Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
Year II
25th June 2024 (Tuesday)
Psalter: 4
Reading of the Day
| First Reading | 2 Kings 19:9b-11, 14-21, 31-35a, 36 |
| Response | God establishes his city forever. |
| Gospel | Matthew 7:6, 12-14 |
First Reading
2 Kings 19:9b-11, 14-21, 31-35a, 36
At those days: Sennacherib king of Assyria sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said: “O Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. So now, O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone.” Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Your prayer to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him: “She despises you, she scorns you—the virgin daughter of Sion; she wags her head behind you—the daughter of Jerusalem. For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Sion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord will do this. “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.” And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 48:2-3ab, 3cd-4, 10-11, (R. see 9cd)
R/. God establishes his city forever.
Great is the Lord and highly to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain rises in beauty,
the joy of all the earth. R/.
Mount Sion, in the heart of the North,
the city of the Mighty King!
God, in the midst of its citadels,
has shown himself its stronghold. R/.
Your merciful love, O God,
we ponder in your temple.
Your praise, O God, like your name,
reaches the ends of the earth. R/.
Gospel Acclamation
John 8:12
V/. Alleluia
R/. Alleluia
V/. I am the light of the world, says the Lord; Whoever follows me will have the light of life.
R/. Alleluia.
Gospel
Matthew 7:6, 12-14
At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
