GOSPEL
July 11, 2018 (Wednesday) 14th Week in Ordinary Time St. Benedict, abbot Psalter: Week 2 / (White) Ps 105:2-3, 4-5, 6-7 Seek always the face of the Lord.
1st Reading: Hos 10:1-3, 7-8, 12
Israel was a spreading vine, rich in fruit. The more his fruit increased, the more altars he built; the more his land prospered, the more he adorned his sacred stones. Their heart is divided! They shall pay for it. Their altars will be thrown down and their sacred stones broken to pieces. Now they say, “We have no king ( because we have no fear of God) and what good would a king do us?”
As for the king of Samaria, he has been carried off like foam on water. The idolatrous high places—the sin of Israel—will be destroyed. Thorn and thistle will creep over the altars. Then they will say to the mountains: “Cover us,” and to the hills: “Fall on us.”
Plow new ground, sow for yourselves justice and reap the harvest of kindness. It is the time to go seeking Yahweh, until he comes to rain salvation on you.
Gospel: Mt 10:1-7
Jesus called his Twelve disciples to him, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out, and to heal every disease and sickness.
These are the names of the Twelve apostles: first Simon, called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon, the Canaanite, and Judas Is cariot, the man who would betray him.
Jesus sent these Twelve on mission, with the instructions: “Do not visit pagan territory and do not enter a Samaritan town.Go, instead, to the lost sheep of the people of Israel.
Go, and proclaim this message: The kingdom of heaven is near.
Reflection: Their heart is divided!
“Their heart is divided,” the Lord says of Israel. But so are our hearts. They are fragmented by conflicting desires: We love God sincerely, yet are so drawn to sin.
We know sin destroys our relationship with God and others, yet we secretly succumb to its allurement.
We recognize genuine selflessness in us, yet also know of our subtle self-centeredness.
We truly value and pursue the truth, yet often spout falsehoods.
By your grace, O Lord, gather and heal our divided hearts that we might love purely and wholeheartedly.