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19/07/2026

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Daily Readings
July 18, 2026
July 19, 2026
July 20, 2026
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Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 106

Reading 1
Wisdom 12:13, 16-19
There is no god besides you who have the care of all,
that you need show you have not unjustly condemned.
For your might is the source of justice;
your mastery over all things makes you lenient to all.
For you show your might when the perfection of your power is disbelieved;
and in those who know you, you rebuke temerity.
But though you are master of might, you judge with clemency,
and with much lenience you govern us;
for power, whenever you will, attends you.
And you taught your people, by these deeds,
that those who are just must be kind;
and you gave your children good ground for hope
that you would permit repentance for their sins.


Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16
R. (5a) Lord, you are good and forgiving.
You, O LORD, are good and forgiving,
abounding in kindness to all who call upon you.
Hearken, O LORD, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my pleading.
R. Lord, you are good and forgiving.
All the nations you have made shall come
and worship you, O LORD,
and glorify your name.
For you are great, and you do wondrous deeds;
you alone are God.
R. Lord, you are good and forgiving.
You, O LORD, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in kindness and fidelity.
Turn toward me, and have pity on me;
give your strength to your servant.
R. Lord, you are good and forgiving.


Reading 2
Romans 8:26-27
Brothers and sisters:
The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness;
for we do not know how to pray as we ought,
but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.
And the one who searches hearts
knows what is the intention of the Spirit,
because he intercedes for the holy ones
according to God's will.


Alleluia
Cf. Matthew 11:25
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.


Gospel
Matthew 13:24-43
Jesus proposed another parable to the crowds, saying:
"The kingdom of heaven may be likened
to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
While everyone was asleep his enemy came
and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off.
When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well.
The slaves of the householder came to him and said,
'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?
Where have the weeds come from?'
He answered, 'An enemy has done this.'
His slaves said to him,
'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'
He replied, 'No, if you pull up the weeds
you might uproot the wheat along with them.
Let them grow together until harvest;
then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters,
"First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning;
but gather the wheat into my barn."'"

He proposed another parable to them.
"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed
that a person took and sowed in a field.
It is the smallest of all the seeds,
yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants.
It becomes a large bush,
and the 'birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.'"

He spoke to them another parable.
"The kingdom of heaven is like yeast
that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour
until the whole batch was leavened."

All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables.
He spoke to them only in parables,
to fulfill what had been said through the prophet:
I will open my mouth in parables,
I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation
of the world.

Then, dismissing the crowds, he went into the house.
His disciples approached him and said,
"Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field."
He said in reply, "He who sows good seed is the Son of Man,
the field is the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom.
The weeds are the children of the evil one,
and the enemy who sows them is the devil.
The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire,
so will it be at the end of the age.
The Son of Man will send his angels,
and they will collect out of his kingdom
all who cause others to sin and all evildoers.
They will throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun
in the kingdom of their Father.
Whoever has ears ought to hear

11/05/2026

24/04/2026

Farmers

11/04/2026

Paystack

07/01/2026

During a robbery in Zimbabwe, the thief shouted to everyone in the bank:Don’t move! The money belongs to the State — your lives belong to you.”

Everyone in the bank lay down quietly.
This is called “Changing the way of thinking” — shifting the traditional mindset.

When a woman lay provocatively on a table, the thief shouted:
“Please be civilized! This is a robbery, not a rape!”

This is called “Being Professional.” Focus only on what you are trained to do!

When the robbers returned home, the younger thief (who had an MBA) said to the older thief (who had only finished sixth grade):
“Big brother, let’s count how much we got.”

The older thief replied:
“You’re so stupid! There’s too much money — it’ll take forever to count. Tonight, the TV news will tell us how much we stole.”

This is called “Experience.” Nowadays, experience is more valuable than academic qualifications!

After the robbers left, the bank manager told the supervisor to call the police quickly. But the supervisor said:
“Wait! Let’s take $10 million from the bank for ourselves and add it to the $70 million we’ve already embezzled.”

This is called “Going with the flow.” Turning a disadvantageous situation into an advantage!

The supervisor then said:
“It would be great if there was a robbery every month.”

This is called “Killing boredom.” Personal happiness is more important than work.

The next day, the news reported that $100 million had been stolen from the bank.
The robbers counted and counted but only found $20 million.
Furious, they complained:
“We risked our lives and only got $20 million. The bank manager took $80 million in an instant! Looks like it’s better to be educated than to be a thief.”

This is called “Knowledge is as valuable as gold.”

Meanwhile, the bank manager smiled, relieved that his stock market losses were now covered by the robbery.

This is called “Seizing the opportunity.” Dare to take risks!

So… who are the real thieves?