Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Friday of the fifteenth week in ordinary time, July 18, 2025

Delivered by Monika Kimberly from the Parish of Good Shepherd in the Diocese of Surabaya, Indonesia. Exodus 11: 10 - 12: 14; Rs psalm 116: 12-13.15-16bc.17-18; Matthew 12: 1-8.I DESIRE MERCY, NOT SACRIFICE The title for our meditation today is:I Desire Mercy, Not Sacrifice. There are two different things here, namely theacts of compassion desired by the Lord Jesus on the one hand, and the offeringswhich implemented in the worship of the Jews as an expression of their faith inGod on the other hand.  The simple question would be what isthe difference between these two? The most obvious thing we can mention is thatto make an offering is a priority of human action. This is about how and inwhat form humans offer something to God. We remember Cain and Abel's offeringwhich led to the murder of Abel by Cain. We also remember the offering of thepoor widow in the temple that made Jesus praised the widow and criticized thewealthy people in general. In short, the offering as a human actis very dependent on the free will, choice or taste of every person. That iswhy offerings can be arranged or institutionalized to ensure the fulfillment ofinterests for the authorities or leaders, then the rules are made to supportit. There is an amount that must be fulfilled, for example the offering must beone tenth of someone’s income. Burnt sacrifices and offerings must be numberedand the conditions of sacrificial animals are defective or not, and so on. The Lord Jesus Christ replacedeverything of sacrifice and offering with His own self-offering. This remainsas an act of offering, and more precisely a compassion which is an act ofmercy. This is really the act of God. The Father is compassionate and He lovesus so much that He gives His own Son to us. Jesus' act of compassion is shownin helping us and bringing salvation to us humans from all kinds of slavery tosin, evil and death. His only concern is our salvation and life in glory withthe Father. When the disciples were with the LordJesus, and especially on the moment they were starving and the safety of their livesshould be first prioritized, all forms of sacrificial rules and proceduresrespected in Jewish worship became secondary. Compassion or priority of humansafety as an act of God, must be superior to human actions in all forms ofworship rules and burnt offerings. Offering does not need to be removed fromour lives, meaning we still need it. But when compassion and mercy is needed,it should not be replaced by any form of sacrifices or offerings. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... Strengthen and fill us with Your power, O God, so that we can give adue portion of compassionate deeds and elements of offerings that we can do inour journey of faith. Teach us to have true and honest faith. Glory to theFather and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit ... In the name of the Father  ...