June 5, 2026
Memorial of Saint Boniface, Bishop and Martyr
Lectionary: 357
Reading 1
You have followed my teaching, way of life,
purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions,
and sufferings, such as happened to me
in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra,
persecutions that I endured.
Yet from all these things the Lord delivered me.
In fact, all who want to live religiously in Christ Jesus
will be persecuted.
But wicked people and charlatans will go from bad to worse,
deceivers and deceived.
But you, remain faithful to what you have learned and believed,
because you know from whom you learned it,
and that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures,
which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation
through faith in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching,
for refutation, for correction,
and for training in righteousness,
so that one who belongs to God may be competent,
equipped for every good work.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm
119:157, 160, 161, 165, 166, 168
R. (165a) O Lord, great peace have they who love
your law.
Though my persecutors and my foes are many,
I turn not away from your decrees.
R. O Lord, great peace have they who love your law.
Permanence is your word’s chief trait;
each of your just ordinances is everlasting.
R. O Lord, great peace have they who love your law.
Princes persecute me without cause
but my heart stands in awe of your word.
R. O Lord, great peace have they who love your law.
Those who love your law have great peace,
and for them there is no stumbling block.
R. O Lord, great peace have they who love your law.
I wait for your salvation, O Lord,
and your commands I fulfill.
R. O Lord, great peace have they who love your law.
I keep your precepts and your decrees,
for all my ways are before you.
R. O Lord, great peace have they who love your law.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him
and we will come to him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
As Jesus was teaching in the temple area he said,
“How do the scribes claim that the Christ is the son of David?
David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said:
The Lord said to my lord,
‘Sit at my right hand
until I place your enemies under your feet.’
David himself calls him ‘lord’;
so how is he his son?”
The great crowd heard this with delight.
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Commentary on 2
Timothy 3:10-17
In today’s First Reading, Paul continues to urge Timothy to
make Paul’s teaching and behaviour the model of Timothy’s own life.
Paul had very clear shortcomings, of which he was well
aware, but he knew also that in his devotion to the following of Jesus, he was
second to none. In fact, it is because of his weaknesses that the power
of Jesus shines so strongly through him:
…for whenever I am weak, then I am strong. (2
Cor 12:10)
And he was passionately bound by his love for Jesus, saying:
…it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives
in me.
(Gal 2:20)
So now Timothy is invited to remember Paul’s fidelity,
patience and spirit of endurance as he passed through so many persecutions and
sufferings. Paul mentions the three Galatian towns of Antioch, Iconium and
Lystra. Paul had visited them on his first and second missionary journeys,
and as Timothy was from Lystra, he would have first-hand knowledge of Paul’s
sufferings in that region. Yet God had delivered Paul from all the
threats and hardships he had encountered there.
Paul then enunciates a principle which occurs regularly in the
New Testament and which has been a fact of life in the Church at all times:
…all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will
be persecuted.
We find similar warnings in the Gospel:
…you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one
who endures to the end will be saved. (Matt 10:22)
It was precisely in the places mentioned above that Paul had
encouraged the Christians there:
It is through many persecutions that we must enter the
kingdom of God. (Acts 14:22)
St Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus
(Jesuits), put it slightly differently when he said he hoped that his men would
always experience some persecution. It was a sure sign they were doing
their job. We should not be surprised, then, at attacks on or ridicule of
our Christian churches.
In fact, there will always be, as Paul says, “wicked people
and impostors” for whom the message of the gospel is anathema and a threat.
They will do what they can to destroy it and its messengers. But as long
as the gospel of Truth and Love is proclaimed it cannot fail, no matter what is
thrown against it.
Timothy is urged to remain faithful to all that he learned
and believed from his teachers, who include Paul as well as Timothy’s mother,
Eunice, and grandmother, Lois (whose names are given at the beginning of the
letter). They had taught him the word of God from his earliest years.
A Jewish boy formally began to study the Scriptures when he was five
years old. (Timothy, we know, was born of a gentile father and a Jewish
mother and would have been seen by Jews as one of them. Because of that,
Paul had had him circumcised to make him more acceptable to fellow-Jews.)
Paul says that the Scriptures, the word of God, are:
…sacred writings that are able to instruct you for
salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Wisdom is not knowledge or information; it is a deep insight
into the realities of our world and an ability to see how all things relate to
each other. The particular wisdom here is that which comes through our
commitment to the vision of life that Jesus and the gospel give.
Paul continues:
All scripture is inspired by God…
Paul affirms God’s active involvement in the writing of
Scripture, an involvement so powerful and pervasive that what is written is the
infallible and authoritative word of God. At this time, the primary
reference here must be to what we call the Old Testament as some of the New
Testament books had not yet even been written. However, by the time of the
later books, e.g. 1 Timothy and 2 Peter, some of the New Testament books and
other written material (which later would become part of the canon) were being
considered as being on the same level as the Old Testament books. (At the
same time, one feels that Paul would be very surprised to know that some of the
letters he wrote, apparently in some haste at times, would be seen as God’s
revealed word to us!)
An understanding of the Scriptures then is an essential
source for:
…teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training
in righteousness…
Armed with this understanding, all those who are “person[s]
of God” will be competent and ready and able for every good work. For it
is through the word of God in Scripture that we:
…may be proficient, equipped for every good work.
The Scripture contains a wisdom which should guide all our
Christian lives, and it is regrettable that so many Catholics (as opposed to
many Protestants) are far less familiar than they should be with God’s Word in
both the Old and New Testaments. It was St Jerome who said that
“ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.”
It is amazing at times to hear people, who hardly ever open
a Bible, pontificate about Jesus and the nature of Christianity. If we are
among those who have to admit that much of the Bible is a closed book to us,
let us resolve today to make ourselves more familiar with it. We will find
there an inexhaustible source of inspiration for our lives.
Those with experience will tell you that, no matter how many
times they read Bible passages, there is still more insight to be gained.
It is not like a mystery novel that can be tossed aside once it is finished. It
is more like a great piece of classical music that can be listened to again and
again and which is ever open to new interpretations while remaining faithful to
the original.
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Commentary on Mark
12:35-37
In the face of the confrontations he has been experiencing
Jesus now lays claim to his true identity. It had long been the belief among
the Jews that the Messiah would be a descendant of the family of David. (On the
other hand, the Samaritans saw the Messiah coming through the prophetic line;
see John 4.)
Jesus, we know from the genealogies the Gospel gives us, was
of the family of David. But today he affirms he is more than just a descendant
of David. He is in fact David’s Lord. In the Gospel, Jesus quotes from Psalm
110, and we need to remember that David was believed to be the author of all
the Psalms, themselves words inspired by the Holy Spirit.
In the Psalms, David says:
The Lord [God] says to my lord [the
Messiah],
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies your footstool.” (Ps 110:1)
Jesus, then, is saying two things to his opponents:
- Jesus,
the descendant, is the Lord of his ancestor, King David, and he is the
Messiah-King who will sit at the right hand of God. He is, then, also the
Lord of those who are challenging him.
- God
promises that he will crush all the enemies of the Messiah-King.
The argument used in this reading could hardly be used
today, as we have a better understanding of the authorship of the Psalms than
people had in Jesus’ time.
Nevertheless, there are many other elements in the Christian
Testament which lead us to the same conclusion: Jesus is Lord of all. We should
ask ourselves: Does my life give testimony to that belief?
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Friday, June 5, 2026
9th Week in Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Father, your love never fails. Hear our call.
Keep us from danger and provide for
all our needs. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Mark 12: 35-37
While teaching in the Temple, Jesus said, 'How can the scribes
maintain that the
Christ is the son of David? David himself, moved by the Holy
Spirit, said: The Lord declared to my Lord, take your seat at my right hand
till I have made your enemies your footstool. David himself calls him Lord; in
what way then can he be his son?' And the great crowd listened to him with
delight.
Reflection
In the Gospel of day before yesterday, Jesus
criticizes the doctrine of the Sadducees (Mk 12: 24-27). In today’s Gospel, he
criticizes the teaching of the doctors of the Law. And this time his criticism
is not directed to the incoherence of their life, but to the teaching which
they transmit to the people. On another occasion, Jesus had criticized their
incoherence and had said to the people: “The
Scribes and the Pharisees occupy the chair of Moses: You must, therefore, do
and observe what they tell you, but do not be guided by what they do, since
they do not observe what they preach” (Mt 23: 2-3). Now, he shows himself
reserved regarding those who taught the Messianic hope, and he bases his
criticism on arguments taken from the Bible.
•
Mark 12: 35-36: The teaching of the Doctors of the Law on the Messiah. The official
propaganda both of the government as that of the Doctors of the Law said that
the Messiah would have come as the Son of
David. This was the way to teach that the Messiah would be a glorious king,
strong and dominator. This is how the people shouted on Palm Sunday: “Blessed
the Kingdom that is coming from our Father David!” (Mk 11: 10). The blind man
of Jericho also cried out in this same way: “Jesus, son of David, have pity on
me!” (Mk 10: 47).
•
Mark 12: 37: Jesus
questions the teaching of the doctors about the Messiah. Jesus questions
this teaching of the Scribes. He quotes a Psalm of David: “The Lord declared to my Lord, take your seat at my right hand, till I
have made your enemies your footstool!” (Ps 110: 1). And Jesus adds: “If David calls him Lord, how then can he be
his son?” This signifies that Jesus was not completely in agreement with
the idea of a Messiah, Glorious Lord, who would have come like a powerful king
to dominate and to impose himself on all his enemies. Mark adds that people
were pleased with the criticism of Jesus. In fact, history informs that the
“poor of Yahweh” (anawim) were
expecting a Messiah who was not a dominator, but the servant of God for
humanity.
•
The
diverse forms of Messianic hope. Throughout the centuries, the Messianic
hope grew, assuming diverse forms. Almost all the groups and movements of the
time of Jesus were waiting for the coming of the Kingdom, but each one in his
own way, the Pharisees, the Scribes, the Essenes, the Zealots, the Herodians,
the Sadducees, the popular prophets, the disciples of John the Baptist, the
poor of Yahweh. In the time of Jesus, three tendencies in the Messianic hope
could be distinguished.
•
The
Messiah personally sent by God: For some, the future Kingdom should arrive
through one sent by God, called Messiah, or Christ. He would have been anointed
so as to be able to carry out his mission (Is 61: 1). Some expected that he
would be a prophet; others, a king, a
disciple or a priest. Malachi, for
example, expects the prophet Elijah (Ml 3: 23-24). Psalm 72 expects an ideal
king, a new David. Isaiah expects now a disciple (Is 50: 4), now a prophet (Is
61: 1). The unclean spirit shouted: "I know who you are: the Holy One of
God!” (Mc 1: 24). This was a sign that there were people who expected a Messiah
who would be a priest (Holy or Sanctifier). The poor of Yahweh (anawim) expected the Messiah “Servant of
God”, announced by Isaiah.
•
Messianism
without the Messiah. For others, the future would have arrived suddenly,
unexpected, without mediations, without help from anyone. God himself would
have come in person to carry out the prophecies. There would not have been a
Messiah, properly so called. There would be a messianism without a Messiah. Of
this we are aware in the Book of Isaiah where God himself arrives with the
victory in hand (Is 40: 9-10; 52: 7-8).
•
The
Messiah has already come. There were also some groups which did not expect
the Messiah. According to them the present situation should continue as it was
because they thought that the future had already arrived. These groups were not
popular. For example, the Sadducees did not expect the Messiah. The Herodians
thought that Herod was a messianic king.
•
The light of the Resurrection. The Resurrection
of Jesus is the light which enlightens unexpectedly all the past. In the light
of the Resurrection Christians would begin to read the Old Testament and would
discover in it new meaning which before could not be discovered, because the
light was missing (cf. 2 Co 3: 15-16). They sought in the Old Testament the
words to express the new life which they were living in Christ. There they
found the majority of the titles of Jesus: Messiah (Ps 2: 2) Son of man (Dn 7:
13; Ez 2: 1), Son of God (Sl 2: 7; 2 S 7: 13), Servant of Yahweh (Is 42: 1; 41:
8), Redeemer (Is 41: 14; Ps 19: 15; Rt 4: 15), Lord (LXX) (almost 6000 times!).
All the great themes of the Old Testament spring up in Jesus and find in him
their full realization. In the Resurrection of Jesus springs up the seed and
according to everything that has been said by the Fathers of the Church, the
whole Old Testament becomes New Testament.
Personal questions
•
Which is the hope for the future of today’s
world in which we live?
•
Does Faith in the Resurrection influence the way
of living your life?
Concluding Prayer
I am waiting for your
salvation, Yahweh, I fulfil your commandments.
I observe your precepts, your
judgements,
for all my ways are before you. (Ps 119: 166, 168)
Saint Boniface, Bishop and Martyr
Boniface was born at Crediton in Devon, England, in 675 AD
and baptised with the name Wynfrith (Winfred). The name means “Friend of
Peace”, possibly because his father was a Saxon and his mother a Briton, to
show that the two peoples had come together.
He entered a monastery at Nursling near Southampton and
became a monk and a priest. He had a strong desire to become a missionary
abroad. Finally his abbot let him go, and in 716, he set out for the land of
the Frisians (in the Netherlands). Another English missionary, Willibrord, from
Northumbria, had already preached the gospel there for several years. But wars
and the hostility of non-Christians were big obstacles for the young Wynfrith.
Some months later, having failed in his mission, he returned to his monastery
in England, to devote two more years preparing for his apostolic work.
In 718, Wynfrith once again left his monastery, this time
for good. He would never return to England. He set off for Rome to ask the pope
for his commissioning and blessing. On 14 May, 719, he threw himself at the
feet of Pope Gregory II who gave him the new name “Boniface” (one who does
good). He then went north across the Alps and embarked on 35 years of
missionary work in various parts of Germany, which included a return visit to
Frisia.
In 722, he was consecrated by the pope as bishop of the
whole of Germany east of the Rhine. On his return to Germany as bishop,
Boniface decided to tackle heathen superstitions head-on. At a place called
Geismar in front of hostile tribesmen he chopped down a sacred oak tree, where
they worshipped Thor, the god of thunder (after whom Thursday is named), and
laid the foundations of a flourishing new church there.
According to tradition, when he chopped down the pagan
Thor’s Oak, Boniface claimed a tiny fir tree growing in its roots as the new
Christian symbol. He told the heathen tribes:
This humble tree’s wood is used to build your homes: let
Christ be at the centre of your households; its leaves remain evergreen in the
darkest days: let Christ be your constant light; its branches reach out to
embrace and its top points to heaven: let Christ be your comfort and your
guide.
So the fir tree became a sign of Christ among the German
peoples and eventually a world-wide symbol of Christmas.
Boniface went on to establish many new churches and
monasteries and to reorganise the existing ones so that they were more
effective Christian communities, and properly ‘equipped for mission’. After
another six years, the pope made him archbishop of all Germany, based at Mainz.
As well as expanding the churches in Germany, Boniface was
equally concerned to ensure that the political authorities and rulers became
firmly committed to Christianity. He crowned Pepin as King of all the “Franks”
(the people of France and Germany), whose son Charlemagne was to become the
first “Holy Roman Emperor”—a title which continued for the next 1,000 years.
Boniface was constantly travelling, encouraging churches,
appointing good leaders, and negotiating with political leaders. His journeys
and letters indicate his energy and spirituality. Many of his fellow-workers
came from his native England. Whenever he felt tired, he withdrew to the new
abbey he had founded at Fulda, in central Germany, for rest and refreshment.
But even in his late 70s he was not prepared to remain idle for long.
At the age of nearly 80, when most archbishops would have
retired, he had other ideas. He still wanted to take the gospel to Frisia,
where his first efforts had failed nearly 40 years earlier. He set off with 52
companions on an evangelising mission. At Pentecost, on 5 June, 755, near the
modern town of Dokkum in The Netherlands, the whole party was massacred by
heathen brigands. Boniface was himself struck down by a sword which pierced the
bible he had raised to shield his head. As requested in his will, his body was
taken back to his monastery at Fulda, where a magnificent cathedral now
encloses his tomb and where the Catholic bishops of Germany hold their meetings
every year.
Boniface was the Patron of England for 300 years and is
still Patron of Germany and The Netherlands. A historian has written of him:
“Everything which has developed afterwards (in Germany) in
the realm of politics, the church and spirituality, is established on the
foundation laid by Boniface, whose tomb should be more sacred for us than the
tombs of the patriarchs were for the Jews, because he is truly the spiritual
father of our people. Boniface has given us, as well as our successors, more
than any of our great emperors and kings has been able to contribute.”
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