The meaning of the Sunday Mass Readings for June 2024 is made clearest by Catholic Doctrine. Catholic doctrines are the essentially unchangeable clarifications of Revelation and Faith that only the pope and bishops (together, the Magisterium) have the God-given authority to make and that must be accepted as objectively true in order to be Catholic.
Let’s learn the always-true doctrines in the Catechism of the Catholic Church that we can take away from this June’s Sunday Readings.[1]
June 2, The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
The Catechism does not use verses from this Sunday’s Readings to support the doctrine of Transubstantiation – that the Consecrated Host and Wine are really, not symbolically, the Body and Blood of Christ. It instead uses today’s verses for other doctrines about the Most Holy Body and Blood.
When the Second Reading tells us that Christ “entered once for all into the sanctuary,” that means the Pascal Mystery – the Crucifixion and Resurrection – is a real event which, however, “participates in the divine eternity, and so transcends all times while being made present in them.” It is in the liturgy of the Catholic Church that the Crucifixion and Resurrections are made present (CCC 1085[2]).
When Jesus promises in today’s Gospel that, after the Last Supper, He will not drink the wine until He drinks it in the Kingdom of God, that means that “[w]henever the Church celebrates the Eucharist she remembers this promise and turns her gaze ‘to him who is to come’ [on the Last Day]” (CCC 1403). “If the Eucharist is the memorial of the Passover of the Lord . . . then the Eucharist is also an anticipation of the heavenly glory” (CCC 1402) – the Messianic Banquet in the Kingdom of God about which Our Lord preached. The Eucharist is “the food that makes us live forever in Jesus Christ” (CCC 1405).
- From the First Reading[3] (Exodus 24:3-8): Ex 24:7 is cited in CCC 2060; and Ex 24:8 in CCC 613.
- From the Responsorial Psalm (Ps 116:12-13, 15-16, 17-18): Ps 116:12 is cited in CCC 224; Ps 116:13 in CCC 1330; and Ps 116:17 in CCC 1330.
- From the Second Reading (Hebrews 9:11-15): Heb 9:11 is cited in CCC 586 and 662; Heb 9:12 in CCC 1085; Heb 9:13-14 in CCC 2100; Heb 9:14 in CCC 614; and Heb 9:15 in CCC 522, 579, 580, 592.
- From the Alleluia (John 6:51): Jn 6:51 is cited in CCC 728, 1355, 1406, and 2837.
- From the Gospel (Mark 14:12-16, 22-26): Mk 14:18-20 is cited in CCC 474; Mk 14:22 in CCC 1328; and Mk 14:25 in CCC 1335 and 1403.
June 9, Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s First Reading gets to the heart of the relationship between God and humans. As the Catechism summarizes, God “manifested himself to our first parents, spoke to them and, after the fall, promised them salvation and offered them his covenant” (CCC 70). An important doctrine the First Reading verses support is that Original Sin causes all humans to have desires and emotions that rebel against reason and good sense – a condition called “concupiscence,” which “unsettles [human] moral faculties and, without being in itself an offence, inclines [humans] to commit sins” (CCC 2515). We can conclude that no matter what policies and structures society puts in place, humans will always have to deal with their inclination to commit sin.
The Catechism cites the Second Reading mention of our “earthly tent” to give us the doctrine that even though Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist give new life in Christ, this new life “can be weakened and even lost by sin” and is still “subject to suffering, illness, and death” (CCC 1420). So Our Lord “has willed that his Church continue, in the power of the Holy Spirit, his work of healing and salvation [in] the sacrament of Penance and the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick” (CCC 1421).
Today’s Gospel has two things which often seem confusing but which the Catechism clarifies. First, “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” is committed by “anyone who deliberately refuses to accept [God’s] mercy by repenting [and so] rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit [which] can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss” (CCC 1864).
And Jesus’ “brothers and sisters” are “close relations of Jesus, according to an Old Testament expression.” “In fact James and Joseph, ‘brothers of Jesus,’ are the sons of another Mary, a disciple of Jesus, whom St. Matthew significantly calls ‘the other Mary.’” (CCC 500). It is Catholic doctrine that “Jesus is Mary’s only son” (CCC 501) and that Mary was really and perpetually a virgin (CCC 499).
- From the First Reading (Genesis 3:9-15): Gn 3:9-10 is cited in CCC 399; Gn 3:9 in CCC 410 and 2568; Gn 3:11 in CCC 2515; Gn 3:12 in CCC 1607; Gn 3:13 in CCC 1736 and 2568; and Gn 3:15 in CCC 70, 410, and 489.
- From the Responsorial Psalm (Ps 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8): Ps 130:3 is cited in CCC 370.
- From the Second Reading (2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1): 2 Cor 4:14 is cited in CCC 989; and 2 Cor 5:1 in CCC 1420.
- From the Alleluia (John 12:31b-32): Jn 12:31 is cited in CCC 550 and 2853; and Jn 12:32 in CCC 542, 662, 786, 1428, and 2795.
- From the Gospel (Mark 3:20-35): Mk 3:22 is cited in CCC 548 and 574; Mk 3:27 in CCC 539; Mk 3:29 in CCC 1864; and Mk 3:31-35 in CCC 500.
June 16, Eleventh Seventh in Ordinary Time
When St. Paul writes in today’s Second Reading that “we walk by faith, not by sight” that means that “faith is often lived in darkness and can be put to the test” (CCC 164).
Nevertheless, “the assent of faith is by no means a blind impulse of the mind” (CCC 156). “Though faith is above reason, there can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason” (CCC 159). The Catechism repeats St. Augustine: “I believe in order to understand; and I understand, the better to believe” (CCC 158).
“Jesus’ invitation to enter his kingdom comes in the form of parables” (CCC 546), as in today’s Gospel. We do not understand Jesus as fully as we should unless we understand the “Kingdom,” also called “Kingdom of God” and “Kingdom of Heaven.” Jesus was born to establish the Kingdom of God on earth (CCC 541-542) – the restoration of Eden as Eden was before the Fall (CCC 374-379), which is perfect human happiness because it is perfect human relationship with God (CCC 1042-1050). The Kingdom was the theme of Jesus’ preaching (CCC 543-546). It was for the purpose of revealing the Kingdom that He performed His miracles (CCC 547-550, 554-556), especially the greatest miracle, His Resurrection (CCC 645-646, 651-655). Jesus has begun establishing the Kingdom on earth by founding the Catholic Church (CCC 551-553, 668-670). He will finish establishing the Kingdom when He returns to earth in glory on the Last Day to judge the living and the dead (CCC 671-679, 988-1001, 1038-1041).
- From the Second Reading (2 Corinthians 5:6-10): 5: is cited in CCC 769; 2 Cor 5:7 in CCC 164; and 2 Cor 5:8 in CCC 1005, 1021, and 1681.
- From the Gospel (Mark 4:26-34): Mk 4:33-34 is cited in CCC 546.
June 23, Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Neither the First Reading nor the Gospel have verses that are cited in the Catechism.
“One died for all” in the Second Reading means it is “the divine person of [God] the Son” existing in Jesus Christ which “makes possible his redemptive sacrifice for all” (CCC 616). It is only Christ’s death on the cross that takes away the sin of the world and reconciles humanity to God (CCC 613). It is only because Christ atoned for all sin on the cross that we are able to enter the Kingdom of God (CCC 601-605).
The Second Reading tells us that “whoever is in Christ is a new creation.” The Catechism applies this to Baptism. The “new creation” Baptism makes one is “an adopted [child] of God, who has become a partaker of the divine nature, member of Christ and co-heir with him, and a temple of the Holy Spirit” (CCC 1265).
“The love of Christ impels us,” the Second Reading tells us, to do what? “It is from God’s love for all men that the Church in every age receives both the obligation and the vigor of her missionary dynamism . . . in God’s universal plan of salvation, the Church must be missionary” (CCC 851). The best thing any person can do is come into full communion with the Catholic Church, which alone “has the fullness of faith” and “the totality of the means of salvation” (CCC 868).
- From the Second Reading (2 Corinthians 5:14-17): 2 Cor 5:14 is cited in CCC 616 and 851; 2 Cor 5:15 in CCC 605, 655, and 1269; and 2 Cor 5:17 in CCC 1214 and 1265.
- From the Alleluia (Luke 7:16): Lk 7:16 is cited in CCC 1503.
June 30, Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
We should take the First Reading literally when it says, “God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living.” “[D]eath entered the world on account of [human] sin. . . . God had destined [humans] not to die. . . . Bodily death . . . is the last enemy of [humanity] left to be conquered” (CCC 1008). There will be no death in the Kingdom of God when Christ completely establishes it at His Second Coming (CCC 1044).
The Catechism specifically mentions Jesus’ raising Jairus’ daughter from the dead in today’s Gospel (and His healing of the woman with a hemorrhage in the longer Gospel), along with other miracles of His, to teach that “[p]rayer to Jesus is answered by him already during his ministry, through [miracles] that anticipate the power of his death and Resurrection” (CCC 2616). The power of Jesus’ death and Resurrection is to enable us to enter the Kingdom of God. “To those who turn to him in faith, he grants what they ask . . . to bear witness that he is the Son of God” (CCC 548) and to bear witness that His miracles are “signs of the Kingdom of God” (CCC 547).
“[I]n the sacraments Christ continues to ‘touch’ us in order to heal us” (CCC 1504). “[A]mong liturgical celebrations, there are seven that are . . . sacraments instituted by the Lord” (CCC 1117). “The purpose of the sacraments is to sanctify men, to build up the Body of Christ and, finally, to give worship to God” (CCC 1123).
- From the First Reading (Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24): Wis 1:13 is cited in CCC 413 and 1008; Wis 2:23-24 in CCC 1008; and Wis 2:24 in CCC 391, 413, and 2538.
- From the Second Reading (2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15): 2 Cor 8:9 is cited in CCC 517, 1351, 2407, and 2546.
- From the Gospel (Mark 5:21-43 OR 5:21-24, 35b-43): Mk 5:21-42 is cited in CCC 994; Mk 5:25-34 in CCC 548; Mk 5:28 in CCC 2616; Mk 5:34 in CCC 1504; and Mk 5:36 in CCC 1504 and 2616.
[1] There are too many citations, or references, in the Catechism to the verses in a month of Sunday Mass readings to identify all the pertinent doctrines, so I will use my best judgment to select which verses and doctrines to cover in a column that may not exceed 2,000 words. The bullet points allow you to explore further the Biblical basis of Catholic Doctrine.
[2] CCC abbreviates Catechism of the Catholic Church. Any number after it is the number of a paragraph in the Catechism. For example, “CCC 1085” means paragraph 1085 of the Catechism.
[3] If a Reading is not listed, then none of its verses is cited by the CCC.
