Mass Readings for : Tuesday, 2nd July, 2024

Liturgical Readings for : Tuesday, 2nd July, 2024

FIRST READING

A reading from the book of the Prophet Amos 3:1-8. 4: 11-12
The Lord speaks: who can refuse to prophesy?

Listen, sons of Israel, to this oracle the Lord speaks against you, against the whole family I brought out of the land of Egypt:

You alone, of all the families of earth, have I acknowledged,
therefore it is for all your sins that I mean to punish you.
Do two men take the road together if they have not planned to do so?

Does the lion roar in the jungle if no prey has been found?
Does the young lion growl in his lair if he has captured nothing?
Does the bird fall to the ground if no trap has been set?
Does the snare spring up from the ground if nothing has been caught?
Does the trumpet sound in the city without the populace becoming alarmed?
Does misfortune come to a city if the Lord has not sent it?

No more does the Lord do anything without revealing his plans to his servants the prophets.
The lion roars: who can help feeling afraid?’
The Lord speaks: who can refuse to prophesy?

I overthrew you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a brand snatched from the blaze;
and yet you never came back to me.
It is the Lord who speaks.
This therefore, Israel, is what I plan to do to you, and because I am going to do this to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God!

The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 5
Response Lead me, Lord, in your justice.

1. You are no God who loves evil; no sinner is your guest.
The boastful shall not stand their ground before your face. Response

2. You hate all who do evil: you destroy all who lie.
The deceitful and bloodthirsty man the Lord detests. Response

3. But through the greatness of your love have access to your house.
I bow down before your holy temple, filled with awe. Response

Gospel Acclamation Ps 147: 12. 15
Alleluia, Alleluia!
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem! He sends out his word to the earth.
Alleluia!

Or Ps 129: 5
Alleluia, Alleluia!
My soul is waiting for the Lord, I count on his word.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL

A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew 8:23-27
He stood up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and all was calm again.

Jesus got into the boat followed by his disciples.

Without warning a storm broke over the lake, so violent that the waves were breaking right over the boat.
But he was asleep. So they went to him and woke him saying,
‘Save us, Lord, we are going down!’
And he said to them,
‘Why are you so frightened, you men of little faith?’
And with that he stood up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and all was calm again.
The men were astounded and said,
‘Whatever kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him.’

The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Tuesday, 13th Week in Ordinary Time Matthew 8:23-27

The gospel reading suggests the suddenness of the storm on the Sea of Galilee, ‘without warning a storm broke over the lake’. Most of us like to have some sense of what is coming our way, especially if it is unpleasant. Yet, we know from experience that misfortune can strike us without warning. When we have no warning of some traumatic experience, and have not been able to prepare ourselves for it, we feel very vulnerable when it arrives. The disciples’ sense of vulnerability is evident in their cry to the sleeping Jesus, ‘Save us, Lord, we are going down’. The cry of the disciples in the corresponding scene in Mark’s gospel is ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ Whereas this sounds like a rebuke of Jesus, in Matthew the cry of the disciples is more in the nature of a prayer. It almost has a liturgical ring to it.

We are hearing here, perhaps, the prayer of Matthew’s church in their time of great distress. It is a prayer that can be prayed by the church in every era, and by individual believers, ‘Save me, Lord, I am going down’. The sleep of Jesus suggests his sense that, in spite of the howling wind and breaking waves, all would be well. There was a calmness within Jesus that belied the outer disturbance that so frightened the disciples. Jesus’ inner calmness was soon reflected in his calming of the storm. There are times in our lives when we need to enter the Lord’s calmness by turning to him in prayer so that we too can remain calm, even as the storm is howling, trusting that the Lord is stronger than the storm and that the storm will eventually pass.