CCC Cross Reference:
Ps 124:8 287
Mt 10:37 2232; Mt 10:38 1506; Mt 10:40 858
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Reading 1
Ex 1:8-14, 22
A new king, who knew nothing of Joseph, came to power in Egypt.
He said to his subjects, “Look how numerous and powerful
the people of the children of Israel are growing, more so than we ourselves!
Come, let us deal shrewdly with them to stop their increase;
otherwise, in time of war they too may join our enemies
to fight against us, and so leave our country.”
Accordingly, taskmasters were set over the children of Israel
to oppress them with forced labor.
Thus they had to build for Pharaoh
the supply cities of Pithom and Raamses.
Yet the more they were oppressed,
the more they multiplied and spread.
The Egyptians, then, dreaded the children of Israel
and reduced them to cruel slavery,
making life bitter for them with hard work in mortar and brick
and all kinds of field work—the whole cruel fate of slaves.
Pharaoh then commanded all his subjects,
“Throw into the river every boy that is born to the Hebrews,
but you may let all the girls live.”
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 124:1b-3, 4-6, 7-8
R. (8a) Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Had not the Lord been with us–
let Israel say, had not the Lord been with us–
When men rose up against us,
then would they have swallowed us alive,
When their fury was inflamed against us.
R. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Then would the waters have overwhelmed us;
The torrent would have swept over us;
over us then would have swept
the raging waters.
Blessed be the Lord, who did not leave us
a prey to their teeth.
R. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
We were rescued like a bird
from the fowlers’ snare;
Broken was the snare,
and we were freed.
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
R. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Gospel
Mt 10:34—11:1
Jesus said to his Apostles:
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth.
I have come to bring not peace but the sword.
For I have come to set
a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
and one’s enemies will be those of his household.
“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me,
and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
and whoever does not take up his cross
and follow after me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it,
and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
“Whoever receives you receives me,
and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.
Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet
will receive a prophet’s reward,
and whoever receives a righteous man
because he is righteous
will receive a righteous man’s reward.
And whoever gives only a cup of cold water
to one of these little ones to drink
because he is a disciple–
amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.”
When Jesus finished giving these commands to his Twelve disciples,
he went away from that place to teach and to preach in their towns.
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Exodus 1:8 – 22
There came to power in Egypt a new king who knew nothing of Joseph. ‘Look,’ he said to his subjects ‘these people, the sons of Israel, have become so numerous and strong that they are a threat to us. We must be prudent and take steps against their increasing any further, or if war should break out, they might add to the number of our enemies. They might take arms against us and so escape out of the country.’ Accordingly they put slave-drivers over the Israelites to wear them down under heavy loads. In this way they built the store-cities of Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh. But the more they were crushed, the more they increased and spread, and men came to dread the sons of Israel. The Egyptians forced the sons of Israel into slavery, and made their lives unbearable with hard labour, work with clay and with brick, all kinds of work in the fields; they forced on them every kind of labor.
Pharaoh then gave his subjects this command: ‘Throw all the boys born to the Hebrews into the river, but let all the girls live’.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 123(124):1-8
Our help is in the name of the Lord.
‘If the Lord had not been on our side,’
this is Israel’s song.
‘If the Lord had not been on our side
when men rose up against us,
then would they have swallowed us alive
when their anger was kindled.
Our help is in the name of the Lord.
‘Then would the waters have engulfed us,
the torrent gone over us;
over our head would have swept
the raging waters.’
Blessed be the Lord who did not give us
a prey to their teeth!
Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Our life, like a bird, has escaped
from the snare of the fowler.
Indeed the snare has been broken
and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Gospel Matthew 10:34 - 11:1
Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth: it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies will be those of his own household.
‘Anyone who prefers father or mother to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who prefers son or daughter to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me. Anyone who finds his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.
‘Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me; and those who welcome me welcome the one who sent me.
‘Anyone who welcomes a prophet will have a prophet’s reward; and anyone who welcomes a holy man will have a holy man’s reward.
‘If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, then I tell you solemnly, he will most certainly not lose his reward.’
When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples he moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns.
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Monday of the 15th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Exodus 1:8-14, 22
The Sons of Israel are Oppressed
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[8] Now there arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph. [9] And he said to his people, "Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. [10] Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war befall us, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land." [11] Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens; and they built for Pharaoh store-cities, Pithom and Ra-amses. [12] But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. [13] So they made the people of Israel serve with rigor, [14] and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field; in all their work they made them serve with rigor.
[22] Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, "Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live."
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Commentary:
1:8-14 The situation of the children of Israel is dramatically portrayed: the more they are oppressed, the stronger they become (v. 12). The frequent contrasts in the account and the fact that no names are supplied give the impression that God himself (even though he is yet not named) is on the Israelites' side and is against the pharaoh and his people. From the very beginning, over and above the comings and goings of men, God is at work; a religious event is taking shape.
For the first time the Bible here speaks of the "people [of the Sons] of Israel" (v. 9). The sacred book counter-poses two peoples--the people of the pharaoh, cruel and oppressive, and the people of Israel, the victims of oppression. Over the course of their struggle to leave Egypt, the children of Israel will gradually become conscious of this--that they form a people chosen by God and released from bondage in order to fulfill an important historical mission. They are not a motley collection of tribes or families, but a people. "God, with loving concern contemplating, and making preparation for, the salvation of the whole human race, in a singular undertaking chose for himself a people to whom he would entrust his promises" (Vatican II, "Del Verbum", 14). At the same time the religious framework of this inspired book is established: on one side stand the enemies of God, on the other the people of the children of the Covenant (cf. Acts 3: 25; "Catechism of the Catholic Church", 527).
1:8. We do not know who exactly this new king" was. He was probably Rameses II (early 13th century BC), who belonged to the nineteenth dynasty. This pharaoh sought to restore imperial control over foreigners and invaders. The phrase "did not know Joseph" indicates how helpless and alone the "sons of Israel" were. The people of Israel never did count for very much politically, and yet God wills them to have an essential place in his plans.
Many Fathers of the Church saw in this pharaoh a personification of those who are opposed to the establishment of the Kingdom of Christ. St Bede, for example, reminds the Christian that if, having been baptized and having listened to the teachings of the faith, he goes back to living in a worldly way, "another king who knows not Joseph" will come to birth in him, that is, the selfishness which opposes the plans of God (cf. "Commentaria In Pentateuchum", 2,1).
1:11. Pithom and Ra-amses are called "store-cities" because provisions for the frontier garrisons were stored in the silos of their temples. Reliable archaeological studies identify Pithom (which in Egyptian means "dwelling of Athon") with some ruins a few kilometers from present-day Ishmailia, not far from the Suez canal. A temple of Athon has been discovered there, and huge stores of bricks. It is more difficult to say where Ra-amses was. The balance of probability is that it was the earlier city of Avaris, a capital during the dynasties of invader pharaohs. It would later be called Tanis, and nowadays it is just a series of big ruins near a fishing village, San el-Hagar, near Port Said, on the eastern part of the Nile delta. Archaeologists have discovered there the remains of an elaborate temple built by Rameses II (1279-1212 BC), probably the pharaoh mentioned here.
1:14. In ancient Egypt it was normal for people, particularly foreigners, to work for the pharaoh. This was not regarded as a form of slavery or "oppression"; we know, for example, there were towns or entire cities which accommodated the workers engaged in building the tombs or temples of the pharaohs. The oppresion the sacred writer refers to lay in the fact that the Egyptians imposed particularly hard tasks on the Israelites--such as brick-making, building and agricultural labor--and treated them cruelly.
St lsidore of Seville, commenting on this passage, compares it with the situation of mankind which, after original sin, is subject to the tyranny of the devil, who often manages to turn work into slavery.
Just as the pharaoh imposed the hard labor of mortar and brick, so too the devil forces sinful man to engage in "earthly, dusty tasks which are moreover mixed with straw, that is to say, with frivolous and irrational acts" (cf. "Quaestiones In Exodum", 3).
1:22. The original text always refers to "the River" because the entire life of ancient Egypt depended on it. Obviously it is referring to the Nile.
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From: Matthew 10:34-11:1
Jesus' Instructions to the Apostles (Continuation)
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(Jesus said to His disciples) [34] "Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. [35] For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughterin-law against her mother-in-law; [36] and a man's foes will be those of his own household. [37] He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; [38] and he who does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. [39] He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.
[40] He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. [41] He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward, and he who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. [42] And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward."
The Mission of John the Baptist. Jesus' Reply
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[1] And when Jesus had finished instructing His twelve disciples, He went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.
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Commentary:
34-37. Our Lord has not come to bring a false and earthly peace -- the sort of tranquility the self-seeking person yearns for; He wants us to struggle against our own passions and against sin and its effects. The sword He equips us with for this struggle is, in the words of Scripture, "the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:17), "lively and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).
The word of God in fact leads to these divisions mentioned here. It can lead, even within families, to those who embrace the faith being regarded as enemies by relatives who resist the word of truth. This is why our Lord goes on (verse 37) to say that nothing should come between Him and His disciple--not even father, mother, son or daughter: any and every obstacle (cf. Matthew 5:29-30) must be avoided.
Obviously these words of Jesus do not set up any opposition between the first and fourth commandments (love for God above all things and love for one's parents): He is simply indicating the order of priorities. We should love God with all our strength (cf. Matthew 22:37), and make a serious effort to be saints; and we should also love and respect--in theory and in practice--the parents God has given us; they have generously cooperated with the creative power of God in bringing us into the world and there is so much that we owe them. But love for our parents should not come before love of God; usually there is no reason why these two loves should clash, but if that should happen, we should be quite clear in our mind and in heart about what Jesus says here. He has in fact given us an example to follow on this point: "How is it that you sought Me? Did you not know that I must be in My Father's house?" (Luke 2:49) -- His reply when, as a youth, Mary and Joseph found Him in the Temple of Jerusalem after a long search. This event in our Lord's life is a guideline for every Christian -- parent or child. Children should learn from it that their affection for their parents should never come before their love for God, particularly when our Creator asks us to follow Him in a way which implies special self-giving on our part; parents should take the lesson that their children belong to God in the first place, and therefore He has a right to do with them what He wishes, even if this involves sacrifice, even heroic sacrifice. This teaching of our Lord asks us to be generous and to let God have His way. In fact, however, God never lets Himself be outdone in generosity. Jesus has promised a hundredfold gain, even in this life, and later on eternal life (cf. Matthew 19:29), to those who readily respond to His will.
38-39. The teaching contained in the preceding verses is summed up in these two succinct sentences. Following Christ, doing what He asks, means risking this present life to gain eternal life.
"People who are constantly concerned with themselves, who act above all for their own satisfaction, endanger their eternal salvation and cannot avoid being unhappy even in this life. Only if a person forgets himself and gives himself to God and to others, in marriage as well as in any other aspect of life, can he be happy on this earth, with a happiness that is a preparation for, and a foretaste of, the joy of Heaven" (St. J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 24). Clearly, Christian life is based on self-denial: there is no Christianity without the Cross.
40. To encourage the Apostles and to persuade others to receive them, our Lord affirms that there is an intimate solidarity, or even a kind of identity, between Himself and His disciples. God in Christ, Christ in the Apostles: this is the bridge between Heaven and earth (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:21-23).
41-42. A prophet's mission is not essentially one of announcing future events; his main role is that of communicating the word of God (cf. Jeremiah 11:2; Isaiah 1:2). The righteous man, the just man, is he who obeys the Law of God and follows His paths (cf. Genesis 6:9; Isaiah 3:10). Here Jesus tells us that everyone who humbly listens to and welcomes prophets and righteous men, recognizing God in them, will receive the reward of a prophet and a righteous man. The very fact of generously receiving God's friends will gain one the reward that they obtain. Similarly, if we should see God in the least of His disciples (verse 42), even if they do not seem very important, they are important, because they are envoys of God and of His Son. That is why he who gives them a glass of cold water -- an alms, or any small service -- will receive a reward, for he has shown generosity to our Lord Himself (cf. Matthew 25:40).
1. In chapters 11 and 12 the Gospel records the obduracy of the Jewish leaders toward Jesus, despite hearing His teaching (chapter 5-7) and seeing the miracles which bear witness to the divine nature of His person and His doctrine (chapters 8 and 9).
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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