June 4, 2026 Thursday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time Gospel: Mark 12:28–34
Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. In some dioceses, for pastoral benefit, this feast is transferred to the Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. To accommodate those dioceses, this year we provide both the reflection for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ and that for Thursday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time.
The Gospel for Thursday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time is taken from the Gospel of Mark and recounts a dialogue between Jesus and a scribe. I would like to offer some reflections.
Saint Mark tells us that a scribe came to Jesus and asked Him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” (cf. Mark 12:28). We can see ourselves in this scribe, for sometimes we too think that by keeping just one of God’s commandments we can attain eternal life. But in Jesus’ view, the Ten Commandments are closely linked and inseparable; not one of them can be set aside. He did not come to abolish the Old Law but to fulfill it. Therefore, He cites a passage from Deuteronomy: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (cf. Deut 6:4–5). Then He quotes Leviticus: “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord” (cf. Lev 19:18). Finally, He summarizes: “The first is this: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (cf. Mark 12:29–31).
Today, each of us is called to be a Christian. Christ, rich in mercy, has proclaimed the Ten Commandments to us through His Church, founded upon Saint Peter. If we are guided by the Holy Spirit, we will no longer view God’s commandments according to the logic of this world—a logic that says God’s law is too profound and burdensome to bear. Rather, the Holy Spirit teaches us that God’s commandments are not a weight, but a duty we are capable of fulfilling. Now, let us pray together:
O God, whose providence never fails in its design, keep from us, we humbly beseech you, all that might harm us and grant all that works for our good. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever
June 4, 2026 Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ Gospel: John 6:51–58
Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. In some dioceses, for pastoral benefit, this feast is transferred to the Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. To accommodate those dioceses, this year we provide both the reflection for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ and that for Thursday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time.
The Gospel for the Solemnity is taken from the Gospel of John. In this passage, we see Jesus speaking to the crowds and the Jews about the Bread of Life. I would like to take this opportunity to offer some reflections.
We often understand our relationship with God according to our own limited perspectives. At times, like the Jews in John 6:51–52, we struggle to accept that what we receive from the hands of the priest during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is no longer ordinary wheat bread or wine, but the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ—given freely by Him to His Church out of His own will, on the eve of His Passion.
Today, if we approach the church with lively faith to participate in the Mass, we will no longer regard the Body and Blood consecrated through the full celebration of the Eucharistic liturgy—with the priest invoking the Holy Spirit in great faith—as mere unleavened bread and wine. For these are the very words Jesus spoke at the Last Supper. Then He took bread, broke it, and gave it to His apostles, saying: “Take this, all of you, and eat of it, for this is my body, which will be given up for you.” In the same way, He took the chalice, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying: “Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins” (cf. Matt 26:26–28). Elsewhere He said: “Do this in memory of me” (cf. Luke 22:19). When we receive this food from the priest’s hand, we become partakers of it. By sharing in the one Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are brought into communion with the Church spread throughout the world. If our conduct is conformed to Christ, guided by the Holy Spirit, and lived faithfully each day, then through our good words and deeds we shall merit the kingdom of heaven. Together with all creation freed from sin and death, and in the communion of saints, we shall enter into the inaccessible light and join the heavenly host in praising the infinite mercy of the Lord.
O God, who in this wonderful Sacrament have left us a memorial of your Passion, grant us, we pray, so to revere the sacred mysteries of your Body and Blood that we may always experience in ourselves the fruits of your redemption. Who live and reign with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
今天，我们偕同普世的教会，共同庆祝圣嘉禄·安加及同伴殉道的纪念日。按照圣人传记所载：安加（Lwanga）是巴干达部落（Baganda tribe）的族人，出生于布干达王国（Kingdom of Buganda），曾担任过巴干达国王，姆万加二世（Mwanga II）的皇家侍从，后来他被晋升为少校。1885年11月15日，由佩雷·吉罗（Pere Giraud）领受洗礼。由于担心基督徒的世界观会使他失去对自己臣民的专权，姆万加二世坚持要求所有皈依基督的人放弃他们的信仰，并于1885年至1887年处决了许多圣公会信徒和天主教徒，其中也包括圣嘉禄·安加（St. Charles Lwanga）和其他在宫廷内任职的官员。教宗本笃十五世在1920年宣布圣嘉禄·安加（St. Charles Lwanga）为真福，教宗保禄六世于1964年10月18日，梵蒂冈第二届大公会议期间，将圣嘉禄·安加（St. Charles Lwanga）及其同伴一起列入圣人名册。
今天，我們偕同普世的教會，共同慶祝聖嘉祿·安加及同伴殉道的紀念日。按照聖人傳記所載：安加（Lwanga）是巴幹達部落（Baganda tribe）的族人，出生于布幹達王國（Kingdom of Buganda），曾擔任過巴幹達國王，姆萬加二世（Mwanga II）的皇家侍從，後來他被晉升為少校。1885年11月15日，由佩雷·吉羅（Pere Giraud）領受洗禮。由於擔心基督徒的世界觀會使他失去對自己臣民的專權，姆萬加二世堅持要求所有皈依基督的人放棄他們的信仰，並於1885年至1887年處決了許多聖公會信徒和天主教徒，其中也包括聖嘉祿·安加（St. Charles Lwanga）和其他在宮廷內任職的官員。教宗本篤十五世在1920年宣佈聖嘉祿·安加（St. Charles Lwanga）為真福，教宗保祿六世於1964年10月18日，梵蒂岡第二屆大公會議期間，將聖嘉祿·安加（St. Charles Lwanga）及其同伴一起列入聖人名冊。
June 3, 2026 Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions Gospel: Mark 12:18–27
Today, together with the universal Church, we celebrate the memorial of the martyrdom of Saint Charles Lwanga and his companions. According to his account, Charles Lwanga was a member of the Baganda tribe, born in the Kingdom of Buganda. He served as a royal page to King Mwanga II of Buganda and was later promoted to the rank of chief. On November 15, 1885, he received Baptism from Père Giraud. Fearing that the Christian worldview would undermine his absolute authority over his subjects, King Mwanga II demanded that all converts renounce their faith. Between 1885 and 1887, he ordered the execution of many Anglican and Catholic believers, including Saint Charles Lwanga and other officials serving at the royal court. Pope Benedict XV beatified Saint Charles Lwanga in 1920. Pope Paul VI canonized him, along with his companions, on October 18, 1964, during the Second Vatican Council.
The Gospel passage for today, taken from the Gospel of Mark, recounts a dialogue between Jesus and the Sadducees. I would like to offer some reflections based on this text.
Like the Sadducees, we often view our relationship with God through the lens of this world. In the eyes of the Sadducees, it seemed perfectly natural that if a man died leaving his wife childless, his brother should marry her to raise up offspring for the deceased. They held that since Moses was the servant of God, the law he promulgated must be divine law. Thus, when Moses wrote in Deuteronomy: “If brothers live together and one of them dies without a son, the widow shall not marry outside the family; the husband’s brother shall go to her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a brother-in-law. The firstborn son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother, so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel” (cf. Deut 25:5–6), they assumed that even after the resurrection from the dead, the marriage bonds formed in this life would still hold.
From Jesus’ response to the Sadducees, we see that He invites them—and us—to recognize that the temporal dimension in which we now live is not the only one. There exists another dimension, no longer subject to death, where we will fully manifest our identity as children of God. Hearing Jesus’ simple yet profound words about life beyond death brings us deep consolation and hope—a hope urgently needed in our own time, an age rich in knowledge of the universe but poor in wisdom concerning eternal life. Life belongs to God. God loves us and cares deeply for us, even uniting His name with ours. Through Baptism and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, we are united to Christ and become children of God. Our minds must then be conformed to the mind of Christ, viewing ourselves and the world according to the worldview and values of God’s kingdom, living in the light and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
O God, who have made the blood of Martyrs the seed of Christians, mercifully grant that the field which is your Church, watered by the blood shed by Saints Charles Lwanga and his companions, may be fertile and always yield you an abundant harvest. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
全属于祢 
您必须登录才能发表评论。