Tuesday – St Camillus de Lellis, priest

Italian founder of the Camillians
Born 25 May 1550
Died 14 July 1614

Invitation

May I take this opportunity to 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.

Consideration

At every moment of our lives, we make choices: for or against God. We are not always aware of this. But at every moment of our lives, we can discern what God asks of us, what He desires of us. Our response to God’s question enables us to live in harmony with Him. For that is what today’s first reading says:‘Believe in God, and you will stand firm’. Do I take God’s question seriously, or do I doubt and want a clear sign? What opportunities might I have missed as a result? Is trust in God the common thread running through my life?

FIRST READING                Isaiah 7:1–9
If you do not believe, you will not stand firm!

From the Prophet Isaiah

In the days of Ahaz, king of Judah,
Rezin, king of Aram,
together with the king of Israel,
marched against Jerusalem,
but he failed to take the city.
When word reached the house of David,
that Aram had allied itself with Ephraim,
the king’s heart and the hearts of his people trembled,
just as the trees in the forest tremble when the wind blows.
However, the Lord spoke to Isaiah:
‘You must go out to meet Ahaz,
together with your son Shear-Jashub,
at the end of the water channel from the Upper Pool,
on the road to the Field of the Tanners.
“There you must say the following to him:
‘Be at peace, do not be afraid,
and do not let your heart be dismayed
at those two smouldering stumps of firewood,
or the fierce wrath of the King of Aram
and the King of Israel.
“For Aram, together with Ephraim
and the King of Israel,
has plotted evil against you,
and has devised a plan to march against Judah,
to terrify it, to subdue it,
and then to make the son of Tabeal king there,
therefore the Lord God has spoken thus:
“That shall not stand! That shall not come to pass!
“For though Damascus may be the capital of Aram
and Rezin the ruler of Damascus,
Samaria may be the capital of Ephraim,
and the king of Israel the ruler of Samaria,
but in sixty-five years’ time
Ephraim will cease to be a nation.
“If you do not believe, you will not stand firm!”

INTERLUDE                      Ps . 48(47), 2–3a, 3b–4, 5–6, 7–8

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

Great is the Lord, highly praised be He
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 her walls,
He proves Himself a safe stronghold.

Behold, kings gathered together
and marched against her.
But when they saw her, they were seized with fear;
and, terrified, they fled.

Suddenly, dread overtook them;
like the pangs of a woman in labour;
just as the storm from the east
strikes the ships bound for Tarshish.

ALLELUIA                           Ps . 119(118), 36a, 29b

Alleluia.
May my heart be set on what You decree, Lord,
give me Your law as my guide.
Alleluia.

GOSPEL                         Mt . 11:20–24
The fate of Tyre and Sidon
will be more bearable on the Day of Judgement than yours.

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

In those days, Jesus began
to reproach the towns in which most of his miracles had taken place,
because they had not repented.
‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!
“Tyre and Sidon
would long since have repented, in sackcloth and ashes,
had the miracles been performed among them
that have taken place among you.
“Yes, I tell you:
The fate of Tyre and Sidon
will be more bearable on the Day of Judgement than yours.
“And you, Capernaum,
will you perhaps be lifted up to heaven?
“You will be brought down to the underworld.
“If the miracles that have taken place in you
had happened in Sodom,
it would have remained to this very day.
“Yet I tell you:
The fate of the land of Sodom
will be more bearable on the Day of Judgement than yours.”

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