Reading 1
2 Kgs 19:9b-11, 14-21, 31-35a, 36
Sennacherib, king of Assyria, sent envoys to Hezekiah
with this message:
“Thus shall you say to Hezekiah, king of Judah:
‘Do not let your God on whom you rely deceive you
by saying that Jerusalem will not be handed over
to the king of Assyria.
You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done
to all other countries: they doomed them!
Will you, then, be saved?’”
Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it;
then he went up to the temple of the LORD,
and spreading it out before him,
he prayed in the LORD’s presence:
“O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned upon the cherubim!
You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth.
You have made the heavens and the earth.
Incline your ear, O LORD, and listen!
Open your eyes, O LORD, and see!
Hear the words of Sennacherib which he sent to taunt the living God.
Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations
and their lands, and cast their gods into the fire;
they destroyed them because they were not gods,
but the work of human hands, wood and stone.
Therefore, O LORD, our God, save us from the power of this man,
that all the kingdoms of the earth may know
that you alone, O LORD, are God.”
Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent this message to Hezekiah:
“Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel,
in answer to your prayer for help against Sennacherib, king of Assyria:
I have listened!
This is the word the LORD has spoken concerning him:
“‘She despises you, laughs you to scorn,
the virgin daughter Zion!
Behind you she wags her head,
daughter Jerusalem.
“‘For out of Jerusalem shall come a remnant,
and from Mount Zion, survivors.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.’
“Therefore, thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria:
‘He shall not reach this city, nor shoot an arrow at it,
nor come before it with a shield,
nor cast up siege-works against it.
He shall return by the same way he came,
without entering the city, says the LORD.
I will shield and save this city for my own sake,
and for the sake of my servant David.’”
That night the angel of the LORD went forth and struck down
one hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp.
So Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, broke camp,
and went back home to Nineveh.
Gospel
Mt 7:6, 12-14
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine,
lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.
“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the Law and the Prophets.
“Enter through the narrow gate;
for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction,
and those who enter through it are many.
How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life.
And those who find it are few.”
Meditation: Matthew 7:6,12-14
How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few. (Matthew 7:14)
Let’s face it. Jesus never promised that the Christian life would be easy. He never said we’d have a problem-free existence if we chose to follow him through that narrow gate. And we don’t! Every day we encounter temptations of all kinds: choices to love or to hate our neighbor, to help someone out or to pass them by, to obey God’s commands or to ignore them, to be instruments of peace and reconciliation or to promote division and separation. Some of us even face outright persecution because we have chosen the “narrow way” of Christ.
What should we do? How should we think about Jesus and the life he has given to us? Is it really worth it? If we were to ask this question of all the generations of Christians who have come before us, they would respond with a loud and grateful “Yes!” Many of them have walked the hard road and persisted through sufferings far greater than our own.
Why so great a response? Because they knew that Jesus was walking with them. This one fact makes all the difference between hopeless frustration and comfort, between defeat and victory.
Do you know that at every step you take, you are walking with Jesus? Can you believe that the Son of God has paved the way for you and gives you everything you need to follow him? As you walk the road that God has laid out for you, your life can be filled with meaning and purpose—if only because you are becoming an ever more powerful ambassador of Jesus and vessel of the Holy Spirit! Try living without Jesus and see if you have a greater sense of dignity and value. It doesn’t work, does it?
Jesus has promised that he will never leave you. Never! Even if you mess up terribly, he will stick with you. His mercy will cover you, and his strength will empower you. That’s how much he loves you!
“Thank you, Jesus, for promising to be with me to the end of time. Thank you for laying down your life for me. Help me to be faithful to you today, as you are faithful to me.”
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