Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc.
11TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 3 / (White)
St. Aloysius Gonzaga, religious
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 132: 11, 12, 13-14, 17-18: The Lord has chosen Zion for his dwelling.
1st Reading: 2 Kings 11: 1-4, 9-18, 20
When Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son had died, she was determined to wipe out all the descendants of the king.But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram and sister of Ahaziah, took Joash, her nephew, and brought him away from among the king’s sons who were about to be killed, and put him with his wet nurse in the bedroom. Thus she hid him from Athaliah, so that the boy was saved. And Joash remained hidden in the house of Yahweh for six years while Athaliah reigned over the land.
In the seventh year, Jehoiada the chief priest, summoned the offi cers of the royal guard and of the Carites to the house of Yahweh. After concluding a pact with them under oath, he showed them the king’s son.
The commanders of the guards did what Jehoiada the priest had told them to do; and they showed up with all their men, those who were to go off duty on the Sabbath as well as those who were to come on duty on that day. Jehoiada entrusted to the officers the spears and shields of king David which were in the house of Yahweh. And then the guards stood from the southern corner of the house to the north, surrounding the altar and the house of Yahweh.
Then Jehoiada, the priest, brought out the king’s son, crowned him and put the bracelets on him, then proclaimed and consecrated him king. All clapped their hands, shouting and crying out, “Long live the king!”
When Athaliah heard the noise of the people, she approached the crowd surrounding the house of Yahweh. The king was standing by the pillar, according to the custom, and the officers and the trumpeters were with him. The people were filled with joy and they were blowing trumpets. On seeing this, Athaliah tore her clothes and cried out, “Treason, treason!”
Jehoiada the priest commanded the officers, “Surround her and bring her out to the courtyard, and kill anyone who tries to defend her.” He gave this order, because he thought, “She should not die in the house of Yahweh.”
They brought her out, and when they reached the palace of the king, by the horses’ entrance, there, they killed her.
Jehoiada made a Covenant between Yahweh and the king and the people so they would be the people of Yahweh. All the citizens went to the temple of Baal and destroyed it. They broke the altars and the images into pieces, and killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, before his altar.
All the citizens were happy and the city was at peace. Now regarding Athaliah, she had died by the sword in the king’s palace.
Gospel: Matthew 6: 19-23
Do not store up treasures for yourself here on earth, where moth and rust destroy it, and where thieves can steal it. Store up treasures for yourself with God, where no moth or rust can destroy it, nor thief come and steal it. For where your treasures is, there also will your heart be.
The lamp of the body is the eye; if your eyes are sound, your whole body will be full of light. If your eyes are diseased, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
REFLECTION:
“Spring of our soul.”
The sixteenth letter in the Hebrew Alphabet is called ayin, also the Hebrew word for “eye.” It is also the Hebrew word for “spring.”
Symbolically, our eyes are the spring of our soul. It is in the way we see things that we can enrich ourselves.
On the one hand, for example, if we are optimistic, we will be able to see possibilities. On the other hand, if our perspective is negative, we would always see negativities. Perspective matters. Our dispositions in life with their corresponding actions will spring up from the way we look at life.
Today’s Gospel teaches us that our true treasure depends on our perspective.
This same Gospel passage tells us that the lamp of our body is our eye. Our life will only be as sound as our perspective. And if our heart is the storeroom of our true and untarnished treasure, we must guard it and strive to keep it clean.
What is inside the heart is normally manifested by the lips. We also need to guard our lips. The person who truly sees tends to be quiet and more reflective. Ayin is also one of the few letters in Hebrew Alphabet that tends to quiet.
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