June 25
Friday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
Give a Mass Offering
Mass Intentions
7:45 AM – Joseph Maio / The Maio Family
Prayer for Spiritual Communion
My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.
Readings
First Reading
Genesis 17:1, 9-10, 15-22
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said: “I am God the Almighty. Walk in my presence and be blameless.”
God also said to Abraham: “On your part, you and your descendants after you must keep my covenant throughout the ages. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you that you must keep: every male among you shall be circumcised.”
God further said to Abraham: “As for your wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai; her name shall be Sarah. I will bless her, and I will give you a son by her. Him also will I bless; he shall give rise to nations, and rulers of peoples shall issue from him.” Abraham prostrated himself and laughed as he said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Or can Sarah give birth at ninety?” Then Abraham said to God, “Let but Ishmael live on by your favor!” God replied: “Nevertheless, your wife Sarah is to bear you a son, and you shall call him Isaac. I will maintain my covenant with him as an everlasting pact, to be his God and the God of his descendants after him. As for Ishmael, I am heeding you: I hereby bless him. I will make him fertile and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve chieftains, and I will make of him a great nation. But my covenant I will maintain with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you by this time next year.” When he had finished speaking with him, God departed from Abraham.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalms 128:1-2, 3, 4-5
R. (4) See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.
Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.
R. See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
around your table.
R. See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
R. See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.
Gospel Acclamation
Matthew 8:17
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Christ took away our infirmities
and bore our diseases.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Matthew 8:1-4
When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I will do it. Be made clean.” His leprosy was cleansed immediately. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one, but go show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.”
“See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.”
Reflection
“I will do it. Be made clean.” No leper had ever heard sweeter words! He whom Jesus heals has had his life renewed. Imagine asking to be healed of a disease, and immediately all signs and symptoms of your disease are gone. As remarkable as this is, there is even more to consider with today’s healing of the leper.
Leprosy is a disease that not only affects the individual physically but also has psychological implications. Leprosy effectively means that the community shuns you because of the contagion that you have become. The leper shows his faith in Jesus by telling Jesus, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” This man’s profession of faith truly saves him. Yes, Jesus heals him, but without this man’s faith in the face of dire disease, the healing would have not taken place because he would never have asked for healing.
May we, as followers, have the same level of faith in Jesus, knowing that Jesus can and will heal us in his own way and time; we just need to profess our faith and ask for His divine healing.
Peace,
Fr. John
Would you like to receive Readings & Reflections, and a link to join us for Mass? Subscribe to The Daily Bread newsletter.