Bible Diary

Daily Reading

Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
390

FIRST READING

IS 7:1-9

In the days of Ahaz, king of Judah, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah,
Rezin, king of Aram,
and Pekah, king of Israel, son of Remaliah,
went up to attack Jerusalem,
but they were not able to conquer it.
When word came to the house of David that Aram
was encamped in Ephraim,
the heart of the king and the heart of the people trembled,
as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind.

Then the LORD said to Isaiah: Go out to meet Ahaz,
you and your son Shear-jashub,
at the end of the conduit of the upper pool,
on the highway of the fuller’s field, and say to him:
Take care you remain tranquil and do not fear;
let not your courage fail
before these two stumps of smoldering brands
the blazing anger of Rezin and the Arameans,
and of the son Remaliah,
because of the mischief that
Aram, Ephraim and the son of Remaliah,
plots against you, saying,
“Let us go up and tear Judah asunder, make it our own by force,
and appoint the son of Tabeel king there.”

Thus says the LORD:
This shall not stand, it shall not be!
Damascus is the capital of Aram,
and Rezin is the head of Damascus;
Samaria is the capital of Ephraim,
and Remaliah’s son the head of Samaria.

But within sixty years and five,
Ephraim shall be crushed, no longer a nation.
Unless your faith is firm
you shall not be firm!

PSALM

PS 48:2-3A, 3B-4, 5-6, 7-8

Response: God upholds his city for ever.

Great is the LORD and wholly to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain, fairest of heights,
is the joy of all the earth.

Mount Zion, “the recesses of the North,”
is the city of the great King.
God is with her castles;
renowned is he as a stronghold.

For lo! the kings assemble,
they come on together;
They also see, and at once are stunned,
terrified, routed.

Quaking seizes them there;
anguish, like a woman’s in labor, As though a wind from the east
were shattering ships of Tarshish.

GOSPEL

MT 11:20-24

Jesus began to reproach the towns
where most of his mighty deeds had been done,
since they had not repented.
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!
For if the mighty deeds done in your midst
had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.
And as for you, Capernaum:

Will you be exalted to heaven?
You will go down to the nether world.

For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom,
it would have remained until this day.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

Daily Reflection

When one sins repeatedly, or consciously commits acts of infidelity to God, then an already ‘lax’ conscience deteriorates into a ‘lapsed’ conscience – the concept of sin is totally forgotten! Apparently, this is the situation in both readings of today.

The chosen people who had pledged their loyalty to God, repeatedly lapsed. In today’s first reading, some tribes align themselves with super powers like Assyria and Babylon, committing the final act of denying God altogether. Only king Ahaz, adhering to the warning of Isaiah, remained faithful, and realised the fruits of his loyalty.

Even though each act of healing and each miracle made it even more evident that the hand of God was at work through Jesus, the people refused to accept this; for if they did, they would be compelled to change their sinful lifestyles.

Each time I refuse to admit to sin - when I justify it or condone it - I move closer to that time when I will no longer realise that I have sinned.