DAILY READINGS

DAILY MASS READINGS

*Thursday 18 June 2026*

*Thursday of week 11 in Ordinary Time*

*Liturgical Colour: Green. Year: A(II)*

*Readings at Mass*

________

*First reading*
*Ecclesiasticus 48:1-15*

The spirit of Elijah fills Elisha

The prophet Elijah arose like a fire,
his word flaring like a torch.
It was he who brought famine on the people,
and who decimated them in his zeal.
By the word of the Lord, he shut up the heavens,
he also, three times, brought down fire.
How glorious you were in your miracles, Elijah!
Has anyone reason to boast as you have? –
rousing a corpse from death,
from Sheol by the word of the Most High;
dragging kings down to destruction,
and high dignitaries from their beds;
hearing reproof on Sinai,
and decrees of punishment on Horeb;
anointing kings as avengers,
and prophets to succeed you;
taken up in the whirlwind of fire,
in a chariot with fiery horses;
designated in the prophecies of doom
to allay God’s wrath before the fury breaks,
to turn the hearts of fathers towards their children,
and to restore the tribes of Jacob,
Happy shall they be who see you,
and those who have fallen asleep in love;
for we too will have life.

Elijah was shrouded in the whirlwind,
and Elisha was filled with his spirit;
throughout his life no ruler could shake him,
and no one could subdue him.
No task was too hard for him,
and even in death his body prophesied.
In his lifetime he performed wonders,
and in death his works were marvellous.

*Commentary*

*The Book of Ben Sira or Ecclesiasticus is one of the Wisdom books of the Bible, written in the early second century before Christ. The author was devoted to the tradition of the Law, and the final part of the Book is a eulogy of the great men of Israel. In this reading we hear about both Elijah and Elisha*.
*Ben Sira runs through the most important events of the ministries of both of them. In the eulogy of Elijah the accent is on the wonders worked by the prophet, but also on his message of warning, ‘to allay God’s wrath before the fury breaks’. The accent is on the reproofs given by the prophet. In the shorter passage on Elisha, Ben Sira shows that the prophet’s role was more political than that of his predecessor: ‘no ruler could shake him’. Elijah stands more apart from politics, and criticises Ahab and Jezebel, whereas Elisha mixes in and orders the appointment of new rulers (though he is said to receive this commission from Elijah)*.
*Writing after the disaster of the Babylonian Exile, it is significant that Ben Sira ends his eulogy with the sad reflection that the warnings of both prophets went unheeded. As the Deuteronomic history also shows, disaster was approaching*

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*Responsorial Psalm*
*Psalm 96(97):1-7*

Rejoice, you just, in the Lord.

The Lord is king, let earth rejoice,
let all the coastlands be glad.
Cloud and darkness are his raiment;
his throne, justice and right.

Rejoice, you just, in the Lord.

A fire prepares his path;
it burns up his foes on every side.
His lightnings light up the world,
the earth trembles at the sight.

Rejoice, you just, in the Lord.

The mountains melt like wax
before the Lord of all the earth.
The skies proclaim his justice;
all peoples see his glory.

Rejoice, you just, in the Lord.

Let those who serve idols be ashamed,
those who boast of their worthless gods.
All you spirits, worship him.

Rejoice, you just, in the Lord.

________

*Gospel Acclamation*
*1S3:9,Jn6:68*

Alleluia, alleluia!
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening:
you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!

Or:
Rm8:15

Alleluia, alleluia!
The spirit you received is the spirit of sons,
and it makes us cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’
Alleluia!

________

*Gospel*
*Matthew 6:7-15*

How to pray

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘In your prayers do not babble as the pagans do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard. Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask him. So you should pray like this:

‘Our Father in heaven,
may your name be held holy,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us.
And do not put us to the test,
but save us from the evil one.

‘Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours; but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either.’

*Commentary*

*Matthew puts the Lord’s Prayer right in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, interrupting his long passage on doing good works in secret. Since the Sermon on the Mount is Matthew’s gathering of Jesus’ teaching on conditions for entering the Kingdom of Heaven, one could say that he deliberately puts this in the very centre of the conditions*
*The Lord’s Prayer exists in several slightly different versions, not only in Matthew, Luke and an ancient, perhaps first-century, Christian document, The Didache, but also somewhat more differently among Jewish prayers. The prayer begins with an invocation, and then divides into two halves, each of three requests, the first three regarding God, the second three regarding Christian disciples. The invocation differs in Matthew (‘Our Father in heaven’) and Luke (simply ‘Father’). The latter has a lovely warmth and simplicity, like Jesus’ prayer, ‘Abba, Father’ in Gethsemane. ‘Abba’ is not, as some have thought, a childish word like ‘Daddy’, but is the warm and respectful greeting from an adult member of the family. Perhaps Matthew added ‘Our’ to make it a community prayer, and ‘in heaven’ to avoid confusion with an earthly father*.
*The three different petitions about God are really variants of the same prayer. The central petition, ‘may your kingship come’, is a prayer for the completion of God’s plan, may the kingship of God be fulfilled, an eschatological yearning that God’s sovereignty over the world be totally accepted and unimpeded. The Pharisees thought this would be the case when the Law was perfectly obeyed. Christians might well agree, though with a different interpretation of what this obedience would be. The first petition, ‘may your name be held holy’, is similar, a prayer that the sacred, unpronounceable Name, the LORD, may be honoured and revered as it should be. It is the way Ezekiel 36.20-23 describes the complete vindication of God’s name and honour at the re-establishment of God’s people in a free Jerusalem. It never really occurred at the return from Exile, for Jerusalem continued to be harassed and dominated by foreign powers. The third petition (not given by Luke) is a typically Matthaean formula; he often stresses that it is not enough to cry ‘Lord, Lord’ without actually doing the will of the Father. It also forms Jesus’ second, heartfelt prayer in Gethsemane, ‘may your will be done’*
*Then we turn to human needs. First, to keep us fed – not just on bread, for the Hebrew word for bread is often used more widely for food in general. Second, that dangerous prayer for forgiveness on condition that we forgive others – a petition which must always be accompanied with searching our own consciousness for forgiveness of others. This again is the central petition of the three, and is further stressed by Matthew by repetition at the end of the prayer, and by the parable of the Unforgiving Debtor. Finally, the two complementary prayers, ‘lead us not into trials’ and ‘deliver us from evil’ – this may be understood either of the abstract entity ‘evil’ or the personification of evil, ‘the Evil One’*