18 August 2025 (Monday) / Monday of week 20 in Ordinary Time / Ordinary Weekday

18 August 2025 (Monday)

Monday of week 20 in Ordinary Time.

Ordinary Weekday.

Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:

First Reading: Judges 2: 11-19
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 106: 34-35, 36-37, 39-40, 43ab and 44
Alleluia: Matthew 5: 3
Gospel: Matthew 19: 16-22

First Reading : Judges 2:11‐19

The sons of Israel did what displeases the Lord, and served the Baals. They deserted the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from the gods of the peoples round them. They bowed down to these; they provoked the Lord; they deserted the Lord to serve Baal and Astarte. Then the Lord’s anger flamed out against Israel. He handed them over to pillagers who plundered them; he delivered them to the enemies surrounding them, and they were not able to resist them. In every warlike venture, the hand of the Lord was there to foil them, as the Lord had warned, as the Lord had sworn to them. Thus he reduced them to dire distress. Then the Lord appointed judges for them, and rescued the men of Israel from the hands of their plunderers. But they would not listen to their judges. They prostituted themselves to other gods, and bowed down before these. Very quickly they left the path their ancestors had trodden in obedience to the orders of the Lord; they did not follow their example. When the Lord appointed judges for them, the Lord was with the judge and rescued them from the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived, for the Lord felt pity for them as they groaned under the iron grip of their oppressors. But once the judge was dead, they relapsed and behaved even worse than their ancestors. They followed other gods; they served them and bowed before them, and would not give up the practices and stubborn ways of their ancestors at all.

Responsive Psalm : Psalm 105(106):34‐37,39‐40,43‐44

O Lord, remember me out of the love you have for your people.

They failed to destroy the peoples as the Lord had given command, but instead they mingled with the nations and learned to act as they did.

O Lord, remember me out of the love you have for your people.

They worshipped the idols of the nations and these became a snare to entrap them. They even offered their own sons and their daughters in sacrifice to demons.

O Lord, remember me out of the love you have for your people.

So they defiled themselves by their deeds and broke their marriage bond with the Lord till his anger blazed against his people; he was filled with horror at his chosen ones.

O Lord, remember me out of the love you have for your people.

Time after time he rescued them, but in their malice they dared to defy him. In spite of this he paid heed to their distress, so often as he heard their cry.

O Lord, remember me out of the love you have for your people.

Alleluia: Matthew 5: 3
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
3 How happy are the poor in spirit; theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel : Matthew 19:16‐22

There was a man who came to Jesus and asked, ‘Master, what good deed must I do to possess eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is one alone who is good. But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.’ He said, ‘Which?’ ‘These:’ Jesus replied ‘You must not kill. You must not commit adultery. You must not bring false witness. Honour your father and mother, and: you must love your neighbour as yourself.’ The young man said to him, ‘I have kept all these. What more do I need to do?’ Jesus said, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ But when the young man heard these words he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.

For our reflection today:

Jesus gives his disciples — and us too today — his teaching: “How hard it will be for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” (v. 23). The disciples were dismayed at his words; and especially after Jesus added: “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God”. However, seeing the astonished, he said: “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God” (cf. vv. 24-27). St Clement of Alexandria commented: “Let [the parable] teach the prosperous that they are not to neglect their own salvation, as if they had been already foredoomed, nor, on the other hand, to cast wealth into the sea, or condemn it as a traitor and an enemy to life, but learn in what way and how to use wealth and obtain life” (Who is the Rich Man That Shall Be Saved, 27, 1-2). The history of the Church is full of examples of rich people who used their possessions in an evangelical way, even attaining holiness. Let us only think of St Francis, St Elizabeth of Hungary or St Charles Borromeo. May the Virgin Mary, Seat of Wisdom, help us to accept Jesus’ invitation joyfully, in order to enter the fullness of life. (Pope Benedict XVI, Angelus, 14 October 2012)

Jonathan Fabian Ginunggil,
Most High Servant,
Jesus, Mary, Joseph Ministry of Love (Blessed  and Saints and the Nine Choirs of Angels)