Mass Readings
Catholic Ireland
Liturgical Readings for : Monday, 15th July, 2024Léachtaí Gaeilge
Next Sunday's Readings
Monday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle 2
Memorial of St Bonaventure, bishop and doctor of the Church
FIRST READING Isaiah 1:10-17
Make yourselves clean. Take your wrong-doing out of my sight.
Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom;
listen to the command of our God, you people of Gomorrah.
‘What are your endless sacrifices to me? says the Lord.
I am sick of holocausts of rams and the fat of calves. The blood of bulls and of goats revolts me.
When you come to present yourselves before me, who asked you to trample over my courts?
Bring me your worthless offerings no more, the smoke of them fills me with disgust.
New Moons, sabbaths, assemblies –
I cannot endure festival and solemnity.
Your New Moons and your pilgrimages I hate with all my soul.
They lie heavy on me, I am tired of bearing them.
When you stretch out your hands I turn my eyes away.
You may multiply your prayers, I shall not listen.
Your hands are covered with blood, wash, make yourselves clean.
Take your wrong-doing out of my sight. Cease to do evil.
Learn to do good, search for justice,
help the oppressed, be just to the orphan, plead for the widow.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 49
Response I will show God’s salvation to the upright.
1. ‘I find no fault with your sacrifices, your offerings are always before me.
I do not ask more bullocks from your farms, nor goats from among. your herds.’ Response
2. “How can you recite my commandments and take my covenant on your lips,
you who despise my law and throw my words to the winds? Response
3. ‘You do this, and should I keep silence? Do you think that I am like you?
A sacrifice of thanksgiving honours me and I will show God’s salvation to the upright.’ Response
Gospel Acclamation Acts 16: 14
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord, to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
Or Mt 5: 10
Alleluia, alleluia!
Happy those who are persecuted in the cause of right,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Alleluia
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew 10:34-11:1 Glory to you, O Lord
It is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword.
Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows:
‘
Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth: it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies will be those of his own household.
‘Anyone who prefers father or mother to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who prefers son or daughter to me is not worthy of me.
Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me.
Anyone who finds his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.
‘Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me; and those who welcome me welcome the one who sent me.
‘Anyone who welcomes a prophet will have a prophet’s reward;
and anyone who welcomes a holy man will have a holy man’s reward.
‘If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple,
then I tell you solemnly, he will most certainly not lose his reward.
When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples he moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
********************
Gospel Reflection Monday Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time Matthew 10:34-11:1
In the gospel reading Jesus speaks of the value of giving a cup of cold water to one of his disciples. Giving a cup of cold water to someone who needs it is not going to make headlines. Most likely, only the giver and the receiver will be aware of it. Yet, Jesus holds up this small act of kindness as having immense value. Even the simplest acts in which we lose ourselves for others have eternal significance. The giving of a cup of cold water can stand for any number of small acts of kindness which give life to others. Pope Francis in a homily some years ago spoke of how love can find expression in simple ways. He refers to the encouragement of simple love, ‘like a blessing before we go to bed, or a hug after we return from a hard day’s work’. ‘Love’, he says, ‘is shown by little things, by attention to small daily signs which make us feel at home’.
In the gospel reading Jesus is trying to teach us the value of what we might be inclined to dismiss as of very little significance. In all sorts of ways throughout this parish, this city, people are giving the equivalent of a cup of cold water to those who need it. Parents are doing it for their children every day of the week. Jesus also indicates in that reading that when we give the equivalent of the cup of cold water to someone, there is more going on than we might realize at the time. ‘Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me; and those who welcome me welcome the one who sent me’. The way we relate to each other is an expression of how we are relating to Jesus and to God the Father, whether we are aware of that or not. In that sense, life is not divided into a secular area and a sacred area, the secular area being where we live, work and play, and the sacred where we pray and worship. The Word has become flesh. In our dealings with human flesh, with each other, we are dealing with the divine. We are standing on holy ground all the time.
_______________________________
The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd. and used with the permission of the publishers. http://dltbooks.com/
The Scripture Reflection is made available with our thanks from his book Reflections on the Weekday Readings 2024: The Word is near to you, on your lips and in your heart by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications 2022/23, c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/
________________