Jesus Sends Out The Seventy Two

JULY 03, 2022, SUNDAY
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Green)
CYCLE C - YEAR II
Lectionary: 102

Reading 1
Is 66:10-14c

Thus says the LORD:
 Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad because of her,
 all you who love her;
 exult, exult with her,
 all you who were mourning over her!
 Oh, that you may suck fully
 of the milk of her comfort,
 that you may nurse with delight
 at her abundant breasts!
 For thus says the LORD:
 Lo, I will spread prosperity over Jerusalem like a river,
 and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing torrent.
 As nurslings, you shall be carried in her arms,
 and fondled in her lap;
 as a mother comforts her child,
 so will I comfort you;
 in Jerusalem you shall find your comfort.

 When you see this, your heart shall rejoice
 and your bodies flourish like the grass;
 the LORD's power shall be known to his servants.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20

R. (1) Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

Shout joyfully to God, all the earth,
 sing praise to the glory of his name;
 proclaim his glorious praise.
Say to God, "How tremendous are your deeds!"

R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
"Let all on earth worship and sing praise to you,
 sing praise to your name!"

Come and see the works of God,
 his tremendous deeds among the children of Adam.

R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

He has changed the sea into dry land;
 through the river they passed on foot;
 therefore let us rejoice in him.
He rules by his might forever.

R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare
 what he has done for me.
Blessed be God who refused me not
 my prayer or his kindness!

R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

Reading 2
Gal 6:14-18

Brothers and sisters:
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
through which the world has been crucified to me,
and I to the world.
For neither does circumcision mean anything, nor does uncircumcision,
but only a new creation.
Peace and mercy be to all who follow this rule
and to the Israel of God.

From now on, let no one make troubles for me;
for I bear the marks of Jesus on my body.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit,
brothers and sisters. Amen.

Alleluia
Col 3:15a, 16a

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Let the peace of Christ control your hearts;
let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel
Lk 10:1-12, 17-20 

At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others
whom he sent ahead of him in pairs
to every town and place he intended to visit.
He said to them,
"The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.
Go on your way;
behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.
Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals;
and greet no one along the way.
Into whatever house you enter, first say,
'Peace to this household.'
If a peaceful person lives there,
your peace will rest on him;
but if not, it will return to you.
Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you,
for the laborer deserves his payment.
Do not move about from one house to another.
Whatever town you enter and they welcome you,
eat what is set before you,
cure the sick in it and say to them,
'The kingdom of God is at hand for you.'
Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you,
go out into the streets and say,
'The dust of your town that clings to our feet,
even that we shake off against you.'
Yet know this: the kingdom of God is at hand.
I tell you,
it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day than for that town."

The seventy-two returned rejoicing, and said,
"Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name."
Jesus said, "I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky.
Behold, I have given you the power to 'tread upon serpents' and  scorpions
and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you. 
Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you,
but rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

or 
Lk 10:1-9

At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others
whom he sent ahead of him in pairs
to every town and place he intended to visit.
He said to them,
"The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.
Go on your way;
behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.
Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals;
and greet no one along the way.
Into whatever house you enter, first say,
'Peace to this household.'
If a peaceful person lives there,
your peace will rest on him;
but if not, it will return to you.
Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you,
for the laborer deserves his payment.
Do not move about from one house to another.
Whatever town you enter and they welcome you,
eat what is set before you,
cure the sick in it and say to them,
'The kingdom of God is at hand for you.'"


GOSPEL REFLECTION:

Jesus is preparing his disciples for mission. He leaves them in no doubt about the challenges, obstacles and dangers which will await them. They will succeed, however, because the power of God is working with them. Accordingly, ‘the seventy return with joy’. Do I experience that joy when I do what the Lord wants?

PRAYER:

What an awesome responsibility and privilege the Lord has bestowed on me to carry, together with others, the message of God’s love and mercy to the world. I ask him therefore to give me the wisdom, courage and strength to carry on his ministry.


Jesus Is Questioned On Fasting

JULY 02, 2022, SATURDAY
Saturday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Green)
CYCLE C - YEAR II
Lectionary: 382

Reading 1 
AM 9:11-15

Thus says the LORD:
On that day I will raise up
the fallen hut of David;
I will wall up its breaches,
raise up its ruins,
and rebuild it as in the days of old,
That they may conquer what is left of Edom
and all the nations that shall bear my name,
say I, the LORD, who will do this.
Yes, days are coming,
says the LORD,
When the plowman shall overtake the reaper,
and the vintager, him who sows the seed;
The juice of grapes shall drip down the mountains,
and all the hills shall run with it.
I will bring about the restoration of my people Israel;
they shall rebuild and inhabit their ruined cities,
Plant vineyards and drink the wine,
set out gardens and eat the fruits.
I will plant them upon their own ground;
never again shall they be plucked
From the land I have given them,
say I, the LORD, your God.

Responsorial Psalm
PS 85:9AB AND 10, 11-12, 13-14

R. (see 9b) The Lord speaks of peace to his people.

I will hear what God proclaims;
the LORD–for he proclaims peace to his people.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.

R. The Lord speaks of peace to his people.

Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven. 

R. The Lord speaks of peace to his people.

The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.

R. The Lord speaks of peace to his people.

Alleluia
JN 10:27

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;
I know them, and they follow me.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel 
MT 9:14-17

The disciples of John approached Jesus and said,
“Why do we and the Pharisees fast much,
but your disciples do not fast?”

Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them?
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast.
No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth,
for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse.
People do not put new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined.
Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”  



GOSPEL REFLECTION:

‘New wine is put into new wineskins’. What a challenge to our freedom and to our wisdom! Jesus is calling us to accept the radical novelty of the Kingdom he has come to inaugurate, and to be ready to give up what is now old to be able to embrace it fully. So many opportunities are lost because we, as individuals and as communities, are not ready to leave behind us what is no longer valid and useful, and look for painless change. In doing so, we lose both the wine and the wineskins.

PRAYER:

Lord, please fill me with your Holy Spirit, that I may grow in your great love and truth. Help me to seek you through prayer and fasting that I may turn away from sin and transform my life to your will. May I always find time to celebrate the joy of knowing, loving, and serving you.


The Call Of Matthew

JULY 01, 2022, FRIDAY
Friday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Green)
CYCLE C - YEAR II
Lectionary: 381

Reading I
Am 8:4-6, 9-12
Hear this, you who trample upon the needy
and destroy the poor of the land!
“When will the new moon be over,” you ask,
“that we may sell our grain,
and the sabbath, that we may display the wheat?”
We will diminish the containers for measuring,
add to the weights,
and fix our scales for cheating!
We will buy the lowly man for silver,
and the poor man for a pair of sandals;
even the refuse of the wheat we will sell!”

On that day, says the Lord GOD,
I will make the sun set at midday
and cover the earth with darkness in broad daylight.
I will turn your feasts into mourning
and all your songs into lamentations.
I will cover the loins of all with sackcloth
and make every head bald.
I will make them mourn as for an only son,
and bring their day to a bitter end.

Yes, days are coming, says the Lord GOD,
when I will send famine upon the land:
Not a famine of bread, or thirst for water,
but for hearing the word of the LORD.
Then shall they wander from sea to sea
and rove from the north to the east
In search of the word of the LORD,
but they shall not find it.
 

Responsorial Psalm
119:2, 10, 20, 30, 40, 131

R. (Matthew 4:4) One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all their heart.

R. One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

With all my heart I seek you;
let me not stray from your commands.

R. One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

My soul is consumed with longing
for your ordinances at all times.

R. One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

The way of truth I have chosen;
I have set your ordinances before me.

R. One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Behold, I long for your precepts;
in your justice give me life.

R. One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

I gasp with open mouth
in my yearning for your commands.

R. One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
 

Alleluia
Mt 11:28

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest, says the Lord.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
 

Gospel
Mt 9:9-13

As Jesus passed by,
he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.
He said to him, “Follow me.”
And he got up and followed him.
While he was at table in his house,
many tax collectors and sinners came
and sat with Jesus and his disciples.
The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples,
Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?
He heard this and said,
Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
Go and learn the meaning of the words,
I desire mercy, not sacrifice.
I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
 

GOSPEL REFLECTION:

Jesus is inclusive – even ‘tax collectors and sinners’ are welcomed. They represent those whose professions and social status are ‘not respectable’. But Jesus shows that he has come for all people, without exception, and especially the weak and the vulnerable, the ‘sick’ and the ‘sinner’.
How inclusive and compassionate Jesus is in his ministry! I ask myself if I am prejudiced against any individuals or groups? Lord, help me to become more like you in thought, word and deed. Make me large-hearted.

PRAYER:

Lord, your call to Matthew comes right in the midst of the ordinariness of his life. He does not hesitate or delay in order to balance the books, but gets up and follows you. As I move through this day, keep me alert to the many ways your grace seeks entry into my life. May I respond generously and without delay to your calls.