Monday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
Reading I 2 Kings 17:5-8, 13-15a, 18
Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, occupied the whole land
and attacked Samaria, which he besieged for three years.
In the ninth year of Hoshea, king of Israel
the king of Assyria took Samaria,
and deported the children of Israel to Assyria,
setting them in Halah, at the Habor, a river of Gozan,
and the cities of the Medes.
This came about because the children of Israel sinned against the LORD,
their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt,
from under the domination of Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
and because they venerated other gods.
They followed the rites of the nations
whom the Lord had cleared out of the way of the children of Israel
and the kings of Israel whom they set up.
And though the LORD warned Israel and Judah
by every prophet and seer,
“Give up your evil ways and keep my commandments and statutes,
in accordance with the entire law which I enjoined on your fathers
and which I sent you by my servants the prophets,”
they did not listen, but were as stiff-necked as their fathers,
who had not believed in the LORD, their God.
They rejected his statutes,
the covenant which he had made with their fathers,
and the warnings which he had given them, till,
in his great anger against Israel,
the LORD put them away out of his sight.
Only the tribe of Judah was left.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 60:3, 4-5, 12-13
R. (7b) Help us with your right hand, O Lord, and answer us.
O God, you have rejected us and broken our defenses;
you have been angry; rally us!
R. Help us with your right hand, O Lord, and answer us.
You have rocked the country and split it open;
repair the cracks in it, for it is tottering.
You have made your people feel hardships;
you have given us stupefying wine.
R. Help us with your right hand, O Lord, and answer us.
Have not you, O God, rejected us,
so that you go not forth, O God, with our armies?
Give us aid against the foe,
for worthless is the help of men.
R. Help us with your right hand, O Lord, and answer us.
Alleluia Hebrews 4:12
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The word of God is living and effective,
able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Matthew 7:1-5
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Stop judging, that you may not be judged.
For as you judge, so will you be judged,
and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?
How can you say to your brother,
‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’
while the wooden beam is in your eye?
You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”
- Readings for the Optional Memorial of Saint John Fisher, Bishop and Saint Thomas More, Martyrs
- Readings for the Optional Memorial of Saint Paulinus of Nola, Bishop
Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
June 22, 2026 // Monday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time // Optional Memorial of Saint John Fisher, Bishop and Saint Thomas More, Martyrs // Optional Memorial of Saint Paulinus of Nola, Bishop
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 7:1-5
Reflect on the Word //
Most days the beam in my own eye makes itself apparent before breakfast is cleared away. And somehow, today’s beam is always completely different from yesterday’s. There is no shortage of the ways in which I need to evaluate my own shortcomings, be they interior or in my outward actions—and this is all before I even look at the Internet!
Jesus is clearly calling me to a higher degree of discipleship when He implores me to “remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5). Jesus is calling all of us to Confession and acceptance of His grace and correction. It’s a call to action, to great holiness—not just a call to introspection. And it frees us to support those around us as they strive to root sin out of their own lives.
We see this in the lives of the Saints like Saint Thomas More, whom we remember today. He let the Lord perfect him, and he was courageous in calling out the error and sin he saw in the life and actions of King Henry VIII. Saint Thomas More did not act as if the errors and sins of the king were not his problem, but bravely called the king to repentance, even when he knew it could cost him his life.
Helping others recognize truth and acknowledge their sin only works if we ourselves live a life of holy humility. How can we know whether or not we are on the road to that holy humility? We might begin by asking ourselves if we’re willing to sacrifice for the truth to the degree Saint Thomas More did—to the point of martyrdom.
Relate to the Lord // What speck have you been focusing on in your neighbor’s eye? Where do you need to remove the beam from your own?
Christy Isinger is a cradle Catholic, wife, and mother of five teenagers from western Canada. During the short Canadian summers she tries to garden and grow flowers, while in the long cold winters she reads a lot of books, writes, and homeschools. Her Substack newsletter can be found at christyisinger.substack.com.
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