23 August 2025 (Saturday)
Saturday of week 20 in Ordinary Time or Saint Rose of Lima, Virgin or Saturday memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Ordinary Weekday/ Optional Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary/ Saint Rose of Lima, Virgin.
Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:
First Reading: Ruth 2: 1-3, 8-11; 4: 13-17
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 128: 1b-2, 3, 4, 5
Alleluia: Matthew 23: 9b, 10b
Gospel: Matthew 23: 1-12
First Reading : Ruth 2:1‐3,8‐11,4:13‐17
Naomi had a kinsman on her husband’s side, well‐to‐do and of Elimelech’s clan. His name was Boaz. Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, ‘Let me go into the fields and glean among the ears of corn in the footsteps of some man who will look on me with favour.’ And she said to her, ‘Go, my daughter.’ So she set out and went to glean in the fields after the reapers. And it chanced that she came to that part of the fields which belonged to Boaz of Elimelech’s clan. Boaz said to Ruth, ‘Listen, my daughter, and understand this. You are not to glean in any other field, do not leave here but stay with my servants. Keep your eyes on whatever part of the field they are reaping and follow behind. I have ordered my servants not to molest you. And if you are thirsty, go to the pitchers and drink what the servants have drawn.’ Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground. And she said to him, ‘How have I so earned your favour that you take notice of me, even though I am a foreigner?’ And Boaz answered her, ‘I have been told all you have done for your mother‐in‐law since your husband’s death, and how you left your own father and mother and the land where you were born to come among a people whom you knew nothing about before you came here.’
So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. And when they came together, the Lord made her conceive and she bore a son. And the women said to Naomi, ‘Blessed be the Lord who has not left the dead man without next of kin this day to perpetuate his name in Israel. The child will be a comfort to you and the prop of your old age, for your daughter‐in‐law who loves you and is more to you than seven sons has given him birth.’ And Naomi took the child to her own bosom and she became his nurse. And the women of the neighbourhood gave him a name. ‘A son has been born for Naomi’ they said; and they named him Obed. This was the father of David’s father, Jesse.
Responsive Psalm : Psalm 127(128):1‐5
Indeed thus shall be blessed the man who fears the Lord.
O blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways! By the labour of your hands you shall eat. You will be happy and prosper.
Indeed thus shall be blessed the man who fears the Lord.
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine in the heart of your house; your children like shoots of the olive, around your table.
Indeed thus shall be blessed the man who fears the Lord.
Indeed thus shall be blessed the man who fears the Lord. May the Lord bless you from Zion all the days of your life!
Indeed thus shall be blessed the man who fears the Lord.
Alleluia: Matthew 23: 9b, 10b
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
9b, 10b You have but one Father in heaven; you have but one master, the Christ.
(9. You must call no one on earth your father, since you have only one Father, and he is in heaven.
10. Nor must you allow yourselves to be called teachers, for you have only one Teacher, the Christ).
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel : Matthew 23:1‐12
Addressing the people and his disciples Jesus said, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees occupy the chair of Moses. You must therefore do what they tell you and listen to what they say; but do not be guided by what they do: since they do not practise what they preach. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but will they lift a finger to move them? Not they! Everything they do is done to attract attention, like wearing broader phylacteries and longer tassels, like wanting to take the place of honour at banquets and the front seats in the synagogues, being greeted obsequiously in the market squares and having people call them Rabbi. ‘You, however, must not allow yourselves to be called Rabbi, since you have only one master, and you are all brothers. You must call no one on earth your father, since you have only one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor must you allow yourselves to be called teachers, for you have only one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you must be your servant. Anyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and anyone who humbles himself will be exalted.’
For our reflection today:
“Do you want to be great?” asked Saint Augustine; and he answered, “Begin with the smallest things. Do you want to build a structure of great height? First think of the foundation of lowliness.” (St. Augustine, Sermo 69, 1,2). If we truly want to build the edifice of our sanctification, we must lay its foundation on humility. Jesus is our model. As St. Paul says, “Though He was in the form of God. He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant. He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross” (Phil 2:6-8). How can we not feel, how can we not be small and humble before the mystery of the Incarnation and of the Redemption, before the Son of God who cries in Bethlehem, who wraps Himself in silence in Nazareth, who lives a life of poverty, who dies on a naked cross? It is Jesus who is the first, the true humble one, the only one who has truly glorified God—indeed, God is “glorified by the humble,” as the Book of Sirach tells us (Sir 3:20) because He humbled Himself throughout His entire existence, while also triumphantly manifesting His power as Lord. He became what He Himself defined: “meek and humble of heart.” (St. John Paul II, Homily, Innocent III Square in Anagni, 31 August 1986)
Jonathan Fabian Ginunggil,
Most High Servant,
Jesus, Mary, Joseph Ministry of Love (Blessed and Saints and the Nine Choirs of Angels)
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