Don't worry about what you are to say, the words will be given to you

Readings and commentary for Mass

Friday of the Fourteenth week in Ordinary Time   12 July 2013

Genesis 46:1-7.28-30.

Israel set out with all that was his. When he arrived at Beer-sheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
There God, speaking to Israel in a vision by night, called, "Jacob! Jacob!" "Here I am," he answered.
Then he said: "I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you a great nation.
Not only will I go down to Egypt with you; I will also bring you back here, after Joseph has closed your eyes."
So Jacob departed from Beer-sheba, and the sons of Israel put their father and their wives and children on the wagons that Pharaoh had sent for his transport.
They took with them their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan. Thus Jacob and all his descendants migrated to Egypt.
His sons and his grandsons, his daughters and his granddaughters--all his descendants--he took with him to Egypt.
Israel had sent Judah ahead to Joseph, so that he might meet him in Goshen. On his arrival in the region of Goshen,
Joseph hitched the horses to his chariot and rode to meet his father Israel in Goshen. As soon as he saw him, he flung himself on his neck and wept a long time in his arms.
And Israel said to Joseph, "At last I can die, now that I have seen for myself that Joseph is still alive."

Ps 37(36):3-4.18-19.27-28.39-40.

Trust in the LORD and do good,
that you may dwell in the land and be fed in security.
Take delight in the LORD,
and he will grant you your heart's requests.

The LORD watches over the lives of the wholehearted;
their inheritance lasts forever.
They are not put to shame in an evil time;
in days of famine they have plenty.

Turn from evil and do good,
that you may abide forever;
For the LORD loves what is right,
And forsakes not his faithful ones.

The salvation of the just is from the LORD;
He is their refuge in time of distress.
And the LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.

Matt 10:16-23.

Jesus said to his Apostles: “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.
But beware of men, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans.
When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say.
For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.
You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved.
When they persecute you in one town, flee to another. Amen, I say to you, you will not finish the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

Commentary of the day :

Saint Ignatius of Antioch (?-c.110), Bishop and martyr
Letter to Polycarp (69-155, saint, Bishop and martyr), 1-3 ; SC 10

"Like sheep in the midst of wolves"

I urge you, in the grace in which you are clothed, to press on in your race and urge everyone to be saved. Assert your office with all the diligence of flesh and spirit. Give your attention to unity for there is nothing better. Carry your brethren as the Lord also carries you. Patiently bear with them all in love, as indeed you do bear with them. Devote yourself to unceasing prayer. Ask for greater understanding than you have. Be watchful, possessing a wakeful spirit. Speak to each one individually concerning God's way. “Bear the infirmities” (cf Mt 8,17) of each as a perfect athlete. Where there is more toil, there is greater gain. If you only love the good disciples, this wins you no advantage. Rather, subdue by meekness the more annoying. Not every wound is cured by the same salve. Ease sharp pains with a hot compress. In everything “be wise as serpents” and always “harmless as doves”. You who are of flesh and spirit, humor those things visibly present before you but pray, too, that what is invisible may be manifested to you so that you may lack nothing and may abound in every spiritual gift. As pilots invoke the winds and tempest-tossed mariners call for haven, this season invites you to return to God. Be temperate, as God's athlete. The prize is incorruption and life eternal... It is the part of a great athlete to suffer blows and to conquer. It is above all for God's sake we ought to endure all things that He, too, may endure us. Become more zealous than you are. Consider the times. Look for Him who is above all times, who is timeless, invisible, but made visible for our sakes – He who, beyond the touch of our hands, beyond suffering, yet knew the Passion for our sakes and endured every suffering.