God is love and all his operations proceed from love.

Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, which is seen as the ultimate expression of God's love for humanity.

Love is the essence of the christian faith and life.

 

St. Lawrence of Brindisi, priest and doctor

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

Exodus 14:5-18

The king of Egypt was told that

The people had fled; then Pharaoh and his ministers changed their minds with regard to the people.

"What have we done," they said, "in allowing Israel to go and be free of our service?"

Pharaoh prepared his chariot and took his army with him. There were six hundred of his best chariots;

indeed, he took all the Egyptian chariots, each one with his warriors.

 

The Lord had hardened the mind of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who set out in pursuit of the Israelites as they marched forth triumphantly.

The Egyptians all the chariots and horses of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army gave chase

and caught up with them when they had encamped by the sea near Pihahiroth, facing Baalzephon.

 

The Israelites saw the Egyptians marching after them: Pharaoh was drawing near.

They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. Then they said to Moses, "Were there no tombs in Egypt?

Why have you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done by bringing us out of Egypt?

Isn't this what we said when we were in Egypt: Let us work for the Egyptians. Far better serve Egypt than to die in the desert!"

 

Moses said to the people, "Have no fear! Stay where you are and see the work the Lord will do to save you today.

The Egyptians whom you see today, you will never see again! The Lord will fight for you and all you have to do is to keep still."

The Lord said to Moses, "Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.

You will raise your staff and stretch your hand over the sea and divide it to let the Israelites go dry foot through the sea.

I will so harden the minds of the Egyptians that they will follow you. And I will have glory at the expense of Pharaoh,

his army, his chariots and horsemen. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory for myself at the cost of Pharaoh and his army!"

 

Ex 15:1bc-2, 3-4, 5-6 Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊      

Matthew 12:38-42

Then, some teachers of the law and some Pharisees spoke up, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from you."

Jesus answered them, "An evil and unfaithful people want a sign;

but no sign will be given them except the sign of the prophet Jonah. In the same way,

as Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the whale,

so will the Son of Man spend three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

 

At the judgment, the people of Nineveh will rise with this generation, and condemn it;

because they reformed their lives at the preaching of Jonah, and here, there is greater than Jonah.

At the judgment, the Queen of the South will stand up and condemn you.

She came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and here, there is greater than Solomon.

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"The sign of Emmanuel."

Perhaps the teachers of the Law wanted to see a miracle of Red Sea proportions.

They had heard of healings, but if Jesus did something like that, then they would believe.

Yet, they forgot that the parting of the Red Sea didn't make Pharaoh and his army stop pursuing the Israelites.

 

One might have thought that Pharaoh and his forces would have turned back, awe-struck at God's power.

But their anger had blinded them to the Lord. Now the Lord is in their midst,

and the teachers and Pharisees are blind to his presence, and they refuse to repent.

If they can't understand who Jesus is through the miracles he has already demonstrated, then no sign will convince them.

 

They don't realize that Jesus himself is the sign they are to recognize; the sign of Emmanuel –  God with them,

but they are unaware. And so, the only sign he can give them is his death and resurrection, foreshadowed by Jonah in the whale.

Are my emotions, ambitions or sins blinding me to God's power and presence in my life?

Christ's resurrection was a sign for all people, for all time. Lord, open my eyes. Lord, deepen my faith.