20260714 FROM BLESSINGS TO WOES
14 July 2026, Tuesday, 15th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading | Isaiah 7:1-9 |
Isaiah tells the king not to fear
In the reign of Ahaz son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Razon the king of Aram went up against Jerusalem with Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, to lay siege to it; but he was unable to capture it.
The news was brought to the House of David. ‘Aram’ they said ‘has reached Ephraim.’ Then the heart of the king and the hearts of the people shuddered as the trees of the forest shudder in front of the wind. The Lord said to Isaiah, ‘Go with your son Shear-jashub, and meet Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the Fuller’s Field road, and say to him:
‘“Pay attention, keep calm, have no fear,
do not let your heart sink
because of these two smouldering stumps of firebrands,
or because Aram, Ephraim and the son of Remaliah
have plotted to ruin you, and have said:
Let us invade Judah and terrorise it
and seize it for ourselves,
and set up a king there,
the son of Tabeel.
The Lord says this:
It shall not come true; it shall not be.
The capital of Aram is Damascus,
the head of Damascus, Razon;
the capital of Ephraim, Samaria,
the head of Samaria, the son of Remaliah.
Six or five years more
and a shattered Ephraim shall no longer be a people.
But if you do not stand by me,
you will not stand at all.”’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 47(48):2-8 |
God upholds his city for ever.
The Lord is great and worthy to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain rises in beauty,
the joy of all the earth.
God upholds his city for ever.
Mount Zion, true pole of the earth,
the Great King’s city!
God, in the midst of its citadels,
has shown himself its stronghold.
God upholds his city for ever.
For the kings assembled together,
together they advanced.
They saw; at once they were astounded;
dismayed, they fled in fear.
God upholds his city for ever.
A trembling seized them there,
like the pangs of birth.
By the east wind you have destroyed
the ships of Tarshish.
God upholds his city for ever.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps118:34 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Train me, Lord, to observe your law,
to keep it with my heart.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 11:20-24 |
It will not go as hard with Sodom on Judgement Day as with you
Jesus began to reproach the towns in which most of his miracles had been worked, because they refused to repent.
‘Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. And still, I tell you that it will not go as hard on Judgement day with Tyre and Sidon as with you. And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be exalted as high as heaven? You shall be thrown down to hell. For if the miracles done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been standing yet. And still, I tell you that it will not go as hard with the land of Sodom on Judgement day as with you.’
FROM BLESSINGS TO WOES
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ISA 7:1-9, MT 11:20-24]
In the first reading, King Ahaz of Judah was under threat from the King of Aram (Syria) and the King of Israel. All of them were dealing with the rising Assyrian Empire. The kings of Aram and Israel forged an alliance and wanted Judah to join forces with them so that they could defend themselves against the Assyrians. However, Ahaz was unwilling because his military assessment told him that the Assyrians would defeat them and tear down the country. Instead, he sought an alliance with Assyria and eventually became an Assyrian vassal state. This was against the will of God and His plans for Judah. Isaiah was sent to assure the King to remain firm by neither joining forces with Israel and Aram, nor seeking an alliance with Assyria, because Judah would not be conquered. The Lord says, “It shall not come true; it shall not be. The capital of Aram is Damascus, the head of Damascus, Rezin; the capital of Ephraim, Samaria, the head of Samaria, the son of Remaliah. Sixty-five years more and shattered Ephraim shall no longer be a people. But if you do not stand by me, you will not stand at all.”
Unfortunately, Ahaz was adamant. He was not willing to change his plans. Instead of trusting God, he trusted in his military calculations; he did not have faith in God. This is understandable. The Lord told him to ask for a sign to confirm the prophecy: “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But his mind was made up. Ahaz replied, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” Then Isaiah said: “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.” (Isa 7:11-14) In spite of his refusal to acknowledge the truth of what Isaiah said, the Lord still provided a sign.
This same refusal to stand on faith is repeated in the Gospel. Jesus reproached “the towns in which most of his miracles had been worked, because they refused to repent. ‘Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida!'” These two towns were less than 10 km away from Capernaum. They were among the first to receive the Lord’s message and benefit from His ministry, yet they remained unrepentant. So, too, it was with Capernaum, the hometown of Jesus and His headquarters during His Galilean ministry. Alas, the Lord said, “And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be exalted as high as heaven? You shall be thrown down to hell.” They rejected His message of repentance.
Like King Ahaz, they too had signs urging them to surrender in faith to the Lord. It was not that they lacked signs to authenticate Jesus’ message. They had heard Him in person. They saw the way He lived in simplicity and trust in God. They witnessed the miracles He performed, the healings that took place, and the evil spirits being cast out. So the Lord warned them, “For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. And still, I tell you that it will not go as hard on Judgment Day with Tyre and Sidon as with you. For if the miracles done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been standing yet. And still, I tell you that it will not go as hard for the land of Sodom on Judgment Day as for you.”
Indeed, the Jews of that time had privileges that neither the Old Testament people nor our current generation have. However, they abused their privileges and the blessings they received. They took for granted what the Lord had done for them. They were too proud to listen to the message of repentance. Today, these two towns and the city of Capernaum lie in ruins, just as the Lord predicted.
What about us? We, too, have seen the wonders of God in our own lives. Although we might not have walked with Jesus in Palestine, we have walked with the Risen Lord in our lives. Throughout the history of the Church, we have seen countless miracles happening since its foundation. We have heard testimonies of Christians dying for their faith and the power of divine intervention in crises and illnesses. We have heard many stories of saints professing their faith in the Lord and working miracles, especially of healing and deliverance from evil spirits. We have heard of many apparitions of Our Lady and the miracles worked through her powerful intercession. Indeed, like the Jews during the time of Jesus, we have encountered the power of God’s glory.
Above all, our faith is strengthened not only by the marvellous deeds of God, but by the faith of millions of Catholics over 2,000 years of history. The faith of the Church has been enshrined in architecture, in books, and in the lives of saints, theologians, and bishops. With the Church, we can stand firm in our faith because this faith is not just yours or mine, but the collective faith of 1.2 billion Catholics and another 1 billion Christians. Through the traditions passed down to the Church from the apostles, we can stand firm in the faith of the apostles of our Lord. Therefore, we have no excuse not to stand by our faith.
With such blessings come grave responsibilities. “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.” (Lk 12:48) The Lord demands from us a greater response, just as He did with the towns of Chorazin and Bethsaida. We have a responsibility to make use of the tradition passed down to us. We should never take our faith for granted. Every Catholic must take the trouble to grow in their faith, to understand the teachings of the Church, to read and study the scriptures, and then to be a witness to others by standing firm.
Without developing the gifts given to us, we will eventually lose them. This is why we fail to stand firm in our faith in times of crisis, just like King Ahaz. When our faith is weak and the trials of life set in, we will shudder like King Ahaz. When “the news was brought to the House of David, the heart of the king and the hearts of the people shuddered as the trees of the forest shudder in front of the wind.”
When abused through indifference, the gifts we receive from God turn from blessings into woes. It is not that we dislike the Gospel. However, we are no different from those cities that Jesus condemned — they were simply lackadaisical toward His message. They did not explicitly reject our Lord or seek to put Him to death; they were merely deaf to the call to repentance. By being indifferent or doing nothing in response to the message, we too will lose whatever we have. Jesus warned us, “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled underfoot.” (Mt 5:13)
Indeed, the punishment for Tyre, Sidon, and even Sodom will not be as harsh as that of the towns our Lord visited and preached to. At least the pagans could be excused according to their degree of ignorance. We do not fault someone who is ignorant rather than wilful. So the Lord made it clear: the judgment on them would be much more lenient than for the people in the places where He had preached and worked miracles. This goes for us as well. If we are genuinely ignorant, the Lord will excuse us. But if we are complacent, we will lose our faith, join the rest of the world in perdition and self-destruction, and lose all that we have in life. Let us be grateful for the gift of faith!
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.
