Lectionary: 370
Reading 1
2 Chronicles 24:17-15
After the death of Jehoiada,
the princes of Judah came and paid homage to King Joash,
and the king then listened to them.
They forsook the temple of the LORD, the God of their fathers,
and began to serve the sacred poles and the idols;
and because of this crime of theirs,
wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem.
Although prophets were sent to them to convert them to the LORD,
the people would not listen to their warnings.
Then the Spirit of God possessed Zechariah,
son of Jehoiada the priest.
He took his stand above the people and said to them:
“God says, ‘Why are you transgressing the LORD’s commands,
so that you cannot prosper?
Because you have abandoned the LORD, he has abandoned you.’”
But they conspired against him,
and at the king’s order they stoned him to death
in the court of the LORD’s temple.
Thus King Joash was unmindful of the devotion shown him
by Jehoiada, Zechariah’s father, and slew his son.
And as Zechariah was dying, he said, “May the LORD see and avenge.”
At the turn of the year a force of Arameans came up against Joash.
They invaded Judah and Jerusalem,
did away with all the princes of the people,
and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus.
Though the Aramean force came with few men,
the LORD surrendered a very large force into their power,
because Judah had abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers.
So punishment was meted out to Joash.
After the Arameans had departed from him,
leaving him in grievous suffering,
his servants conspired against him
because of the murder of the son of Jehoiada the priest.
He was buried in the City of David,
but not in the tombs of the kings.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 89:4-5, 29-30, 31-32, 33-34
R. (29a) For ever I will maintain my love for my servant.
“I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to David my servant:
Forever will I confirm your posterity
and establish your throne for all generations.”
R. For ever I will maintain my love for my servant.
“Forever I will maintain my kindness toward him,
and my covenant with him stands firm.
I will make his posterity endure forever
and his throne as the days of heaven.”
R. For ever I will maintain my love for my servant.
“If his sons forsake my law
and walk not according to my ordinances,
If they violate my statutes
and keep not my commands.”
R. For ever I will maintain my love for my servant.
“I will punish their crime with a rod
and their guilt with stripes.
Yet my mercy I will not take from him,
nor will I belie my faithfulness.”
R. For ever I will maintain my love for my servant.
Gospel
Matthew 6:24-34
Jesus said to his disciples:
“No one can serve two masters.
He will either hate one and love the other,
or be devoted to one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or drink,
or about your body, what you will wear.
Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds in the sky;
they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns,
yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are not you more important than they?
Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?
Why are you anxious about clothes?
Learn from the way the wild flowers grow.
They do not work or spin.
But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor
was clothed like one of them.
If God so clothes the grass of the field,
which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow,
will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?
So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’
or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear?’
All these things the pagans seek.
Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given you besides.
Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.
Sufficient for a day is its own evil.”
REFLECTION
SOURCE: One Bread One Body
THEME: WHEN THE MAJORITY DOESN'T RULE
"Though the Aramean force came with few men, the Lord surrendered a very large force into their power, because Judah had abandoned the Lord." –2 Chronicles 24:24
How did a few atheists and secular humanists stop prayer in the public schools despite the fact that the great majority of Americans wanted prayer in the schools? How did a few anti-life people get control of the Supreme Court, mass media, Congress, presidency, and business community when twenty-five years ago they were a very small minority? How can a few homosexual activists change our government's definition of the family and make sodomy a civil right despite the fact that a little over a decade ago these things were unthinkable for a vast majority of Americans?
A large force is defeated by a few people when the "moral majority" is not very moral, when many of them have abandoned the Lord (see 2 Chr 24:24; see also Jos 7:3ff). When we transgress the Lord's commands, we cannot prosper (2 Chr 24:20).
Because we "have abandoned the Lord, He has abandoned" us (2 Chr 24:20). Only when we are under the Lord's authority are we in authority over Satan and the forces of evil. Only the totally committed win. Only the obedient conquer (see 2 Cor 10:6). Repent! Return to power – God's power.
PRAYER: Father, may we take back this country for You.
PROMISE: "No man can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other or be attentive to one and despise the other. You cannot give yourself to God and money." –Mt 6:24
PRAISE: St. Aloysius died a young man of twenty-three who triumphed, "unspotted by the world" (Jas 1:27) and immersed in prayer and acts of penance.
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