20250718 MAKING OUR OWN PASSOVER
18 July 2025, Friday, 15th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
Exodus 11:10-12:14 |
The institution of the Passover
Moses and Aaron worked many wonders in the presence of Pharaoh. But the Lord made Pharaoh’s heart stubborn, and he did not let the sons of Israel leave his country.
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:
‘This month is to be the first of all the others for you, the first month of your year. Speak to the whole community of Israel and say, “On the tenth day of this month each man must take an animal from the flock, one for each family: one animal for each household. If the household is too small to eat the animal, a man must join with his neighbour, the nearest to his house, as the number of persons requires. You must take into account what each can eat in deciding the number for the animal. It must be an animal without blemish, a male one year old; you may take it from either sheep or goats. You must keep it till the fourteenth day of the month when the whole assembly of the community of Israel shall slaughter it between the two evenings. Some of the blood must then be taken and put on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where it is eaten. That night, the flesh is to be eaten, roasted over the fire; it must be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled, but roasted over the fire, head, feet and entrails. You must not leave any over till the morning: whatever is left till morning you are to burn. You shall eat it like this: with a girdle round your waist, sandals on your feet, a staff in your hand. You shall eat it hastily: it is a passover in honour of the Lord. That night, I will go through the land of Egypt and strike down all the first-born in the land of Egypt, man and beast alike, and I shall deal out punishment to all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord! The blood shall serve to mark the houses that you live in. When I see the blood I will pass over you and you shall escape the destroying plague when I strike the land of Egypt. This day is to be a day of remembrance for you, and you must celebrate it as a feast in the Lord’s honour. For all generations you are to declare it a day of festival, for ever.”’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 115(116):12-13,15-18 |
The cup of salvation I will raise; I will call on the Lord’s name.
How can I repay the Lord
for his goodness to me?
The cup of salvation I will raise;
I will call on the Lord’s name.
The cup of salvation I will raise; I will call on the Lord’s name.
O precious in the eyes of the Lord
is the death of his faithful.
Your servant, Lord, your servant am I;
you have loosened my bonds.
The cup of salvation I will raise; I will call on the Lord’s name.
A thanksgiving sacrifice I make;
I will call on the Lord’s name.
My vows to the Lord I will fulfil
before all his people.
The cup of salvation I will raise; I will call on the Lord’s name.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Ps26:11 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Instruct me, Lord, in your way;
on an even path lead me.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn10:27 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they follow me.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Matthew 12:1-8 |
The Son of Man is master of the sabbath
Jesus took a walk one sabbath day through the cornfields. His disciples were hungry and began to pick ears of corn and eat them. The Pharisees noticed it and said to him, ‘Look, your disciples are doing something that is forbidden on the sabbath.’ But he said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he and his followers were hungry – how he went into the house of God and how they ate the loaves of offering which neither he nor his followers were allowed to eat, but which were for the priests alone? Or again, have you not read in the Law that on the sabbath day the Temple priests break the sabbath without being blamed for it? Now here, I tell you, is something greater than the Temple. And if you had understood the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the blameless. For the Son of Man is master of the sabbath.’
MAKING OUR OWN PASSOVER
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [EX 11:10-12:14; PS 116:12-13,15-18; MT 12:1-8]
In the first reading, we read of the preparations for the Passover. On this Passover, the Lord would pass over the houses in the land of Egypt, “and strike down all the first-born in the land of Egypt, man and beast alike.” However, those houses marked with the blood of the lamb from the Passover Meal would escape the angel of death, and their first-born would be saved. This is the first meaning of Passover. The second meaning of the Passover is that after the Passover Meal, the Israelites would pass over from Egypt to the Promised Land. Symbolically, it is a passage from slavery to freedom, death to life, sin to holiness.
The Passover, therefore, celebrates the liberation of the sons of Israel from slavery. Such was the joy of being set free. As the responsorial psalm says, “How can I repay the Lord for his goodness to me? The cup of salvation I will raise; I will call on the Lord’s name. O precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful. Your servant, Lord, your servant am I; you have loosened my bonds. A thanksgiving sacrifice I make; I will call on the Lord’s name. My vows to the Lord I will fulfil before all his people.” God set them free with signs and wonders, sending the ten plagues to Egypt before they were led across the Red Sea with the Egyptian soldiers in pursuit of them. However, all were drowned when the Red Sea, which had parted for the sons of Israel to cross, closed back.
However, what was meant to be a Memorial, a commemoration of the salvific event that future generations could enter into and make their own, became over time a mere ritual. In the Gospel, we read how the Jews, especially the religious leaders, sought to be faithful to the Law of Moses to the extent that instead of the Laws being celebrated as a gift from God to help them live a righteous, upright, just, and harmonious life, they became a burden to them. They were overly meticulous as to how the Commandments of Moses were to be observed and how the general principles enumerated in the Ten Commandments were to be applied concretely in their lives.
One of these commandments is to keep the Sabbath holy by not working. So, the question that needed to be defined was what constitutes “work.” Jewish scholars, scribes, and rabbis could not agree what “work” entails and who should be exempted, especially considering that some essential work for the public good has to be done – for example, the work of security, providing public utilities, etc. Otherwise, the whole country would be paralyzed. As Jesus pointed out, there would always be exceptions because of a greater human need, as in the case of the disciples who were hungry and plucked ears of corn to eat. Of course, this also applies in the case of the priests who had to offer sacrifices on behalf of the people. Such sacrifices require work to be done, such as cleaning, slaughtering, preparing the fire for the burnt offering, etc.
Indeed, Jesus was attempting to help His fellow Jews make another Passover – a passage from slavery to rigid adherence to the laws, towards truly living out their spirit. Earlier, Jesus told the people, “Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:19f). For this to happen, we must go beyond observance of the letter of the law to embrace the spirit of the law. The heart of all the commandments is to be observed with love for God and for our brothers and sisters, even our enemies. Whenever we seek to do good for others and care for them, we must go beyond fulfilling the mere dictates of the laws. In fact, even when we fulfil the laws, we are often only doing so minimally, because love does not count the cost, and there is no measure when it comes to love. We can only love as much as we can.
For us as Christians, we must now consider how we celebrate our Passover. St Paul tells the Christians, “Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch, as you really are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor 5:7f). This means that a real celebration of the Passover entails, first and foremost, that we free ourselves from sin. St Paul invites us to be cautious of the yeast of malice and evil because if we do not pay attention to these sins in our hearts, they will grow from strength to strength until we are consumed by them.
One of the greatest sins in life is that of presumption. We make judgment of others’ actions without knowing the facts. We make assumptions about why and what people do. We must choose to live an authentic life of mercy and charity. This is what the Lord said to the religious leaders. “If you had understood the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the blameless.” We need to avoid being judgmental over the sins of others. We do not know the motives behind their actions. It is easy for us to measure people’s actions according to the strict interpretation of the Law.
Today, we are invited to “Passover” the sins of others. This does not mean condoning wrongful actions that cause harm to others. Indeed, we must continue to teach the Law and the truth about justice and mercy. We do not shy away from speaking what is true, because we are called to be prophets in our community. We seek to live a life of sincerity and truth. But being judgmental of others is a different matter. This is why in the Gospel, the Lord said, “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye” (Mt 7:1-5).
At any rate, the gospel cautions us of how our narrow-mindedness can cause us to make harsh judgments about others. Even when it comes to interpreting the law, the incident in today’s Gospel illustrates how we can also differ in biblical interpretation of the law. This is even true in civil courts. In this instance, there is a conflict over how the Sabbath Law was to be interpreted. But this is equally true for other precepts that Jesus teaches in the Gospel as well. We can be overly conservative in interpreting the Law and extrapolate rules that make the law so burdensome to observe. But Jesus is careful not to place an unnecessary yoke upon us (cf Mt 11:28). Rather, the law is meant to set us free. We should always, as the Lord invites us, understand the fundamental principle and objective of the law and then apply the spirit of the law in specific situations, which will differ from place to place and person to person. Life is never so black and white that a clear line can always be drawn. There are situations when charity and mercy supersede the law. So long as we do something truly out of love and mercy sincerely, and not trying to dilute the validity of the law itself, our conscience should be clear before God and our fellowmen.
Indeed, as the Lord implied, human need takes precedence even when it comes to rendering worship to God. We cannot prioritise rituals, prayers, and sacraments in situations where our fellow human beings demand immediate assistance, as in the case of the Good Samaritan in the Gospel. God will be pleased that we love and help our fellowmen in need because God desires that His people be loved and cared for. We truly worship God truly when we love and care for others. Of course, this does not mean that we do not worship, pray, or meditate on the Scriptures. These are necessary for us to acquire the heart and mind of God. However, there will be occasions when the needs of our fellowmen cannot wait and therefore have priority over our time with God. Still, once the immediate need is met, there is no excuse for us to substitute prayer and worship with service. We must therefore make time for our relationship with the Lord when the service is done. Otherwise, our hearts will become soiled and contaminated by the world, and we lose our focus and orientation.
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment