Saturday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time BVM Queen of Apostles
Jesus did not follow the Pharisaic fasting practices because they mourned the loss of the Temple and in him the New Temple, the Bridegroom, was here. He did did indicate that a new-age appropriate fasting would develop after his "removal." Thus there should be no wholesale dropping of tradition as has happened sometimes in the Church, but examination and discernment by competent authorities, not just to drop things, but to see if this or that pious practice no longer has the appropriate effect in this current age and culture of the Church AND if new practices would convey the same effect. Examples are given from penitential disciplines and choices that this priest has made.
Title
Outline
Our readings today do not seem to fit well together
Then we have the question about Jewish fasting and Jesus’ practice
Now, Sisters, this takes discernment to apply
Readings
FIRST READING
Genesis 27:1–5, 15–29
1 When Isaac was so old that his eyesight had failed him, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son!” “Here I am!” he replied. 2 Isaac then said, “Now I have grown old. I do not know when I might die. 3 So now take your hunting gear—your quiver and bow—and go out into the open country to hunt some game for me. 4 Then prepare for me a dish in the way I like, and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”
5 Rebekah had been listening while Isaac was speaking to his son Esau. So when Esau went out into the open country to hunt some game for his father,
15 Rebekah then took the best clothes of her older son Esau that she had in the house, and gave them to her younger son Jacob to wear; 16 and with the goatskins she covered up his hands and the hairless part of his neck. 17 Then she gave her son Jacob the dish and the bread she had prepared.
18 Going to his father, Jacob said, “Father!” “Yes?” replied Isaac. “Which of my sons are you?” 19 Jacob answered his father: “I am Esau, your firstborn. I did as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may bless me.” 20 But Isaac said to his son, “How did you get it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “The LORD, your God, directed me.” 21 Isaac then said to Jacob, “Come closer, my son, that I may feel you, to learn whether you really are my son Esau or not.” 22 So Jacob moved up closer to his father. When Isaac felt him, he said, “Although the voice is Jacob’s, the hands are Esau’s.” 23 (He failed to identify him because his hands were hairy, like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him.) 24 Again Isaac said, “Are you really my son Esau?” And Jacob said, “I am.” 25 Then Isaac said, “Serve me, my son, and let me eat of the game so that I may bless you.” Jacob served it to him, and Isaac ate; he brought him wine, and he drank. 26 Finally his father Isaac said to him, “Come closer, my son, and kiss me.” 27 As Jacob went up to kiss him, Isaac smelled the fragrance of his clothes. With that, he blessed him, saying,
“Ah, the fragrance of my son
is like the fragrance of a field
that the LORD has blessed!
28 May God give to you
of the dew of the heavens
And of the fertility of the earth
abundance of grain and wine.
29 May peoples serve you,
and nations bow down to you;
Be master of your brothers,
and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be those who curse you,
and blessed be those who bless you.”
RESPONSE
Psalm 135:3a
3 Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good!
Sing to his name, for it brings joy!
PSALM
Psalm 135:1b–6
1 Hallelujah!
Praise the name of the LORD!
Praise, you servants of the LORD,
2 Who stand in the house of the LORD,
in the courts of the house of our God!
3 Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good!
Sing to his name, for it brings joy!
4 For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel as his treasured possession.
5 For I know that the LORD is great,
that our Lord is greater than all gods.
6 Whatever the LORD desires
he does in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all the depths.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
John 10:27
27 My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
GOSPEL
Matthew 9:14–17
14 Then the disciples of John approached him and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast [much], but your disciples do not fast?” 15 Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. 17 People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”
Notes
SATURDAY, JULY 8, 2023 | ORDINARY TIME
SATURDAY OF THE THIRTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
YEAR 1 | ROMAN MISSAL | LECTIONARY
First Reading Genesis 27:1–5, 15–29
Response Psalm 135:3a
Psalm Psalm 135:1b–6
Gospel Acclamation John 10:27
Gospel Matthew 9:14–17