Jesus will not force His ways on anyone

Reflections on the readings for Mass
Saturday of the Fifteenth week in Ordinary Time 20 July 2013

Exodus 12:37-42. 

The children of Israel set out from Rameses for Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, not counting the children.   A crowd of mixed ancestry also went up with them, besides their livestock, very numerous flocks and herds.

Since the dough they had brought out of Egypt was not leavened, they baked it into unleavened loaves. They had been rushed out of Egypt and had no opportunity even to prepare food for the journey. The time the Israelites had stayed in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. At the end of four hundred and thirty years, all the hosts of the LORD left the land of Egypt on this very date.
This was a night of vigil for the LORD, as he led them out of the land of Egypt; so on this same night all the Israelites must keep a vigil for the LORD throughout their generations.

Psalm 136:1.23-24.10-12.13-15. 

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good,

for his mercy endures forever;
Who remembered us in our abjection,
for his mercy endures forever;

And freed us from our foes,

for his mercy endures forever.
Who smote the Egyptians in their first-born,
for his mercy endures forever;

And brought out Israel from their midst,

for his mercy endures forever;
With a mighty hand and an outstretched arm,
for his mercy endures forever.

Who split the Red Sea in twain,

for his mercy endures forever;
And led Israel through its midst,
for his mercy endures forever;

But swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea,

for his mercy endures forever.
 
Matt 12:14-21. 

The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.

When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place. Many (people) followed him, and he cured them all, but he warned them not to make him known.
This was to fulfil what had been spoken through Isaiah the prophet:
Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight; I shall place my spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
He will not contend or cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break, a smouldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope."

 

 Commentary of the day :
 Saint Cyril of Alexandria (380-444), Bishop, Doctor of the Church
 Sermon 15, 2-4 ; PG 77, 1089

 

"Behold, my servant"

The mystery of our salvation is so broad, so deep and so wonderful that even the angels long to understand it (cf 1Pt 1,12)... As Christ was, by nature, God, true Word of God the Father (Jn 1,1), of the same nature as the Father and co-eternal with him, and as he shone in his highest glory “in the condition and form of God”, so he “did not enviously grasp at the degree of his equality with God, but humbled himself, taking the condition of a slave” and being born of holy Mary. “Found human in appearance, he humbled himself to death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2,6-8).He humbles himself to our lowliness, he who gives his own fullness to everyone. He humbles himself for our sake, not by force but of his own free will. For our sake, he who was freedom in person takes on the condition of a slave. He who was raised up above all creation becomes one of us. He who lays down his life for the world, surrenders to death... Like us, he becomes subject to the Law (Gal 4,4) who, as God, transcends the Law. He becomes a man like any other, subject to birth. He who was before all times and ages takes on a beginning: more, he who is the creator and originator of time... who took flesh of Mary... shares the same nature as ourselves, was made of our own substance, assuming descent from Abraham. At the same time, he is, at the divine level, of the same nature as God his Father.