A reading from the Book of Isaiah
10:5-7, 13b-16
Thus says the LORD:
Woe to Assyria! My rod in anger,
my staff in wrath.
Against an impious nation I send him,
and against a people under my wrath I order him
To seize plunder, carry off loot,
and tread them down like the mud of the streets.
But this is not what he intends,
nor does he have this in mind;
Rather, it is in his heart to destroy,
to make an end of nations not a few.
For he says:
“By my own power I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I am shrewd.
I have moved the boundaries of peoples,
their treasures I have pillaged,
and, like a giant, I have put down the enthroned.
My hand has seized like a nest
the riches of nations;
As one takes eggs left alone,
so I took in all the earth;
No one fluttered a wing,
or opened a mouth, or chirped!”
Will the axe boast against him who hews with it?
Will the saw exalt itself above him who wields it?
As if a rod could sway him who lifts it,
or a staff him who is not wood!
Therefore the Lord, the LORD of hosts,
will send among his fat ones leanness,
And instead of his glory there will be kindling
like the kindling of fire.
From the Gospel according to Matthew
11:25-27
At that time Jesus exclaimed:
“I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”
The action of the Holy Spirit is the source of the deepest inner joy. Jesus Himself experienced this particular “exultation in the Holy Spirit” when He spoke the words: “I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will” (Lk 10:21; cf. Mt 11:25–26). In the texts of Luke and Matthew, these are followed by Jesus’ words on the knowledge of the Father by the Son and of the Son by the Father: a knowledge which is communicated by the Son precisely to those “babes”. It is therefore the Holy Spirit who gives also to Jesus’ disciples not only the power of victory over evil, over the “demons” (Lk 10:17), but also the supernatural joy of discovering God and life in Him through His Son. The revelation of the Holy Spirit through the power of action that fills the whole of Christ’s mission will also accompany the apostles and disciples in the work they will carry out by divine mandate. Jesus Himself announces this to them: “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses . . . to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). (Saint John Paul II, Catechesis of 19 September 1990)
Gospel and Word of the Day – 15 July 2026 –
A reading from the Book of Isaiah
10:5-7, 13b-16
Thus says the LORD:
Woe to Assyria! My rod in anger,
my staff in wrath.
Against an impious nation I send him,
and against a people under my wrath I order him
To seize plunder, carry off loot,
and tread them down like the mud of the streets.
But this is not what he intends,
nor does he have this in mind;
Rather, it is in his heart to destroy,
to make an end of nations not a few.
For he says:
“By my own power I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I am shrewd.
I have moved the boundaries of peoples,
their treasures I have pillaged,
and, like a giant, I have put down the enthroned.
My hand has seized like a nest
the riches of nations;
As one takes eggs left alone,
so I took in all the earth;
No one fluttered a wing,
or opened a mouth, or chirped!”
Will the axe boast against him who hews with it?
Will the saw exalt itself above him who wields it?
As if a rod could sway him who lifts it,
or a staff him who is not wood!
Therefore the Lord, the LORD of hosts,
will send among his fat ones leanness,
And instead of his glory there will be kindling
like the kindling of fire.
From the Gospel according to Matthew
11:25-27
At that time Jesus exclaimed:
“I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”
The action of the Holy Spirit is the source of the deepest inner joy. Jesus Himself experienced this particular “exultation in the Holy Spirit” when He spoke the words: “I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will” (Lk 10:21; cf. Mt 11:25–26). In the texts of Luke and Matthew, these are followed by Jesus’ words on the knowledge of the Father by the Son and of the Son by the Father: a knowledge which is communicated by the Son precisely to those “babes”. It is therefore the Holy Spirit who gives also to Jesus’ disciples not only the power of victory over evil, over the “demons” (Lk 10:17), but also the supernatural joy of discovering God and life in Him through His Son. The revelation of the Holy Spirit through the power of action that fills the whole of Christ’s mission will also accompany the apostles and disciples in the work they will carry out by divine mandate. Jesus Himself announces this to them: “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses . . . to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). (Saint John Paul II, Catechesis of 19 September 1990)
A reading from the Book of Isaiah
10:5-7, 13b-16
Thus says the LORD:
Woe to Assyria! My rod in anger,
my staff in wrath.
Against an impious nation I send him,
and against a people under my wrath I order him
To seize plunder, carry off loot,
and tread them down like the mud of the streets.
But this is not what he intends,
nor does he have this in mind;
Rather, it is in his heart to destroy,
to make an end of nations not a few.
For he says:
“By my own power I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I am shrewd.
I have moved the boundaries of peoples,
their treasures I have pillaged,
and, like a giant, I have put down the enthroned.
My hand has seized like a nest
the riches of nations;
As one takes eggs left alone,
so I took in all the earth;
No one fluttered a wing,
or opened a mouth, or chirped!”
Will the axe boast against him who hews with it?
Will the saw exalt itself above him who wields it?
As if a rod could sway him who lifts it,
or a staff him who is not wood!
Therefore the Lord, the LORD of hosts,
will send among his fat ones leanness,
And instead of his glory there will be kindling
like the kindling of fire.
From the Gospel according to Matthew
11:25-27
At that time Jesus exclaimed:
“I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”
The action of the Holy Spirit is the source of the deepest inner joy. Jesus Himself experienced this particular “exultation in the Holy Spirit” when He spoke the words: “I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will” (Lk 10:21; cf. Mt 11:25–26). In the texts of Luke and Matthew, these are followed by Jesus’ words on the knowledge of the Father by the Son and of the Son by the Father: a knowledge which is communicated by the Son precisely to those “babes”. It is therefore the Holy Spirit who gives also to Jesus’ disciples not only the power of victory over evil, over the “demons” (Lk 10:17), but also the supernatural joy of discovering God and life in Him through His Son. The revelation of the Holy Spirit through the power of action that fills the whole of Christ’s mission will also accompany the apostles and disciples in the work they will carry out by divine mandate. Jesus Himself announces this to them: “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses . . . to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). (Saint John Paul II, Catechesis of 19 September 1990)