1ST READING
Some of the words here describe sinners — maggot, worm and so on. It gives a sense of where sin takes us and what it does to us. It reduces us to something other than who God created us to be — His sons and daughters. Sin is an inhuman act; God did not create us so that we could sin. We were created to share in His glory. Instead, we have wallowed in the depths of sin, which is contrary to our human nature.
Isaiah 41:13-20
13 I am the Lord, your God, who grasp your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I will help you.” 14 Fear not, O worm Jacob, O maggot Israel; I will help you, says the Lord; your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. 15 I will make of you a threshing sledge, sharp, new, and double-edged, to thresh the mountains and crush them, to make the hills like chaff. 16 When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them off and the storm shall scatter them. But you shall rejoice in the Lord, and glory in the Holy One of Israel. 17 The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain, their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the Lord, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. 18 I will open up rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the broad valleys; I will turn the desert into a marshland, and the dry ground into springs of water. 19 I will plant in the desert the cedar, acacia, myrtle, and olive; I will set in the wasteland the cypress, together with the plane tree and the pine, 20 that all may see and know, observe and understand, that the hand of the Lord has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it.
P S A L M
Psalm 145:1, 9, 10-11, 12-13
R: The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.
1 I will extol you, O my God and King, and I will bless your name forever and ever. 9 The Lord is good to all and compassionate toward all his works. (R) 10 Let all your works give you thanks, O Lord, and let your faithful ones bless you. 11 Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might. (R) 12 Let them make known to men your might and the glorious splendor of your Kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages, and your dominion endures through all generations. (R)
GOSPEL
Sin is violence against our human nature. It attacks the goodness of God’s creation – it is always at odds with His will. Let us not allow sin to intimidate us – we must fight back with every weapon we have in our arsenal, the most powerful of which is the grace of God unleashed in our lives through baptism.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
Let the clouds rain down the Just One, and the earth bring forth a Savior.
Matthew 11:11-15
11 Jesus said to the crowds: “Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force. 13 All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John. 14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, the one who is to come. 15 Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
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