11TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 3 / (Green)
Ps 5:2-3ab, 4b-6a, 6b-7
Lord, listen to my groaning.
1st Reading: 1 K 21:1-16*
Now Naboth, a man from Jezreel, owned a vineyard just beside the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria. Ahab asked Naboth, “Give me your vineyard which is near my house that I may use it for a vegetable garden. … But Naboth said to Ahab, “Yahweh forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.”
So Ahab went home angry and sad because of what Naboth had told him, (…) His wife Jezebel came to him and said, “Why are you so angry that you refuse to eat?” He answered, “I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and asked him to sell me his vineyard or to exchange it for another one in exchange; but he answered: I will not give you my vineyard.”
His wife Jezebel said to him, “Are you not king of Israel? Get up and eat and be joyful, for I will give you the vineyard of Naboth of Jezreel.”
So Jezebel wrote letters using Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and important persons living near Naboth. (…)
The people, the elders and the important persons who lived in his city did as Jezebel had instructed them in the letters she sent to them. They declared a fast and put Naboth on trial. (…) So the people took him outside the city and stoned him to death. (…)
As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, she told Ahab, “Now take possession of the vineyard of Naboth, the man of Jezreel who refused to sell it to you, for Naboth is now dead.” As soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he went down to the vineyard of Naboth and took possession of it.
Gospel: Mt 5:38-42
You have heard that it was said: An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you this: do not oppose evil with evil; if someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn and offer the other. If someone sues you in court for your shirt, give him your coat as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go two miles with him. Give when asked, and do not turn your back on anyone who wants to borrow from you.
Reflections
Yahweh forbidS that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers
King Ahab through Queen Jezebel, sequestered the vineyard of Naboth. Worse, they did so by having him stoned to death though innocent.
Until today, the land of small farmers are immorally sequestered by the powerful — by moneylenders who charge usurious rates that farmers are unable to pay; by hacienda owners who with the help of private armies pressure farmers to sell their lands; and by developers who forge fake land titles to lands owned by small farmers and bribe judges to decide in their favor.
How the heavens must be crying out of indignation over the dispossession of the poor.
Daily Reflection 2018
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Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL
With permission from the EPISCOPAL COMMISION ON LITURGY of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
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