Breaking the Word

18^th Week in Ord. Time, Wednesday – 9^th August 2023 – Numbers chs. 13 & 14; Mt 15,21-28

Forgetfulness Anchors Fear

The first reading gives us a synopsis of the events regarding Moses’ sending of best and brightest scouts of each of the twelve families into the Promised Land. They are commissioned to reconnoiter the land into which God wants to lead them and see if it is a “land flowing with milk and honey.” After forty days of travelling through the land, they are amazed at the richness of the land. They bring back samples of the bounty of the land.  The people are at first excited at the report of the scouts. Then they spread the bad news that the people living in the land are giant warriors who will not be easily conquered. The people forgot about all that God has already done for them in freeing them from their Egyptian enslavers. They fear the consequences of having to do battle, not being conscious of God’s promise to be with them. They lack faith in the God of the promise. Because of this, God punishes them that they remain in the desert for a total of forty years, until everyone of the rebellious person passes away and new generation of Israelites, who will accept God’s help come about. The Israelites lack true faith in God and God’s promises. The Lord is displeased with the people, who are being driven by fear and being rooted in lack of trust. Therefore, God will delay the people’s entry into the new land by one year for everyday that their leaders explored.

18^th Week in Ord. Time, Tuesday – 8^th August 2023 — Gospel:        Mt 15,1-2,10-14

Demands of leadership

This section ends with Jesus’ answer to the disciples’ question about his treatment of the Pharisees. The question of the disciples reveals that the Pharisees had taken offence at what Jesus had said about the ritual practices. The people held these teachers in high regard, and so the disciples were worried that Jesus was too hard on them. Jesus wanted them to be clear on the unreliability of the Pharisees’ teaching. He answers the disciples with vivid images and memorable proverbs: plant uprooting and blind guidance (15,13-14). In contrast to Jesus, who leads the blind to sight and faith, his opponents are blind guides. These words of Jesus are an invitation to his listeners to open their hearts to him. The religious opponents of Jesus are leading themselves and others towards disaster and ruin, because they were weak in spiritual understanding. They not only failed to understand the Scriptures and traditions, but to perceive who Jesus was and to follow Him – it’s a spiritual blindness. Leadership demands openness to others; it provides good guidance for others. Leaders do lead people with right discernment of the Scriptures. Jesus’ leadership pointed out the type of leadership that negated the reality.  Jesus was straightforward and truthful in expressing his style of leadership and it went even to the extent of facing the offenders.