Liturgical Readings for : Thursday, 27th June, 2024
Thursday of 12th week of Ordinary Time, Year 2
Optional memorial of St Cyril of Alexandria, bishop and doctor of the Church
FIRST READING
A reading from the second book of Kings 24:8-17
The king of Babylon deported Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the nobility of the country to Babylon.
Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he came to the throne, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Nehushta, daughter of Elnathan, from Jerusalem. He did what is displeasing to the Lord, just as his father had done.
At that time the troops of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched on Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon himself came to attack the city while his troops were besieging it. Then Jehoiachin king of Judah surrendered to the king of Babylon, he, his mother, his officers, his nobles and his eunuchs, and the king of Babylon took them prisoner. This was in the eighth year of King Nebuchadnezzar.
The latter carried off all the treasures of the Temple of the Lord and the treasures of the royal palace, and broke up all the golden furnishings that Solomon king of Israel had made for the sanctuary of the Lord, as the Lord had foretold. He carried off all Jerusalem into exile, all the nobles and all the notables, ten thousand of these were exiled, with all the blacksmiths and metalworkers; only the poorest people in the country were left behind. He deported Jehoiachin to Babylon, as also the king’s mother, his eunuchs and the nobility of the country; he made them all leave Jerusalem for exile in Babylon. All the men of distinction, seven thousand of them, the blacksmiths and metalworkers, one thousand of them, all of them men capable of bearing arms, were led into exile in Babylon by the king of Babylon.
The king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in succession to him, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 78
Response Rescue us, O Lord, for the glory of your name.
1. O God, the nations have invaded your land, they have profaned your holy temple.
they have made Jerusalem a heap of ruins.
They have handed over the bodies of your servants as food , to feed the birds of heaven
and the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth Response
2. They have poured out blood like water in Jerusalem; leaving no one to bury the dead.
We have become the taunt of our neighbours, the mockery and scorn of those who surround us.
How long, O Lord? Will you be angry for ever, how long will your anger burn like fire? Response
3. Do not hold the guilt of our fathers against us. Let your compassion hasten to meet us
for we are in the depths of distress. Response
4. O God our saviour, come to our help, come for the sake of the glory of your name.
O Lord our God, forgive us our sins; rescue us for the sake of your name. Response
Gospel Acclamation Heb 4: 12
Alleluia, alleluia!
The word of God is something alive and active:
it can judge the secret emotions and thoughts.
Alleluia!
or Jn 14: 23
Alleluia, alleluia!
If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew 7:21-29 Glory to you, O Lord
Gales blew and struck that house, and it fell; and what a fall it had!
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘It is not those who say to me, “Lord, Lord”, who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven. When the day comes many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, work many miracles in your name? “
Then I shall tell them to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, you evil men!”
‘Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did not fall: it was founded on rock.
But everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and struck that house, and it fell; and what a fall it had!’
Jesus had now finished what he wanted to say, and his teaching made a deep impression on the people because he taught them with authority, and not like their own scribes.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
********************
Gospel Reflection Thursday Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time Matthew 7:21-29
The image in Jesus’ parable of a house built on rock and a house built on sand has certain resonances for us today. We are familiar with houses built in places where they should not have been built, such as on the natural flood plains of a river. As a result, when storms of heavy rain come, the excess water has nowhere to go and that can cause flooding further on down the river. The quality of a house relates as much to where the house is built, what it is built on, as to the actual fabric of the house. The most important part of a house is often what is not visible, the foundations.
By means of this parable Jesus is inviting us to reflect on the foundations of our lives. Are our lives built on solid foundations, on rock, such that when the storms of life come, we will stand firm? As with the house, the most important feature of our lives is what is not most visible, the foundations of our lives. Jesus is calling on us to make him the foundation of our lives. We do that by listening to his word and putting it into practice. When our lives are shaped by the Lord and his word, when they are directed by the Lord’s Spirit, they are solidly grounded and we will be able to withstand the worst that life can throw at us. In one of his letters, Paul speaks about being ‘rooted and grounded in love’, in the love of Christ. When our lives are grounded in Christ’s love for us and we allow that love to flow through us, then we walk and stand on solid ground.
________________________________
The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
