Daily Readings - Fri Aug 04 2017

First Reading - Leviticus 23.1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37

¹And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying⁴Therefore, these are the feasts of the Lord, which you must celebrate in their times⁵The first month, the fourteenth day of the month, at evening, is the Passover of the Lord⁶And the fifteenth day of this month is the solemnity of the unleavened bread of the Lord. For seven days shall you eat unleavened bread⁷The first day shall be greatly honored and holy to you; you shall do no servile work in it⁸But you shall offer a sacrifice with fire, for seven days, to the Lord. Then the seventh day shall be more honored and more holy; and you shall do no servile work in it⁹And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying¹⁰Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them: When you will have entered into the land which I will give to you, and you will have harvested your grain fields, you shall carry the sheaves of grain, the first-fruits of your harvest, to the priest¹¹He shall lift up a sheaf before the Lord, on the day after the Sabbath, so that it may be acceptable for you, and he shall sanctify it¹⁵Therefore, you shall number from the day after the Sabbath, in which you offered a sheaf of the first-fruits, seven full weeks¹⁶all the way to the day after the completion of the seventh week, that is, fifty days, and then you shall offer a new sacrifice to the Lord²⁷The tenth day of this seventh month shall be the day of atonement; it shall be most honored, and it shall be called holy. And you shall afflict your souls on that day, and you shall offer a holocaust to the Lord³⁴Say to the sons of Israel: From the fifteenth day of this seventh month, there shall be the Feast of Tabernacles: seven days for the Lord³⁵The first day shall be called most honored and most holy; you shall do no servile work in it³⁶And for seven days you shall offer holocausts to the Lord. Likewise, the eighth day shall be most honored and most holy, and you shall offer holocausts to the Lord. For it is the day of assembly and gathering. You shall do no servile work in it³⁷These are the feasts of the Lord, which you shall call most honored and most holy, and in them you shall offer oblations to the Lord: holocausts and libations according to the rite of each particular day

Gospel - Matthew 13.54-58

Matthew

Chapter 13

⁵⁴And arriving in his own country, he taught them in their synagogues, so much so that they wondered and said: "How can such wisdom and power be with this one⁵⁵Is this not the son of a workman? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers, James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Jude⁵⁶And his sisters, are they not all with us? Therefore, from where has this one obtained all these things?⁵⁷And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country and in his own house.⁵⁸And he did not work many miracles there, because of their unbelief

Sermon

In today's readings, we journey through sacred rituals and a poignant moment of rejection, inviting us to reflect on our relationship with the divine and our communities. The first reading from Leviticus details the feasts of the Lord, each a testament to Israel's covenant with God. These feasts were not mere events but communal acts of remembrance and celebration, grounding the people in their history and faith. They were times to pause, reflect, and reconnect with God's presence in their lives. In the Gospel, we find Jesus in His hometown, where His wisdom and miracles amaze yet also offend. The familiarity of His presence leads to skepticism, a stark contrast to the sacred gatherings in Leviticus. Here, the sacred is overlooked because it is too familiar, highlighting a human tendency to undervalue what is closest to us. Jesus' experience reminds us that faith often falters when the divine is clothed in the ordinary. As we reflect on these readings, let us consider how we perceive the sacred in our lives. Do we, like the people of Nazareth, allow familiarity to blind us to God's presence? Or do we, like the Israelites, embrace moments of communal reflection and celebration? Let us cultivate faith that sees beyond the ordinary, recognizing the divine in our midst. May we approach each day with openness, allowing God's presence to transform our lives, even in the most familiar of places.