"A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house." (Mt 13:57)
READING OF THE DAY
A reading from the Book of Jeremiah
Jer 26:1-9
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim,
son of Josiah, king of Judah,
this message came from the LORD:
Thus says the LORD:
Stand in the court of the house of the LORD
and speak to the people of all the cities of Judah
who come to worship in the house of the LORD;
whatever I command you, tell them, and omit nothing.
Perhaps they will listen and turn back,
each from his evil way,
so that I may repent of the evil I have planned to inflict upon them
for their evil deeds.
Say to them: Thus says the LORD:
If you disobey me,
not living according to the law I placed before you
and not listening to the words of my servants the prophets,
whom I send you constantly though you do not obey them,
I will treat this house like Shiloh,
and make this the city to which all the nations of the earth
shall refer when cursing another.
Now the priests, the prophets, and all the people
heard Jeremiah speak these words in the house of the LORD.
When Jeremiah finished speaking
all that the LORD bade him speak to all the people,
the priests and prophets laid hold of him, crying,
"You must be put to death!
Why do you prophesy in the name of the LORD:
'This house shall be like Shiloh,' and
'This city shall be desolate and deserted'?"
And all the people gathered about Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to Matthew
Mt 13:54-58
Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue.
They were astonished and said,
“Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?
Is he not the carpenter’s son?
Is not his mother named Mary
and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?
Are not his sisters all with us?
Where did this man get all this?”
And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them,
“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and in his own house.”
And he did not work many mighty deeds there
because of their lack of faith.
FRIDAY OF THE SEVENTEENTH WEEK OF ORDINARY TIME - Mt 13: 54-58
THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE
Dear People of God,
Today's Word of God, God introduces the genealogy of Jesus Christ: He is the Son of God, sent to the world to become human. Having been placed in an ordinary family by God, that is the Holy Family, the family chosen by God from ancient times.
God lets humanity know the reason why God chose Saint Joseph to be the foster father of Jesus Christ. Meanwhile, Saint Joseph's family is also just an ordinary family like any other family. Saint Joseph, too, works to make a living like others; he is not an earthly king, not a son of a high-ranking official. Through this, God wants to say: He has full authority over everyone, whatever He wants to do, He does; No one can set His will according to human beings, nor does He need anyone to "advise" Him.
God wants to emphasize as well, that: The Son of God is so supreme, but He had sacrificed Himself to be equal to humans. Moreover, He chose to be born into a regular family. In particular, Saint Joseph's father was a normal and simple person, who also had hard labor like ordinary workers, though Saint Joseph was faithful to God and collaborated in the work of salvation of Jesus Christ as a foster father to raise the Son of God, together with the Blessed Virgin Mary who gave birth to Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.
God lets mankind know that He is the master of everything in God's work of salvation. God placed Jesus Christ as a human being born into a common family, to sacrifice and die to save all mankind. Through it, God calls all mankind:
- To be united and love each other, because all people are children of God the Father.
- God the Father provides for all things in His work of salvation in which the Son of God had come down to earth as a human to accompany humanity.
- Believe that Jesus Christ, the One who came down to the family of Saint Joseph, living in Nazareth, is the truth.
- Listen to and accept the words that Jesus Christ taught to the people and put them into practice. His teachings are the words that bring life to mankind. He is a supreme
prophet who always brings the words of God the Father to humanity. There is nothing that He cannot do.
That is why, in today's Word of God, God the Father calls all humanity:
- To look up and contemplate the God of love. Let us thank God the Father for sending His only Son to earth as a human being. Living in a family, that is the house of Saint Joseph and Mother Mary.
- Let us imitate Mother Mary and Saint Joseph, who collaborated with Jesus Christ in the work of saving mankind, by living according to their virtues of meekness, humility of heart, and great sacrifice.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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