1ST READING
Moses
and Aaron are given instructions on how to prepare themselves and the
Israelites for what would be the defining event of their existence —
the Passover.
It is also an event that will provide much of the imagery we will use
to describe our understanding of the Eucharist. Let us take the
opportunity today to try and understand it from the Jewish perspective.
Exodus 11:10-12:14
10 Although
Moses and Aaron performed these various wonders in Pharaoh’s presence,
the Lord made Pharaoh obstinate, and he would not
let the children of Israel leave his land. 12:1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall stand at the head of your calendar; you shall reckon it the first month of the year. 3 Tell
the whole community of Israel: On the tenth of this month every one of
your families must procure for itself a lamb, one apiece for each
household. 4
If
a family is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join the nearest
household in procuring one and shall share in the lamb in proportion to
the number of persons who partake of it. 5 The lamb must be a year-old male and without blemish. You may take it from either the sheep or the goats. 6 You shall keep it until the fourteenth
day of this month, and then, with the whole assembly of Israel present,
it shall be slaughtered during the evening twilight. 7 They shall take some of its blood and apply it to the two doorposts and the lintel of every house in which they partake of the lamb. 8 That same night they shall eat its roasted flesh with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9 It shall not be eaten raw or boiled, but roasted whole, with its head and shanks and inner organs. 10 None of it must be kept beyond the next morning; whatever is left over in the morning shall be burned up. 11
This
is how you are to eat it: with your loins girt, sandals on your feet
and your staff in hand, you shall eat like those who are in flight. It
is the Passover of the Lord. 12 For on this same
night I will go through Egypt, striking down every first-born of the
land, both man and beast, and executing judgment on all the gods of
Egypt — I, the Lord! 13 But
the blood will mark the houses where you are. Seeing the blood, I will
pass over you; thus, when I strike the land of Egypt, no destructive
blow will come upon you. 14 This
day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all your generations shall
celebrate with pilgrimage to the Lord, as a perpetual institution.”
P S A L M
Psalm 116:12-13, 15-16, 17-18
R: I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.
12 How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good he has done for me? 13 The cup of salvation I will take up, and I will call upon the name of the Lord. (R) 15 Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones. 16 I am your servant, the son of your handmaid; you have loosed my bonds. (R) 17 To you will I offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and I will call upon the name of the Lord. 18 My vows to the Lord I will pay in the presence of all his people. (R)
GOSPEL
The
cry of Jesus for mercy and not sacrifice ought to be at the heart of
any understanding of pastoral care. What does it mean to minister to the
People of God? There is no simple answer to this question; however, it
is certain that God would want us to always think first about the
welfare of those we minister to. Caring for people is always going to
require a lot of mercy — that is, putting others’ needs before one’s
own.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me.
Matthew 12:1-8
1 Jesus
was going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples were
hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, 4 how
he went
into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he
nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat? 5 Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath and are innocent? 6 I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 If you knew what this meant, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’you would not have condemned these innocent men. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the
sabbath.”
think: Caring for people is always going to require a lot of mercy — that is, putting others’ needs before one’s own.
T O D A Y’S BLESSING LIST
Thank You Lord for: __________________
____________________________________
God’s special verse/thought for me today_
_____________________________________
READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Nehemia 10-13
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