20260707 THE NEGATIVE RESPONSE TO THE GOSPEL MESSAGE
07 July 2026, Tuesday, 14th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
Hosea 8:4-7,11-13 |
They have sown the wind; they will reap the whirlwind
Thus says the Lord:
They have set up kings, but not with my consent,
and appointed princes, but without my knowledge.
Out of their own silver and gold they have made idols,
which are doomed to destruction.
I spurn your calf, Samaria,
my anger blazes against it.
(How long will it be before they purge themselves of this,
the sons of Israel?)
A workman made the thing,
this cannot be God!
Yes, the calf of Samaria shall go up in flames.
They sow the wind, they will reap the whirlwind;
their wheat will yield no ear,
the ear will yield no flour,
or, if it does, foreigners will swallow it.
Ephraim has built altar after altar,
they have only served him as occasion for sin.
Were I to write out the thousand precepts of my Law for him,
they would be paid no more attention than those of a stranger.
They love sacrificing; right, let them sacrifice!
They love meat; right, let them eat it!
The Lord takes no pleasure in these.
He is now going to remember their iniquity
and punish their sins;
they will have to go back to Egypt.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 113B(115):3-10 |
Sons of Israel, trust in the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
Our God, he is in the heavens;
he does whatever he wills.
The idols of the heathen are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
Sons of Israel, trust in the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
They have mouths but they cannot speak;
they have eyes but they cannot see;
they have ears but they cannot hear;
they have nostrils but they cannot smell.
Sons of Israel, trust in the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
With their hands they cannot feel;
with their feet they cannot walk.
Their makers will come to be like them
and so will all who trust in them.
Sons of Israel, trust in the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
Sons of Israel, trust in the Lord;
he is their help and their shield.
Sons of Aaron, trust in the Lord;
he is their help and their shield.
Sons of Israel, trust in the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Ep1:17,18 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes of our mind,
so that we can see what hope his call holds for us.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Matthew 9:32-37 |
The harvest is rich but the labourers are few
A man was brought to Jesus, a dumb demoniac. And when the devil was cast out, the dumb man spoke and the people were amazed. ‘Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel’ they said. But the Pharisees said, ‘It is through the prince of devils that he casts out devils.’
Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness.
And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.’
THE NEGATIVE RESPONSE TO THE GOSPEL MESSAGE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [HOS 8:4-7,11-13; MT 9:32-37]
In the Gospel, we have the account of the last of the ten miracles that Jesus performed in His ministry. He had healed the leper, cured the servant of the Centurion, and healed the demoniacs at Gadara. He also healed a paralytic, restored to life the daughter of the leader of the synagogue, cured a woman suffering from a haemorrhage, and restored the sight of two blind men before healing a demoniac who was mute. But at the end of His signs of wonder, what was the response of the Pharisees? While the crowd said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel,” the Pharisees said, “It is through the prince of devils that he casts out devils.”
This incident is a good reminder for us, as His collaborators in the mission of our Lord, to be psychologically prepared for rejection in ministry. Matthew placed this incident at the end of the series of miracles to remind us that no matter what we do — even when it is for the good of the people and we mean well — we will always be misunderstood, and sometimes condemned and wrongly accused. Opposition to the Christian Gospel and mission should therefore not be a surprise at all, coming not only from without but also from within. There will always be people who are so sure that they are right and that we are wrong, who will often cast aspersions on our good works, claiming they originate from the devil or from ulterior motives.
When enemies of the Gospel cannot win a debate based on the signs and evidence they see, they change the rules of the argumentand try to find every reason why the message must be rejected. Indeed, the Pharisees were certainly not against miracles; their own followers performed exorcisms, and they genuinely believed in miracles. After all, unlike the Sadducees, they even believed in angels and in the resurrection. Yet, they found it hard to accept the miracles and exorcisms that Jesus performed. Instead, as the evangelist explains later in chapter twelve, Jesus exposed their hypocrisy, saying: “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? If I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own exorcists cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you.” (Mt 12:25-28)
The real reason for their hostility was that the people were amazed at Jesus’ power and asked, “Can this be the Son of David?” (Mt 12:23). The underlying issue was that the Pharisees felt threatened by Jesus’ popularity and power. They must have felt insecure that their followers were attracted to our Lord. They likely wondered why, if God was working in the world today, He would not work through them as the appointed and official leaders of the people, rather than through Jesus, an itinerant preacher. After all, they had studied the Scriptures and believed they knew the doctrines better than Jesus, who did not attend any theological school.
When we become too sure of our own beliefs, we close ourselves off from listening to anyone else, no matter how much evidence they show to the contrary. When that happens, we risk repeating the very mistakes the Gospel warns us about. Of course, it is also true that charlatans and false prophets can perform signs and wonders, as we see among many so-called faith healers in the world today. But just because there are fake healers does not mean we should use them as an excuse to ignore the genuine presence of God at work in our lives.
However, such rejection did not deter Jesus from His mission. In fact, it only convinced Him further of the need to send more labourers into the harvest. He said to His disciples, “The harvest is rich, but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.” Jesus’ mission is not His alone. In the following chapter, Jesus appoints the Twelve to continue His work. The mission of Jesus is also the mission of the Church today — a mission of healing, mercy, liberation, and restoration through the proclamation of Christ.
This mission, like that of Jesus, is rooted in our compassion and love for the people of God. Jesus acted out of pure compassion. Like Him, we are called to proclaim the message of the Kingdom, accompanying our words with good works, especially those of healing and liberation. Jesus came for us. Like a good shepherd, He wants to gather us into God’s kingdom and family by bringing back the lost and guiding us along the right path. He is the fulfilment of the Old Testament promise that God would send a shepherd after His own heart to gather His people back to Him. Where the political and religious leaders failed them, Jesus came to show the way.
The authorities might have rejected Him, but He came not just for them, but for all who were ready to listen and to see. This is clearly the message behind the healing of the mute demoniac. The demoniac was mute because he could not hear. When we are deaf to the word of God, we cannot speak the words of God. Therefore, if we refuse to hear the Word of God spoken to us by the Lord, we will not be able to declare that He is the Son of David, the visitation of God. Neither will we be able to hear or accept His messengers who are sent to proclaim and do the same.
St. Paul emphasises this obligation when writing to Timothy: “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favourable or unfavourable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.” (2 Tim 4:1-5)
This was the way of the prophets in the Old Testament as well. Despite the fact that the people and leaders of Israel ignored their exhortations to obey the Lord and walk in the Covenant given to them by Moses, the prophets continued to proclaim the message of the Lord, whether it was welcome or unwelcome. The Lord said to the people of the Northern Kingdom: “They have set up kings, but not with my consent, and appointed princes, but without my knowledge. Out of their own silver and gold, they have made idols, which are doomed to destruction. I spurn your calf, Samaria, my anger blazes against it.”
Against God’s order, Israel set up her own kingdom and appointed her own kings and priests to serve in their sanctuary. The kings also allowed Canaanite deities to be established in Israel and even erected altars for their worship. They promoted Baal worship, and King Ahab even made it a state religion. The kings were evil — especially Ahab, whom Elijah sought to counsel as his conscience. Ahab oppressed his own people and was deeply unjust to them, as demonstrated when he took the vineyard from Naboth, had him falsely accused of treason and blasphemy, and eventually put him to death.
As a consequence, Hosea told them that the Lord would leave them to face the results of their sins: “They sow the wind, they reap the whirlwind; their wheat will yield no ear, the ear will yield no flour, or, if it does, foreigners will swallow it.” Their harvest would fail, and the country would eventually be sent into exile. This happened because they paid no attention to the Law that God had given them for their happiness. Their sacrifices were offered in vain: “They love sacrificing; right, let them sacrifice! They love meat; right, let them eat it! The Lord takes no pleasure in these. He is now going to remember their iniquity and punish their sins; they will have to go back to Egypt.” Indeed, they had to learn the hard lesson of returning to captivity and, through their slavery, learn to rediscover themselves.
Therefore, let us never be discouraged in ministry. Ultimately, we surrender our mission to the Lord; He will act in His own time and in His own way. Our task is simply to respond to Jesus’ call to be labourers in His vineyard. We are called to use our gifts to proclaim the Kingdom of God through our preaching, teaching, and works of mercy and compassion. Most of all, we must surrender everything to the Lord in prayer, always praying for the harvest and asking Him to send more labourers.
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.
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