FIRST READING
You murdered Zechariah between the sanctuary and the altar (Mt 23. 35)
A reading from the second Book of Chronicles (2 Chronicles 24: 17-25)
After the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and did obeisance to the king; then the king listened to them. And they forsook the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guilt. Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord; these testified against them, but they would not give heed. Then the Spirit of God took possession of Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God, ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.”’ But they conspired against him, and by command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord. Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada, Zechariah’s father, had shown him, but killed his son. And when he was dying, he said, “May the Lord see and avenge!” At the end of the year the army of the Syrians came up against Joash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. Though the army of the Syrians had come with few men, the Lord delivered into their hand a very great army, because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. Thus they executed judgement on Joash. When they had departed from him, leaving him severely wounded, his servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed. So he died; and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.
The word of the Lord
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Ps 89:4-5.29-30.31-32.33-34 (R. cf. 29a)
R/. I will keep my faithful love for him always
“With my chosen one I have made a covenant;
I have sworn to David my servant:
I will establish your descendants forever,
and set up your throne through all ages.” R/.
“I will keep my faithful love for him always;
with him my covenant shall last.
I will establish his descendants forever,
and his throne as lasting as the days of heaven.” R/.
R/. I will keep my faithful love for him always.
“If his descendants forsake my law
and refuse to walk as I decree,
and if ever they violate my statutes,
failing to keep my commands.” R/.
“Then I will punish their offences with the rod;
then I will scourge them on account of their guilt.
But I will never take back my mercy;
my fidelity will never fail.” R/.
ALLELUIA 2 Corinthians 8:9
Alleluia. Though Jesus Christ was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. Alleluia
GOSPEL
“Do not be anxious about tomorrow.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Matthew 6:24-34)
At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.”
The Gospel of the Lord
TODAY’S REFLECTION
A mother’s heart is a reservoir of love, care, generosity, compassion, understanding, sacrifice, and suffering. Mary is a Mother who went through ineffable pain and indescribable ordeal to keep alive her YES to God. Simeon had foretold that a sword would pierce her heart. Yet she stood in faith, enveloped in her love for God and her child. She knew for sure, it was not her Son who should grow toward her but she who had to grow deeper toward him to understand all that she treasured in her heart. In every step that Jesus took in his life toward the fulfilment of his Father’s will for us, Mary accompanied him even to the cross, participating in his self-sacrificing offering for the redemption of the world. May the immaculate heart of Mary ever intercede for us