It is not God who chooses our punishment.

It is of our own making.

Jesus performed many miracles there, but still their citizens are not changed.

He realized that the hearts of these people are bottomless pits.

No amount of wonderwork can make them see God’s goolness.

 

 

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊    

Isaiah 7:1-9

When Ahaz son of Jotham,

The son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, king Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, laid siege to Jerusalem but they were unable to capture it.

When the news reached the house of David, "Aram's troops are encamped in Ephraim," the heart of the king and the hearts of the people trembled as the trees of the forest tremble before the wind.

 

Yahweh then said to Isaiah: "Go with your son A-remnant- will-return, and meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Washer man's Field.

 

Say to him, Stay calm and fear not; do not lose courage before these two stumps of smoldering firebrands – the fierce anger of Rezin the Aramean and the blazing fury of the son of Remaliah. You know that Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah's son have plotted against Judah, saying: Let us invade and scare it, let us seize it and put the son of Tabeel king over it. But the Lord Yahweh says: It shall not be so; it shall not come to pass.

 

For Damascus is only the head of Aram and Rezin the lord of Damascus. Samaria is only the head of Ephraim and Remaliah's son is only the lord of Samaria.

Within fifty-six years, Ephraim will be shattered and will no longer be a people. But if you do not stand firm in faith, you, too, will not stand at all."

 

Ps 48:2-3a, 3b-4, 5-6, 7-8 God upholds his city forever.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊      

Matthew 11:20-24

Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which he had performed most of his miracles, because the people there did not change their ways. "Alas for you Chorazin and Bethsaida! If the miracles worked in you had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, the people there would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I assure you, for Tyre and Sidon; it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.

 

And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? You will be thrown down to the place of the dead! For if the miracles which were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would still be there today! But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you."

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"Humble and open heart."

Today's Gospel narrates Jesus' denunciation of the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum. At the onset, the narrator gave the reason why Jesus denounced such cities: the people of these cities did not change their hearts in spite of the miracles performed before their eyes by Jesus.

 

These cities can be located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Since Jesus did his ministry along the Sea of Galilee, we may reflect that the people of these places must have had direct access to Jesus' ministry yet they remained proud and stubborn, refusing to change. Jesus' preaching and miracles aimed at challenging people to a change of heart.

 

But there is no amount of teachings or miracles that can penetrate us unless we possess a humble and open heart. We may reflect on what is now happening to our society. To cite, there is so much hatred nowadays in social media not because the values of humility and love are not known but because of the stubbornness of heart of many of those who use it.