Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles Mass during the Day Lectionary: 591

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

Mass during the Day

Lectionary: 591

Reading 1

ACTS 12:1-11

In those days, King Herod laid hands upon some members of the Church to harm them.

He had James, the brother of John, killed by the sword,

and when he saw that this was pleasing to the Jews

he proceeded to arrest Peter also.

–It was the feast of Unleavened Bread.–

He had him taken into custody and put in prison

under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each.

He intended to bring him before the people after Passover.

Peter thus was being kept in prison,

but prayer by the Church was fervently being made

to God on his behalf.

On the very night before Herod was to bring him to trial,

Peter, secured by double chains,

was sleeping between two soldiers,

while outside the door guards kept watch on the prison.

Suddenly the angel of the Lord stood by him

and a light shone in the cell.

He tapped Peter on the side and awakened him, saying,

“Get up quickly.”

The chains fell from his wrists.

The angel said to him, “Put on your belt and your sandals.”

He did so.

Then he said to him, “Put on your cloak and follow me.”

So he followed him out,

not realizing that what was happening through the angel was real;

he thought he was seeing a vision.

They passed the first guard, then the second,

and came to the iron gate leading out to the city,

which opened for them by itself.

They emerged and made their way down an alley,

and suddenly the angel left him. 

Then Peter recovered his senses and said,

“Now I know for certain 

that the Lord sent his angel 

and rescued me from the hand of Herod

and from all that the Jewish people had been expecting.”

Responsorial Psalm

PS 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R. (5) The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him.

I will bless the LORD at all times;

his praise shall be ever in my mouth.

Let my soul glory in the LORD;

the lowly will hear me and be glad.

R. The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him.

Glorify the LORD with me,

let us together extol his name.

I sought the LORD, and he answered me

and delivered me from all my fears.

R. The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him.

Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,

and your faces may not blush with shame.

When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,

and from all his distress he saved him.

R. The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him.

The angel of the LORD encamps

around those who fear him, and delivers them.

Taste and see how good the LORD is;

blessed the man who takes refuge in him.

R. The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him.

Reading 2

2 TM 4:6-8, 17-18

I, Paul, am already being poured out like a libation,

and the time of my departure is at hand.

I have competed well; I have finished the race;

I have kept the faith.

From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me,

which the Lord, the just judge,

will award to me on that day, and not only to me,

but to all who have longed for his appearance.

The Lord stood by me and gave me strength,

so that through me the proclamation might be completed

and all the Gentiles might hear it.

And I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.

The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat

and will bring me safe to his heavenly Kingdom.

To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Gospel

MT 16:13-19

When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi

he asked his disciples,

“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah,

still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Simon Peter said in reply,

“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.

For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.

And so I say to you, you are Peter,

and upon this rock I will build my Church,

and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.

I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. 

Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;

and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

World Priest Day

World Priest Day

 

   Today, June 27th is World Priest Day. I ask that we pray for our Priests and those Discerning the Priesthood. In the world today where materialism and secularism seems to be the main culture, the call to Priesthood gets lost at time and harder to hear. Also let us Thank our Priests for not what they gave up but for what they give us and the parishes they serve. 

Until, tomorrow, God Bless, and let us keep Priests and all Religious in our Prayers Daily. 

Thursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 374

Thursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 374

Reading 1

2 KGS 24:8-17

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign,

and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. 

His mother’s name was Nehushta,

daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.

He did evil in the sight of the LORD,

just as his forebears had done.

At that time the officials of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,

attacked Jerusalem, and the city came under siege.

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,

himself arrived at the city

while his servants were besieging it.

Then Jehoiachin, king of Judah, together with his mother,

his ministers, officers, and functionaries,

surrendered to the king of Babylon, who,

in the eighth year of his reign, took him captive.

And he carried off all the treasures

of the temple of the LORD and those of the palace,

and broke up all the gold utensils that Solomon, king of Israel,

had provided in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had foretold.

He deported all Jerusalem:

all the officers and men of the army, ten thousand in number,

and all the craftsmen and smiths.

None were left among the people of the land except the poor.

He deported Jehoiachin to Babylon,

and also led captive from Jerusalem to Babylon

the king’s mother and wives,

his functionaries, and the chief men of the land.

The king of Babylon also led captive to Babylon

all seven thousand men of the army,

and a thousand craftsmen and smiths,

all of them trained soldiers.

In place of Jehoiachin,

the king of Babylon appointed his uncle Mattaniah king,

and changed his name to Zedekiah.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 79:1B-2, 3-5, 8, 9

R. (9) For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.

O God, the nations have come into your inheritance;

they have defiled your holy temple,

they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.

They have given the corpses of your servants

as food to the birds of heaven,

the flesh of your faithful ones to the beasts of the earth.

R. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.

They have poured out their blood like water

round about Jerusalem,

and there is no one to bury them.

We have become the reproach of our neighbors,

the scorn and derision of those around us.

O LORD, how long? Will you be angry forever?

Will your jealousy burn like fire?

R. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.

Remember not against us the iniquities of the past;

may your compassion quickly come to us,

for we are brought very low.

R. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.

Help us, O God our savior,

because of the glory of your name;

Deliver us and pardon our sins

for your name’s sake. 

R. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.

Gospel

MT 7:21-29

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’

will enter the Kingdom of heaven,

but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

Many will say to me on that day,

‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?

Did we not drive out demons in your name?

Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’

Then I will declare to them solemnly,

‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them

will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.

The rain fell, the floods came,

and the winds blew and buffeted the house.

But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.

And everyone who listens to these words of mine

but does not act on them

will be like a fool who built his house on sand.

The rain fell, the floods came,

and the winds blew and buffeted the house.

And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”

When Jesus finished these words,

the crowds were astonished at his teaching,

for he taught them as one having authority,

and not as their scribes.

Shrine Tour..Prayers

Shrine Tour..Prayers

   This Thursday I will be going to the Shrines of St. Rita, St. John Neumann, Mary Miraculous Medal, and St Peter and St Paul Basilica in   Philadelphia Pa. You may click on each of the names and the websites for each will come up for you to view. What I am asking is if you have any prayer requests to send them my way and I will bring your prayer requests with me on Thursday and pray at each place for you and your intentions. 

Until tomorrow, God Bless, and may we always pray for each other and each others intentions.. 

Wednesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 373

Reading 1

2 KGS 22:8-13; 23:1-3

The high priest Hilkiah informed the scribe Shaphan,

“I have found the book of the law in the temple of the LORD.”

Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, who read it.

Then the scribe Shaphan went to the king and reported,

“Your servants have smelted down the metals available in the temple

and have consigned them to the master workmen

in the temple of the LORD.”

The scribe Shaphan also informed the king

that the priest Hilkiah had given him a book,

and then read it aloud to the king.

When the king heard the contents of the book of the law,

he tore his garments and issued this command to Hilkiah the priest,

Ahikam, son of Shaphan,

Achbor, son of Micaiah, the scribe Shaphan,

and the king’s servant Asaiah:

“Go, consult the LORD for me, for the people, for all Judah,

about the stipulations of this book that has been found,

for the anger of the LORD has been set furiously ablaze against us,

because our fathers did not obey the stipulations of this book,

nor fulfill our written obligations.”

The king then had all the elders of Judah

and of Jerusalem summoned together before him.

The king went up to the temple of the LORD with all the men of Judah

and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem:

priests, prophets, and all the people, small and great.

He had the entire contents of the book of the covenant

that had been found in the temple of the LORD, read out to them. 

Standing by the column, the king made a covenant before the LORD

that they would follow him

and observe his ordinances, statutes and decrees

with their whole hearts and souls,

thus reviving the terms of the covenant

which were written in this book.

And all the people stood as participants in the covenant.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 119:33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 40

R. (33a) Teach me the way of your decrees, O Lord.

Instruct me, O LORD, in the way of your statutes,

that I may exactly observe them.

R. Teach me the way of your decrees, O Lord.

Give me discernment, that I may observe your law

and keep it with all my heart.

R. Teach me the way of your decrees, O Lord.

Lead me in the path of your commands,

for in it I delight. 

R. Teach me the way of your decrees, O Lord.

Incline my heart to your decrees

and not to gain.

R. Teach me the way of your decrees, O Lord.

Turn away my eyes from seeing what is vain:

by your way give me life.

R. Teach me the way of your decrees, O Lord.

Behold, I long for your precepts;

in your justice give me life.

R. Teach me the way of your decrees, O Lord.

Gospel

MT 7:15-20

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing,

but underneath are ravenous wolves.

By their fruits you will know them.

Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

Just so, every good tree bears good fruit,

and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.

A good tree cannot bear bad fruit,

nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.

Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down

and thrown into the fire.

So by their fruits you will know them.”

Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist Mass during the Day Lectionary: 587

Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist

Mass during the Day

Lectionary: 587

Reading 1

IS 49:1-6

Hear me, O coastlands,

listen, O distant peoples.

The LORD called me from birth,

from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.

He made of me a sharp-edged sword

and concealed me in the shadow of his arm.

He made me a polished arrow,

in his quiver he hid me.

You are my servant, he said to me,

Israel, through whom I show my glory.

Though I thought I had toiled in vain,

and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength,

yet my reward is with the LORD,

my recompense is with my God.

For now the LORD has spoken

who formed me as his servant from the womb,

that Jacob may be brought back to him

and Israel gathered to him;

and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,

and my God is now my strength!

It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,

to raise up the tribes of Jacob,

and restore the survivors of Israel;

I will make you a light to the nations,

that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 139:1B-3, 13-14AB, 14C-15

R. (14) I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.

O LORD, you have probed me, you know me:

you know when I sit and when I stand;

you understand my thoughts from afar.

My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,

with all my ways you are familiar.

R. I praise you for I am wonderfully made.

Truly you have formed my inmost being;

you knit me in my mother’s womb.

I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;

wonderful are your works.

R. I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.

My soul also you knew full well;

nor was my frame unknown to you

When I was made in secret,

when I was fashioned in the depths of the earth.

R. I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.

Reading 2

ACTS 13:22-26

In those days, Paul said:

“God raised up David as king; 

of him God testified,

I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart;

he will carry out my every wish.

From this man’s descendants God, according to his promise,

has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus.

John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance

to all the people of Israel;

and as John was completing his course, he would say,

‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he.

Behold, one is coming after me;

I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.’

“My brothers, sons of the family of Abraham,

and those others among you who are God-fearing,

to us this word of salvation has been sent.”

Gospel

LK 1:57-66, 80

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child

she gave birth to a son.

Her neighbors and relatives heard

that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her,

and they rejoiced with her.

When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child,

they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,

but his mother said in reply,

“No. He will be called John.”

But they answered her,

“There is no one among your relatives who has this name.”

So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.

He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,”

and all were amazed.

Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed,

and he spoke blessing God.

Then fear came upon all their neighbors,

and all these matters were discussed

throughout the hill country of Judea.

All who heard these things took them to heart, saying,

“What, then, will this child be?”

For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.

The child grew and became strong in spirit, 

and he was in the desert until the day

of his manifestation to Israel.

Monday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 371

Monday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 371

Reading 1

2 KGS 17:5-8, 13-15A, 18

Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, occupied the whole land

and attacked Samaria, which he besieged for three years.

In the ninth year of Hoshea, king of Israel

the king of Assyria took Samaria,

and deported the children of Israel to Assyria,

setting them in Halah, at the Habor, a river of Gozan,

and the cities of the Medes.

This came about because the children of Israel sinned against the LORD,

their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt,

from under the domination of Pharaoh, king of Egypt,

and because they venerated other gods.

They followed the rites of the nations

whom the LORD had cleared out of the way of the children of Israel

and the kings of Israel whom they set up.

And though the LORD warned Israel and Judah

by every prophet and seer,

“Give up your evil ways and keep my commandments and statutes,

in accordance with the entire law which I enjoined on your fathers

and which I sent you by my servants the prophets,”

they did not listen, but were as stiff-necked as their fathers,

who had not believed in the LORD, their God.

They rejected his statutes,

the covenant which he had made with their fathers,

and the warnings which he had given them, till,

in his great anger against Israel,

the LORD put them away out of his sight.

Only the tribe of Judah was left.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 60:3, 4-5, 12-13

R. (7b) Help us with your right hand, O Lord, and answer us.

O God, you have rejected us and broken our defenses;

you have been angry; rally us!

R. Help us with your right hand, O Lord, and answer us.

You have rocked the country and split it open;

repair the cracks in it, for it is tottering.

You have made your people feel hardships;

you have given us stupefying wine. 

R. Help us with your right hand, O Lord, and answer us.

Have not you, O God, rejected us,

so that you go not forth, O God, with our armies?

Give us aid against the foe,

for worthless is the help of men. 

R. Help us with your right hand, O Lord, and answer us.

Gospel

MT 7:1-5

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Stop judging, that you may not be judged.

For as you judge, so will you be judged,

and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.

Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye,

but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?

How can you say to your brother,

‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’

while the wooden beam is in your eye?

You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first;

then you will see clearly

to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”

Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) Lectionary: 167

Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)

Lectionary: 167

Reading 1

DT 8:2-3, 14B-16A

Moses said to the people:

"Remember how for forty years now the LORD, your God,

has directed all your journeying in the desert,

so as to test you by affliction

and find out whether or not it was your intention

to keep his commandments. 

He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger,

and then fed you with manna,

a food unknown to you and your fathers,

in order to show you that not by bread alone does one live,

but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD.

"Do not forget the LORD, your God,

who brought you out of the land of Egypt,

that place of slavery;

who guided you through the vast and terrible desert

with its saraph serpents and scorpions,

its parched and waterless ground;

who brought forth water for you from the flinty rock

and fed you in the desert with manna,

a food unknown to your fathers."

Responsorial Psalm

PS 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20

R/ (12) Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

or:

R/ Alleluia.

Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;

praise your God, O Zion.

For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;

he has blessed your children within you.

R/ Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

or:

R/ Alleluia.

He has granted peace in your borders;

with the best of wheat he fills you.

He sends forth his command to the earth;

swiftly runs his word!

R/ Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

or:

R/ Alleluia.

He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,

his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.

He has not done thus for any other nation;

his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia.

R/ Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

or:

R/ Alleluia.

Reading 2

1 COR 10:16-17

Brothers and sisters:

The cup of blessing that we bless,

is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?

The bread that we break,

is it not a participation in the body of Christ?

Because the loaf of bread is one,

we, though many, are one body,

for we all partake of the one loaf.

Sequence - Lauda Sion

Laud, O Zion, your salvation,

Laud with hymns of exultation,

Christ, your king and shepherd true:

Bring him all the praise you know,

He is more than you bestow.

Never can you reach his due.

Special theme for glad thanksgiving

Is the quick’ning and the living

Bread today before you set:

From his hands of old partaken,

As we know, by faith unshaken,

Where the Twelve at supper met.

Full and clear ring out your chanting,

Joy nor sweetest grace be wanting,

From your heart let praises burst:

For today the feast is holden,

When the institution olden

Of that supper was rehearsed.

Here the new law’s new oblation,

By the new king’s revelation,

Ends the form of ancient rite:

Now the new the old effaces,

Truth away the shadow chases,

Light dispels the gloom of night.

What he did at supper seated,

Christ ordained to be repeated,

His memorial ne’er to cease:

And his rule for guidance taking,

Bread and wine we hallow, making

Thus our sacrifice of peace.

This the truth each Christian learns,

Bread into his flesh he turns,

To his precious blood the wine:

Sight has fail’d, nor thought conceives,

But a dauntless faith believes,

Resting on a pow’r divine.

Here beneath these signs are hidden

Priceless things to sense forbidden;

Signs, not things are all we see:

Blood is poured and flesh is broken,

Yet in either wondrous token

Christ entire we know to be.

Whoso of this food partakes,

Does not rend the Lord nor breaks;

Christ is whole to all that taste:

Thousands are, as one, receivers,

One, as thousands of believers,

Eats of him who cannot waste.

Bad and good the feast are sharing,

Of what divers dooms preparing,

Endless death, or endless life.

Life to these, to those damnation,

See how like participation

Is with unlike issues rife.

When the sacrament is broken,

Doubt not, but believe ‘tis spoken,

That each sever’d outward token

doth the very whole contain.

Nought the precious gift divides,

Breaking but the sign betides

Jesus still the same abides,

still unbroken does remain.

The shorter form of the sequence begins here.

Lo! the angel’s food is given

To the pilgrim who has striven;

see the children’s bread from heaven,

which on dogs may not be spent.

Truth the ancient types fulfilling,

Isaac bound, a victim willing,

Paschal lamb, its lifeblood spilling,

manna to the fathers sent.

Very bread, good shepherd, tend us,

Jesu, of your love befriend us,

You refresh us, you defend us,

Your eternal goodness send us

In the land of life to see.

You who all things can and know,

Who on earth such food bestow,

Grant us with your saints, though lowest,

Where the heav’nly feast you show,

Fellow heirs and guests to be. Amen. Alleluia.

Gospel

JN 6:51-58

Jesus said to the Jewish crowds:

"I am the living bread that came down from heaven;

whoever eats this bread will live forever;

and the bread that I will give

is my flesh for the life of the world."

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,

"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" 

Jesus said to them,

"Amen, amen, I say to you,

unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,

you do not have life within you. 

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood

has eternal life,

and I will raise him on the last day. 

For my flesh is true food,

and my blood is true drink. 

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood

remains in me and I in him. 

Just as the living Father sent me

and I have life because of the Father,

so also the one who feeds on me

will have life because of me. 

This is the bread that came down from heaven. 

Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,

whoever eats this bread will live forever."

Fortnight for Freedom 2014

  This years Fortnight for Freedom starts on June 21st to July 4th.  During this time we, as Catholic Americans, need to focus our prayers and action to ensure our Religious Freedoms. We are under attack for our beliefs and with programs, like health care, causes people, companies, and religious organizations to include things that go against the teachings of our Faith.  It happens to take place at a time when the Liturgical Calendar celebrates martyrs, like St Thomas More, St John Fisher, St John the Baptist, Saint Peter and St Paul, and the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome. All who remained faithful in the face of persecution by political power. 

     For information and facts on how right are being taken away or threatened please click here. This will bring you to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website. To see the one page fact sheets please click here. For prayers please click here.  I have included one prayer below. Please visit the site to educate yourself so we can educate others as well. It is very easy for our freedom to be taken away because it is being done in a slow processes. I hope and pray that we all can gather in prayer over the next two weeks and pray for our freedom.  Thank You all in advance. 

Until tomorrow, God Bless, and may our Faith guide us and protect us as we stand for the freedom to Worship and Act out our Faith and Beliefs. 

O GOD OUR CREATOR,
from your provident hand we have received
our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. You have called us as your people and given us
the right and the duty to worship you, the only true God, and your Son, Jesus Christ.
Through the power and working of your Holy Spirit,
you call us to live out our faith in the midst of the world, bringing the light and the saving truth of the Gospel
to every corner of society.
We ask you to bless us
in our vigilance for the gift of religious liberty.
Give us the strength of mind and heart
to readily defend our freedoms when they are threatened; give us courage in making our voices heard
on behalf of the rights of your Church
and the freedom of conscience of all people of faith.
Grant, we pray, O heavenly Father,
a clear and united voice to all your sons and daughters gathered in your Church
in this decisive hour in the history of our nation,
so that, with every trial withstood
and every danger overcome—
for the sake of our children, our grandchildren,
and all who come after us—
this great land will always be “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Memorial of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious
Lectionary: 370

Reading 1

2 CHR 24:17-15

After the death of Jehoiada,

the princes of Judah came and paid homage to King Joash,

and the king then listened to them.

They forsook the temple of the LORD, the God of their fathers,

and began to serve the sacred poles and the idols;

and because of this crime of theirs,

wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem.

Although prophets were sent to them to convert them to the LORD,

the people would not listen to their warnings.

Then the Spirit of God possessed Zechariah,

son of Jehoiada the priest.

He took his stand above the people and said to them:

“God says, ‘Why are you transgressing the LORD’s commands,

so that you cannot prosper?

Because you have abandoned the LORD, he has abandoned you.’”

But they conspired against him,

and at the king’s order they stoned him to death

in the court of the LORD’s temple.

Thus King Joash was unmindful of the devotion shown him

by Jehoiada, Zechariah’s father, and slew his son.

And as Zechariah was dying, he said, “May the LORD see and avenge.”

At the turn of the year a force of Arameans came up against Joash.

They invaded Judah and Jerusalem,

did away with all the princes of the people,

and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus.

Though the Aramean force came with few men,

the LORD surrendered a very large force into their power,

because Judah had abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers.

So punishment was meted out to Joash.

After the Arameans had departed from him,

leaving him in grievous suffering,

his servants conspired against him

because of the murder of the son of Jehoiada the priest.

He was buried in the City of David,

but not in the tombs of the kings.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 89:4-5, 29-30, 31-32, 33-34

R. (29a) For ever I will maintain my love for my servant.

“I have made a covenant with my chosen one,

I have sworn to David my servant:

Forever will I confirm your posterity

and establish your throne for all generations.”

R. For ever I will maintain my love for my servant.

“Forever I will maintain my kindness toward him,

and my covenant with him stands firm.

I will make his posterity endure forever

and his throne as the days of heaven.”

R. For ever I will maintain my love for my servant.

“If his sons forsake my law

and walk not according to my ordinances,

If they violate my statutes

and keep not my commands.”

R. For ever I will maintain my love for my servant.

“I will punish their crime with a rod

and their guilt with stripes.

Yet my mercy I will not take from him,

nor will I belie my faithfulness.”

R. For ever I will maintain my love for my servant.

Gospel

MT 6:24-34

Jesus said to his disciples:

“No one can serve two masters.

He will either hate one and love the other,

or be devoted to one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and mammon.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,

what you will eat or drink,

or about your body, what you will wear.

Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

Look at the birds in the sky;

they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns,

yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Are not you more important than they?

Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?

Why are you anxious about clothes?

Learn from the way the wild flowers grow.

They do not work or spin.

But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor

was clothed like one of them.

If God so clothes the grass of the field,

which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow,

will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?

So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’

or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear?’

All these things the pagans seek.

Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness,

and all these things will be given you besides.

Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.

Sufficient for a day is its own evil.”