Mass Readings
Catholic Ireland
Liturgical Readings for : Monday, 14th July, 2025Léachtaí Gaeilge
Next Sunday's Readings
Monday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1
Christ warns his disciples that they will surely meet opposition but that he will always be there for them.
Memorial of St Camillus de Lellis, rough gambler, soldier, then priest, worker with sick people,
founded hospitals where others would not venture. Patron of nurses, hospitals and the sick. Died: 1614
C/f A short life of this saint can be found below todays’ Readings and Reflection.
FIRST READING
A reading from the Book of Exodus 1:8-14.22
We must take steps against their increasing any further.
There came to power in Egypt a new king who knew nothing of Joseph.
‘Look,’ he said to his subjects ‘These people, the sons of Israel, have become so numerous and strong that they are a threat to us. We must be prudent and take steps against their increasing any further, or if war should break out, they might add to the number of our enemies. They might take arms against us and so escape out of the country.’
Accordingly they put slave-drivers over the Israelites to wear them down under heavy loads. In this way they built the store-cities of Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh. But the more they were crushed, the more they increased and spread, and men came to dread the sons of Israel.
The Egyptians forced the sons of Israel into slavery, and made their lives unbearable with hard labour, work with clay and with brick, all kinds of work in the fields; they forced on them every kind of labour.
Pharaoh then gave his subjects this command: ‘Throw all the boys born to the Hebrews into the river, but let all the girls live.’
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 123: R/v 8
Response Our help is in the name of the Lord.
I. ‘If the Lord had not been on our side,’ this is Israel’s song.
‘If the Lord had not been on our side when men rose against us,
then would they have swallowed us alive when their anger was kindled. Response
2. Then would the waters have engulfed us, the torrent gone over us;
over our head would have swept the raging waters:
Blessed be the Lord who did not give us a prey to their teeth Response
3. Our life, like a bird, has escaped from the snare of the fowler.
Indeed the snare has been broken and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Response
Gospel Acclamation Acts 16: 14
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord, to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
or Mt 5: 10
Alleluia, alleluia!
Happy those who are persecuted in the cause of right,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew 10:34-11:1 Glory to you, O Lord.
It is not peace I have come to bring but a sword.
Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows:
‘Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth: it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword.
For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies will be those of his own household.
‘Anyone who prefers father or mother to me is not worthy of me.
Anyone who prefers son or daughter to me is not worthy of me.
Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me.
Anyone who finds his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.
‘Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me; and those who welcome me welcome the one who sent me.
‘Anyone who welcomes a prophet will have a prophet’s reward; and anyone who welcomes a holy man will have a holy man’s reward.
If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, then I tell you solemnly, he will most certainly not lose his reward.
When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Gospel Reflection Monday, Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time Matthew 10:34-11:1
I am often struck by Jesus’ reference to a ‘cup of cold water’ in today’s gospel reading. ‘If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones…’ A cup of cold water may seem very little, but on a baking hot day in the Middle East it would be seen as a very precious gift. Jesus is saying that whoever gives as little as a cup of cold water to someone in need of it will have an eternal reward. He is reminding us of the significance of small gestures. People of earlier generations were very aware that a little can go a long way. Because they had little, they were able to make it go a long way. It is also true that the little we give to someone can go a long way, in the sense that it can have an impact for good beyond what we might think.
In one of his parables, Jesus speaks of the mustard seed which becomes the largest shrub of all in which birds of the air nest. When we scatter even the smallest seed of goodness and generosity, the Lord can work powerfully through it. We don’t always have the resources or the energy or the health to undertake big projects, especially as we get older. Yet, like the widow in the gospel story who put two small coins into the Temple treasury and in doing so gave her all, the smallest gestures of loving kindness can reveal a large-hearted generosity. We can never underestimate the potential of the little good we might manage to do. There are many equivalents to the cup of cold water. The Lord delights in them all and promises that they will bring a great reward.
__________________________________
The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd. and used with the permission of the publishers. http://dltbooks.com/ The Scripture Reflection is made available with our thanks from Reflections on the Weekday Readings : Your word is a lamp for my feet and light for my path by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/
__________________
Saint of the Day: July 14, St Camillus de Lellis, priest
Summary of St Camillus de Lellis: As a young soldier, Camillus was rough tempered and a gambler who when he was twenty five was converted by St Philip Neri. He became a priest and worked for the sick. He founded an order, the ‘Servants of the Sick’ and a series of hospitals where many otherwise “incurable” patients could go.
The Camillians are a religious order founded by St Camillus who tried to “bear witness in the world to Christ’s ever-present love for the sick“ (Constitutions). Camillians serve in Italy, Europe, America and worldwide.
Patrick Duffy tells the story of their founder.
Soldier and a Gambling Addict
Born in Chieti in the Abruzzo region of Italy, as a young man Camillus joined the army first of Venice and then of Naples. But when his company was disbanded, he became addicted to playing cards and gambling. He lost everything he had and then got a job driving two asses at a building site for the Capuchins. He applied to become a novice, but was rejected because he had a running sore on his leg that was judged incurable. At this stage he saw the foolishness of his ways, repented and began to live a life of penance.
Care for the Sick
Camillus went to Rome and began to care for patients at the Hospital of St James for Incurables, where he had previously been a patient. When the administrators saw the quality of his work, they appointed him director of the hospital. He had the idea of getting people to care for the sick out of charity, and set up a house with two like-minded companions. They got financial support from some wealthy patrons and worked initially at the Hospital of the Holy Spirit in Rome. St Philip Neri (1515-95) helped Camillus spiritually. Despite all the help he got, Camillus found it difficult to put his project into effect, so he decided to study for the priesthood and was ordained a priest in 1584.
A Religious Congregation
Soon Camillus began to think of a religious congregation and a rule for a community was approved in 1586. Besides vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, they had a fourth vow, namely, to provide both physical and spiritual help to the sick, those infected with the plague, and to prisoners. The members of the order wore a black garment with a red cross on the chest and were urged to see and serve Christ in every sick person they met. Camillus opened a new house in Naples and sent members to nurse the wounded in battles in Croatia and in Hungary.
Professional Approach
Camillus insisted on professional standards of care – isolating those with infectious diseases, the provision of a good diet, always seeking a cure, as well as providing for their spiritual welfare. He also stressed that the last moments of a life are the most precious.
His Suffering and Death
Camillus himself suffered from a number of long-term illnesses, but despite this, spent most of his time in serving the sick and in prayer. He resigned from being the superior general of the order in 1607, but the order continued to expand both in the cities of Italy and in Hungary. He died in 1614 aged 64 and was buried in the Church of St Mary Magdalen in Rome. Pope Benedict XIV (Lambertini) canonised him in 1746.
Co-patron of Nurses
In 1930, Pope Pius XI named St Camillus de Lellis, together with St John of God, principal co-patron of nurses and of nurses’ associations.
____________________________
******************************
Memorable Sayings for Today
‘If you commit a sin and take pleasure in it, the pleasure passes but the sin remains.
But if you do something virtuous even though you are tired, the tiredness passes but the virtue remains.’
~ St. Camillus de Lellis ~
******************************