Gospel and Word of the Day - 19 July 2025
A reading from the Book of Exodus
12:37-42
The children of Israel set out from Rameses for Succoth,
about six hundred thousand men on foot,
not counting the little ones.
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 rushed out of Egypt and had no opportunity
even to prepare food for the journey.
The time the children of Israel 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 children of Israel must keep a vigil for the LORD
throughout their generations.
From the Gospel according to Matthew
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 fulfill 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 smoldering wick he will not quench,
until he brings justice to victory.
And in his name the Gentiles will hope.
"The Songs of the Servant of the Lord find a wide resonance in the New Testament, beginning with the messianic activity of Jesus. Already, the description of the baptism in the Jordan allows for a parallel with the texts of Isaiah. Matthew writes: 'As soon as Jesus was baptized, the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon Him' (Matthew 3:16); in Isaiah it is written: 'I have put my Spirit upon Him' (Isaiah 42:1). The Evangelist adds: 'And behold, a voice from heaven said, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased'' (Matthew 3:17), while in Isaiah, God speaks of the Servant: 'My chosen one, in whom my soul delights' (Isaiah 42:1). John the Baptist points to Jesus as He approaches the Jordan with the words: 'Behold the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world' (John 1:29), an exclamation that almost summarizes the content of the third and fourth Songs of the Suffering Servant of the Lord. [...] As with the Gospels, so too in the Acts of the Apostles, the first generation of Christ's disciples, beginning with the apostles, are deeply convinced that in Jesus has been fulfilled all that the prophet Isaiah announced in his inspired Songs: that Jesus is the chosen Servant of God (cf. for example Acts 3:13, 26; 4:27, 30; 1 Peter 2:22-25), Who accomplishes the mission of the Servant of the Lord, bringing the new Law, being the light and covenant for all nations." (St. John Paul II, General Audience, 25 February 1987)