Friday, June 17, 2011 (Weekday)

READINGS FOR TODAY
First Reading: 2 Corinthians 11:18, 21-30
18      since many boast of worldly things, I too will boast.)
21     To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that! But whatever any one dares to boast of -- I am speaking as a fool -- I also dare to boast of that.
22     Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.
23     Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one -- I am talking like a madman -- with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.
24     Five times I have received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.
25     Three times I have been beaten with rods; once I was stoned. Three times I have been shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been adrift at sea;
26     on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brethren;
27     in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
28     And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches.
29     Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?
30     If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

Psalms: Psalm 34:2-7
2      My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and be glad.
3     O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!
4     I sought the LORD, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.
5     Look to him, and be radiant; so your faces shall never be ashamed.
6     This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
7     The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.

Gospel: Matthew 6:19-23
19      "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal,
20     but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21     For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22     "The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light;
23     but if your eye is not sound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

REFLECTION OF THE DAY
People who change their way of life and begin to think about spiritual progress also begin to suffer from the tongues of detractors. Whoever has not yet suffered this trial has not yet made progress, and whoever is not ready to suffer it does not even endeavor to progress.
-- St. Augustine