Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection July 02, 2026
Thursday – 13th Week in Ordinary Time
02nd June 2026 (Thursday)
Psalter: Week 1
Here are the Catholic Mass readings and a daily reflection for Thursday, July 02, 2026, an ordinary weekday. Today Amos is told to stop prophesying, and in the Gospel Jesus forgives a paralyzed man before He ever heals his legs.
Readings of the Day
First Reading: Amos 7:10-17
In those days: Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos has said, ‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.’” And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there, but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.” Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ Now therefore hear the word of the Lord. “You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’ Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided up with a measuring line; you yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’”
Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 11 (R. 10cd)
R/. The judgments of the Lord are true; they are, all of them, just
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Alleluia
R/. Alleluia
V/. In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
R/. Alleluia
Gospel: Matthew 9:1-8
At that time: Getting into a boat Jesus crossed over and came to his own city. And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
Daily Gospel Reflection
Thursday – 13th Week in Ordinary Time
Main Point: They carried the man in for his legs. Jesus spoke first to his soul. There was a deeper paralysis under the one everyone could see. And the authority to heal it did not stay with Jesus alone.
1. A man lies on a mat. He cannot move. He cannot walk, and he cannot come on his own. So others carry him to Jesus. He arrives only because someone else brought him.
2. Jesus looks at him. Then He looks at the ones who carried him. The Gospel says He saw “their faith.” And His first words are not the words anyone expected. “Take heart, my son. Your sins are forgiven.”
3. Sit with how strange that is. The man came for his legs. Jesus speaks to his sins. Everyone in the room was watching the paralysis they could see. Jesus went straight to the one they could not. There was a deeper paralysis under the visible one.
4. The scribes are appalled. “This man is blaspheming.” And on one point they are right. Only God can forgive sins. No prophet ever claimed this. So either Jesus is committing a terrible offense, or He is something far more than a teacher.
5. Then Jesus asks a sharp question. Which is easier to say? “Your sins are forgiven,” or “Rise and walk”? Anyone can say the first. No one can check it. So He does the thing that can be checked, to prove the thing that cannot. He heals the legs to show He forgave the soul.
6. The man stands. He picks up the mat that once carried him. He walks home on his own feet. The proof is now upright and walking through the crowd.
7. Now watch the very last line, the part we read straight past. The crowd glorifies God. But look at what they praise Him for. Not for the healing. Matthew says they praised God “who had given such authority to men.” Men. Not just one man. Plural.
8. That word is the seed of something huge. The authority to forgive sins did not stay locked inside Jesus. He would hand it to His Church. We still see it. The words a priest speaks in the confessional are this verse, still coming true. God gave that authority to men, and He never took it back.
9. This is the thread to Amos. Amaziah, the official priest, tells Amos to stop and go home. But Amos did not appoint himself. He says it plainly. He was a herdsman, and the Lord took him and sent him. Authority for God is given, never grabbed. The scribes forgot that. Amaziah forgot it. And it cost them both.
My Practice: You have prayed for the small healings. The body. The bills. The worry that will not quit. When did you last bring Him the deeper paralysis? The sin that keeps you from moving. He still forgives it. And He gave that power to men, so you never have to wonder whether it worked. You can hear the words out loud. Go to confession. Carry in the thing you cannot lift alone. Walk out lighter. The man on the mat needed others to bring him. If you need that too, let them. But go.
Read tomorrow’s Catholic Mass readings and reflection for July 3, 2026, the Feast of Saint Thomas the Apostle, or revisit yesterday’s reflection for Wednesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time.
Thank You 🙏🙏🙏
