28 June 2025 (Saturday)
Saint Irenaeus, Bishop, Doctor, Martyr or The Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary Obligatory Memorial.
Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:
First Reading : 2 Timothy 2:22‐26
Fasten your attention on holiness, faith, love and peace, in union with all those who call on the Lord with pure minds. Avoid these futile and silly speculations, understanding that they only give rise to quarrels; and a servant of the Lord is not to engage in quarrels, but has to be kind to everyone, a good teacher, and patient. He has to be gentle when he corrects people who dispute what he says, never forgetting that God may give them a change of mind so that they recognise the truth and come to their senses, once out of the trap where the devil caught them and kept them enslaved.
Responsive Psalm : Psalm 36(37):3‐6,30‐31
The just man’s mouth utters wisdom.
If you trust in the Lord and do good, then you will live in the land and be secure. If you find your delight in the Lord, he will grant your heart’s desire.
The just man’s mouth utters wisdom.
Commit your life to the Lord, trust in him and he will act, so that your justice breaks forth like the light, your cause like the noon‐day sun.
The just man’s mouth utters wisdom.
The just man’s mouth utters wisdom and his lips speak what is right; the law of his God is in his heart, his steps shall be saved from stumbling.
The just man’s mouth utters wisdom.
Gospel : John 17:20‐26
First Reading: Genesis 18: 1-15
And the Lord appeared to him in the vale of Mambre as he was sitting at the door of his tent, in the very heat of the day. And when he had lifted up his eyes, there appeared to him three men standing near him: and as soon as he saw them he ran to meet them from the door of his tent, and adored down to the ground. And he said: Lord, if I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away from thy servant: But I will fetch a little water, and wash ye your feet, and rest ye under the tree. And I will set a morsel of bread, and strengthen ye your heart, afterwards you shall pass on: for therefore are you come aside to your servant. And they said: Do as thou hast spoken. Abraham made haste into the tent to Sara, and said to her: Make haste, temper together three measures of flour, and make cakes upon the hearth. And he himself ran to the herd, and took from thence a calf very tender and very good, and gave it to a young man: who made haste and boiled it. He took also butter and milk, and the calf which he had boiled, and set before them: but he stood by them under the tree. And when they had eaten, they said to him: Where is Sara thy wife? He answered: Lo, she is in the tent. And he said to him: I will return and come to thee at this time, life accompanying and Sara thy wife shall have a son. Which when Sara heard, she laughed behind the door of the tent. Now they were both old, and far advanced in years, and it had ceased to be with Sara after the manner of women. And she laughed secretly, saying: After I am grown old and my lord is an old man, shall I give myself to pleasure? And the Lord said to Abraham: Why did Sara laugh, saying: Shall I who am an old woman bear a child indeed? Is there any thing hard to God? According to appointment I will return to thee at this same time, life accompanying, and Sara shall have a son. Sara denied, saying: I did not laugh: for she was afraid. But the Lord said, Nay: but thou didst laugh:
Responsorial Psalm: Luke 1: 46-47, 48-49, 50 and 53, 54-55
R. (54b) The Lord has remembered his mercy.
And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
R. The Lord has remembered his mercy.
Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name.
R. The Lord has remembered his mercy.
And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.
R. The Lord has remembered his mercy.
He hath received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy: As he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed for ever.
R. The Lord has remembered his mercy.
Alleluia: Luke 2: 19
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
19 Blessed is the Virgin Mary who kept the word of God and pondered it in her heart.
(19. As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart).
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Luke 2: 41-51
And his parents went every year to Jerusalem, at the solemn day of the pasch, And when he was twelve years old, they going up into Jerusalem, according to the custom of the feast, And having fulfilled the days, when they returned, the child Jesus remained in Jerusalem; and his parents knew it not. And thinking that he was in the company, they came a day’s journey, and sought him among their kinsfolks and acquaintance. And not finding him, they returned into Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass, that, after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his wisdom and his answers. And seeing him, they wondered. And his mother said to him: Son, why hast thou done so to us? behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said to them: How is it that you sought me? did you not know, that I must be about my father’s business? And they understood not the word that he spoke unto them. And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them. And his mother kept all these words in her heart.
For our reflection today:
The deeply anxious words of Mary and Joseph: “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously”, are in conformity with Jesus’ mysterious answer: “How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Lk 2:48-49). The significance lies in the Father’s property, “in my Father’s house”, as a son is. Mary is obliged to renew the profound faith with which she said “yes” at the Annunciation; she must accept that it is the true and proper Father of Jesus who has precedence; she must be able to leave the Son she has brought forth free to follow his mission. And Mary’s “yes” to God’s will, in the obedience of faith, is repeated throughout her life, until the most difficult moment, that of the Cross. It is the profound humility of the obedient faith of Mary, who welcomes within her even what she does not understand in God’s action, leaving it to God to open her mind and heart. (Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, 19 December 2012)
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