"Remember, I am with you always to the end of the age" (Mt 28:20)
1. MAKE THE † SIGN OF THE CROSS THEN SAY—"May the Word of the Lord be on my mind, on my lips, and in my heart."

2. COMPOSITION OF PLACE—

"VISIO DIVINA" OR SEEING WITH HEART'S EYES (Optional)

Use this image of Joseph The Carpenter with child Jesus by Georges de La Tour. The experience of beholding a La Tour is like looking at the sunset; your eyes are glued to the dimming sun. Sit down and quietly gaze and marvel at this masterpiece by someone who went through a similar crisis. Ten years after painting this in 1652, Georges and his family perished in an epidemic in Lunéville France. GUIDED MEDITATION—1—Does it mirror or evoke any feeling of the darkness surrounding you these days? Focus on your breathing and feel your own heart beat; listen.—2—Move your attention towards the candle light. Feel in your eyes the warmth. Look at those dirty fingernails. Ask to be cleansed.—3—Notice too the straight flame unperturbed by Joseph's breath. Imagine the heart of God beating and aflame with divine love for you.—4—Join in! The light source leads the way as you enter the scene. The light is veiled and unveiled. Move close to where the light is unveiled in Jesus' glowing face. Likewise, notice that you are moving away from the cast shadows. Look at that face aglow with a child's smile. Thank him briefly.—5—Now, tell Jesus quietly your heart's desires. Imagine his gaze shifting on you. Jesus says "BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD" (Ps 46:10). Use this image as a screen saver.

Readings at Mass - 27 Jun 2026

Here is your Readings at Mass page for 27 Jun 2026: Saturday of week 12 in Ordinary Time.

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Saturday 27 June 2026

Saturday of week 12 in Ordinary Time 
  or Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop, Doctor 
  or Saturday memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary 

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

Readings at Mass

First reading
Lamentations 2:2,10-14,18-19

Cry aloud to the Lord, daughter of Zion

The Lord has pitilessly destroyed
  all the homes of Jacob;
in his displeasure he has shattered
  the strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
he has thrown to the ground,
  he has left accursed the kingdom and its rulers.
Mutely they sit on the ground,
  the elders of the daughter of Zion;
they have put dust on their heads,
  and wrapped themselves in sackcloth.
The virgins of Jerusalem hang their heads
  down to the ground.
My eyes wasted away with weeping,
  my entrails shuddered,
my liver spilled on the ground
  at the ruin of the daughters of my people,
as children, mere infants, fainted
  in the squares of the Citadel.
They kept saying to their mothers,
  ‘Where is the bread?’
as they fainted like wounded men
  in the squares of the City,
as they poured out their souls
  on their mothers’ breasts.
How can I describe you, to what compare you,
  daughter of Jerusalem?
Who can rescue and comfort you,
  virgin daughter of Zion?
For huge as the sea is your affliction;
  who can possibly cure you?
The visions your prophets had on your behalf
  were delusive, tinsel things,
they never pointed out your sin,
  to ward off your exile.
The visions they proffered you were false,
  fallacious, misleading.
Cry aloud, then, to the Lord,
  groan, daughter of Zion;
let your tears flow like a torrent,
  day and night;
give yourself no relief,
  grant your eyes no rest.
Up, cry out in the night-time,
  in the early hours of darkness;
pour your heart out like water
  before the Lord.
Stretch out your hands to him
  for the lives of your children
who faint with hunger
  at the entrance to every street.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 73(74):1-7,20-21
Do not forget your poor servants for ever.
Why, O God, have you cast us off for ever?
  Why blaze with anger at the sheep of your pasture?
Remember your people whom you chose long ago,
  the tribe you redeemed to be your own possession,
  the mountain of Zion where you made your dwelling.
Do not forget your poor servants for ever.
Turn your steps to these places that are utterly ruined!
  The enemy has laid waste the whole of the sanctuary.
Your foes have made uproar in your house of prayer:
  they have set up their emblems, their foreign emblems,
  high above the entrance to the sanctuary.
Do not forget your poor servants for ever.
Their axes have battered the wood of its doors.
  They have struck together with hatchet and pickaxe.
O God, they have set your sanctuary on fire:
  they have razed and profaned the place where you dwell.
Do not forget your poor servants for ever.
Remember your covenant; every cave in the land
  is a place where violence makes its home.
Do not let the oppressed return disappointed;
  let the poor and the needy bless your name.
Do not forget your poor servants for ever.
Gospel Acclamation cf.2Tim1:10
Alleluia, alleluia!
Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death
and he has proclaimed life through the Good News.
Alleluia!
Or: Mt8:17
Alleluia, alleluia!
He took our sicknesses away,
and carried our diseases for us.
Alleluia!
Gospel Matthew 8:5-17

'I am not worthy to have you under my roof: give the word, and my servant will be healed'

When Jesus went into Capernaum a centurion came up and pleaded with him. ‘Sir,’ he said ‘my servant is lying at home paralysed, and in great pain.’ ‘I will come myself and cure him’ said Jesus. The centurion replied, ‘Sir, I am not worthy to have you under my roof; just give the word and my servant will be cured. For I am under authority myself, and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man: Go, and he goes; to another: Come here, and he comes; to my servant: Do this, and he does it.’ When Jesus heard this he was astonished and said to those following him, ‘I tell you solemnly, nowhere in Israel have I found faith like this. And I tell you that many will come from east and west to take their places with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of heaven; but the subjects of the kingdom will be turned out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.’ And to the centurion Jesus said, ‘Go back, then; you have believed, so let this be done for you.’ And the servant was cured at that moment.
  And going into Peter’s house Jesus found Peter’s mother-in-law in bed with fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.
  That evening they brought him many who were possessed by devils. He cast out the spirits with a word and cured all who were sick. This was to fulfil the prophecy of Isaiah:
He took our sicknesses away and carried our diseases for us.
Copyright © 1996-2026 Universalis Publishing Limited: see universalis.com. Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible are published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Hodder & Stoughton and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. Text of the Psalms: Copyright © 1963, The Grail (England). Used with permission of A.P. Watt Ltd. All rights reserved. The English translation of the Psalm Responses from “Lectionary for Mass” © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL). Excerpts from the English translation of “The Roman Missal” © 2010, ICEL. All rights reserved.

Calendar used: Philippines

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Featured

3. 'TODAY, IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS'—EVER IN SCRIPTURE, IT IS THE HEART THAT PRAYS. In today's featured Gospel reading, what word or phrase from God speaks to me?—PONDER—LISTEN—THANK—SURRENDER. I contemplate God's word and then end with the OUR FATHER...

Nota bene: Featured at 12:00 AM Philippine Time (PHT) +0800 UTC are the readings for the day.
4. "FATHER, WE THANK YOU FOR SPEAKING TO US TODAY THROUGH YOUR HOLY WORD."
“Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32).

†FINAL BLESSING

"MAY ALMIGHTY GOD BLESS US, IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN." The sign of the cross † strengthens us in temptations and difficulties (CCC 2157). Wherever you are be mindful of your interior silence. "If we do not understand silence, we do not understand God."

Optional/Alternative Prayer Exercise

PRAY AS YOU GO [www.prayasyou.org]

Go To †8thworker

Lectio Divina: The three concentric circles of Divine Reading

I. The first outermost circle–the mind–which is the first place or vessel of the Word. It is said that "Empty vessels make the most sound" so feed your mind with the words of Scripture and let it reverberate–never straining to "study or solve." But, first, it might be good to empty your mind of other concerns. When ready, slowly read and pause to "listen" to the echoes by remembering a word or a phrase from what you read. Be reverent towards the Word of God that is expressed in human words and fashioned in the light of the same Spirit through whom it was written (cf. DV 12).

II. It is not just the mind that is fed by the Word of God. Move to the second inner circle–the mouth, the "door" to our enteric nervous system which is commonly called gut. When we were still in the womb of our mothers both our gut and our brain originated from the same clump of tissue called the neural crest. One section turned into the brain between our ears and another section turned into the "second brain" or one's gut where one half of all our nerve cells are located. One can "think" through the gut. Our capacity for feeling and expressing emotions depend primarily on it and, only secondarily, the brain. There is a Native American proverb which says, “Listen or your tongue will make you deaf.” Like the mind, the mouth needs quieting down too. They are like Siamese twins; when one is sick, the other may also be sick. The reason you do not hear others' feelings or even your own emotions is because your busy tongue has made you deaf.

III. Only after we have quieted down our two brains that we can move into the third innermost circle–the heart. The opening words of the Rule of St Benedict says, “Listen with the ear of the heart.” What does it mean to listen with the ear of the heart? Once, I got a feedback from one of my silent retreatants who thanked me for listening not only to words but to movements of the heart. It dawned on me that it does make a big difference to listen in this way. As always in the Scripture, it is the heart that prays. Deep in the heart, prayer happens. So allow the "ears of your heart"–to do their work. It is a difficult and challenging journey though to listen with the heart if it is not emptied, e.g., of one's own assumptions, prejudices and past hurts. However, this is the most privileged place to receive the Word of Scripture. This innermost place of prayer is what the desert fathers and mothers call “purity of heart” where we come face to face with God. "Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O LORD, You know it all" (Ps 139:4). Although God knows already what you might have there in your heart, talk to Him and listen reverently to His words of consolation.