July 18, 2026
Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Gospel: Mt 12:14–21

Today is Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time. The passage from the Gospel according to Saint Matthew presents us with the continuation of the account concerning the Pharisees’ accusation against Jesus’ disciples for plucking and eating grain as they passed through the fields on the Sabbath.

First, Matthew tells us: The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus to put Him to death. (cf. Mt 12:14)

The reason the Pharisees chose to attack Jesus—even to seek His life—was that all He did stood in opposition to their understanding of the Sabbath Law. In their view: “Six days shalt thou labor, and shalt do all thy works. But on the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work on it, thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy beast, nor the stranger that is within thy gates.” (cf. Ex 20:9–10; Dt 5:13–14). Therefore, Jesus’ healing of the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath (cf. Mt 12:9–13), and His allowing His disciples to pluck and eat grain as they walked through the fields on the Sabbath (cf. Mt 12:1–8), were utterly contrary to their understanding of the Sabbath. Moreover, seeing the multitudes following Jesus, they resolved to destroy Him.

Next, Matthew relates: Jesus, knowing this, withdrew from that place. Great crowds followed Him, and He healed them all, yet He warned them not to make Him known. (cf. Mt 12:15–16) This offers us a profound example. For Jesus did not, as we might expect, compel the Pharisees to accept His teaching by the power befitting His divine Sonship. Rather, He chose humility and mercy, continuing to love those who followed Him and sought His healing.

Beloved brothers and sisters: As God’s people, let us also, like Jesus Christ, no longer live for ourselves but for the proclamation of the Gospel. Let us, like Jesus Christ, be ever meek and humble of heart, bearing witness to the Lord Jesus Christ and His Gospel. Thus, and only thus, shall we truly become faithful Christians.

O God, who show the light of your truth to those who go astray, so that they may return to the right path, give all who for the faith they profess are accounted Christians the grace to reject whatever is contrary to the name of Christ and to strive after all that does it honour. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

©Totus Tuus 2026
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica