Liturgical Readings for : Friday, 28th June, 2024
Friday of 12th week of Ordinary Time, Year 2
Memorial of St Irenaeus, bishop and martyr
FIRST READING
A reading from the Second Book of Kings 25:1-12
Judah was deported from it’s land.
In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon came with his whole army to attack Jerusalem; he pitched camp in front of the city and threw up earthworks round it. The city lay under siege till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. In the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, when famine was raging in the city and there was no food for the populace, a breach was made in the city wall. At once, the king made his escape under cover of dark, with all the fighting men, by way of the gate between the two walls, which is near the king’s garden – the Chaldaeans had surrounded the city – and made his way towards the Arabah. The Chaldaean troops pursued the king and caught up with him in the plains of Jericho, where all his troops deserted. The Chaldaeans captured the king and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, who passed sentence on him. He had the sons of Zedekiah slaughtered before his eyes, then put out Zedekiah’s eyes and, loading him with chains, carried him off to Babylon.
In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month – it was in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon – Nebuzaradan, commander of the guard, an officer of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. He burned down the Temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses in Jerusalem.
The Chaldaean troops who accompanied the commander of the guard demolished the walls surrounding Jerusalem. Nebuzaradan, commander of the guard, deported the remainder of the population left behind in the city, the deserters who had gone over to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the common people. The commander of the guard left some of the humbler country people as vineyard workers and ploughmen.
The Word of the Lord And with your spirit.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 136
Response O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not.
1. By the rivers of Babylon there we sat and wept, remembering Zion
on the poplars that grew there we hung up our harps. Response
2. For it was there that they asked us, our captors, for songs, our oppressors, for joy.
‘Sing to us,’ they said, ‘one of Zion’s songs.’ Response
3. O how could we sing the song of the Lord on alien soil?
If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! Response
4. O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not,
I prize not Jerusalem above all my joys! Response
Gospel Acclamation Ps 144: 13
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord is faithful in all his words and loving in all his deeds.
Alleluia!
Or Mt 8: 12
Alleluia, alleluia!
He took our sicknesses away, and carried our diseases for us.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew 8:1-4
Jesus touched him and said, ‘Of course I want to! Be cured!’
After Jesus had come down from the mountain large crowds followed him. A leper now came up and bowed low in front of him.
‘Sir,’ he said ‘if you want to, you can cure me.‘
Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him and said, ‘Of course I want to! Be cured!’
And his leprosy was cured at once. Then Jesus said to him,
‘Mind you do not tell anyone, but go and show yourself to the priest and make the offering prescribed by Moses, as evidence for them’.
The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
********************
Gospel Reflection Friday, Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time Matthew 8:1-4
The leper in today’s gospel reading did something very daring in approaching Jesus for healing. According to the Jewish Law he should have kept himself apart from everyone. There was a necessary social barrier erected between himself and everyone else. Yet, in his desperation and in his faith in Jesus he broke through this barrier. Jesus, in turn, by stretching out his hand and touching the leper, did something very daring. It was against the Jewish Law to approach a leper, never mind to touch one. Yet, Jesus was prepared to break through barriers of any kind to make contact with people in their brokenness and in their need. Jesus’ gesture in touching the leper and declaring him cured shows us his entire ministry in miniature, God’s outreach through him in compassion and healing to afflicted humanity. A meeting took place between Jesus and the leper that, according to the religious law at the time, should not have happened. It happened because the leper was desperate to meet Jesus and Jesus was even more desperate to meet him.
The Lord is desperate to meet all of us and to touch our lives with his compassionate and healing presence, especially when we find ourselves shunned by others. What we need in response is something of the strong desire, the desperation, of the leper, who is prepared to stop at nothing to connect with Jesus. As the leper came up to Jesus and bowed down before him, we do the same whenever we pray. Our seeking the Lord in prayer opens us up to experience the Lord’s even stronger seeking of us.
The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
