Saturday, June 27
Saturday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time – Year A
First Reading – Lamentations 2:2, 10-14, 18-19
The Lord has destroyed without mercy all the habitations of Jacob; in his wrath he has broken down the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; he has brought down to the ground in dishonor the kingdom and its rulers.
The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence; they have cast dust on their heads and put on sackcloth; the maidens of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground.
My eyes are spent with weeping; my soul is in tumult; my heart is poured out in grief because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because infants and babies faint in the streets of the city.
They cry to their mothers, “Where is bread and wine?” as they faint like wounded men in the streets of the city, as their life is poured out on their mothers’ bosom.
What can I say for you, to what compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem?
What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion?
For vast as the sea is your ruin; who can restore you?
Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not exposed your iniquity to restore your fortunes, but have seen for you oracles false and misleading.
Cry aloud to the Lord! O daughter of Zion!
Let tears stream down like a torrent day and night!
Give yourself no rest, your eyes no respite!
Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches!
Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord!
Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint for hunger at the head of every street.
Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 74:1-2, 3-5, 6-7, 20-21
℟ Lord, forget not the souls of your poor ones.
O God, why do you cast us off for ever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?
Remember your congregation, which you have gotten of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage! Remember Mount Zion, where you have dwelt.
℟ Lord, forget not the souls of your poor ones.
Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins; the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!
Your foes have roared in the midst of your holy place; they set up their own signs for signs.
At the upper entrance they hacked the wooden trellis with axes.
℟ Lord, forget not the souls of your poor ones.
And then all its carved wood they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
They set your sanctuary on fire; to the ground they desecrated the dwelling place of your name.
℟ Lord, forget not the souls of your poor ones.
Have regard for your c covenant; for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
Let not the humble be put to shame; let the poor and needy praise your name.
℟ Lord, forget not the souls of your poor ones.
Alleluia – Matthew 8:17
℟ Alleluia!
This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.”
℟ Alleluia!
Gospel – Matthew 8:5-17
As he entered Caper′naum, a centurion came forward to him, begging him and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, in terrible distress.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion answered him, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard him, he marveled, and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.” And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.
And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother in law lying sick with a fever; he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and served him. That evening they brought to him many who were possessed with demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick. This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.”
Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition, Ignatius Press, Copyright ⓒ 2006.
