Other Sunday and Holy Day Readings
11th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Cycle A)
Readings:
Exodus 19:2-6
Psalm 100:1-3, 5
Romans 5:6-11
Matthew 9:36-10:8
Abbreviations: NABRE (New American Bible Revised Edition), NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), IBHE (Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English), IBGE (Interlinear Bible Greek-English), or LXX (Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation). CCC designates a citation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The word LORD or GOD rendered in all capital letters is, in the Hebrew text, God's Divine Name, YHWH (Yahweh).
The two Testaments reveal God's divine plan for humanity, which is why we read and relive the events of salvation history contained in the Old and New Testaments in the Church's Liturgy. The Catechism teaches that the Liturgy reveals the unfolding mystery of God's plan as we read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old (CCC 1094-1095).
The Theme of this Sunday's Readings: We are a Priestly
People and the Sheep of God's Flock
As members of Christ's holy covenant family, we belong to
God. We are His precious possession, the sheep of His flock. The words of God
to Israel in the First Reading are also meant for us. Jesus's Kingdom of the
Church is the new Israel and the fulfillment of God's promises to the Old Covenant
people (Gal 6:16, CCC 877). We are a kingdom of priests and a holy nation called
into covenant unity through Jesus Christ, the Divine Shepherd (Ex 19:5-6;
Dt 26:19; Is 62:2).
The Psalm Reading reminds us of what it means to belong to the Divine Shepherd. Shepherd imagery is the same in our Gospel Reading as Jesus expressed His pity for God's people who were "troubled and abandoned like a sheep without a shepherd." The "shepherds" of the Old Covenant Church were the chief priests and religious leaders who abandoned and misled God's people through their hypocrisy and spiritual blindness (Jer 50:6; Mt 23:1-36). But in Jesus, God fulfilled His promise to the Old Covenant people through the prophet Ezekiel that one day He would come and save His scattered sheep (Ezek 34:1-24).
In the Second Reading, St. Paul tells us that through the merits of Jesus Christ, we have been saved and reconciled to God. His love for us is unconditional. He revealed His love in the death of His Son to redeem us from our sins, even if we are unworthy and undeserving of His mercy. We became reconciled with God in our Baptism when we symbolically died with Christ and were incorporated into His death and Resurrection.
In the Gospel Reading, Jesus identified Himself as the Good Shepherd and the Church as the priestly people who are the sheep of His flock (Jn 10:11; 21:15-17). Just as God delivered and commissioned Israel, He has also delivered and commissioned the New Covenant people to make us a royal priesthood to serve His Church and to minister to a world full of lost souls seeking the mercy of God (Rev 1:6).
The First Reading Exodus 19:2-6 ~ God Calls Israel to be
a Kingdom of Priests
2 In those days, the Israelites came to the desert of
Sinai and pitched camp. While Israel was encamped there in front of the
mountain, 3 Moses went up the mountain to God. Then the LORD called to him and
said, "Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob; 4 tell the Israelites: You
have seen for yourselves how I treated the Egyptians and how I bore you up on
eagle wings, and brought you here to myself. 5 Therefore, if you hearken to my
voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my special possession, dearer to me
than all other people, though all the earth is mine. 6 You shall be to me a
kingdom of priests, a holy nation."
The Israelites left Egypt in the middle of what became the first month of their liturgical calendar, the month of Abib/Nisan (Ex 13:4). They arrived at Mt. Sinai on the third new moon in the month of Sivan; it was the 48th day after the Exodus out of Egypt as the ancients counted without the concept of zero place-value. On the 50th day (as the ancients counted without the concept of a zero place-value), they kept a rendezvous with the mighty God of their liberation (JPS Commentary: Exodus, page 103; also see Num 29:6; 1 Sam 20:18; 2 Kng 4:23; Is 1:13).
Verses 3-6 express the essence of the covenant relationship between Yahweh and Israel. In the Bible, covenants create family bonds. In the case of the Sinai Covenant, God was not only the great King to Israel's vassal/servant state, but He was also their Divine Father who loved and protected Israel, described as His "first-born son" among the nations of the earth (Ex 4:22), gently guiding them to freedom and holy nationhood.
3 Moses went up the mountain to God. Then the LORD called
to him and said, "Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob; 4 tell the
Israelites: You have seen for yourselves how I treated the Egyptians and how I
bore you up on eagle wings, and brought you here to myself.
In the eagle imagery, Yahweh compares Himself to a mother
eagle caring for her young and Israel as the young eaglet learning to "fly." A
mother eagle will throw her young out of the nest to teach them to fly, but she
catches them on her back between her wings until they can fly on their own. In
the same way, Yahweh has thrown Israel out of her "nest" in Egypt, but He has
carefully carried her on His "wings," guiding her by the Glory Cloud to bring
the Israelites to His holy mountain. This same imagery was repeated in
Deuteronomy 32:10-11 and Psalm 17:8.
5 Therefore, if you hearken to my voice and keep my
covenant, you shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other
people, though all the earth is mine.
This is the first time the word "covenant" (berit in
Hebrew) is used in the Book of Exodus. Using this word signals a turning point
in God's relationship with the children of Israel. Our English word "covenant" is
from the Latin convenire, meaning "to agree, to come together" (Hardon, Catholic
Dictionary, page 96). Covenants are not concerned with property rights like
contracts; covenants bind relationships and are concerned with intangibles like
honor, loyalty, and truth. Biblical covenants create special family bonds of
loyalty and fidelity between Yahweh and individuals or peoples, like a marriage
covenant between a bridegroom and his bride.
The Hebrew word for "special possession" is segullah, which means "valued property to which one has an exclusive right of possession," as in a slave or servant. The word has the same meaning in other Old Testament texts (see Ecc 2:8 and 1 Chr 29:3; JPS Commentary: Exodus, page 104). The description of Israel as Yahweh's 'am segullah expresses God's special covenantal relationship with the children of Israel and His love for those who belong to Him in the covenant family bond (also see Dt 7:6; 14:2; 26:18-19). In addition to being defined as God's special possession, there are other implications for Israel in this unique relationship with Yahweh as the great King and Israel's status of "first-born son" as God defined His relationship with Israel in Exodus 4:22. Belonging to God in this way implies a national sovereignty and a call to holiness as God's kingdom on earth. Israel's service to God as a holy people defined her mission both as being set apart from the other nations of the earth in holiness and at the same time being called to witness to the "younger brother" nations about the One True God.
6 You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.
Adam, God's first-born human "son" and the first priest of
God's earthly Sanctuary in Eden, was God's representative to the other
creatures of creation. Later, after the Fall and the expulsion from Eden, Adam continued
to be God's priestly representative to his human family. But the Sinai Covenant
is not with an individual as the previous Biblical covenants (Adam, Noah, and
Abraham). Instead, in Yahweh's invitation to covenant formation, Israel becomes
a corporate covenant people, called to carry on Adam's priestly role but in
much broader terms. Just as Adam was created as God's human "first-born" son
to be a liturgical being who fellowshipped with God in the ritual of worship,
so too has Israel been re-created through the Exodus liberation to be God's covenant
people, His "firstborn son" chosen from among the nations of the earth to
worship and have fellowship with Him. And, as God's "first-born son," Israel's
destiny was to become a priestly nation, serving as God's priestly
representative to the other peoples of the human family (see Gen 2:15;
Ex 3:7, 10, 12; 4:22-23; 5:1; 6:5, 7).
For the Israelites to live up to their exalted status as God's possession and a holy nation, they had an obligation to imitate God in holiness to fulfill their destiny as keepers of God's Sanctuary on earth (the first since the Sanctuary in Eden) and to be His holy domain (Ex 25:8). Striving for holiness in every aspect of the lives of the covenant people was to be the hallmark of Israel's existence (see Lev 19:1-2; Ps 114:1-2). Unfortunately, the Israelites failed to meet this obligation as priestly "firstborn sons" in the sin of the Golden Calf when they broke their covenant by worshipping an idol and when the firstborn sons failed to rally to Moses. They became dispossessed firstborn sons as the Levites assumed their position as Yahweh's lesser ministers (Ex 32:25-29; Num 3:11-13).
The responsibility of a priestly nation now belongs to the new Israel of the universal Church of Jesus Christ (CCC 877). In taking on these obligations, the Church has become the fulfillment of God's promises to the old Israel to carry forth a worldwide blessing to humanity. The New Covenant Church of Jesus Christ is a Kingdom of priests (CCC 1547) whose common priesthood of the baptized carries on the work of Jesus's earthly ministry to call our brothers and sisters in the human family to heal and receive God's gift of eternal salvation (CCC 1141, 1143, 1268, 1273, 1546-47).
Responsorial Psalm 100:1-3, 5 ~ The Sheep of God's Flock
The response is: "We are his people, the sheep of his flock."
1 Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands; serve the
LORD with gladness; 2 come before him with joyful song.
Response:
3 Know that the LORD is God; he made us, his we are; his
people, the flock he tends.
Response:
5 The LORD is good: his kindness endures forever, and his
faithfulness to all generations.
Response:
In its title (superscription), this psalm is designated for the Todah/Toda ("thanksgiving") communion meal of restored friendship with God. This hymn of praise summarizes the faith and hope of the covenant people of Israel (verses 1-3). Verses 1-2 invite all people to serve God with joy. The invitation is followed by two reasons to serve God in verses 3 and 5: Yahweh created Israel as His people, the "flock" He cares for. And because God is good. His goodness is demonstrated by His kindness and faithfulness that extends to all generations of His covenant people.
Pope St. John Paul II identified seven "imperatives (that) call the faithful community to celebrate and worship the God of love and of the covenant." They include "extol," "serve," "come before," acknowledge," enter his gates," "praise him," and "bless him." These imperatives express the dispositions and ways of addressing God, especially in liturgical prayer. The psalm concludes with an exaltation of God, expressed in thanksgiving and adoration for his kindness, steadfast love, and faithfulness (Cf. St. John Paul II, General Audience, January 8, 2003).
The Second Reading Romans 5:6-11 ~ God's Love for Us
6 Christ, while we were still helpless, yet died at the
appointed time for the ungodly. 7 Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for
a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to
die. 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ
died for us. 9 How much more then, since we are now justified by his blood,
will we be saved through him from the wrath. 10 Indeed, if while we were
enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more,
once reconciled, will we be saved by his life. 11 Not only that, but we also
boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received
reconciliation.
In Romans 5:6-8, Paul wrote to the Roman Christians that the proof of God's love was that Christ died for us while we were still helpless sinners. Paul identified the unjustified person as incapable of doing anything on his own to achieve righteousness in the sight of God apart from Jesus Christ. But God, in His infinite love, did for us what we could not do for ourselves. The Son's death is the mode in which God's love has been manifested:
9 How much more then, since we are now justified by his
blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath.
We shall be saved through Christ from the retribution of God
for what we deserve as sinners. St. Paul returned to the theme of retribution
that he first addressed in Romans 1:18 ~ The retribution of God from heaven
is being revealed against the ungodliness and injustice of human beings who in
their injustice hold back the truth. In Romans 4:25, our justification was
ascribed to Christ's Resurrection, but now Paul attributed it to the shedding
of His precious blood and His death. He does not separate the saving work of
Jesus into categories: His Passion, death, and Resurrection are all one saving
act applied to the salvation of humankind. Jesus's saving act of suffering as
an unblemished sacrifice on the altar of the Cross, followed by his death and
Resurrection, saves us from God's wrath/retribution.
In Romans 5: 9, Paul referred to another salvation beyond justification by Jesus's death. In addition to our initial justification through Jesus's Passion, death, and Resurrection that is applied to our baptism into the family of God, a great favor or grace of justification will be manifested to the believer in the eschatological salvation that will come in the Final Judgment. Again we have evidence in St. Paul's writings that justification is not only a state but an ongoing process, just as salvation is a continuing process to be consummated at the end of time as we know it when we will face "the wrath/retribution of God" in the Final Judgment. Faithful Christians need not fear that event, as Paul assured the Romans and us in the next verse.
10 Indeed, if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled
to God through the death of his Son, how much more, once reconciled, will we be
saved by his life.
As sinners, men and women are not just "weak" or "godless"
but have made themselves a "seed of the serpent." Yahweh said to the serpent in
Genesis 3:15 ~ "I shall put enmity between you and the woman, and between
your seed and her seed; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel" (NJB).
Those choosing to live in sin become an enemy of God (also see Rom 5:8; 8:7).
The death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, seen as one momentous event, is the only means by which sinners are reconciled with God (Acts 4:12). This is another way of repeating what St. Paul stated in Romans 5:1 when he wrote that Christians were "at peace" with God because reconciliation restores fellowship and intimacy with God and ends the alienation of sin and rebellion. Another effect of justification is a share in the risen life of God the Son. Although justification and reconciliation through the forgiveness of original sin happened when we came into the family of God through the Sacrament of Baptism and will continue as we are in communion with Him through the other sacraments, salvation in its complete sense is still to be achieved in its future dimension. But we can anticipate that future gift of salvation by knowing it is rooted in sharing the life of the glorified Christ as it is continually communicated to us in the sacraments of our faith. At the same time, we continue on our journey to reach the goal of eternal life with God in Heaven.
11 Not only that, but we also boast of God through our
Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
St. Paul used the word "boast/boasting" to express
exuberance (kauchaomai in Greek). In Romans 5:2-3 and this verse, he used
the word positively; however, in other passages, Paul used the word negatively
where "boasting" concerned our own initiative. But in this verse, the context
is different because it is of God that we "boast." The effect of the
Christian's justification in faith that is a gift from God is that the
Christian can boast of God Himself in whom, through His love, salvation is now
guaranteed. This is in contrast to the covenant believer's condition before the
atoning work of Christ, where one stood in bondage to sin and in fear of God's
retribution. Now, having experienced God's infinite love in what Jesus the Redeemer-Messiah
accomplished for humanity through His sacrificial death and Resurrection, one
can boast of God's great love for us! As St. John wrote, Love comes to its
perfection in us when we can face the Day of Judgment fearlessly, because even
in this world we have become as he is. In love there is no room for fear, but
perfect love drives our fear, because fear implies punishment and whoever is
afraid has not come to perfection in love. Let us love, then, because he first
loved us (1 Jn 4:17-19; also see 1 Cor 1:31).
The Gospel of Matthew 9:36-10:8 ~ Jesus's Pity for the
Lost Sheep of Israel and He Calls the Twelve Apostles Out From Among the 70
Disciples
36 At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with
pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a
shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is abundant, but the
laborers are few, 38 so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for
his harvest. 10:1 Then he summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority
over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every
illness. 2 The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon called
Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John;
3 Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James, the son
of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus; 4 Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot who
betrayed him. 5 Jesus sent out these twelve after instructing them thus, "Do
not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. 6 Go rather to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, make this proclamation: 'The kingdom
of heaven is at hand.' 8 Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive
out demons. Without cost, you have received; without cost, you are to give.
Jesus could see that the hierarchy of the Old Covenant Church had failed the people; they were "sheep without a shepherd." Jesus's compassion for the people and their condition recalls similar metaphors in Numbers 27:17; 1 Kings 22:17; Judith 11:19, and especially the passages from Ezekiel chapter 34.
The "harvest" and "laborers" in verse 37 refer to the harvest of souls into Heaven and the laborers who are the disciples of Jesus Christ. Heaven has been closed to humanity since the fall of Adam, but with Jesus's baptism, Heaven was opened and waiting to receive the souls of the just after the Resurrection of Christ (see Mt 3:16, Mk 1:10, Lk 3:21, CCC 536 and 1026). The "laborers" would carry the Gospel message of salvation to the world. All those who accepted the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the gift of eternal salvation would be gathered into the heavenly Kingdom by God, the Master of the harvest, who sent out the laborers. The problem throughout the age of humanity is that there are many souls but few who accept the call as "laborers." Jesus asked His generation, just as He asks us, to pray that God will call many to discipleship to carry the Gospel message of salvation out into the world.
Matthew 9:35-10:4 establishes the setting for the "Missionary Discourse" that follows, serving as a bridge between Jesus's acts of power in chapters 8 and 9 and His instructions to His disciples, who began to share His mission in chapter 10. In chapter 10, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, provided Israel with His shepherds to gather the people with the good news of His Gospel of salvation. Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Ezekiel 34:1-2, 7-12, and 23-24, in which God promised He would come Himself to shepherd His sheep of the covenant people of Israel: For thus says the Lord GOD: Look! I myself will search for my sheep ... (Ezek 34:11).
Matthew 10:1-4 ~ The Commissioning of the Twelve Apostles
10:1 Then he summoned his twelve disciples and gave them
authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and
every illness. 2 The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon
called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother
John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas, and Matthew the tax collector; James,
the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus; 4 Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot who
betrayed him.
Notice that St. Matthew listed the Apostles in six groups of
two each. In the three other lists, the Apostles are grouped in three groups of
four names (Mk 3:13-14; Lk 6:12-16; Acts 1:13). Also, notice that the Apostles
St. Matthew listed first were those who met Jesus along the Jordan River when John
the Baptist pointed Jesus out to the crowd (Jn 1:35-51). After Jesus left the
region of John's ministry along the Jordan River, He traveled to Galilee, where
He met Philip (Jn 1:43), who appears fifth in the list. However, they are not
named in the same order in which they met Him. Nor are the names repeated in
other lists in the same order, but Peter is consistently named first in every
list of the Apostles in the Gospels and Acts, and Judas Iscariot's name is
always last in the lists (Mt 10:2-4; Mk 3:13-14; Lk 6:12-16; Acts 1:13).
Matthew 10:5-8 ~ Instructions for the Disciples' Mission to Israel
5 Jesus sent out these twelve after instructing them
thus, "Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. 6 Go rather to
the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, make this proclamation:
'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' 8 Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse
lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost, you are
to give.
Jesus told the disciples not to go into Gentile Territory. His
first obligation was to the children of Israel in covenant with Yahweh and to
whom the kingdom of the Messiah was promised through the prophets.
6 Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
The kingdom was to be announced first to the children of
Israel, but the proclamation Messianic kingdom was intended to be extended to all
men and women of all nations (Is 66:18-21;
Mt 8:11; 10:5-7; 28:19;
CCC 543). Jesus told the parable of the "Lost Sheep" (Lk 15:1-7) and identified Himself as the
"Good Shepherd" who knows His sheep (His faithful disciples) in John 10:14. Referring
to the covenant people as the "lost sheep" recalled the words of the prophet
Jeremiah: Lost sheep were my people, their shepherds misled them, straggling
on the mountains; from mountain to hill they wandered, losing the way to their
fold (Jer 50:6).
Jesus conducted His ministry in Galilee by:
Those signs demonstrated that Jesus was the Messiah promised by the prophets and that He is "God who saves," the meaning of His name, Yahshua/Yeshua in Hebrew (Yehoshua in Aramaic of the 1st century AD), as the angel Gabriel told Joseph in Matthew 1:21.
7 As you go, make this proclamation: 'The kingdom of
heaven is at hand.' 8 Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out
demons.
The authority Jesus gave His disciples in their first
mission in Matthew 10:7-8 included:
Notice that Jesus did not give them the authority to command nature, teach, or forgive sins. The authority to teach and forgive sins would be given to them only after Jesus's Resurrection when He fully instructed them to understand how He had fulfilled the Law and the prophets and after they received the power of the Holy Spirit to guide them (Mt 28:20; Lk 24:25-27, 36-49; Jn 14:26; 20:22-23; and Acts 1:1-5). They would not receive the power to command nature because only God has that power and authority (see Mt 4:23; 7:28; 9:35 and Acts 27:13-41). Jesus's Kingdom of the Church has received the same authority to proclaim the kingdom and to heal the sick in both body and spirit. The Church believes in the life-giving presence of Christ among His faithful and that His presence is especially active through the Sacraments Jesus gave to His Church (CCC 1509).
Without cost you have received; without cost, you are to give.
Jesus told the disciples not to accept any payment for their
ministry. One can only give and receive spiritual goods freely since they are a
gift from God. To assign a material value is to appropriate those spiritual
goods to oneself by behaving as though that person is the owner or master of
what is spiritual. No one can own what has as its source from the power of God.
One can only receive what is spiritual from Him without payment. The Church
defines this abuse as "simony" and declares it a sacrilege. A sacrilege is the
profaning or treating unworthily the sacraments and other liturgical actions
(CCC 2120 and Acts 8:9-24).
God's grace is a gift, as the prophet Isaiah wrote concerning the Messianic kingdom: All you who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come, receive grain and eat; come, without paying and without cost, drink wine and milk! ... Come to me heedfully, listen, that you may have life. I will renew with you the everlasting covenant, the benefits assured to David (Is 51:1 and 3).
The Catechism teaches: It was the Son's task to accomplish the Father's plan of salvation in the fullness of time. Its accomplishment was the reason for his being sent. "The Lord Jesus inaugurated his Church by preaching the Good News, that is, the coming of the Reign of God, promised over the ages in the scriptures." To fulfill the Father's will, Christ ushered in the Kingdom of heaven on earth. The Church "is the Reign of Christ already present in mystery" (CCC 763).
Catechism References (*indicates Scripture quoted in the citation):
Exodus 19 (CCC 751*, 2060*);
19:5-6 (CCC 709*, 762*, 2810*);
19:6 (CCC 63*, 1539*)
Romans 5:8 (CCC 604*); 5:10 (603*, 1825*)
Matthew 9:38 (CCC 2611*); 10:5-7 (CCC 543*); 10:8 (CCC 1509*, 2121*, 2443*)
The Church prefigured in the Old Testament community (CCC 551*, 761*, 762*, 763, 764*, 765*, 766*)
The Church as a priestly, prophetic, royal people (CCC 783, 784*, 785*, 786*)
The apostolic mission of the Church (CCC 849*, 850, 851*, 852-865)
Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2014; revised 2023 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.