19 July 2025 (Saturday)
Saturday of week 15 in Ordinary Time or Saturday memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Ordinary Weekday/ Optional Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:
First Reading : Exodus 12:37‐42
The sons of Israel left Rameses for Succoth, about six hundred thousand on the march – all men – not counting their families. People of various sorts joined them in great numbers; there were flocks, too, and herds in immense droves. They baked cakes with the dough which they had brought from Egypt, unleavened because the dough was not leavened; they had been driven out of Egypt, with no time for dallying, and had not provided themselves with food for the journey. The time that the sons of Israel had spent in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. And on the very day the four hundred and thirty years ended, all the array of the Lord left the land of Egypt. The night, when the Lord kept vigil to bring them out of the land of Egypt, must be kept as a vigil in honour of the Lord for all their generations.
Responsive Psalm : Psalm 135(136):1,10‐15,23‐24
O give thanks to the Lord for he is good.
He remembered us in our distress.
And he snatched us away from our foes.
The first‐born of the Egyptians he smote.
He brought Israel out from their midst.
Arm outstretched, with power in his hand.
He divided the Red Sea in two.
He made Israel pass through the midst.
He flung Pharaoh and his force in the sea.
Gospel : Matthew 12:14‐21
The Pharisees went out and began to plot against Jesus, discussing how to destroy him. Jesus knew this and withdrew from the district. Many followed him and he cured them all, but warned them not to make him known. This was to fulfil the prophecy of Isaiah: Here is my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved, the favourite of my soul. I will endow him with my spirit, and he will proclaim the true faith to the nations. He will not brawl or shout, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. He will not break the crushed reed, nor put out the smouldering wick till he has led the truth to victory: in his name the nations will put their hope.
For our reflection today:
"The Songs of the Servant of the Lord find a wide resonance in the New Testament, beginning with the messianic activity of Jesus. Already, the description of the baptism in the Jordan allows for a parallel with the texts of Isaiah. Matthew writes: 'As soon as Jesus was baptized, the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon Him' (Matthew 3:16); in Isaiah it is written: 'I have put my Spirit upon Him' (Isaiah 42:1). The Evangelist adds: 'And behold, a voice from heaven said, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased'' (Matthew 3:17), while in Isaiah, God speaks of the Servant: 'My chosen one, in whom my soul delights' (Isaiah 42:1). John the Baptist points to Jesus as He approaches the Jordan with the words: 'Behold the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world' (John 1:29), an exclamation that almost summarizes the content of the third and fourth Songs of the Suffering Servant of the Lord. As with the Gospels, so too in the Acts of the Apostles, the first generation of Christ's disciples, beginning with the apostles, are deeply convinced that in Jesus has been fulfilled all that the prophet Isaiah announced in his inspired Songs: that Jesus is the chosen Servant of God (cf. for example Acts 3:13, 26; 4:27, 30; 1 Peter 2:22-25), Who accomplishes the mission of the Servant of the Lord, bringing the new Law, being the light and covenant for all nations." (St. John Paul II, General Audience, 25 February 1987)
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