Tuesday in the twelfth week

 

Invitation

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

This invitation is intended to share with you the joy of the Gospel.
Everyone, without exception,
can experience this joy by opening their heart
to the healing power of God’s word.

Available every day

CONSIDERATION

The reading now turns to the Southern Kingdom of Judah, under the righteous King Hezekiah. Assyria continues to pose a threat under Sennacherib, who is besieging the city of Jerusalem. The contrast with the fall of Samaria is very clear. Hezekiah is a faithful king and God will save the city. This message reaches him through the prophet Isaiah. The fact is that Jerusalem does not suffer the fate of Samaria and its people are spared. Assyrian sources do tell us of a first campaign by Sennacherib, during which Hezekiah submitted and paid tribute. They say nothing of a second, failed campaign. Could that second campaign perhaps be a theological allusion to the Passover and the exodus from Egypt?

FIRST READING                             2 Kings 19:9b–11, 14–21, 31–35a, 36

I will protect this city and save it,
for my own sake and for the sake of David, my servant.

From the Second Book of Kings

In those days,
Sennacherib of Assyria sent messengers once more to Hezekiah,
with the message:
‘This is what you are to say to Hezekiah, King of Judah:
Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you,
and do not suppose that Jerusalem
will escape from the hand of the King of Assyria.
“Surely you yourself have heard
what the kings of Assyria have done to all the nations,
which they have utterly destroyed?
“And would you be saved?”
Hezekiah accepted the message from the envoys and read it.
Then he went to the temple
and spread out the letter before the Lord.
And there, before the Lord, Hezekiah offered this prayer:
“Lord, God of Israel, who sits enthroned upon the cherubim,
You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth,
You who made heaven and earth.
“Lord, incline your ear and listen;
Lord, open your eyes and look:
Hear the words with which Sennacherib
mocks the living God.
“Indeed, Lord,
the kings of Assyria
have laid waste the nations and their lands
and have cast their gods into the fire:
They were, after all, no gods,
but merely the work of human hands, wood and stone;
that is why they were able to destroy them.
“But You, Lord our God, deliver us from his grasp,
so that all the kingdoms of the earth may acknowledge
that You alone, Lord, are God.”
Then Isaiah, the son of Amos, sent word to Hezekiah, saying:
“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel:
I have heard the prayer you have offered to Me
concerning Sennacherib, the king of Assyria.
“This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:
She despises you, she mocks you,
the virgin, the daughter of Zion;
behind your back she shakes her head,
the daughter of Jerusalem!
“For out of Jerusalem shall come a remnant,
from Mount Zion a remnant will be spared;
the zealous love of the Lord will bring this about.
“Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria:
He shall not enter this city,
he will not shoot an arrow at it,
he will not come near it with a shield,
he will not build a ramp against it.
“He will return by the way he came,
and he will not enter this city.
“Thus says the Lord:
I will protect this city to save it,
for my own sake and for the sake of David, my servant.”

That night the angel of the Lord went out
and killed in the camp of the king of Assyria
one hundred and eighty-five thousand men.
Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, set out,
returned to his own land and remained in Nineveh.

INTERLUDIUM                       Ps. 48(47), 2, 3–4, 10–11

The city of the Lord,
God sustains it for ever.

Great is the Lord; let him be highly praised
in our city of God, Jerusalem.
His holy mountain rises there in splendour,
a joy to all on earth.

For us, Zion is the mountain of God,
the city of the Great King.
God Himself, who dwells within its walls,
He proves Himself a safe stronghold.

We celebrate Your mercy, O God,
here within the walls of Your temple.
As far as Your Name reaches, so too does Your glory reach,
to the ends of the earth.
All that comes from your hand is a blessing.

ALLELUIA                         Ps . 130(129), 5

Alleluia.
In the Lord I place my hope,
in his word I trust.
Alleluia.

GOSPEL                            Mt . 7:6, 12–14

Whatever you wish that others would do to you,
do that to them as well.

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

At that time, Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not give what is holy to the dogs,
and do not cast your pearls before swine,
lest they trample them under their feet,
turn and tear you to pieces.
“Whatever you wish that men would do to you,
do that to them as well.
“That is the Law and the Prophets.
“Enter through the narrow gate;
for the gate that leads to destruction is wide and broad,
and there are many who go through it.
“How narrow, then, is the gate,
and how narrow is the way,
that leads to life,
and few are those who find it.”
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Laudato Si’
Encyclical of
Pope Francis

On Care for Our Common Home

155. Human ecology also involves a profound aspect: the
necessary relationship between human life and the moral law inscribed in its
own nature, an indispensable relationship for creating a more dignified
environment. Pope Benedict stated that there is “a sociology
of the human person”, because “human beings, too, have a nature which must be
respected and cannot be manipulated at will”. In this vein, one must
recognise that our bodies place us in a direct relationship with the environment
and other living beings. Accepting one’s own body
as a gift from God is necessary in order to accept and embrace the whole world as a gift from
the Father and a common home. The
logic of dominion over one’s own body, on the other hand, turns into a sometimes subtle
logic of dominion over creation. Learning to
accept one’s own body, to care for it and to respect its meaning
is essential for a true human ecology. Likewise,
accepting one’s own male or female body is necessary
to be able to recognise oneself in the opposite sex. In this way, it is
possible to joyfully accept the specific gift of the other, man or woman, as
the work of God the Creator, and to enrich one another. Therefore,
an attitude that pretends to “abolish sexual difference, because one
can no longer come to terms with it” is unhealthy.