Daily Readings for Wednesday July 07, 2010

Reading 1, Hos 10:1-3, 7-8, 12

¹ Israel was a luxuriant vine yielding plenty of fruit. The more his fruit increased, the more altars he built; the richer his land became, the richer he made the sacred pillars.

² Theirs is a divided heart; now they will have to pay for it. He himself will hack down their altars and wreck their sacred pillars.

³ Then they will say, 'We have no king because we have not feared Yahweh, but what could the king do for us?'

⁷ Samaria has had her day. Her king is like a straw drifting on the water.

⁸ The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed; thorns and thistles will grow over their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, 'Cover us!' and to the hills, 'Fall on us!'

¹² Sow saving justice for yourselves, reap a harvest of faithful love; break up your fallow ground: it is time to seek out Yahweh until he comes to rain saving justice down on you.

Gospel, Mt 10:1-7

¹ He summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits with power to drive them out and to cure all kinds of disease and all kinds of illness.

² These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon who is known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John;

³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;

⁴ Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who was also his betrayer.

⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them as follows: 'Do not make your way to gentile territory, and do not enter any Samaritan town;

⁶ go instead to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.

⁷ And as you go, proclaim that the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.