Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Joshua 24:14-29 & Mt. 19:13-15

Just before his death Joshua gathered the people of Israel together to renew their covenant with the Lord. “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord" he said. They followed his example.

Joshua 24:1-13 & Mt. 19:3-12

Some Pharisees attempt to test Jesus by asking Him whether it is lawful or not to divorce, in today's Gospel reading. His answer to them amazes His disciples as well. The teaching on the indissolubility of marriage appeared too strict to them, and they concluded that it would be better, then, not to marry at all.

Joshua 3:7-11, 13-17 & Mt. 18:21-19:1

The power and the forgiveness of God are demonstrated in today's two readings. Is it possible to take a group of weak and simple people, devoid of weapons and other resources, and lead them from slavery in a powerful country to a promised land? No human leader could have accomplished this feat.

It is God and God alone who achieved good things for His people. The story of the parting of the waters is so unusual that it should immediately make us realise that God had to be at work for the benefit of His people.

Deut. 34:1-12 & Mt. 18:15-20

Moses was soon to leave the world. With God's guidance he had led the lsraelites out of slavery and within sight of the Promised Land. Now his task was finished and in today's first reading he handed on his leadership to Joshua: he would have been prepared for this role for Moses knew that without leadership the people would surely wander away from God, arguing and complaining among themselves. They would trust and follow Joshua because they had witnessed Moses laying hands on him and giving him this authority.

Deut. 31:1-8 & Mt. 18:1-5, 10, 12-14

There is a certain sadness about today's first reading. Moses had been the great hero of His people. He had resisted Pharaoh to his face, demanding the release of the people in the name of God. He had led them out of slavery from Egypt. In the desert through him God made a covenant with the people. He had endured the rebellion of the people and had interceded for them with God.

Deut. 10:12-22 & Mt. 17:22-27

Through Moses God is making an appeal to His people. He wants them to be like Himself. As He was dedicated to them, so they were to be dedicated to Him. As He had freed them when they were aliens in Egypt, so they are to befriend the alien in their own land. He had treated everyone with fairness and justice, that is how they are to treat others.

1 Kings 19: 9. 11-13

Today's reading from the First Book of Kings presents us with the prophet Elijah who, like us, learnt from personal experience that life sometimes can be difficult and discouraging. Anyone who has reached early adulthood knows life is not a bed of roses. Amid the fun and games there are often sweat and tears in the duties and demands of the daily routines.

Ez. 18:1-10, 13, 30-32 & Mt. 19:13-15

God's love is unconditional. He loves us without any strings attached. But God's promises are another matter. He promises us that we will live, but only if we repent and try to avoid all sin. God cannot give us the blessings He wants for us if we do not keep our side of the bargain.

Ez. 16:1-15, 60, 63 & Mt. 19:3-12

Ezekiel recounts, in a tender and graphic style, the immense love and mercy that God had shown His people. He had found them in pitiable and desperate plight, unloved and without hope; He could have left them to their fate but instead He commanded life for them and adopted them as His own.

Ez. 12:1-12 & Mt. 18:21-19:1

When the Lord called Ezekiel to be His prophet, He warned him that the people were a rebellious, impudent and stubborn nation. Ezekiel continually warned the people about their characteristics but they paid no more attention to him than they had to earlier prophets. To impress upon them the need for repentance, Yahweh instructed Ezekiel to perform a symbolic public act which everyone would see.