Bible Diary

Daily Reading

Monday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
371

FIRST READING

2 KGS 17:5-8, 13-15A, 18

Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, occupied the whole land
and attacked Samaria, which he besieged for three years.
In the ninth year of Hoshea, king of Israel
the king of Assyria took Samaria,
and deported the children of Israel to Assyria,
setting them in Halah, at the Habor, a river of Gozan,
and the cities of the Medes.

This came about because the children of Israel sinned against the LORD,
their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt,
from under the domination of Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
and because they venerated other gods.
They followed the rites of the nations
whom the LORD had cleared out of the way of the children of Israel
and the kings of Israel whom they set up.

And though the LORD warned Israel and Judah
by every prophet and seer,
“Give up your evil ways and keep my commandments and statutes,
in accordance with the entire law which I enjoined on your fathers
and which I sent you by my servants the prophets,”
they did not listen, but were as stiff-necked as their fathers,
who had not believed in the LORD, their God.
They rejected his statutes,
the covenant which he had made with their fathers,
and the warnings which he had given them, till,
in his great anger against Israel,
the LORD put them away out of his sight.
Only the tribe of Judah was left.

PSALM

PS 60:3, 4-5, 12-13

Response: Help us with your right hand, O Lord, and answer us.

O God, you have rejected us and broken our defenses;
you have been angry; rally us!

You have rocked the country and split it open;
repair the cracks in it, for it is tottering.
You have made your people feel hardships;
you have given us stupefying wine.

Have not you, O God, rejected us,
so that you go not forth, O God, with our armies?
Give us aid against the foe,
for worthless is the help of men.

GOSPEL

MT 7:1-5

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Stop judging, that you may not be judged.
For as you judge, so will you be judged,
and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?
How can you say to your brother,
‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’
while the wooden beam is in your eye?
You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”

Daily Reflection

Every action has a corresponding effect. The breaking up of Israel after the death of Solomon into the Northern and Southern kingdoms has its consequences. The first reading summarises the conquest of the Northern Kingdom of Israel by Assyria. The author of the book of Kings reflects on this, giving us a simplistic yet insightful reason into the downfall of the Northern Kingdom. He unambiguously states that, “Though God warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and seer... they did not listen.”

Wrong judgements come from not “listening” enough i.e. when decisions are made based on hearsay or with insufficient information. In prohibiting judgement, Jesus points out two truths:

a) Human eyes can never see the complete picture or have knowledge of the whole – only God does
b) Our judgement is impaired by our limitations and biases– the splinter in our eye.

Ever wondered why we have two ears but just one mouth? No... not just to hear, but to LISTEN!!!