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First Reading: Mic 6:1-4, 6-8
Hear what the LORD says:
Arise, present your plea before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice!
Hear, O mountains, the plea of the LORD,
pay attention, O foundations of the earth!
For the LORD has a plea against his people,
and he enters into trial with Israel.
O my people, what have I done to you,
or how have I wearied you? Answer me!
For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
from the place of slavery I released you;
and I sent before you Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam.
With what shall I come before the LORD,
and bow before God most high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with myriad streams of oil?
Shall I give my first-born for my crime,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
You have been told, O man, what is good,
and what the LORD requires of you:
Only to do the right and to love goodness,
and to walk humbly with your God.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 50:5-6,8-9,16-17,21,23
R./ To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Gather my faithful ones before me,
those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
And the heavens proclaim his justice;
for God himself is the judge.
R./ To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
for your burnt offerings are before me always.
I take from your house no bullock,
no goats out of your fold.”
R./ To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?”
R./ To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”
R./ To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
Gospel Reading: Matthew 12:38-42
Some teachers of the Law and some Pharisees spoke up, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from you." Jesus answered them, "An evil and unfaithful people want a sign, but no sign will be given them except the sign of the prophet Jonah. In the same way that Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the monster fish, so will the Son of Man spend three days and three nights in the depths of the earth.
"At the judgment, the people of Niniveh will rise with this generation and condemn it, because they reformed their lives at the preaching of Jonah, and here there is greater than Jonah. At the judgment, the Queen of the South will stand up and condemn you. She came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and here there is greater than Solomon."
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
in times of anguish and desolation
we sometimes call for signs and miracles
that assure us of your presence.
Forgive us our presumption
and give us a faith strong enough
to recognize you at work in nature,
in the ordinary events of life
and in the goodness and service of people.
We entrust ourselves to you
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Liturgy of the Word
Introduction to the First Reading
God calls the Hebrew people before his court and asks them to justify their conduct. How have they answered his love? The prophet uses a style which the Reproaches (Improperia) of Good Friday imitate.
Introduction to the Gospel
In the gospel the scribes and the Pharisees demand signs. The Hebrews had failed to see the sign of God in the fact that he had quietly led them to freedom and made them into a people. The scribes fail to recognize God in the message and person of Jesus, in his service, loyalty, and love. God is not a God of publicity. His presence is discreet. The sign of Jonas was that the Ninivites believed his preaching; the three days in the belly of the fish as a reference to the three days of Jesus in the tomb may be a later addition.
General Intercessions
- For open minds and hearts, that we may believe in God and see the presence of God's goodness and love in nature and in the good people do, we pray:
- For faith in the gospel and in the person of Jesus when we see how people try to bring his justice and mercy into our world, we pray:
- For gratitude that God has given us the Jewish people as our ancestors and great source of faith, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
we bring this bread and this wine before you
and we ask you:
Give us eyes of faith to believe
that in these bare, simple signs
your Son can make himself present
and give himself to us
as the one who serves and shares.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God,
you have won our love
through your Son Jesus Christ,
who died that we might live.
Through him, give us too
the faith and the quiet strength
to serve with a discreet love.
In this way we can perhaps be
the sign of your presence among people.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.
Blessing
God asks us why we don't see the signs of his presence and work among us. If only we had enough faith! May God open our eyes and bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
