25 June 2025 (Wednesday)
Wednesday of week 12 in Ordinary Time.
Ordinary Weekday.
Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:
First Reading : Genesis 15:1‐12,17‐18
It happened that the word of the Lord was spoken to Abram in a vision, ‘Have no fear, Abram, I am your shield; your reward will be very great.’ ‘My Lord,’ Abram replied ‘what do you intend to give me? I go childless’. Then Abram said, ‘See, you have given me no descendants; some man of my household will be my heir.’ And then this word of the Lord was spoken to him, ‘He shall not be your heir; your heir shall be of your own flesh and blood.’ Then taking him outside he said, ‘Look up to heaven and count the stars if you can. Such will be your descendants’ he told him. Abram put his faith in the Lord, who counted this as making him justified. ‘I am the Lord’ he said to him ‘who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldaeans to make you heir to this land.’ ‘My Lord,’ Abram replied ‘how am I to know that I shall inherit it?’ He said to him, ‘Get me a three‐year‐old heifer, a three‐year‐old goat, a three‐year‐old ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon.’ He brought him all these, cut them in half and put half on one side and half facing it on the other; but the birds he did not cut in half. Birds of prey came down on the carcases but Abram drove them off. Now as the sun was setting Abram fell into a deep sleep, and terror seized him. When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, there appeared a smoking furnace and a firebrand that went between the halves. That day the Lord made a Covenant with Abram in these terms: ‘To your descendants I give this land, from the wadi of Egypt to the Great River, the river Euphrates.’
Responsive Psalm : Psalm 104(105):1‐4,6‐9
Give thanks to the Lord, tell his name, make known his deeds among the peoples. O sing to him, sing his praise; tell all his wonderful works!
Be proud of his holy name, let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice. Consider the Lord and his strength; constantly seek his face.
O children of Abraham, his servant, O sons of the Jacob he chose. He, the Lord, is our God: his judgements prevail in all the earth.
He remembers his covenant for ever, his promise for a thousand generations, the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.
Gospel : Matthew 7:15‐20
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves. You will be able to tell them by their fruits. Can people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, a sound tree produces good fruit but a rotten tree bad fruit. A sound tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a rotten tree bear good fruit. Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown on the fire. I repeat, you will be able to tell them by their fruits.’
For our reflection today:
For us Christians, the intimate teaching of the Holy Spirit is a joyful certainty, based on Christ's word about the coming of the ‘other Paraclete’, whom - He said - "the Father will send in my name. He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have spoken to you" (John 14:26). ‘Holy Spirit is the sovereign Master who enlightens and guides them. The Holy Spirit teaches the Christian the truth as a principle of life. He shows the concrete application of Jesus' words in each person's life. It makes one discover the relevance of the Gospel and its value for all human situations. He adapts the intelligence of the truth to every circumstance, so that this truth does not remain merely abstract and speculative, and frees the Christian from the dangers of duplicity and hypocrisy. (St. John Paul II, General audience, 24 April 1991)
Not only can the prophets be false, but also their prophecies and suggestions. That is why we always need to be watchful. Indeed, a Christian is precisely a man or woman who knows how to watch his or her heart. A heart in which many things come and go, is like a local market where you find everything. This is precisely the reason why the constant work of discernment is so needed, in order to understand what is truly of the Lord. (Santa Marta, Jan 7, 2014)
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