St. Bonaventure, bishop & doctor 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Isaiah 10:5-7, 13b-16

Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger, the staff of my fury!

 Against a godless nation I send him, against a people who provoke my wrath I dispatch him, to plunder and pillage, to tread them down like mud in the streets. 

But the mind of his king is far from this, his heart harbors other thoughts; what he wants is to destroy, to make an end of all nations.  For the king says; “By my own strength I have done this and by my own wisdom, for I am clever. 

I have moved the frontiers of peoples, I have plundered treasures, I have brought inhabitants down to the dust, I have toppled kings from their thrones. As one reaches into a nest, so my hands have reached into nations’ wealth.

As one gathers deserted eggs, so have I gathered the riches of the earth. No one flapped a wing or opened its mouth to chirp a protest.” Does the axe claim more credit

than the man who wields it? Does the saw magnify itself more than the one who uses it? This would be like a rod wielding the man who lifts it up; will those not made of wood, be controlled by the cudgel?

Therefore the Lord, Yahweh Saba­oth, is ready to send a wasting sickness upon the king’s sturdy warriors. Beneath his plenty, a flame will burn like a consuming fire.

 

Ps 94:5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 14-15

The Lord will not abandon his people.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Matthew 11:25-27

On that occasion Jesus said, “Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I praise you, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to simple people. Yes, Father, this is what pleased you.

Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

 

Gospel Reflection：

A sixteen-year-old boy heard of the phrase “friends with benefits” from his classmates. Ashamed of being called ignorant, he searched it on the internet.

He gathered it is about having partners without love and serious commitment. It lifted him up and changed his outlook on relationships, partnerships, and girls. He enjoyed playing ‘friends with benefits’ and masterd escaping responsibilities from his girlfriends.

Four years later, his mother got seriously sick. To care full-time for her, his father took long absence from work. He still had on-leave salary but not the commissions bigger than his regular income.

The boy told his father what a waste to not have those commissions anymore. His father answered, “Son when you care for a real friend, you do not need benefits.” The son froze, shed tears, and said, “Papa, I should have asked you first about ‘friends with benefits’ before learned of it somewhere.”