21 June 2025 (Saturday)
Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious on Saturday of week 11 in Ordinary Time.
Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious Obligatory Memorial.
Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:
First Reading : 2 Corinthians 12:1‐10
Must I go on boasting, though there is nothing to be gained by it? But I will move on to the visions and revelations I have had from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who, fourteen years ago, was caught up – whether still in the body or out of the body, I do not know; God knows – right into the third heaven. I do know, however, that this same person – whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know; God knows – was caught up into paradise and heard things which must not and cannot be put into human language. I will boast about a man like that, but not about anything of my own except my weaknesses. If I should decide to boast, I should not be made to look foolish, because I should only be speaking the truth; but I am not going to, in case anyone should begin to think I am better than he can actually see and hear me to be. In view of the extraordinary nature of these revelations, to stop me from getting too proud I was given a thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan to beat me and stop me from getting too proud! About this thing, I have pleaded with the Lord three times for it to leave me, but he has said, ‘My grace is enough for you: my power is at its best in weakness.’ So I shall be very happy to make my weaknesses my special boast so that the power of Christ may stay over me, and that is why I am quite content with my weaknesses, and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and the agonies I go through for Christ’s sake. For it is when I am weak that I am strong.
Responsive Psalm : Psalm 33(34):8‐13
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
The angel of the Lord is encamped around those who revere him, to rescue them. Taste and see that the Lord is good. He is happy who seeks refuge in him.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Revere the Lord, you his saints. They lack nothing, those who revere him. Strong lions suffer want and go hungry but those who seek the Lord lack no blessing.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Come, children, and hear me that I may teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is he who longs for life and many days, to enjoy his prosperity?
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Gospel : Matthew 6:24‐34
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘No one can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money. ‘That is why I am telling you not to worry about your life and what you are to eat, nor about your body and how you are to clothe it. Surely life means more than food, and the body more than clothing! Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they are? Can any of you, for all his worrying, add one single cubit to his span of life? And why worry about clothing? Think of the flowers growing in the fields; they never have to work or spin; yet I assure you that not even Solomon in all his regalia was robed like one of these. Now if that is how God clothes the grass in the field which is there today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will he not much more look after you, you men of little faith? So do not worry; do not say, “What are we to eat? What are we to drink? How are we to be clothed?” It is the pagans who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on his righteousness, and all these other things will be given you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.’
For our reflection today:
‘I will gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may abide in me; when I am weak, it is then that I am strong’ (2 Cor 12:9-10). Thus writes a man about himself, who has personally experienced the power of God's grace in a special way. In the midst of life's difficulties, praying, he heard the Lord's answer: “My grace is sufficient for you; for my power is fully manifested in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9). Prayer is the first and fundamental condition of cooperation with God's grace. One must pray in order to have God's grace and one must pray in order to cooperate with God's grace. Such is the true rhythm of the Christian's inner life. The Lord speaks to each of us, just as he spoke to the Apostle: “My grace is sufficient for you; for my power is fully manifested in weakness”. (St. John Paul II, Angelus, 4 July 1982)
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