Friday, June 26, 2026

 

Friday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

(II Kings 25:1-12; Matthew 8:1-4)

Did you ever have to make a decision where there seemed to be no good options?  Say your daughter wants a “destination wedding” outside the Church.  You not only cannot approve the invalid marriage, you also doubt the couple’s maturity.  Should you support your daughter by attending the wedding?   In both readings today someone makes a decision when the options are not apparently favorable.

Behind the scenes in the first reading King Zedekiah is caught between losing support of his base and ignoring the Word of God spoken through the prophet Jeremiah.  In the gospel Jesus is confronted by a leper who asks healing.  Either he will touch the man and show authority over the law or disappoint the oppressed leper.  Zedekiah opts against God’s Word, but Jesus, who is the Word, lives up to it.

We must not be afraid to abide by the Word of God.  He speaks to us through Scripture, the Church, and our consciences.  Walking with him will, at times, bring hardship.  However, we will end stronger and already close to eternal life.

Thursday, June 25, 2026

 

Thursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

(II Kings 24:8-17; Matthew 7:21-27)

Did you ever notice yourself saying grace before eating when people are around but forgetting to do it when you are alone?  I have.  It is disconcerting to think that Jesus may forsake me for my pretension as indicated in today’s gospel.

Or perhaps we have given a sizeable amount to Catholic Charities and now figure that the Lord will overlook our pettiness with family and friends.  He is saying today that he expects better from us.  He does not care about any “mighty deeds” that we have done.  Rather what matters is our attention to the everyday details of a holy life: prayer, humility, kindness.

We may think we are as good as the next guy and better than most, but such calculation does not impress Jesus.  He calls us to perfection and sends us the Holy Spirit to make that happen.  If we focus on our accomplishments and not on his words, we settle for less and may end up disappointed.  But if we do good because Jesus has told us to do it, without aiming to impress him or anyone else, then we will find ourselves in his gracious company forever.

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

 

Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist

(Isaiah 49:1-6; Acts 13:22-26; Luke 1:57-66.80)

A man in his second career was having a “mountaintop experience.”  His wife had just given birth to their first child.  He looked at the baby and recognized his replacement.  Or so it seemed at the moment.  God-loving people will allow the possibility of the Lord’s shaping the destiny of their progeny in ways unthought of.

Elizabeth and Zachariah prove themselves such people in today’s gospel.  For years they have waited for their newborn.  Like the people surrounding them, they had probably presumed that he would be called “Zachariah” and follow in his father’s career path.  But when it all happened, they were aware enough of God’s hand in their son’s becoming to name their son “John” as the Lord indicated to them.

John did not follow his father as a priest, but he did manifest his father’s submission to God’s authority.  He had thought that the Messiah would purify the people with fire so to speak.  Then he met Jesus and recognized in him another kind of saving power.  John gave up his pretension of how the Messiah would fulfill his promise.  In John’s eyes Jesus was the lamb and not the lion of God.

We too should align our hopes and expectations with the Lord’s.  Our lives, after all, are not about ourselves but about Him.  This may mean a career change when we enjoy what we are doing.  It certainly necessitates our following His commands and not our own instincts and feelings.    We do it for Him who will compensate us more than we imagine.

Tuesday, June 23, 2026

 

Tuesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

(II Kings19:9b-11.14-21.31-35a.36; Matthew 5:6.12-14)

The kings of Judah and Israel were often as corrupt as tyrannical strongmen today.  They feigned piety while using their position of power to satisfy mundane desires.  King Hezekiah of Judah, however, was an exception to this rule.  Acting contrary to his unfaithful father, he destroyed idols and reformed public worship.  In his greatest trial he turned to the Lord for mercy and was not denied.

We read today the account of Assyria’s siege of Jerusalem.  Having subjected the Northern Kingdom, its powerful army and was bearing on Hezekiah’s Southern Kingdom.  The king recognized his desperate situation and prayed to the Lord for deliverance.  In one of the most remarkable turnabouts in recorded history, Assyria retreated without assaulting Jerusalem.

God hears the prayer of His faithful servants.  We can live assured of this.  His response to our request is not always what we desire, but it does bring us peace.  Having fulfilled His will, we can look forward to experiencing now the beginnings of His glory.

Monday, June 22, 2026

 

(Optional) Memorial of Saint John Fisher, Bishop and Saint Thomas More, Martyrs

(II Kings 17:5-8.13-15a.18; Matthew 7:1-5)

Today’s first reading demonstrates the viewpoint of the Deuteronomic author (or authors).  This writer composed or at least edited the Book of Deuteronomy and several other Old Testament works including the two Books of Kings.  Deuteronomic theology sounds to many rather karma-like.  It teaches that if you do good, you will be rewarded and if you do bad, you are doomed.

In the first reading the tit-for-tat is straight forward.  The Samarians (that is the inhabitants of the Northern Kingdom (also called Israel and Ephraim) repeatedly violated Israel’s law.  They paid for their transgressions with deportation from their land.  Today’s gospel is more conventional, at least for Christians. Jesus tells his disciples not to judge, by which he means not to condemn others quickly.  If they do, he warns, God’s judgment of them in eternity will be swift and severe.

We see the two martyrs in this conventional light.  Both were beheaded for testifying to the supreme authority of the pope in the Church.  They are remembered after almost 500 years among England’s most renowned saints.  Thomas More has been lionized by the play and movie A Man for All Seasons.  John Fisher is recognized as a brilliant bishop whose theology influenced the Council of Trent.  More importantly, they have been rewarded with seats in the Kingdom of heaven.