Wednesday of Week 13 in Ordinary Time
Liturgical Colour: Green. Year A(II).
First Reading
Amos 5:14-15,21-24
Seek good and not evil,
so that you may live,
and that the Lord,
the God of Hosts,
may truly be with you,
as you claim he is.
Hate evil,
love good,
maintain justice at the city gate,
and it may be
that the Lord,
the God of Hosts,
will take pity
on the remnant of Joseph.
"I hate,
I despise your feasts;
I take no pleasure
in your solemn festivals.
When you offer me burnt offerings,
I reject your oblations,
and refuse to look
at your sacrifices.
Take away from me
the noise of your songs;
I will not listen
to the melody of your harps.
But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness
like an ever-flowing stream."
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 49(50):7-13,16-17
Response: To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
Listen, my people,
and I will speak;
Israel,
I will testify against you,
for I am God,
your God.
I accuse you,
though not for your sacrifices,
for your offerings
are always before me.
Response: To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
I need no bull from your household,
nor goats from your folds,
for every beast of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know every bird of the mountains,
and all that moves in the fields belongs to me.
Response: To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
Were I hungry,
I would not tell you,
for the world
and all that it contains
is mine.
Do I eat the flesh of bulls,
or drink the blood of goats?
Response: To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
But to the wicked God says:
"Why do you recite my statutes
and profess my covenant,
while you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?"
Gospel
Matthew 8:28-34
When Jesus cameto the country of the Gadarenes,
two men possessed by demons met him, coming out of the tombs.
They were so violent that no one could pass that way.
They cried out, "What have you to do with us, Son of God?
Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?"
Some distance away a large herd of pigs was feeding.
The demons begged him, "If you cast us out, send us into the herd of pigs."
Jesus said,
"Go."
They came out and entered the pigs.
Immediately the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters.
The swineherds fled, went into the town, and reported everything, including what had happened to the possessed men.
Then the whole town came out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their district.
Reflection
The prophet Amos delivers one of the most searching messages in the Old Testament. Israel continued to observe religious festivals, offer sacrifices, and sing hymns of praise, yet God declares that he takes no pleasure in them. The problem was not their worship but the contradiction between their worship and the way they lived. Justice had been neglected, the poor oppressed, and covenant faithfulness replaced by empty ritual.
God's words remain confronting:
"Let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."
The Lord has never desired external religion divorced from an interior conversion of heart. Worship pleasing to God always bears fruit in charity, justice, mercy, and holiness. The Catechism teaches that sacrifice acceptable to God begins with the offering of our own hearts and lives, united with Christ (CCC 2100). Every Eucharist we celebrate calls us to become what we receive.
The Psalm continues this theme. God reminds Israel that he owns every creature upon the earth. He does not need sacrifices because he lacks nothing. Rather, sacrifice exists to transform the worshipper. God seeks hearts that listen, obey, and walk in his ways.
The Gospel reveals another aspect of Christ's divine authority. Jesus encounters two men whose lives have been completely overtaken by evil. No one else could help them. Society had abandoned them to live among the tombs, isolated from family and community. Yet the demons immediately recognise who Jesus is. They know they stand before the Son of God.
With a single word—
"Go."
—the forces of evil are defeated.
Matthew reminds us that evil is real, but it is never equal to God. Christ possesses absolute authority. The Catechism teaches that Jesus' exorcisms announce the definitive victory of God's Kingdom over Satan's dominion (CCC 550). Every miracle points beyond itself to the greater victory Christ will accomplish through his Death and Resurrection.
The final scene is perhaps the most challenging. Rather than rejoicing that two broken men have been restored, the townspeople ask Jesus to leave. Their attention is fixed upon the loss of the pigs rather than the healing of their neighbours. Material concerns have become more important than the presence of the Saviour.
This temptation remains today. Christ often disrupts the things to which we have become attached. Following him may require us to surrender comforts, ambitions, habits, or securities. The question is whether we welcome his transforming presence or quietly ask him to leave those areas of life we would rather keep unchanged.
Amos asks whether our worship is genuine.
Matthew asks whether we truly want Christ to transform us.
Both readings invite us to examine whether our faith reaches beyond words into every decision we make.
True worship begins at the altar,
but it continues in the way we live.
One line to carry today
Let your worship of God become a life marked by justice, holiness, and trust in Christ's authority.
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