Your Love, our Love - 07-07-2026
Tuesday of the Fourteenth week in Ordinary Time
First Reading
Hos 8,4-7.11-13.
Thus says the LORD: They made kings, but not by my authority; they established princes, but without my approval. With their silver and gold they made idols for themselves, to their own destruction.
Cast away your calf, O Samaria! my wrath is kindled against them; How long will they be unable to attain innocence in Israel?
The work of an artisan no god at all, Destined for the flames-- such is the calf of Samaria!
When they sow the wind, they shall reap the whirlwind; The stalk of grain that forms no ear can yield no flour; Even if it could, strangers would swallow it.
When Ephraim made many altars to expiate sin, his altars became occasions of sin.
Though I write for him my many ordinances, they are considered as a stranger's.
Though they offer sacrifice, immolate flesh and eat it, the LORD is not pleased with them. He shall still remember their guilt and punish their sins; they shall return to Egypt.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 115(113B),3-4.5-6.7ab-8.9-10.
Our God is in heaven;
whatever he wills, he does.
Their idols are silver and gold,
the handiwork of men.
They have mouths but speak not;
they have eyes but see not;
they have ears but hear not;
they have noses but smell not.
They have hands but feel not;
they have feet but walk not.
Their makers shall be like them,
everyone that trusts in them.
The house of Israel trusts in the LORD,
who is their help and shield.
The house of Aaron trusts in the LORD,
who is their help and shield.
Gospel
Matt 9,32-38.
A demoniac who could not speak was brought to Jesus,
and when the demon was driven out the mute person spoke. The crowds were amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel."
But the Pharisees said, "He drives out demons by the prince of demons."
Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness.
At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest."
YOUCAT Reflection
273 Does the Church still practice exorcism?
At every Baptism a so-called simple exorcism is performed, a prayer in which the person being baptized is taken away from the devil and is strengthened against the "principalities and powers" that Jesus overcame. Major exorcism is a prayer offered by Jesus' authority and in his strength through which a baptized Christian is delivered from the influence and power of the devil; the Church rarely uses this prayer, and only after the most rigorous examination.
The depiction of "exorcisms" in Hollywood films for the most part does not reflect the truth about Jesus and the Church. It was often reported about Jesus that he drove out demons. He had power over evil principalities and powers and could deliver men from them. To the apostles Jesus gave "authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity" (Mt 10,1). The Church does the same today whenever an authorized priest pronounces the prayer of exorcism over a person who requests it. First, however, the possibility must be excluded that the phenomenon is psychological in nature (a psychiatrist is competent in such matters). An exorcism wards off spiritual temptation and oppression and delivers from the power of the evil one.