Isaiah 58:7-10; Psalm 111(112); 1 Corinthians 2:1-5; Matthew 5:13-16
After the exiles returned to rebuild Jerusalem there were many difficulties and they lost heart. Third Isaiah writing after 500BC told them this was because of a lack of social justice: ritual and fasting have value only if they are expressions of a just society. Today’s reading and the verse before it give the essentials of true religion: deal justly with your neighbour, free the oppressed, feed the hungry. Then your good deeds will influence others and give glory to God, without drawing attention to yourselves.
The psalm praises the virtues of the God-fearing man, who lights the way for others lost in confusion.
Paul says that when he came to the Corinthians, he did not draw attention to himself by relying on the powers of clever oratory to convince people about the ‘mystery’ of God – the salvific events to be revealed in the age to come. No, he believes “Jesus Christ and him crucified”, the message itself, making visible the power of God, is strong enough to convince.
In Matthew’s gospel Jesus began his ministry in Galilee, previously part of the northern kingdom Israel. On a mountain he teaches the beatitudes, before insisting Christians must show the way for all mankind to find the way to God, influencing without seeking to be noticed.
Psalm Response: The good man is a light in the darkness for the upright.
(Isaiah 58:7-10; Psalm 111(112); 1 Corinthians 2:1-5; Matthew 5:13-16)