DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
JUNE 21, 2024
FRIDAY - MEMORIAL OF SAINT ALOYSIUS GONZAGA, RELIGIOUS
FIRST READING
2 KINGS 11:1-4, 9-18, 20 OR (1 JOHN 5:1-5)
1 Now when Athali'ah the mother of Ahazi'ah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family. 2 But Jehosh'eba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahazi'ah, took Jo'ash the son of Ahazi'ah, and stole him away from among the king's sons who were about to be slain, and she put him and his nurse in a bedchamber. Thus she hid him from Athali'ah, so that he was not slain; 3 and he remained with her six years, hid in the house of the LORD, while Athali'ah reigned over the land. 4 But in the seventh year Jehoi'ada sent and brought the captains of the Carites and of the guards, and had them come to him in the house of the LORD; and he made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the house of the LORD, and he showed them the king's son. 9 The captains did according to all that Jehoi'ada the priest commanded, and each brought his men who were to go off duty on the sabbath, with those who were to come on duty on the sabbath, and came to Jehoi'ada the priest. 10 And the priest delivered to the captains the spears and shields that had been King David's, which were in the house of the LORD; 11 and the guards stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the south side of the house to the north side of the house, around the altar and the house. 12 Then he brought out the king's son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they proclaimed him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, "Long live the king!" 13 When Athali'ah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she went into the house of the LORD to the people; 14 and when she looked, there was the king standing by the pillar, according to the custom, and the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets. And Athali'ah rent her clothes, and cried, "Treason! Treason!" 15 Then Jehoi'ada the priest commanded the captains who were set over the army, "Bring her out between the ranks; and slay with the sword any one who follows her." For the priest said, "Let her not be slain in the house of the LORD." 16 So they laid hands on her; and she went through the horses' entrance to the king's house, and there she was slain. 17 And Jehoi'ada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and people, that they should be the LORD's people; and also between the king and the people. 18 Then all the people of the land went to the house of Ba'al, and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they slew Mattan the priest of Ba'al before the altars. And the priest posted watchmen over the house of the LORD. 20 So all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet after Athali'ah had been slain with the sword at the king's house.
The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALMS 131(132):11-14, 17-18 OR (PSALMS 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 11)
Response: The Lord has chosen Zion for his dwelling.
The LORD swore to David a sure oath
from which he will not turn back:
“One of the sons of your body
I will set on your throne."
R. The Lord has chosen Zion for his dwelling.
"If your sons keep my covenant
and my testimonies which I shall teach them,
their sons also for ever
shall sit upon your throne.”
R. The Lord has chosen Zion for his dwelling.
For the LORD has chosen Zion;
he has desired it for his habitation:
“This is my resting place for ever;
here I will dwell, for I have desired it."
R. The Lord has chosen Zion for his dwelling.
"There I will make a horn to sprout for David;
I have prepared a lamp for my anointed.
His enemies I will clothe with shame,
but upon himself his crown will shed its luster.”
R. The Lord has chosen Zion for his dwelling.
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GOSPEL
Lay up treasure in heaven
MATTHEW 6:19-23 OR (MATTHEW 22:34-40)
19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light; 23 but if your eye is not sound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
Seeking the right intention, by Augustine of Hippo, 430-543 A.D.
"We know that all our works are pure and pleasing in the sight of God if they are performed with a single heart. This means that they are performed out of charity and with an intention that is fixed on heaven. For 'love is the fulfillment of the law'(Romans 13:10). Therefore in this passage we ought to understand the eye as the intention with which we perform all our actions. If this intention is pure and upright and directing its gaze where it ought to be directed, then unfailingly all our works are good works, because they are performed in accordance with that intention. And by the expression 'whole body,' Christ designated all those works that he reproves and that he commands us to put to death. For the apostle also designates certain works as our 'members.' 'Therefore,' Paul writes, 'mortify your members which are on earth: fornication, uncleanness, covetousness' (Colossians 3:5), and all other such things."
(excerpt from SERMON ON THE MOUNT 2.13.45)
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Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.