Homily on Matthew 12:14–21 : Unforsaken ( 19-7-25)

 Homily on Matthew 12:14–21, Jesus and the bruised reed, Christian gentleness, Gospel compassion reflection

Praise be to Jesus Christ 

There was once a carpenter in a small village. Every evening, after his day’s work, he would pass by an old bench lying broken beside a stream. People had already stepped over it, thinking it was only good for firewood. But one day, he stopped. He sat beside it, gently ran his fingers over its worn surface, and said softly, “You’ve been strong once… and you will be again.” He carried it home, patiently worked on it for days, polishing, shaping, and strengthening its joints. Slowly, it returned to beauty. It was not just repaired, it was transformed.

This simple scene opens our heart to today’s Gospel from Matthew, where we read, “A bruised reed He will not break, a smoldering wick He will not quench.” These lines speak of the way Jesus looks at broken lives. Where others give up, Jesus leans in. Where we see waste, Jesus sees worth.

Let us think for a moment about nature. When we see a reed bent by wind or water, or a wick that has only a faint smoke left, we consider it finished. We throw it out. That’s what people do, we toss the broken. A matchstick that doesn’t light fully is thrown without a second thought. A reed that cannot stand straight is left behind. That is the habit of the world. That is the voice of society.

But Jesus is different.

He doesn’t crush the bruised. He doesn’t give up on the one who has lost their fire. The woman caught in adultery was one such smoldering wick. The law wanted her destroyed. Society wanted her name erased. But Jesus knelt down, wrote in the dust, and raised her up with quiet mercy. He did not ask her to be perfect. He simply asked her to start again.

And we too, all of us, have smoldered at some point. We have bent under guilt, under pain, under the shame of choices. But Jesus did not throw us away. He comes to us with the same eyes He had for Peter after his denial, the same patience He had for the thief on the cross, the same kindness He had for Zacchaeus hiding in a tree.

And He invites us to do the same and calls us to be like Him. He invites us to look at others not with judgment, but with mercy. It is because even a bruised reed can grow again and even a smoldering wick can burn bright again. Sometimes, all it needs is a hand to lift it, a word to encourage it, a heart to believe in it.

In our daily life, in our families, communities, and workplaces, we meet many bruised reeds. People struggling with addiction, mental pressure, loneliness, or repeated failure. Society may label them as weak or unworthy. But we are called to live differently. To care, to notice, to believe that with a little love, a little care, a little time, people can rise again. Their life can become meaningful.

As Saint Francis de Sales said, “There is nothing so strong as gentleness, and nothing so gentle as real strength.” Jesus was strong in His gentleness and He never shouted to be heard. He whispered hope, He touched the untouchable and He lifted the fallen.

Let us then ask ourselves, when we see someone bruised, do we walk away? Or do we stop, like that carpenter by the bench, and say, “You will shine again”?

Lord Jesus, make my heart gentle like Yours, so I may lift those who are bruised and love them back to life.

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God Bless…