven days you shall offer a burnt offering to the Lord. The seventh day is to be a day of sacred assembly; you must do no work.’
The Lord spoke to Moses. He said: ‘Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them: ‘“When you enter the land that I give you, and gather in the harvest there, you must bring the first sheaf of your harvest to the priest, and he is to present it to the Lord with the gesture of offering, so that you may be acceptable. The priest shall make this offering on the day after the sabbath.
‘“From the day after the sabbath, the day on which you bring the sheaf of offering, you are to count seven full weeks. You are to count fifty days, to the day after the seventh sabbath, and then you are to offer the Lord a new oblation.
‘“The tenth day of the seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. You are to hold a sacred assembly. You must fast, and you must offer a burnt offering to the Lord.
‘“The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of Tabernacles for the Lord, lasting seven days. The first day is a day of sacred assembly; you must do no heavy work. For seven days you must offer a burnt offering to the Lord. On the eighth day you are to hold a sacred assembly, you must offer a burnt offering to the Lord. It is a day of solemn meeting; you must do no heavy work.
‘“These are the solemn festivals of the Lord to which you are to summon the children of Israel, sacred assemblies for the purpose of offering burnt offerings, holocausts, oblations, sacrifices and libations to the Lord, according to the ritual of each day.”’ The Word of Lord!
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 80(81):3-6,10-11
Psalm 80(81):3-6,10-11
Gospel
Matthew 13:54-58
Matthew 13:54-58
Coming to his home town, Jesus taught the people in their synagogue in such a way that they were astonished and said, ‘Where did the man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? This is the carpenter’s son, surely? Is not his mother the woman called Mary, and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Jude? His sisters, too, are they not all here with us? So where did the man get it all?’ And they would not accept him. But Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is only despised in his own country and in his own house’, and he did not work many miracles there because of their lack of faith. The Gospel of the Lord!
Reflection
In our Gospel passage, Jesus is not happy with his own people as a result of their over-familiarity. They saw Jesus grow up right before their eyes and treated as a commoner, an ordinary person, they even took offence at Jesus for addressing himself as the Son of God.
Have I become too familiar with God? Do I treat Holy Things as Holy? Do I still believe in the power of prayers or am I just praying for the fun of it? Do I still have the fear of God in me?
Do I invite visitors to my church only for the visitors (non-believers) to be the ones telling me to keep quiet in church? Am I hooked in a sinful life all because I take God for granted? Do I value the Bible or treat it as just one of those books? (Fr. Abu)
Prayer
Father Lord, you are bigger than what people say and I know you have a hand in all things that concern me, and I thank you for all the ups and down, because at the end, only your name would be glorified. Take control, as you use me as a source of blessing to my family, friends and country, I ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen!
Speechless…