July 20, 2021

Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 396

Reading I

Ex 14:21—15:1

Moses stretched out his hand over the sea,
and the LORD swept the sea
with a strong east wind throughout the night
and so turned it into dry land.
When the water was thus divided,
the children of Israel marched into the midst of the sea on dry land,
with the water like a wall to their right and to their left.

The Egyptians followed in pursuit;
all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and charioteers went after them
right into the midst of the sea.
In the night watch just before dawn
the LORD cast through the column of the fiery cloud
upon the Egyptian force a glance that threw it into a panic;
and he so clogged their chariot wheels
that they could hardly drive.
With that the Egyptians sounded the retreat before Israel,
because the LORD was fighting for them against the Egyptians.

Then the LORD told Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea,
that the water may flow back upon the Egyptians,
upon their chariots and their charioteers.”
So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, 
and at dawn the sea flowed back to its normal depth.
The Egyptians were fleeing head on toward the sea,
when the LORD hurled them into its midst.
As the water flowed back,
it covered the chariots and the charioteers of Pharaoh’s whole army
that had followed the children of Israel into the sea.
Not a single one of them escaped.
But the children of Israel had marched on dry land
through the midst of the sea,
with the water like a wall to their right and to their left.
Thus the LORD saved Israel on that day
from the power of the Egyptians.
When Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore
and beheld the great power that the LORD
had shown against the Egyptians,
they feared the LORD and believed in him and in his servant Moses.

Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD:

    I will sing to the LORD, for he is gloriously triumphant;
        horse and chariot he has cast into the sea.

Responsorial Psalm

Exodus 15:8-9, 10 and 12, 17

1.  (1b)  Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.
   At the breath of your anger the waters piled up,
       the flowing waters stood like a mound,
       the flood waters congealed in the midst of the sea.
   The enemy boasted, “I will pursue and overtake them;
       I will divide the spoils and have my fill of them;
       I will draw my sword; my hand shall despoil them!” 
   R.    Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.
   When your wind blew, the sea covered them;
       like lead they sank in the mighty waters.
       When you stretched out your right hand, the earth swallowed them!
   R.    Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.
   And you brought them in and planted them on the mountain of your inheritance—
       the place where you made your seat, O LORD,
       the sanctuary, O LORD, which your hands established. 
   R.   Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.

Alleluia

Jn 14:23

1. Alleluia, alleluia.
   Whoever loves me will keep my word,
   and my Father will love him
   and we will come to him.
   R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Mt 12:46-50

While Jesus was speaking to the crowds,
his mother and his brothers appeared outside,
wishing to speak with him.
Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside,
asking to speak with you.”
But he said in reply to the one who told him,
“Who is my mother?  Who are my brothers?”
And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said,
“Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father
is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

• Readings for the Optional Memorial of Saint Apollinaris, bishop and martyr

Reflection: THE WILL OR YOUR WHIMS?

The first reading sets us thinking... the greed of the king and his adamant decision to exploit the people led him to destruction! However, the reading is clear, he did not die, his own people did! The Egyptians, the horsemen and all who followed him died! We can be very sure not all of those who died wished to pursue the people of Israel; it was not their wish, they did it because they were enrolled, they were commissioned by the authority. But all the same, the destruction was theirs. How close it seems to what is happening today in the world... the leaders who mislead, the leaders guided by warped politics and selfish interests who lead the whole people astray, the partisan mentality of the people who destroy themselves, following the leaders who however remain in their zones of security! Wars, civil clashes, terrorist attacks, border conflicts, nuclear craze, killings in the name of caste and creed - how many of these we find today because of a group of leaders who manipulate everything for their ends! This can end only when every individual is able to think for himself or herself and have the freedom to say 'no' to what one thinks is not right, or what one thinks does not enhance humanity and its existence. The unfailing criteria for such decisions and discernments, as Jesus points today, is the Will of God! When human beings are too concerned about having their will established at all costs, be it in personal lives or in social settings, it leads to autocracy or hegemony and subsequently varied forms of exploitation and destruction. The only way to enhance life to its fullness is to do the Will of God, and that is the only way to become 'the mother, the brothers and sisters' of Jesus, the Son of God.