12 - 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings and Gospel

Lectionary for this day - This has all the readings and Gospel

Isaiah 58:7-10 - Authentic Fasting That Leads to Blessing

Matthew 5:13-16 - The Similes of Salt and Light

Isaiah

His name means "God is Salvation".
Isaiah is one of the prophets in the Old Testament -- around 742 BC to 701 BC, and it may have continued even longer, until 687 BC. He appeared at a critical moment in Israel’s history.
More information here.

Fasting

Reduce food intake or not eating at all.
Fasting is not genuine without reforming one’s way of life. A true social morality will ensure prosperity.
Click here for the meaning of fasting and abstinence for Catholics.

Corinthians

People who lived in Corinth, located in south-central Greece.
Paul’s first letter to the church of Corinth provides us with a fuller insight into the life of an early Christian community of the first generation than any other book of the New Testament. More information.

Paul

A Jew and a pharisee. He was educated by Gamaliel, a notable teacher of Jewish law.
A Roman citizen.
He first persecuted Christians. After Jesus appeared to him, he became a Christian and was responsible for the conversion of many Gentiles. More information.

"Pharisee" is derived from Ancient Greek Pharisaios (Φαρισαῖος), from Aramaic Pərīšā (פְּרִישָׁא), plural Pərīšayyā (פְּרִישַׁיָּא), meaning "set apart, separated". (Source: Wikipedia)
The Pharisees (/ˈfærəsiːz/; Hebrew: פְּרוּשִׁים, romanized: Pərūšīm) were a Jewish social movement and a school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, Pharisaic beliefs became the foundational, liturgical, and ritualistic basis for Rabbinic Judaism. (Source: Wikipedia)
Pharisees are marked by devotion to the law, written and oral, and the Scribes, experts in the law, belonged predominantly to this group.

Matthew

He was a tax collector. He was one of the 12 apostles of Jesus.
- - 12 Apostles - the first 12 people that Jesus called to follow Him.

Mystery of God

God’s secret, known only to Himself, is His plan for the salvation of His people; it is clear from 1 Corinthians 1:18–25; 2:2, 8–10 that this secret involves Jesus and the cross. In place of mystery, other good manuscripts read “testimony” (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:6).

1 Corinthians 2:3 - "I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling"

The weakness of the crucified Jesus is reflected in Paul’s own bearing (cf. 2 Corinthians 10–13). Fear and much trembling: reverential fear based on a sense of God’s transcendence permeates Paul’s existence and preaching. Compare his advice to the Philippians to work out their salvation with “fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12), because God is at work in them just as his exalting power was paradoxically at work in the emptying, humiliation, and obedience of Jesus to death on the cross (Philippians 2:6–11).

1 Corinthians 2:4 - and my message and my proclamation were not with persuasive (words of) wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and power,

Among many manuscript readings here the best is either “not with the persuasion of wisdom” or “not with persuasive words of wisdom,” which differ only by a nuance. Whichever reading is accepted, the inefficacy of human wisdom for salvation is contrasted with the power of the cross.