June 22 2022

First reading 2 Kings 22:8-13,23:1-3

The Book of the Law is found in the Temple of the Lord

The high priest Hilkiah said to Shaphan the secretary, ‘I have found the Book of the Law in the Temple of the Lord.’’’ And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, who read it. Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him as follows, ‘Your servants’ he said ‘have melted down the silver which was in the Temple and have handed it over to the masters of works attached to the Temple of the Lord.’ Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, ‘Hilkiah the priest has given me a book’; and Shaphan read it aloud in the king’s presence.

On hearing the contents of the Book of the Law, the king tore his garments, and gave the following order to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s minister: ‘Go and consult the Lord, on behalf of me and the people, about the contents of this book that has been found. Great indeed must be the anger of the Lord blazing out against us because our ancestors did not obey what this book says by practising everything written in it.’

The king then had all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem summoned to him, and the king went up to the Temple of the Lord with all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, priests, prophets and all the people, of high or low degree. In their hearing he read out everything that was said in the book of the covenant found in the Temple of the Lord. The king stood beside the pillar, and in the presence of the Lord he made a covenant to follow the Lord and keep his commandments and decrees and laws with all his heart and soul, in order to enforce the terms of the covenant as written in that book. All the people gave their allegiance to the covenant.

Responsorial Psalm 118(119):33-37,40

Lord, teach me your statutes.

Teach me the demands of your statutes

and I will keep them to the end.

Train me to observe your law,

to keep it with my heart.

Guide me in the path of your commands;

for there is my delight.

Bend my heart to your will

and not to love of gain.

Keep my eyes from what is false;

by your word, give me life.

See, I long for your precepts;

then in your justice, give me life.

Gospel Matthew 7:15-20

You will be able to tell them by their fruits

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves. You will be able to tell them by their fruits. Can people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, a sound tree produces good fruit but a rotten tree bad fruit. A sound tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a rotten tree bear good fruit. Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown on the fire. I repeat, you will be able to tell them by their fruits.’

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A sound heart produces fruit of love

“Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but
underneath are ravenous wolves”. Are we living a life disguising to be
who we are not? Are we pretending to be externally like “harmless

sheep”, but internally, we are like “ravenous wolves”? Often we want to
appear good, loving and helpful in front of others, but within, we are filled
with anger and resentment. For Jesus, the fruits, i.e. the values, that we
bear are more important than our external appearances because they
manifest the content of our hearts. A heart full of love will produce fruits
of goodness, forgiveness and compassion.

We can have good hearts that bear good fruits when we are rooted in a
personal relationship with Jesus. In this time of prayer, let us be drawn
to Jesus so that our hearts may beat in the same rhythm as His.

Questions for reflection:
What do I have inside my heart? Is my heart full of love?

Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year C” by Sr Sandra Seow FMVD.