20260718 THE LAW OF RETALIATION
18 July 2026, Saturday, 15th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading | Micah 2:1-5 |
The plotters of evil will not escape
Woe to those who plot evil,
who lie in bed planning mischief!
No sooner is it dawn than they do it
– their hands have the strength for it.
Seizing the fields that they covet,
they take over houses as well,
owner and house they confiscate together,
taking both man and inheritance.
So the Lord says this:
Now it is I who plot
such mischief against this breed
as your necks will not escape;
nor will you be able to walk proudly,
so evil will the time be.
On that day they will make a satire on you,
sing a dirge and say,
‘We are stripped of everything;
my people’s portion is measured out and shared,
no one will give it back to them,
our fields are awarded to our despoiler.’
Therefore you will have no one
to measure out a share
in the community of the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 9B(10):1-4,7-8,14 |
Lord, do not forget the poor.
Lord, why do you stand afar off
and hide yourself in times of distress?
The poor man is devoured by the pride of the wicked:
he is caught in the schemes that others have made.
Lord, do not forget the poor.
For the wicked man boasts of his heart’s desires;
the covetous blasphemes and spurns the Lord.
In his pride the wicked says: ‘He will not punish.
There is no God.’ Such are his thoughts.
Lord, do not forget the poor.
His mouth is full of cursing, guile, oppression,
mischief and deceit under his tongue.
He lies in wait among the reeds;
the innocent he murders in secret.
Lord, do not forget the poor.
His eyes are on the watch for the helpless man.
But you have seen the trouble and sorrow,
you note it, you take it in hand.
The helpless trusts himself to you;
for you are the helper of the orphan.
Lord, do not forget the poor.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps118:27 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Make me grasp the way of your precepts,
and I will muse on your wonders.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 12:14-21 |
He cured them all but warned them not to make him known
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.
THE LAW OF RETALIATION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [MICAH 2:1-5; MT 12:14-21]
We all face opposition in life, whether we do good or evil. How do we respond to our enemies? One way is to retaliate. That was the way of the Pharisees. They were incensed by Jesus’ blatant breaking of the Sabbath law. Earlier on, He defended His disciples when they were reprimanded for plucking grain on the Sabbath, saying that circumstances alter the application of the Law (cf. Mt 12:1-8). Later, at the synagogue, He healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. Again, He challenged them on whether it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath. As a consequence, “the Pharisees went out and began to plot against Jesus, discussing how to destroy him. Jesus knew this and withdrew from the district.”
It is significant that Jesus withdrew instead of entering into a confrontation with the religious leaders. Jesus did not feel the need to retaliate to defend His convictions. At the same time, He was not willing to allow His opponents to end His mission before the appointed time. He did not allow His pride to take control of His actions. Indeed, this was the same advice He gave to His disciples: “Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you” (Mt 7:6). There was no point in arguing with those who were unreasonable or too blind to see the truth of what He was saying and doing. In giving instructions to the Twelve, He advised them, “If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town” (Mt 10:13-14).
As a further precaution to prevent His enemies from jeopardising and short-circuiting His mission prematurely, Jesus was careful to instruct those who had faith in Him to be reticent in proclaiming Him. We read that “Many followed him and he cured them all, but warned them not to make him known.” After healing two blind men, Jesus sternly ordered them, “See that no one knows of this.” But they went away and spread the news about Him throughout that district (cf. Mt 9:30-31). He gave the same instructions to His disciples after revealing to them that He was the Messiah (cf. Mt 16:15-20). Again, after the Transfiguration, “As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, ‘Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead'” (Mt 17:9). Jesus was in no hurry to prove Himself and His identity. He would allow God to unfold these events in faith and in His Father’s time.
This was also the case with the Prophet Micah in the first reading. He condemned the evils committed by the rich and the greedy: “Woe to those who plot evil, who lie in bed planning mischief! No sooner is it dawn than they do it — their hands have the strength for it. Seizing the fields that they covet, they take over houses as well; owner and house they confiscate together, taking both man and inheritance.” They evicted the owners of the houses and took away their property and wealth. This is still happening in our world today, where the rich and powerful often take advantage of the weak and vulnerable. Just because they have money, power, and influence, they manipulate the poor for their personal gain. For fear of losing their jobs and livelihoods, the vulnerable often cave to the unscrupulous decisions and demands of their superiors. Being “nobodies” in the eyes of the world, they know they cannot fight the dishonesty and injustices perpetrated by the rich and powerful, as they can be easily discarded. So, they keep quiet out of fear for their safety and well-being. This unfortunately sometimes happens within the Church as well, such as in the scandals and cover-ups of sexual abuse, especially paedophilia.
But lest these abusers think they can get away with the crimes they have committed, Micah warned them of the consequences of their evil deeds: “So the Lord says this: Now it is I who plot such mischief against this breed as your necks will not escape; nor will the time be. On that day, they will make a satire on you, sing a dirge and say, ‘We are stripped of everything; my people’s portion is measured out and shared, no one will give back to them, our fields are awarded to our despoiler.’ Therefore, you will have no one to measure out a share in the community of the Lord.” This was exactly what happened to the wealthy and to those who practised dishonesty in business and corruption in government. Samaria was destroyed, and its people were sent into exile. Jerusalem and Judah followed suit, and all their wealth was redistributed.
Nature responds according to how we live our lives; as the saying goes, the chickens will come home to roost. We will reap what we sow, whether from good deeds or evil deeds. Let us not think we can escape punishment for the wrongs we commit in this life. Somehow, our bad deeds will catch up with us, and we will have to pay for our crimes sooner or later. Even if they are not publicly known, they will affect our health, our relationships, and our peace of mind. We cannot avoid the retribution that naturally flows from our sins. A cycle of crime stops only when the perpetrator is brought to justice. There is a close connection between what we do now and what happens to us later. However, all of this takes place according to God’s timing. We need not force the hand of God to right these wrongs; instead, we should entrust justice to His hands. He knows exactly when to act.
Jesus Himself left it to God to act instead of taking matters into His own hands. God has His own timing, and it is not for man to decide. His timing is not dependent on the plotting of His enemies. Hence, the Lord wisely withdrew from confrontations with the authorities. He did not feel the need to defend Himself at that moment. Prudence won the day. Otherwise, His ministry would have been cut short before the time was ripe for God to act. The prayer of the psalmist would have also been the prayer of our Lord: “The poor man is devoured by the pride of the wicked: he is caught in the schemes that others have made. For the wicked man boasts of his heart’s desires; the covetous blasphemes and spurns the Lord. In his pride, the wicked says: ‘He will not punish. There is no God.’ Such are his thoughts. His mouth is full of cursing, guile, oppression, mischief and deceit under his tongue. He lies in wait among the reeds; the innocent he murders in secret. His eyes are on the watch for the helpless man. But you have seen the trouble and sorrow, you note it, you take it in hand. The helpless trusts himself to you; for you are the helper of the orphan.”
Indeed, even when He was crucified, He did not defend Himself against the sarcasm of His enemies and detractors. Before King Herod, He simply ignored his curious questions (cf. Lk 23:7-9). “The leaders scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!’ The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’ One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!'” (Lk 23:35-37, 39).
On the contrary, Jesus remained true to His identity as the Suffering Servant. He was the suffering Messiah. The citation from the prophecy of Isaiah was chosen to confirm the identity of Jesus, revealed as the Servant of God and the Beloved Son of the Father at His baptism (Mt 3:17) and Transfiguration (cf. Mt 17:5): “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” (cf. Isa 42:1-4).
Jesus will bring justice to the nations, but according to His Father’s divine plan. It will not be achieved through violence or armed revolution, but through humility, innocent suffering, and fidelity to the Father’s will. It will come through mercy for the weak, forgiveness of one’s enemies, and liberation for the oppressed. As a consequence, God raised Jesus from the dead: “Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name” (Phil 2:9). Let us take heed of the advice of the psalmist: “Which of you desires life, and covets many days to enjoy good? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against evildoers, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth” (Ps 34:12-16).
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.
