Bible Diary

Daily Reading

Memorial of Saint Boniface, Bishop and Martyr

LECTIONARY
357

FIRST READING

2 Timothy 3:10-17

You have followed my teaching, way of life,
purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions,
and sufferings, such as happened to me
in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra,
persecutions that I endured.
Yet from all these things the Lord delivered me.
In fact, all who want to live religiously in Christ Jesus
will be persecuted.
But wicked people and charlatans will go from bad to worse,
deceivers and deceived.
But you, remain faithful to what you have learned and believed,
because you know from whom you learned it,
and that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures,
which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation
through faith in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching,
for refutation, for correction,
and for training in righteousness,
so that one who belongs to God may be competent,
equipped for every good work.

PSALM

Psalm 119:157, 160, 161, 165, 166, 168

Response: O Lord, great peace have they who love your law.

Though my persecutors and my foes are many,
I turn not away from your decrees.
R. O Lord, great peace have they who love your law.
Permanence is your word’s chief trait;
each of your just ordinances is everlasting.
R. O Lord, great peace have they who love your law.
Princes persecute me without cause
but my heart stands in awe of your word. 
R. O Lord, great peace have they who love your law.
Those who love your law have great peace,
and for them there is no stumbling block.
R. O Lord, great peace have they who love your law.
I wait for your salvation, O Lord,
and your commands I fulfill.
R. O Lord, great peace have they who love your law.
I keep your precepts and your decrees,
for all my ways are before you.
R. O Lord, great peace have they who love your law.
 

GOSPEL

Mark 12:35-37

As Jesus was teaching in the temple area he said,
“How do the scribes claim that the Christ is the son of David?
David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said:
The Lord said to my lord,
‘Sit at my right hand
until I place your enemies under your feet.’
David himself calls him ‘lord’;
so how is he his son?”
The great crowd heard this with delight.

Daily Reflection

5th June 2026

Memorial of St Boniface, Bishop and Martyr

A saint’s life is paradoxical – sufferings and hardships of every kind await those who wish to follow the noble path of serving God and neighbour! How do saints manage to stay steadfast?

St. Paul, writing to Timothy explains what it means to follow Christ wholeheartedly. Beginning with his own example, he assures Timothy of two things – suffering is part of the mission and Jesus will deliver us from these sufferings. In spite of this he goes on to encourage Timothy to “remain faithful” to what he learned and believed. Paul encourages Timothy to use Scripture “for teaching, refutation, correction & training.”

The Gospel has Jesus quoting the Psalms to confute the myopic view of the scribes that the Messiah would descend from David. Using Scripture he points out that the Messiah will not just be of Davidic descent but greater than David, since David himself refers to the Messiah as Lord.

Perhaps what separates us from the saints is that they didn’t just read Scripture but allowed it to equip them “for every good work”.