Friday – St Romuald, abbot

Invitation

May I draw your attention to the daily reading of the Gospel?

This invitation aims to share with you the joy of the Gospel.
Everyone, without exception,
can experience that joy by opening their hearts
to the healing power of God’s word.

Available every day

Reflection
The evil spirit of Jezebel has also entered her daughter Athaliah. She marries King Joram of the South, who is completely under her influence and permits the pagan religion. After the death of Joram and his son, she has the royal family murdered and rules with an iron fist.  The reading recounts the coup against her, which brings Jonah – her grandson who had escaped death – to power. The end of the reading clearly shows that the people are only partly in favour of Jonah and that vigilance remains essential.

FIRST READING                     2 Kings 11:1-4, 9-18, 20
They anointed Joash as king, and all the people shouted: ‘Long live the king!’

From the Second Book of Kings

When Athaliah, the mother of King Ahaziah,
realised that her son was dead,
she put all the king’s descendants to death.
But Joash, a son of King Ahaziah,
was secretly taken away by Jehosheba,
the daughter of King Joram and sister of Ahaziah,
from among the royal princes
who were to be killed.
She hid him, along with his nurse,
in the bedroom opposite Athaliah;
thus he was spared.
He remained hidden with her for six years
in the temple of the Lord,
whilst Athaliah ruled the land.
In the seventh year, the priest Jehoiada summoned
the captains of the Carian guards and the royal bodyguard.
He had them come to him in the temple of the Lord.
Then he showed them the king’s son.

The captains of the guard
carried out the orders of the priest Jehoiada to the letter.
Each took his men,
both those who were to take up their posts on the Sabbath
and those who were to stand down on the Sabbath,
and reported to the priest Jehoiada.
He gave the captains
the spears and shields of King David
which were kept in the temple of the Lord.
The guard lined up man to man,
with weapons in hand,
from the right wing of the building to the left wing,
facing the altar and the building,
thus forming a circle.
Joiada then led Joash, the king’s son, out,
placed the diadem upon his head, handed him the scroll,
proclaimed him king and anointed him.
The soldiers clapped their hands and shouted:
“Long live the king.”
When Athaliah heard the cheering of the guard and the people
in the temple of the Lord,
she went there.
And there she saw the king standing on the platform as was the custom,
surrounded by the commanders and the trumpeters
and by all the people of the land
who were cheering and blowing the trumpets.
Then Athaliah tore her clothes and cried out:
“Treason! Treason!”
Thereupon the priest Jehoiada
gave the order to the captains of the hundred,
the commanders of the army:
“Lead her out of the cordon.
“Slay with the sword all who follow her.”
For the priest had said
that she must not be put to death in the temple of the Lord.
They took her captive
and when they had reached the royal palace
through the Horse Gate,
she was put to death there.
Now Jehoiada established a covenant
between the Lord, the king and the people,
so that they might once again become the people of the Lord,
as well as between the king and the people.
After that, the people of the land went to the temple of Baal;
they tore down his altars,
smashed the idols
and killed the priest of Baal, Mattan, before the altars.
But the priest Jehoiada
stationed guards at the temple of the Lord.

The people of the land rejoiced
and the city remained calm.
Athaliah had been put to death by the sword in the royal palace.

INTERLUDIUM                      Ps . 132(131), 11, 12, 13-14, 17-18

God has chosen Zion,
desiring it as his dwelling place.

The Lord has sworn to David,
an oath He will never break:
‘I will raise up one of your descendants
to sit on your throne.’

If your sons keep my covenant,
and all that I command them,
then their sons too shall forever
sit upon your throne.

For God has chosen Zion,
desired it as his dwelling place:
here is my resting place for ever,
here I will dwell, this is my choice.

There a horn shall spring up for David,
a light shall shine there for my anointed one;
I will put his enemies to shame,
but he shall wear my crown of glory.

ALLELUIA             Ps. 25(4), 4c, 5a

Alleluia.
Teach me your ways, O Lord;
lead me according to your word.
Alleluia.

GOSPEL            Mt. 6, 19-23
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Matthew

At that time, Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and rust destroy,
and where thieves break in and steal;
but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where they do not perish by moth or worm,
and where thieves do not break in to steal.
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

“The lamp of the body is the eye.
“So if your eye is clear,
your whole body will be full of light.
“But if your eye is bad,
your whole body will be full of darkness.
“If then the light within you is darkness,
how great will that darkness be!”
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Laudato Si

Encyclical of

POPE FRANCIS

On Care for Our Common Home

151. It is essential to care for public spaces, for they
strengthen our sense of belonging, a feeling of being rooted,
a “sense of home” within the city that embraces and unites us.
It is important that the various parts of a city are well integrated
and that residents can have a general overview rather than
shutting themselves off in a neighbourhood and thus failing
to experience the whole city as a shared space. Any intervention in the
urban or rural landscape should take into account how
the various elements of the place form a whole that is experienced by the
residents as a framework that is coherent with the richness of its
meanings. In this way, the other ceases to be a stranger and can be seen
as part of an ‘us’ that we form together. For this reason, it is appropriate,
both in urban and rural environments, to set aside certain spaces
where human interventions, which are constantly altering them, are avoided.
To be continued
Daily at 1 am