From: Matthew 11:16-19
Jesus Reproaches People for their Unbelief
(Jesus spoke to the crowds), [16] “But to what shall I compare this generation?
It is like children sitting in the market places and calling to their playmates.
[17] ‘We piped to you, and you did not dance,
we wailed and you did not mourn.’
[18] For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’;
[19] the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a glutton
and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified
by her deeds.”
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Commentary:
16-19. Making reference to a popular song or a child’s game of His time, Jesus
reproaches those who offer groundless excuses for not recognizing Him. From
the beginning of human history the Lord has striven to attract all men to Himself:
“What more was there to do for My vineyard, that I have not done in it?” (Isaiah
5:4), and often He has been rejected: “When I looked for it to yield grapes, why
did it yield wild grapes?” (Isaiah 5:4).
Our Lord also condemns calumny: some people do try to justify their own beha-
vior by seeing sin where there is only virtue. “When they find something which
is quite obviously good,” St. Gregory the Great says, “they pry into it to see if
there is not also some badness hidden in it” (”Moralia”, 6, 22). The Baptist’s fas-
ting they interpret as the work of the devil; whereas they accuse Jesus of being
a glutton. The evangelist has to report these calumnies and accusations spoken
against our Lord; otherwise, we would have no notion of the extent of the malice
of those who show such furious opposition to Him who went about doing good
(Acts 10:38). On other occasions Jesus warned His disciples that they would
be treated the same as He was (cf. John 15:20).
The works of Jesus and John the Baptist, each in their own way, lead to the ac-
complishment of God’s plan for man’s salvation: the fact that some people do
not recognize Him does not prevent God’s plan being carried into effect.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible by Darton, Longman & Todd
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Violet.
| First reading |
Isaiah 48:17-19 © |
Thus says the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
I, the Lord, your God, teach you what is good for you,
I lead you in the way that you must go.
If only you had been alert to my commandments,
your happiness would have been like a river,
your integrity like the waves of the sea.
Your children would have been numbered like the sand,
your descendants as many as its grains.
Never would your name have been cut off or blotted out before me.
| Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 1:1-4,6 © |
Anyone who follows you, O Lord, will have the light of life.
Happy indeed is the man
who follows not the counsel of the wicked;
nor lingers in the way of sinners
nor sits in the company of scorners,
but whose delight is the law of the Lord
and who ponders his law day and night.
Anyone who follows you, O Lord, will have the light of life.
He is like a tree that is planted
beside the flowing waters,
that yields its fruit in due season
and whose leaves shall never fade;
and all that he does shall prosper.
Anyone who follows you, O Lord, will have the light of life.
Not so are the wicked, not so!
For they like winnowed chaff
shall be driven away by the wind.
for the Lord guards the way of the just
but the way of the wicked leads to doom.
Anyone who follows you, O Lord, will have the light of life.
Alleluia, alleluia!
See, the king, the Lord of the world, will come.
He will free us from the yoke of our bondage.
Alleluia!
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord will come, go out to meet him.
Great is his beginning and his reign will have no end.
Alleluia!
| Gospel |
| Matthew 11:16-19 © |
Jesus spoke to the crowds: ‘What description can I find for this generation? It is like children shouting to each other as they sit in the market place:
“We played the pipes for you,
and you wouldn’t dance;
we sang dirges,
and you wouldn’t be mourners.”
‘For John came, neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He is possessed.” The Son of Man came, eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” Yet wisdom has been proved right by her actions.’