Liturgical Readings for : Wednesday, 26th June, 2024
Wednesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2
FIRST READING
A reading from the second book of Kings 22:8-13. 23: -1-3
In their hearing the king read out everything that was said in the book of the covenant found in the Temple of the Lord.
The king stood beside the pillar, and in the presence of the Lord he made a covenant.
The high priest Hilkiah said to Shaphan the secretary,
‘I have found the Book of the Law in the Temple of the Lord’.
And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, who read it.
Shaphan the secretary went to the king Josiah and reported to him as follows,
‘Your servants’ he said ‘have melted down the silver which was in the Temple
and have handed it over to the masters of works attached to the Temple of the Lord’.
Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king,
‘Hilkiah the priest has given me a book‘;
and Shaphan read it aloud in the king’s presence.
On hearing the contents of the Book of the Law, the king tore his garments, and gave the following order to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s minister:
‘Go and consult the Lord, on behalf of me and the people, about the contents of this book that has been found. Great indeed must be the anger of the Lord blazing out against us because our ancestors did not obey what this book says by practising everything written in it.’
The king then had all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem summoned to him, and 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, of high or low degree. In their hearing he read out everything that was said in the book of the covenant found in the Temple of the Lord. The king stood beside the pillar, and in the presence of the Lord he made a covenant to follow the Lord and keep his commandments and decrees and laws with all his heart and soul, in order to enforce the terms of the covenant as written in that book. All the people gave their allegiance to the covenant.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 118
Response Lord, teach me your statutes.
1. Teach me the demands of your statutes and I will keep them to the end.
Train me to observe your law, to keep it with my heart. Response
2. Guide me in the path of your commands; for there is my delight.
Bend my heart to your will and not to love of gain. Response
3. Keep my eyes from what is false: by your word, give me le.
See, I long for your precepts: then in your justice, give me life. Response
Gospel Acclamation Ps 118: 88
Alleluia, alleluia!
Because of your love give me life, and I will do your will.
Alleluia!
or Jn 15: 4
Alleluia, alleluia!
Make your home in me, as I make mine in you, says the Lord.
Whoever remains in me bears fruit in plenty.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 7:15-20
You will be able to tell them by their fruits.
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves. You will be able to tell them by their fruits.
Can people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?
In the same way, a sound tree produces good fruit but a rotten tree bad fruit.
sound tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a rotten tree bear good fruit.
Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown on the fire.
I repeat, you will be able to tell them by their fruits.”
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Wednesday Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time Matthew 7:15-20
The expression ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’, based on today’s gospel reading, has made its way into common speech. We instinctively understand what the image conveys. The sheep and the wolf are at opposite ends of the animal spectrum. The wolf is the enemy of the sheep and the sheep are helpless before the predatory instincts of the wolf, which is why the protection of a good shepherd was so important for sheep in the time of Jesus, and remains so today in many parts of the world.
In John’s gospel, in contrast, Jesus speaks of the hired hand who ‘sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them’. A wolf in sheep’s clothing is someone who, in reality, is the opposite of his or her public persona. It is a case of what you see being the opposite of what you get. Such people can do untold damage to the unsuspecting in all spheres of life. Jesus goes on to say that it is the fruit of people’s lives that allows us to judge their true reality. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul speaks of the fruit of the Spirit as ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control’.
In John’s gospel, Jesus declares that ‘those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit’, and goes on to specify this fruit as loving one another as he has loved us. In Matthew’s gospel, from which we are reading at present, the ‘good fruit’ are the good works that flow from the values and attitudes articulated in the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount as a whole. When we open our hearts fully to the Holy Spirit and allow the Lord to live in us, then the Lord will continue his good works through us and there will be harmony between how we appear to others and who we are in reality.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
