July 23, 2013

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Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time 
Lectionary: 396

Reading 1EX 14:21—15:1

So, Moses did as the Lord commanded.

Moses stretched out his hand over the sea,
and the LORD swept the sea
with a strong east wind throughout the night
and so turned it into dry land.
When the water was thus divided,
the children of Israel marched into the midst of the sea on dry land,
with the water like a wall to their right and to their left.

And the people of Israel escaped from the Egyptians by walking through the sea.

The Egyptians followed in pursuit;
all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and charioteers went after them
right into the midst of the sea.

And the Egyptians followed them into the sea.

In the night watch just before dawn
the LORD cast through the column of the fiery cloud
upon the Egyptian force a glance that threw it into a panic;
and he so clogged their chariot wheels
that they could hardly drive.
With that the Egyptians sounded the retreat before Israel,
because the LORD was fighting for them against the Egyptians.

But God was with the Israelites, in the Pillar of Cloud.  And He cast them a glance that threw them into a panic.

Then the LORD told Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea,
that the water may flow back upon the Egyptians,
upon their chariots and their charioteers.”
So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea,
and at dawn the sea flowed back to its normal depth.

And God told Moses to stretch out his hand and close the sea which was parted in two.

The Egyptians were fleeing head on toward the sea,
when the LORD hurled them into its midst.

The Egyptians were already heading into the sea but God hurled them in to help them along.

As the water flowed back,
it covered the chariots and the charioteers of Pharaoh’s whole army
that had followed the children of Israel into the sea.

And the water flowed back unto them and drowned them.

Not a single one of them escaped.

Not one escaped.

But the children of Israel had marched on dry land
through the midst of the sea,
with the water like a wall to their right and to their left.

But the people of Israel walked through the sea as though on dry land and were saved.

Thus the LORD saved Israel on that day
from the power of the Egyptians.
When Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore
and beheld the great power that the LORD
had shown against the Egyptians,
they feared the LORD and believed in him and in his servant Moses.

When Israel saw the great power that God had revealed through His servant Moses, they believed.

Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD:

I will sing to the LORD, for he is gloriously triumphant;
horse and chariot he has cast into the sea.

Then Moses and the people of Israel sang a song of God's glory.

Responsorial PsalmEX 15:8-9, 10 AND 12, 17

R. (1b) Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.

At the breath of your anger the waters piled up,

the flowing waters stood like a mound,

the flood waters congealed in the midst of the sea.

The enemy boasted, “I will pursue and overtake them;

I will divide the spoils and have my fill of them;

I will draw my sword; my hand shall despoil them!”

R. Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.

When your wind blew, the sea covered them;

like lead they sank in the mighty waters.

When you stretched out your right hand, the earth swallowed them!

R. Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.

And you brought them in and planted them on the mountain of your inheritance—

the place where you made your seat, O LORD,

the sanctuary, O LORD, which your hands established.

R. Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.

Let us sing a song of God's glory.  For He has swallowed up our enemy.  He laid down His life on the cross and took it up again.  Thus defeating the ancient enemy:

Hebrews 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;  15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

GospelMT 12:46-50

While Jesus was speaking to the crowds,
his mother and his brothers appeared outside,
wishing to speak with him.
Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside,
asking to speak with you.”
But he said in reply to the one who told him,
“Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?”
And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said,
“Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father
is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

No one has ever been more faithful than Mary.  No one has ever done the will of God more perfectly than Mary.  Therefore, in this verse, Jesus confirms why Mary is His mother.