St. Dominic, priest 

St. Mary of the Cross Mackillop 

＊＊＊1st Reading＊＊＊    Numbers 20: 1-13

The whole congregation of Israel came to the wilderness of Zin in the first month and the people stayed in Kadesh.

Miriam died and was buried there. Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered together against Moses and Aaron. They disputed with Moses saying, “Would that we had perished with our kinsmen in the presence of Yahweh!

Why have you led Yahweh’s community to this desert to die here with our cattle?  And why did you bring us out of Egypt to this wretched place? It’s no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates and there’s not even water for drinking.”

Moses and Aaron fled from the assembly to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and fell on their faces. Then the Glory of Yahweh appeared and Yahweh spoke to Moses,  “Take your rod and assemble the community, you and Aaron, your brother. In their presence command the rock to give forth water and you will make water gush from the rock for the community and their livestock to drink.”

 So Moses took the rod from before Yahweh as he had been ordered. Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly in front of the rock and said to them, “Listen, you rebels. Shall we bring water for you from this rock?”  Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod. And then water in abundance gushed out for the community and their livestock to drink.

 But Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “You did not trust me nor treat me as the Holy One in the sight of the Israelites; because of that you shall not lead this community into the land that I am giving you.”  It was at the waters of Meribah that the sons of Israel quarreled with Yahweh and where he showed his holiness to them.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Matthew 16: 13-23

After that Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi. He asked his disciples, “What do people say of the Son of Man is ? they said, “For some of them you are John the Baptist, for others Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

 Jesus asked them, “But you, who do you say I am?”  Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus replied, “It is well for you, Simon Barjona, for it is not flesh or blood that has revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.

And now I say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church; and never will the powers of death overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you unbind on earth shall be unbound in heaven.”  Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

From that day Jesus began to make it clear to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem; that he would suffer many things from the Jewish authorities, the chief priests and the teachers of the Law; and that he would be killed and be raised on the third day.

 Then Peter took him aside and began to reproach him, “Never, Lord! No, this must never happen to you.” But he turned to him and said, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my path. You are their king not as God does, but as people do.”

 

Reflection gospel：

“ON THIS ROCK I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH.”

We know that foundations are what make something stand firm. Strong foundation, solid ground makes for stable structure. In Jesus the Church, the Body of Christ, stands on solid ground. He is the life, the truth, and the guide of the People of God. in him we find fulfillment, meaning, and direction. Our faith has its basis on the resurrection of Jesus. Our hope is well founded on the words and promise of Jesus.

And our love is ground on the love of God for all his “very good” creation.We have a choice where to ground our actions: we can ground them with the truth, the good, and genuine values; or we can base them from mere satisfaction. Those that are genuinely valuable are connected and oriented to the truth and the good.

Genuine values promote well-being and flourishing of the whole creation, humans and nonhumans alike. On the other hand, mere satisfactions, if they were to guide our actions, are unstable and cannot be relied on. They tend to corrupt, and will destroy both human lives and the natural world. When actions are led by mere satisfactions, life in the end becomes disorderly and miserable.