CCC Cross Reference:
Mt 12:39 994; Mt 12:40 627, 635, 994; Mt 12:41-42 590, 678
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Reading 1
Mi 6:1-4, 6-8
Hear what the Lord says:
Arise, present your plea before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice!
Hear, O mountains, the plea of the Lord,
pay attention, O foundations of the earth!
For the Lord has a plea against his people,
and he enters into trial with Israel.
O my people, what have I done to you,
or how have I wearied you? Answer me!
For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
from the place of slavery I released you;
and I sent before you Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam.
With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow before God most high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with myriad streams of oil?
Shall I give my first-born for my crime,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
You have been told, O man, what is good,
and what the Lord requires of you:
Only to do the right and to love goodness,
and to walk humbly with your God.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 50:5-6, 8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23
R. (23b) To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Gather my faithful ones before me,
those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
And the heavens proclaim his justice;
for God himself is the judge.
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
for your burnt offerings are before me always.
I take from your house no bullock,
no goats out of your fold.”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
Gospel
Mt 12:38-42
Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus,
“Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”
He said to them in reply,
“An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign,
but no sign will be given it
except the sign of Jonah the prophet.
Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights,
so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth
three days and three nights.
At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation
and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah;
and there is something greater than Jonah here.
At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation
and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon;
and there is something greater than Solomon here.”
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Micah 6:1 – 8
Now listen to what the Lord is saying:
Stand up and let the case begin in the hearing of the mountains
and let the hills hear what you say.
Listen, you mountains, to the Lord’s accusation,
give ear, you foundations of the earth,
for the Lord is accusing his people,
pleading against Israel:
My people, what have I done to you,
how have I been a burden to you? Answer me.
I brought you out of the land of Egypt,
I rescued you from the house of slavery;
I sent Moses to lead you,
with Aaron and Miriam.
‘With what gift shall I come into the Lord’s presence
and bow down before God on high?
Shall I come with holocausts,
with calves one year old?
Will he be pleased with rams by the thousand,
with libations of oil in torrents?
Must I give my first-born for what I have done wrong,
the fruit of my body for my own sin?’
– What is good has been explained to you, man;
this is what the Lord asks of you:
only this, to act justly,
to love tenderly
and to walk humbly with your God.
Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 49(50):5-6,8-9,16-17,21,23
I will show God’s salvation to the upright.
‘Summon before me my people
who made covenant with me by sacrifice.’
The heavens proclaim his justice,
for he, God, is the judge.
I will show God’s salvation to the upright.
‘I find no fault with your sacrifices,
your offerings are always before me.
I do not ask more bullocks from your farms,
nor goats from among your herds.
I will show God’s salvation to the upright.
‘But how can you recite my commandments
and take my covenant on your lips,
you who despise my law
and throw my words to the winds,
I will show God’s salvation to the upright.
‘You do this, and should I keep silence?
Do you think that I am like you?
a sacrifice of thanksgiving honours me
and I will show God’s salvation to the upright.’
I will show God’s salvation to the upright.
Gospel Matthew 12:38 – 42
Some of the scribes and Pharisees spoke up. ‘Master,’ they said ‘we should like to see a sign from you.’ He replied, ‘It is an evil and unfaithful generation that asks for a sign! The only sign it will be given is the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was in the belly of the sea-monster for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. On Judgment day the men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation and condemn it, because when Jonah preached they repented; and there is something greater than Jonah here. On Judgment day the Queen of the South will rise up with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here.’
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Monday of the 16th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Micah 6:1-4, 6-8
The Lord hands down his sentence
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[1] Hear what the Lord says:
Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice.
[2] Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the Lord,
and you enduring foundations of the earth;
for the LORD has a controversy with his people,
and he will contend with Israel.
[3] O my people, what have I done to you?
In what have I wearied you? Answer me!
[4] For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
and redeemed you from the house of bondage;
and I sent before you Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam.
Formal religion is not enough
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[6] With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
[7] Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my first-born for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?"
[8] He has showed you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
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Commentary:
6:1-7:7. This is the third part of the book. As we have seen, the book oscillates between reproaches and messages of encouragement. This part is of the former type. The book began by taking Israel and Judah to task and by announcing their sentence (1:2-3:12); then came an augury of an eschatological restoration of the kingdom of God, with the coming of the Messiah and the salvation of the "remnant" (4:1-5:15). Now (6:1-7:7) the people are again condemned for their unjust and immoral behaviour. But the last verse (7:7) shows us that the prophet trusts in God and is confident that he will be heard. As in 4:1-5, this confidence on Micah's part is an earnest of what is said in the final verses of the book (7:8-20), where one sees fulfilled all the hopes placed in the future.
The faults for which the prophet criticizes the people are infidelity and ingratitude towards the Lord (6:1-15) and a lack of virtue (6:6-8), particularly injustice (6:9-16), which has led to despair and betrayal (7:1-6).
6:1-5. Here begins the arraignment of Israel in the style of a court case (rib) in which the Lord and Israel speak. The rib is a literary form found quite frequently in prophetical writings (cf. Is 3:13-15; 5:3-7; Hos 4:1-3; etc.) It depicts a public trial or debate in which the Lord is the plaintiff (v. 2) and the world around (hills, mountains) is the witness (vv. 1-2). The drama of the scene lies in the fact that the people being addressed are at one and the same time the defendants (v. 2) and those who are expected to give judgment. Given the case made in the oracle, anyone present must agree with the prophet that the thing to do is to try to know the "saving acts of the Lord" (v. 5). The points made by God through the prophet involve basically an appeal to the very origin of the people of Israel and what the Lord did for them: he appeals to the basic elements of Israelite faith (cf. Deut 5:15). Similar arguments should also impress the Christian: "Christian soul, always remember your dignity, and having been invited to partake of the divine nature, do not fall back by your behaviour into your past sinfulness. Be mindful of what head and body you are a member. Remember that you were freed from darkness and led into the light of the kingdom of God" (St Leo the Great, Sermones, 21, 3).
This message (especially vv. 3-4) is very familiar to Christians because it is used in the Reproaches sung during the Adoration of the Cross on Good Friday. That chant combines the Micah text with short paragraphs taken from the Trisagium (an ancient liturgical hymn in honour of the Blessed Trinity), from Isaiah 5:1-5, and from events connected with the exodus from Egypt (updated in the liturgy by linking them to episodes in the passion of our Lord). That part of the Good Friday liturgy serves to remind Christians and people in general of their ingratitude towards God (as shown by their sins) -- God whose love and generosity are unbounded. It invites us to acknowledge our sins and helps to get us ready (collectively and personally) for conversion. When a Christian kisses the cross of Christ, he can apply the prophet's words to himself -- as if Jesus were speaking them to him, for, as St Francis of Assisi says, "The demons alone did not crucify him; you helped them to crucify him, and to crucify him still, by falling into error and sin" (Admonitiones, 5, 3; cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 598). The liturgy of the Adoration of the Cross is an excellent way of taking to heart Micah's oracle.
6:6-8. These verses are a kind of summary of what true religion is; it is not only a matter of formal religious worship: it involves obedience towards God which in turn means practising justice and charity towards one's neighbor (v. 8). Verse 7 alludes to the abominable Canaanite practice of sacrificing children to the God Moloch and to the Baals -- a practice roundly condemned elsewhere in the Bible: "In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho; he laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his first-born, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub" (1 Kings 16:34; cf. Lev 20:2; Deut 12:31; etc.). It could he that these sins from the Northern kingdom were finding their way into Judah (cf. 6:16), as 2 Kings 16:3 suggests and as Jeremiah asserts: "[the kings of Judah] have filled this place with the blood of innocents, and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal" (Jer 19:4-5).
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From: Matthew 12:38-42
The Sign of Jonah
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[38] Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him (Jesus), "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you." [39] But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign; but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. [40] For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. [41] The men of Nineveh will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. [42] The queen of the South will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here."
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Commentary:
39-40. This sign the Jews were asking for would have been a miracle or some other prodigy; they wanted Jesus, incongruously, to confirm his preaching --given with such simplicity--by dramatic signs. Our Lord replies by announcing the mystery of his death and resurrection, using the parallel of the case of Jonah: "No sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." Jesus' glorious resurrection is the "sign" "par excellence", the decisive proof of the divine character of his person, of his mission and of his teaching.
When St. Paul (1 Cor 14:3-4) confesses that Jesus Christ "was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures" (words which later found their way into the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, the Creed used in the Mass), he must have had this passage particularly in mind. We can see another allusion to Jonah in the words our Lord spoke shortly before his ascension: "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead" (Lk 24:45-46).
41-42. Nineveh was a city in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) to which the prophet Jonah was sent. The Ninevites did penance (Jn 3:6-9) because they recognized the prophet and accepted his message; whereas Jerusalem does not wish to recognize Jesus, of whom Jonah was merely a figure. The queen of the South was the queen of Sheba in southwestern Arabia, who visited Solomon (1 Kings 10:1-10) and was in awe of the wisdom with which God had endowed the King of Israel. Jesus is also prefigured in Solomon, whom Jewish tradition saw as the epitome of the wise man. Jesus' reproach is accentuated by the example of pagan converts, and gives us a glimpse of the universal scope of Christianity, which will take root among the Gentiles.
There is a certain irony in what Jesus says about "something greater" than Jonah or Solomon having coming: really, he is infinitely greater, but Jesus prefers to tone down the difference between himself and any figure, no matter how important, in the Old Testament.
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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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