Daily Catholic Mass Readings for September 14, 2019
First Reading: Numbers 21.4-9 or Philippians 2.6-11
4They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way;5they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!"6Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.7The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people.8The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live."9So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.
6Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,7but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.8And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Psalm 78
1O my people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth.2I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old-3what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us.4We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done.5He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children,6so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.7Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.8They would not be like their forefathers- a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him.9The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows, turned back on the day of battle;10they did not keep God's covenant and refused to live by his law.11They forgot what he had done, the wonders he had shown them.12He did miracles in the sight of their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.13He divided the sea and led them through; he made the water stand firm like a wall.14He guided them with the cloud by day and with light from the fire all night.15He split the rocks in the desert and gave them water as abundant as the seas;16he brought streams out of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers.17But they continued to sin against him, rebelling in the desert against the Most High.18They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved.19They spoke against God, saying, "Can God spread a table in the desert?20When he struck the rock, water gushed out, and streams flowed abundantly. But can he also give us food? Can he supply meat for his people?"21When the LORD heard them, he was very angry; his fire broke out against Jacob, and his wrath rose against Israel,22for they did not believe in God or trust in his deliverance.23Yet he gave a command to the skies above and opened the doors of the heavens;24he rained down manna for the people to eat, he gave them the grain of heaven.25Men ate the bread of angels; he sent them all the food they could eat.26He let loose the east wind from the heavens and led forth the south wind by his power.27He rained meat down on them like dust, flying birds like sand on the seashore.28He made them come down inside their camp, all around their tents.29They ate till they had more than enough, for he had given them what they craved.30But before they turned from the food they craved, even while it was still in their mouths,31God's anger rose against them; he put to death the sturdiest among them, cutting down the young men of Israel.32In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; in spite of his wonders, they did not believe.33So he ended their days in futility and their years in terror.34Whenever God slew them, they would seek him; they eagerly turned to him again.35They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.36But then they would flatter him with their mouths, lying to him with their tongues;37their hearts were not loyal to him, they were not faithful to his covenant.38Yet he was merciful; he forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them. Time after time he restrained his anger and did not stir up his full wrath.39He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.40How often they rebelled against him in the desert and grieved him in the wasteland!41Again and again they put God to the test; they vexed the Holy One of Israel.42They did not remember his power- the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,43the day he displayed his miraculous signs in Egypt, his wonders in the region of Zoan.44He turned their rivers to blood; they could not drink from their streams.45He sent swarms of flies that devoured them, and frogs that devastated them.46He gave their crops to the grasshopper, their produce to the locust.47He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore-figs with sleet.48He gave over their cattle to the hail, their livestock to bolts of lightning.49He unleashed against them his hot anger, his wrath, indignation and hostility- a band of destroying angels.50He prepared a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death but gave them over to the plague.51He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt, the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.52But he brought his people out like a flock; he led them like sheep through the desert.53He guided them safely, so they were unafraid; but the sea engulfed their enemies.54Thus he brought them to the border of his holy land, to the hill country his right hand had taken.55He drove out nations before them and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance; he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.56But they put God to the test and rebelled against the Most High; they did not keep his statutes.57Like their fathers they were disloyal and faithless, as unreliable as a faulty bow.58They angered him with their high places; they aroused his jealousy with their idols.59When God heard them, he was very angry; he rejected Israel completely.60He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent he had set up among men.61He sent the ark of his might into captivity, his splendor into the hands of the enemy.62He gave his people over to the sword; he was very angry with his inheritance.63Fire consumed their young men, and their maidens had no wedding songs;64their priests were put to the sword, and their widows could not weep.65Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, as a man wakes from the stupor of wine.66He beat back his enemies; he put them to everlasting shame.67Then he rejected the tents of Joseph, he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;68but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loved.69He built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth that he established forever.70He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens;71from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance.72And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.
Gospel: John 3.13-17
13No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven--the Son of Man.14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Sermon
The readings today invite us to reflect on the theme of salvation and the profound connection between the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the first reading from Numbers, we hear the story of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness, growing impatient and complaining against God and Moses. Their lack of faith leads to a punishment of fiery serpents, but God, in His mercy, provides a remedy: a bronze serpent lifted high on a pole. Those who gaze upon it are healed. This story is not just a historical account; it is a foreshadowing of the ultimate act of salvation through Jesus Christ.
In the Gospel, Jesus draws a direct parallel between the bronze serpent and Himself. Just as Moses lifted the serpent in the desert, Jesus must be lifted up on the cross. This act of being "lifted up" is both a physical reality—the crucifixion—and a spiritual truth. Jesus is the source of eternal life, and just as the Israelites looked upon the bronze serpent to be healed, we must look to Jesus in faith to receive the gift of salvation. The famous verse, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son," reminds us that God’s love is not merely sentimental but sacrificial. He gave His Son so that we might have eternal life, not condemnation.
These readings call us to reflect on our own faith journey. Like the Israelites, we often face challenges and uncertainties in life that can lead us to doubt or complain. Yet, in those moments, we are invited to look to the cross of Christ, the ultimate sign of God’s love and mercy. The cross is not just a symbol of suffering; it is a symbol of healing, forgiveness, and salvation. Let us ask ourselves: Do we trust in God’s plan, even when the journey is difficult? Do we turn to Christ in faith, knowing that He is our true healer and savior? May we, like the Israelites, gaze upon the cross and find the grace to persevere, trusting that God’s love will see us through even the darkest of times.