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Daily Reading

First Reading
Exodus 11:10—12:14

Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh; but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the Lord. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.

Psalm
Psalm 116:12-13, 15 and 16bc, 17-18

What shall I return to the Lord
    for all his bounty to me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation
    and call on the name of the Lord,
Precious in the sight of the Lord
    is the death of his faithful ones.
O Lord, I am your servant;
    I am your servant, the child of your serving girl.
    You have loosed my bonds.
I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
    and call on the name of the Lord.
I will pay my vows to the Lord
    in the presence of all his people,

Gospel Reading
Matthew 12:1-8

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 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 and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests. Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests in the temple break the sabbath and yet are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. But 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.”

Reflection

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus corrects the Pharisees with this theme of his ministry: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”

Every saint had a past, and every sinner has a future. That is key to Catholic spirituality. In the lives of every one of these heroes of the faith, there is some conversion. And every sinner—every one of us—has a future. That is why we soak in the mercy of God. 

There is a beautiful reference in the Psalms to oil running down upon your beard, upon the collar of your robe. The divine mercy is like that: poured out upon us, poured out without reservation—and not because it’s earned, because it can’t be earned. 

God doesn’t love us because we’re worthy. We’re worthy because he loves us. We don’t deserve his mercy, but we soak it in and thereby are transformed.

Gospel Reflections

Meditate on Daily Gospel Reflections from Bishop Robert Barron

15th week of Ordinary Time

Friday

July 18

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Thursday

July 17

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Wednesday

July 16

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Tuesday

July 15

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Monday

July 14

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Sunday

July 13

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14th week of Ordinary Time

Saturday

July 12

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Friday

July 11

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Thursday

July 10

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Wednesday

July 9

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Tuesday

July 8

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Monday

July 7

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Sunday

July 6

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13th week of Ordinary Time

Saturday

July 5

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Friday

July 4

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Thursday

July 3

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Wednesday

July 2

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Tuesday

July 1

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Monday

June 30

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Sunday

June 29

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Sts. Peter and Paul

12th week of Ordinary Time

Saturday

June 28

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Friday

June 27

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Most Sacred Heart

Thursday

June 26

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Wednesday

June 25

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Tuesday

June 24

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Birth of John the Baptist

Monday

June 23

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Sunday

June 22

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11th week of Ordinary Time

Saturday

June 21

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Friday

June 20

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Thursday

June 19

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Wednesday

June 18

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Tuesday

June 17

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Monday

June 16

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Sunday

June 15

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Trinity Sunday

10th week of Ordinary Time

Saturday

June 14

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Friday

June 13

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Thursday

June 12

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Wednesday

June 11

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Tuesday

June 10

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Monday

June 9

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Sunday

June 8

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7th week of Easter

Saturday

June 7

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Friday

June 6

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Thursday

June 5

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Wednesday

June 4

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Tuesday

June 3

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Monday

June 2

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Sunday

June 1

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