Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection June 25, 2026

Thursday – 12th Week in Ordinary Time

25th June 2026 (Thursday)

Psalter: Week 4

Here are the Catholic Mass readings and a daily reflection for Thursday, June 25, 2026, an ordinary weekday. Today Jerusalem falls to Babylon, and the Gospel warns that calling Jesus “Lord” is not enough. The house that stands is the one that does His words.

Readings of the Day

First Reading: 2 Kings 24:8-17

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father had done. At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it, and Jehoiachin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself and his mother and his servants and his officials and his palace officials. The king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign and carried off all the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of the Lord, which Solomon king of Israel had made, as the Lord had foretold. He carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valour, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained, except the poorest people of the land. And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon. The king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officials, and the chief men of the land he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. And the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor, seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the metal workers, one thousand, all of them strong and fit for war. And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

Psalm 79:1-2, 3-5, 8, 9 (R. see 9bc)

R/. For the sake of the glory of your name, free us O Lord.

Gospel Acclamation

V/. Alleluia

R/. Alleluia

V/. If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, says the Lord; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him

R/. Alleluia

Gospel: Matthew 7:21-29

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

Daily Gospel Reflection

Thursday – 12th Week in Ordinary Time

Main Point: We think the line between the wise builder and the fool is faith. Read Jesus again. Both men heard the same words. Only one did them. The difference is not hearing. It is doing.

1. Picture two houses on a clear day. They look the same. Same walls, same doors, both finished and lived in. Walk past, and you could not tell them apart. The difference is hidden underground, in the foundation. And it stays hidden until the storm comes.

2. This is how Jesus ends His great sermon. One man built on rock. One man built on sand. We rush to the easy reading. The wise man believes, the fool does not. But look closer. Jesus says something harder than that.

3. Read His words slowly. The wise man “hears these words of mine and does them.” The fool “hears these words of mine and does not do them.” Both men heard. Both sat through the whole sermon. The fool is not the man who stayed away. He is the man who came, listened, and went home unchanged.

4. This is the part we miss. Jesus is not warning the world outside. He is warning the people in the pew. The ones who love His words. The ones who never miss a Sunday. Hearing is not the foundation. Both houses had that. Doing is the rock.

5. He says it plainly a moment earlier. “Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven.” Saying the right words about Jesus is not enough. You can pray them with real feeling and still be built on sand.

6. Saint James learned this teaching well. He put it in one sharp line. “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Look at those last words. The hearer who does nothing is fooling himself. He feels safe in a house he never anchored.

7. And here is the mercy in it. Jesus does not warn us during the storm, when it is too late. He warns us now, while the sky is still clear. There is still time to dig down and lay rock where there was only sand. The warning came early. That is the gift.

8. The first reading shows a house actually falling. Jerusalem is the holy city. It had the temple. It had the rituals and the prayers. Then Babylon comes and carries the people into exile. They had the right address. But the prophets had warned them for years. Worship without obedience is sand. The rain came down, and the great house fell.

9. Put the two readings side by side. Jerusalem proves that being religious is not the foundation. You can have the temple and still build on sand. The storm never asks how much you heard. It asks only what you did.

My Practice: Think of one teaching of Jesus you have heard so often you barely notice it. Forgive an enemy. Give to the one who asks. Stop judging. You already know the words. The storm will not ask if you knew them. So take that one teaching and do it today, in a way that costs you something. Move it from your ears to your hands. That is what it means to build on rock.