＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  

Exodus 33:7-11; 34:5b-9, 28

 Moses then took the Tent

And pitched it for himself outside the camp, at a distance from it, and called it the Tent of Meeting. Whoever sought Yahweh would go out to the Tent of Meeting outside the camp.   And when Moses went to the tent all the people would stand, each one at the entrance to his tent and keep looking towards Moses until he entered the tent.

 Now, as soon as Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and remain at the entrance to the tent, while Yahweh spoke with Moses.  When all the people saw the pillar of cloud at the entrance to the tent, they would arise and worship, each one at the entrance to his own tent.

 Then Yahweh would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his neighbor, and then Moses would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua, son of Nun, would not leave the tent. And Yahweh came down in a cloud and stood there with him, and Moses called on the name of Yahweh.

 Then Yahweh passed in front of him and cried out, “Yahweh, Yah­weh is a God full of pity and mercy, slow to anger and abounding in truth and loving-kindness.   He shows loving-kindness to the thousandth generation and forgives wickedness, rebellion and sin; yet he does not leave the guilty without punishment, even punishing the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.”

 Moses hastened to bow down to the ground and worshiped.   He then said, “If you really look kindly on me, my Lord, please come and walk in our midst and even though we are a stiff-necked peo­ple, pardon our wickedness and our sin and make us yours.”

 Moses remained there with Yahweh forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the slabs the words of the Covenant – the Ten Commandments.

 

Ps 103:6-7, 8-9, 10-11, 12-13

The Lord is kind and merciful.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊      

Matthew 13:36-43

 Then he sent the crowds away and went into the house. And his disciples came to him saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”  Jesus answered them, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.   The field is the world; the good seed are the people of the Kingdom; the weeds are those who follow the evil one.   The enemy who sows them is the devil; the harvest is the end of time and the workers are the angels.

 Just as the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of time.   The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom all that is scandalous and all who do evil.   And these will be thrown in the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the just will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Fa­ther. If you have ears, then hear.

 

Gospel Reflection：

Even the disciples have difficulty understanding Jesus’ parable. We can only imagine the people who hear Jesus preach this having the same problem. And so, it is always nice to approach Jesus for explanation. When we pray and talk to Him, we can petition for enlightenment so that the clarity of His teaching will dawn upon us.

And it is not shameful to admit that sometimes, we are slow in understanding His words. That is why we are students. He is our Teacher. The teacher’s role is to lead us into understanding. The day we do so, is the day that the teacher has fulfillment. He has done His part. It is up to the student to profit most in the teaching.