Daily Readings - Mon Jul 31 2023
Exodus
15Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back.16The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.17When Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, "There is the sound of war in the camp."18Moses replied: "It is not the sound of victory, it is not the sound of defeat; it is the sound of singing that I hear."19When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain.20And he took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.21He said to Aaron, "What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?"22"Do not be angry, my lord," Aaron answered. "You know how prone these people are to evil.23They said to me, 'Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him.'24So I told them, 'Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.' Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!"30The next day Moses said to the people, "You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin."31So Moses went back to the LORD and said, "Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold.32But now, please forgive their sin-but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written."33The LORD replied to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book.34Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin."
Matthew
31He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field.32Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches."33He told them still another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough."34Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable.35So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world."
Sermon
Today’s readings invite us to reflect on the nature of faith, sin, and the transformative power of God’s presence in our lives. In the first reading from Exodus, we witness a dramatic moment in the history of God’s people. Moses, having received the tablets of the Ten Commandments from God, descends from the mountain only to find the Israelites worshipping a golden calf. Their impatience and lack of faith lead them to construct an idol, which angers Moses. He smashes the tablets, symbolizing the broken covenant, and confronts Aaron, who tries to excuse their sin. Moses then intercedes for the people, asking God to forgive their grave offense. This passage reminds us of the human tendency to turn away from God and the importance of intercession and mercy.
In the Gospel, Jesus uses two parables to describe the kingdom of heaven: the mustard seed and the leaven. The mustard seed, though small, grows into a tree that shelters the birds, while the leaven, though hidden, transforms the entire batch of dough. These parables teach us that the kingdom of God begins in humility and obscurity but gradually transforms everything it touches. Just as the mustard seed requires care and time to grow, and the leaven works quietly to ferment the dough, so too does the kingdom of God work in our lives through patience, faith, and trust.
The readings are connected by the theme of transformation. In Exodus, the people’s sin is met with God’s mercy and Moses’ intercession, offering a path to renewal. In the Gospel, the parables encourage us to trust in the slow but sure work of God’s grace. In our daily lives, we are called to recognize the ways in which God is at work, even in the smallest and most hidden ways. Like the mustard seed, our faith may seem insignificant, but with care and perseverance, it can grow into something extraordinary. And like the leaven, God’s grace can transform even the darkest corners of our hearts and the world around us. Let us ask for the faith to trust in God’s plan and the patience to let his kingdom grow in us and through us.