The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to attend to the signs in our environment that direct our mission to be active disciples of Christ.
In the reading from the Book of Exodus, the Egyptians pursued them.
* [14:7] Officers: cf. 1 Kgs 9:22; Ez 23:15. The Hebrew word shalish, rendered in 1 Kgs 9:22 as “adjutant,” has yet to have its meaning convincingly established. Given the very possible etymological connection with the number “three,” others suggest the translation “three-man crew” or, less likely, the “third man in the chariot” although Egyptian chariots carried two-man crews. The author of the text may have been describing the chariots of his experience without direct historical knowledge of Egyptian ways.
* [14:9] Horsemen: the usage here may be anachronistic, since horsemen, or cavalry, play a part in warfare only at the end of the second millennium B.C. (Exodus, CHAPTER 14 | USCCB, n.d.)
The Responsorial Psalm is from Exodus 15.
Although the victory it describes over the Egyptians at the sea bears a superficial resemblance in v. 8 to the preceding depiction of the water standing like a wall (14:22), the poem (as opposed to the following prose verse, v. 19) suggests a different version of the victory at sea than that found in chap. 14. There is no splitting of the sea in an act reminiscent of the Lord’s combat at creation with the sea monsters Rahab and Leviathan (Jb 9:13; 26:12; Ps 74:13–14; 89:11; Is 51:9–10); nor is there mention of an east wind driving the waters back so that the Israelites can cross. In this version it is by means of a storm at sea, caused by a ferocious blast from his nostrils, that the Lord achieves a decisive victory against Pharaoh and his army (vv. 1–12). The second half of the poem (vv. 13–18) describes God’s guidance into the promised land.
* [15:4] Red Sea: the traditional translation of the Hebrew yam suph, which actually means “Sea of Reeds” or “reedy sea.” The location is uncertain, though in view of the route taken by the Israelites from Egypt to Sinai, it could not have been the Red Sea, which is too far south. It was probably a smaller body of water south of the Gulf of Suez. The term occurs also in Exodus at 10:19; 13:18; and 23:31. (Exodus, CHAPTER 15 | USCCB, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus addresses the Demand for a Sign.
* [12:38–42] This section is mainly from Q (see Lk 11:29–32). Mk 8:11–12, which Matthew has followed in Mt 16:1–4, has a similar demand for a sign. The scribes and Pharisees refuse to accept the exorcisms of Jesus as authentication of his claims and demand a sign that will end all possibility of doubt. Jesus’ response is that no such sign will be given. Because his opponents are evil and see him as an agent of Satan, nothing will convince them.
* [12:38] Teacher: see note on Mt 8:19. In Mt 16:1 the request is for a sign “from heaven” (Mk 8:11).
* [12:39] Unfaithful: literally, “adulterous.” The covenant between God and Israel was portrayed as a marriage bond, and unfaithfulness to the covenant as adultery; cf. Hos 2:4–14; Jer 3:6–10.
* [12:40] See Jon 2:1. While in Q the sign was simply Jonah’s preaching to the Ninevites (Lk 11:30, 32), Matthew here adds Jonah’s sojourn in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, a prefigurement of Jesus’ sojourn in the abode of the dead and, implicitly, of his resurrection.
* [12:41–42] The Ninevites who repented (see Jon 3:1–10) and the queen of the south (i.e., of Sheba; see 1 Kgs 10:1–13) were pagans who responded to lesser opportunities than have been offered to Israel in the ministry of Jesus, something greater than Jonah or Solomon. At the final judgment they will condemn the faithless generation that has rejected him. (Matthew, CHAPTER 12, n.d.)
Mike Cherney cites the the late Auxiliary Bishop of Milwaukee, Richard Sklba:
(We may find ourselves) caught in a moment in history not of our choosing, and with a task not always to our liking, but we must find God in those very circumstances, or we won’t find God at all… for it is the only moment we have.
Jesus’ reference to Jonah reminds me that Salvation History includes suffering, waiting, and uncertainty. Even Jesus himself dies. This challenges me to consider how grace is not always found in dramatic signs or immediate resolution, but in the quiet fidelity to the moment I’ve been given. My prayer today is that I may shift my focus from searching for signs to seeking God in the present moment, even when it’s challenging, even when it feels like not enough.
Dear Lord,
How often do I judge others without recognizing the hardening of my own heart?
Help me to become more attuned to my role in Your plan.
Let me see where my small efforts can contribute to something greater.
Grant me the patience to keep going, even when I don’t see the outcome.
Bring me consolation in knowing that You are drawing us all toward something more. (Cherney, n.d.)
Don Schwager quotes “The stumbling block of the cross,” from an anonymous early Christian teacher.
"What is the sign of Jonah? The stumbling block of the cross. So it is not the disputers of knowledge who will be saved but those who believe true teaching. For the cross of Christ is indeed a stumbling block to those who dispute knowledge but salvation to those who believe. Paul testifies to this: 'But we, for our part, preach the crucified Christ - to the Jews indeed a stumbling block and to the Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God' (1 Corinthians 1:23-24). Why do the Jews seek signs and the Greeks seek wisdom? God pointed to the sign of the stumbling block of the cross to both the Jews and the Greeks. Thus those who wish to find Christ not through faith but through wisdom will perish on the stumbling block of foolishness. Those who wish to know the Son of God not through faith but through a demonstration of signs will remain trapped in their disbelief, falling on the stumbling block of his death. It is no small wonder that the Jews, considering the death of Christ, thought he was merely a man, when even Christians - as they purport to be but really are not - because of his death are reluctant to declare the only begotten, the crucified, as incomparable majesty. (excerpt from INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 30) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 12:38-42 comments that it is not our desire for a sign that is evil. Jesus loves to give us signs to help convince us that he is the Son of God and worthy of our trust. It’s our reluctance to acknowledge the signs that he has already given us and to follow where they lead: to faith in Jesus. Instead of seeking a new sign from God, we should focus on all he has already done for us.
Every day, we face a point of decision: will I put my faith in Jesus, or will I ask for even more signs? So look for the signs that are already here, the ones that reveal Jesus’ faithfulness in your life. Recall the blessings you have received and the prayers he has answered. Remember how he was with you during trials and difficulties. Ask him to open your eyes to all the ways he has provided for you and brought you to deeper faith. Then follow those signs today and proclaim your faith in Jesus.
“Lord Jesus, thank you for all the signs you have given me. Help me to follow where you lead.” (Meditation on Matthew 12:38-42, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments that in the Exodus passage, Pharoah regrets allowing the Israelites to leave. They begin a long time of complaint. Why did God allow Pharoah to follow? Perhaps bringing them out and protecting them to force them to change their circumstance? People don’t like to change. Very often we are comfortable with our bad habit until a change is necessary. The sign of Jonah has two aspects: three days in the belly of the whale and also he preached and they converted. Friar Jude notes the Gentiles are responding in Matthew and are accepted into the Kingdom. The declaration of someone greater than Solomen shows Jesus' preexistence as Wisdom Incarnate.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Sikh activist Valarie Kaur who traveled to Guatemala to learn about the 20th-century genocide of Mayan Indigenous peoples.
What I learned from these Mayan women, as I’ve learned from so many Indigenous elders, is that in order to show up with our whole hearts, we must not be ashamed of any part of ourselves. Oh, my grief! Oh, my anger! Oh, my rage! You are a part of me I do not yet know. You have information to teach me.
The solution is not to suppress our rage or to let it explode. The solution is to process our rage in safe containers like the Mayan elders I’ve been with all week, dancing and drumming, singing, screaming, wailing, shaking. We have to move those energies. Once we rage, once we move that energy through our body, we can ask ourselves: What information does my rage carry? What does it say about what’s important to me? What does it say about what I love and what I wish to fight for? How do I wish to harness this energy for what I do in the world? I call that harnessed energy divine rage. The aim of divine rage is not vengeance; its aim is to reorder the world. (Rohr, n.d.)
We seek the assistance of the Spirit to recognize and respond to the signs in our environment that call us to express our mission as disciples of Christ in faith, hope and love.
References
Cherney, M. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved July 21, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-july-21-2025
Exodus, CHAPTER 14 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved July 21, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/exodus/14?5
Exodus, CHAPTER 15 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved July 21, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/exodus/15
Matthew, CHAPTER 12. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved July 21, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/12?38
Meditation on Matthew 12:38-42. (n.d.). The Word Among Us. Retrieved July 21, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/?utm_content=buffer5c902&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Rohr, R. (n.d.). The Wisdom of Rage. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved July 21, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-wisdom-of-rage/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). An Adulterous Generation Seeks for a Sign. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved July 21, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=jul21
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