Saturday in the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time, July 17, 2021

Bishop Burbidge does not want the priests of this diocese to comment publicly right now on Pope Francis’s motu proprio that attempts to restrict the offering of the Holy Mass according to the ancient Roman Rite.  All I will say now to those who are concerned and confused (as are many priests) is: Pray earnestly.  I will write more about this when I can. 

Matthew 12:14-21

The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place. Many people followed him, and he cured them all, but he warned them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight; I shall place my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not contend or cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope.”

This reading follows upon St. Matthew’s account of the Lord Jesus healing the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath.  The Pharisees “went out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death” because they thought that he had broken the Sabbath by this action.  In fact, there was no justification for their view in the Books of the Law.  The Lord’s crime, in their eyes, was two-fold: he had broken the Sabbath according to their interpretation, and he was doing so in a way that undermined their “authority”, though no one with real authority had authorized them to teach anything.  Many had rejoiced at seeing the man’s hand healed, but all thePharisees could do was look for ways to keep this good from happening again.  There are always those who cannot see the good that others do, but imagine some evil is being perpetrated.  It is the poison of envy.

“When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place.”  The Lord does not remain where he is not wanted.  He leaves the envious Pharisees, but the good he has done in that town remains.  He does not take his healings back.  They remain, and continuously remind the people who received them or saw them, of the Son of Man who had come into their midst.  Jesus withdraws because his time had not yet come.  When it did come, he would not let anyone or anything get in his way, but since it had not, he would go to another town to preach.  We wonder at his meekness here.  The Lord of all retreats before men, when he could destroy the Pharisees himself, or call down seven legions of angels to do this for him.  Instead, he moves from them, giving them a greater chance to reconsider before they acted irretrievably.  

“Many people followed him, and he cured them all, but he warned them not to make him known.”  We see his mercy, and we see how true it is that his joy was to be among the children of men (Proverbs 8, 31).  He continued to heal the sick, the lepers, and the lame, as pathetic a group of people as could be found, following their only hope.  And he trusts himself to them, that they would not speak about him, the one who had given them life.  

“My servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight.”  Matthew quotes Isaiah 42, 1-3 for all but the last line, which either he adds, or which his scroll of Isaiah has.  Through the Prophet, the Father speaks tenderly of his Son, in whom he delights.  “He will not contend or cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.”  That is, the Son will not rouse the people to arms in order to rebel.  “A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not quench.”  These are the ones who follow him.  The “broken reed” is the sick, the lame, the grief-stricken, the abandoned, and the “smoldering wick” are those who want to hear the words that lead to eternal life, but have not heard them from the Pharisees.  The Lord is careful with them, and heals the broken reed, and blows on the smoldering wick until it blazes with heat and light.  “Until he brings justice to victory.”  This is the final judgment at which justice is delivered for the just against the wicked.   

“And in his name the Gentiles will hope.”  Matthew may have added this line as a fitting conclusion, since it does not appear in the most important Greek and Hebrew texts.  Through Jesus, we all have hope for heaven, and even on earth we may hope and pray for the conversion of our enemies.