‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears.’
In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.’ Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, and said, ‘Please, O Lord, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.’ And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: ‘Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and will defend this city.
Now Isaiah had said, ‘Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.’ Hezekiah also had said, ‘What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?’
‘This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has promised: Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.’ So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.
At that time Jesus went through the cornfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck ears of corn and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, ‘Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.’ He said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the Temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the Temple is here. And if you had known what this means, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice”, you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.’
‘To know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.’
Brothers and Sisters: I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith — that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 119(118):9-10. 11-12. 13-14. ℟12b
Teach me, O Lord, your statutes.
How shall a youth remain pure on his way?
By obeying your word.
I seek you with all my heart;
let me not stray from your commands.
Teach me, O Lord, your statutes.
I treasure your word in my heart,
lest I sin against you.
Blest are you, O Lord;
teach me your statutes.
Teach me, O Lord, your statutes.
With my lips have I recounted
all the decrees of your mouth.
I rejoice in the way of your precepts,
as though all riches were mine.
Teach me, O Lord, your statutes.
Gospel Acclamation
Mt23:9,10
Alleluia, alleluia!
You have only one Father,
and he is in heaven;
you have only one Teacher,
the Christ.
Alleluia!
Gospel
Matthew 23:8-12
‘The greatest among you shall be your servant.’
At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, ‘You are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.’
Universalis podcast: The week ahead – from 19 to 25 July
Saint James and the pilgrim route to Compostela. Saint Mary Magdalene: Apostle to the Apostles, organiser of the caravan, and the one freed from seven devils. About devils: yours and mine, and how to deal with them. Saint Bridget of Sweden, patron saint of Europe. (22 minutes) Episode notes.
The readings on this page are from the English Standard Version, which is used at Mass in Great Britain. The Jerusalem Bible (which is used at Mass in much of the English-speaking world) will appear instead if you set this page to use a calendar from outside Great Britain. The New American Bible readings, which are used at Mass in the United States, are available in the Universalis apps, programs and downloads.