Gospel: August 16, 2025
August 16, 2025 (Saturday)
Blessed Virgin Mary
St. Roch
St. Stephen of Hungary
Ps 16:1-2a & 5, 7-8, 11
You are my inheritance, O Lord.
1st Reading: Joshua 24:14-29
So fear the Lord, and be sincere and faithful in serving him. Set aside those gods your ancestors worshiped in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Serve only the Lord. But if you do not want to serve the Lord, make known this very day whom you shall serve whether they be the gods your ancestors served in Mesopotamia or the gods of the Amorites who formerly occupied the land in which you now live. As for me, I and my household will serve the Lord.” The people answered: “May God not permit that we ever abandon the Lord to serve other gods! For it was he who brought us and our ancestors out of Egypt, the house of slavery. It was he who did those great wonders that we have seen; he protected us on the way and through all the land where we passed, driving away before us all the nations especially the Amorites who lived in this land. So we shall also serve the Lord: he is our God!” Joshua asked the people: “Will you be able to serve the Lord? He is a holy God, a jealous God who does not tolerate wickedness or faults. If you abandon the Lord to serve other gods, he will turn against you and just as he has done you so much good, so shall he punish you and destroy you.” The people replied: “No, may it not be as you say. We will serve the Lord.”
Joshua said: “You yourselves are witnesses that you have chosen the Lord to serve him.” They answered: “We are witnesses.” Joshua then said, “Remove now from your midst any other gods and serve the Lord, the God of Israel, with all your heart.” The people answered: “We will serve the Lord, our God, and obey his commands.” On that day at Shechem, Joshua made a Covenant with the people and fixed laws and ordinances. He also wrote down everything expressed in the book of the law of God; he chose a great stone and put it under the oak tree in the sacred place of the Lord. Then Joshua said to the people: “This stone shall be a witness to all that the Lord said to us, for it heard all these words. It shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with the Lord.” Joshua immediately sent the people away and everyone returned to his land. After all these deeds, Joshua, son of Nun and servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110.
Gospel: Matthew 19:13-15
Then little children were brought to Jesus, that he might lay his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples scolded those who brought them. Jesus then said, “Let the children be! Don’t hinder them from coming to me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are humble, like these children.” Jesus laid his hands on them and went away.
Reflection:
“Let the children be!”
The disciples learn not only from Christ’s words, but also from the experiences they have as they accompany him. The sight of the crowds flocking to hear Jesus and to be healed by him would have been overwhelming. Faced with such a number, all surging forward to get close to Jesus, what would you do to control the crowd? Who would hold back, and who would you let through? Maybe the disciples used human standards, letting the important through first. The children can go last, they think. But Jesus turns this on its head to teach them and us that the kingdom of heaven belongs to children, to the humble, to the lowly and the powerless. He is teaching us that, like little children dependent on their parents, so are we before the Lord. Forgetting this dependence on God fills us with pride and self-importance. Joshua sets up a rock as a memorial to the promises made by the people to serve the Lord and keep his commandments. They promise not to stray and to serve other gods. Likewise, we promise that we will not serve the idol of pride, but remain faithful to the God who made us.
