A reading from the Book of Isaiah
7:1-9
In the days of Ahaz, king of Judah, son of Jotham,
son of Uzziah, Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, king of Israel,
son of Remaliah, went up to attack Jerusalem,
but they were not able to conquer it.
When word came to the house of David
that Aram had allied itself with Ephraim,
the heart of the king and heart of the people trembled,
as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind.
Then the LORD said to Isaiah:
Go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub,
at the end of the conduit of the upper pool,
on the highway to the fuller’s field,
and say to him: Take care you remain calm and do not fear;
do not let your courage fail before these two stumps of smoldering brands,
the blazing anger of Rezin
and the Arameans and of the son of Remaliah—
because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah,
has planned evil against you. They say,
“Let us go up against Judah, tear it apart,
make it our own by force,
and appoint the son of Tabeel king there.”
Thus says the Lord GOD:
It shall not stand, it shall not be!
The head of Aram is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is Rezin;
The head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
Within sixty-five years,
Ephraim shall be crushed, no longer a nation.
Unless your faith is firm,
you shall not be firm!
From the Gospel according to Matthew
11:20-24
Then he began to reproach the towns where most
of his mighty deeds had been done,
since they had not repented.
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!
For if the mighty deeds done
in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon
on the day of judgment than for you.
And as for you, Capernaum:
‘Will you be exalted to heaven?
You will go down to the netherworld.’
For if the mighty deeds done in your midst
had been done in Sodom,
it would have remained until this day.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom on the day
of judgment than for you.”
At times the yearning we feel toward the Lord is too weak and it almost seems that God is silent; his promises of consolation seem far away and unreal to us (…). And so one is tempted to say that it is impossible to truly convert. How often we have heard this discouragement! “No, I can’t do it. I barely start and then I turn back”. And this is bad. But it is possible. It is possible. When you have this discouraging thought, do not remain there, because this is quicksand. It is quicksand: the quicksand of a mediocre existence. This is mediocrity. What can we do in these cases, when one would like to go but feels he or she cannot do it? First of all, remind ourselves that conversion is a grace: no one can convert by his or own strength. It is a grace that the Lord gives you, and thus we need to forcefully ask God for it. To ask God to convert us, that we can truly convert, to the degree in which we open ourselves up to the beauty, the goodness, the tenderness of God. Think about God’s tenderness. God is not a bad father, an unkind father, no. He is tender. He loves us so much, like the Good Shepherd, who searches for the last member of his flock. It is love, and this is conversion: a grace of God. Begin to walk, because it is he who moves you to walk, and you will see how he will arrive. Pray, walk, and you will always take a step forward. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 6 December 2020)
Gospel and Word of the Day – 14 July 2026 –
A reading from the Book of Isaiah
7:1-9
In the days of Ahaz, king of Judah, son of Jotham,
son of Uzziah, Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, king of Israel,
son of Remaliah, went up to attack Jerusalem,
but they were not able to conquer it.
When word came to the house of David
that Aram had allied itself with Ephraim,
the heart of the king and heart of the people trembled,
as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind.
Then the LORD said to Isaiah:
Go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub,
at the end of the conduit of the upper pool,
on the highway to the fuller’s field,
and say to him: Take care you remain calm and do not fear;
do not let your courage fail before these two stumps of smoldering brands,
the blazing anger of Rezin
and the Arameans and of the son of Remaliah—
because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah,
has planned evil against you. They say,
“Let us go up against Judah, tear it apart,
make it our own by force,
and appoint the son of Tabeel king there.”
Thus says the Lord GOD:
It shall not stand, it shall not be!
The head of Aram is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is Rezin;
The head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
Within sixty-five years,
Ephraim shall be crushed, no longer a nation.
Unless your faith is firm,
you shall not be firm!
From the Gospel according to Matthew
11:20-24
Then he began to reproach the towns where most
of his mighty deeds had been done,
since they had not repented.
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!
For if the mighty deeds done
in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon
on the day of judgment than for you.
And as for you, Capernaum:
‘Will you be exalted to heaven?
You will go down to the netherworld.’
For if the mighty deeds done in your midst
had been done in Sodom,
it would have remained until this day.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom on the day
of judgment than for you.”
At times the yearning we feel toward the Lord is too weak and it almost seems that God is silent; his promises of consolation seem far away and unreal to us (…). And so one is tempted to say that it is impossible to truly convert. How often we have heard this discouragement! “No, I can’t do it. I barely start and then I turn back”. And this is bad. But it is possible. It is possible. When you have this discouraging thought, do not remain there, because this is quicksand. It is quicksand: the quicksand of a mediocre existence. This is mediocrity. What can we do in these cases, when one would like to go but feels he or she cannot do it? First of all, remind ourselves that conversion is a grace: no one can convert by his or own strength. It is a grace that the Lord gives you, and thus we need to forcefully ask God for it. To ask God to convert us, that we can truly convert, to the degree in which we open ourselves up to the beauty, the goodness, the tenderness of God. Think about God’s tenderness. God is not a bad father, an unkind father, no. He is tender. He loves us so much, like the Good Shepherd, who searches for the last member of his flock. It is love, and this is conversion: a grace of God. Begin to walk, because it is he who moves you to walk, and you will see how he will arrive. Pray, walk, and you will always take a step forward. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 6 December 2020)
A reading from the Book of Isaiah
7:1-9
In the days of Ahaz, king of Judah, son of Jotham,
son of Uzziah, Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, king of Israel,
son of Remaliah, went up to attack Jerusalem,
but they were not able to conquer it.
When word came to the house of David
that Aram had allied itself with Ephraim,
the heart of the king and heart of the people trembled,
as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind.
Then the LORD said to Isaiah:
Go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub,
at the end of the conduit of the upper pool,
on the highway to the fuller’s field,
and say to him: Take care you remain calm and do not fear;
do not let your courage fail before these two stumps of smoldering brands,
the blazing anger of Rezin
and the Arameans and of the son of Remaliah—
because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah,
has planned evil against you. They say,
“Let us go up against Judah, tear it apart,
make it our own by force,
and appoint the son of Tabeel king there.”
Thus says the Lord GOD:
It shall not stand, it shall not be!
The head of Aram is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is Rezin;
The head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
Within sixty-five years,
Ephraim shall be crushed, no longer a nation.
Unless your faith is firm,
you shall not be firm!
From the Gospel according to Matthew
11:20-24
Then he began to reproach the towns where most
of his mighty deeds had been done,
since they had not repented.
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!
For if the mighty deeds done
in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon
on the day of judgment than for you.
And as for you, Capernaum:
‘Will you be exalted to heaven?
You will go down to the netherworld.’
For if the mighty deeds done in your midst
had been done in Sodom,
it would have remained until this day.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom on the day
of judgment than for you.”
At times the yearning we feel toward the Lord is too weak and it almost seems that God is silent; his promises of consolation seem far away and unreal to us (…). And so one is tempted to say that it is impossible to truly convert. How often we have heard this discouragement! “No, I can’t do it. I barely start and then I turn back”. And this is bad. But it is possible. It is possible. When you have this discouraging thought, do not remain there, because this is quicksand. It is quicksand: the quicksand of a mediocre existence. This is mediocrity. What can we do in these cases, when one would like to go but feels he or she cannot do it? First of all, remind ourselves that conversion is a grace: no one can convert by his or own strength. It is a grace that the Lord gives you, and thus we need to forcefully ask God for it. To ask God to convert us, that we can truly convert, to the degree in which we open ourselves up to the beauty, the goodness, the tenderness of God. Think about God’s tenderness. God is not a bad father, an unkind father, no. He is tender. He loves us so much, like the Good Shepherd, who searches for the last member of his flock. It is love, and this is conversion: a grace of God. Begin to walk, because it is he who moves you to walk, and you will see how he will arrive. Pray, walk, and you will always take a step forward. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 6 December 2020)