The Sunday Readings and Catholic Doctrine for June 2026

The meaning of the Sunday Mass Readings for June 2026 is made clearest by Catholic doctrine because “in the supremely wise arrangement of God, Sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture and the Magisterium of the Church are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the others” (CCC 95[1]). Catholic doctrine is the unchanging truth about the unchanging reality of God and His Will given only by the Magisterium to clarify God’s Revelation in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. Let us connect June’s Readings[2] with the Catechism of the Catholic Church to know doctrine to take from the Readings.

June 7, Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ

One doctrine we should take from today’s brief but profound Second Reading is: “by this sacrament [of the Eucharist] we unite ourselves to Christ, who makes us sharers in his Body and Blood to form a single body” (CCC 1331). There are two meanings here.

The first meaning is that when we receive Holy Communion, we “unite ourselves to Christ” as “sharers in his Body and blood” because in the Eucharist “the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained” (CCC 1374). The Consecrated Host and Wine are what Jesus is talking about in today’s Gospel when He says to eat His flesh and drink His blood (CCC 1391). When the Minister of Holy Communion says to us “The Body of Christ,” our “Amen” in reply should be full agreement that Christ is objectively present – not merely symbolically present and not merely as “my truth” – in the Consecrated Host; or we cannot accurately consider ourselves Catholic.

The second meaning is that authentic “Amen” to “The Body of Christ” means even more. It is “Amen” to the Mystical Body of Christ, the Catholic Church (CCC 1396). “No one may take part in [the Eucharist] unless he believes that [Catholic doctrine] is true . . . and lives in keeping with what Christ taught” (CCC 1355). “Amen” to the Minister of Holy Communion’s “The Body of Christ” means saying “Amen” to all Catholic doctrine. As the USCCB puts it, “the celebration of the Eucharist is a sign of the reality of the oneness of faith, life, and worship.” See also CCC 1398-1401.

Relatedly, it is a grave, or mortal, sin to miss attending Mass in person on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation without a good reason (CCC 1389 and Canon 1247 of the Code of Canon Law). Furthermore, anyone “conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to Communion” (CCC 1385). A Catholic who has missed Mass on Sunday or a Holy Day of Obligation and has not gone to Confession should still attend Mass but not receive Communion. Catholics do not fulfill their Sunday obligation by attending a Protestant or Eastern Orthodox

• From the First Reading[3] (Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14b-16a): Dt 8:3 is cited in CCC 1334 and 2835.
• From the Second Reading (1 Corinthians 10:16-17): 1 Cor 10:16-17 is cited in CCC 1329, 1331, 1396; 10:16 in CCC 1334; and 10:17 in CCC 1621.
• From the Alleluia (Jn 6:51); see below.
• From the Gospel (John 6:51-58): Jn 6:51 is cited in CCC 728, 1355, 1406, and 2837; Jn 6:53-56 in CCC 2837; Jn 6:53 in CCC 1384; Jn 6:54 in CCC 994, 1001, 1406, 1509, and 1524; Jn 6:56 in CCC 787, 1391, and 1406; Jn 6:57 in CCC 1391; and Jn 6:58 in CCC 1509.

June 14, Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time

The Second Reading gives us the ultimate example of unconditional love. “God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” “By giving up his own Son for our sins, God manifests his plan for us is one of benevolent love, prior to any merit on our part” (CCC 604). “There is not, never has been, and never will be a single human being for whom Christ did not suffer” (CCC 605). Jesus’ death “atoned for our faults and made satisfaction for our sins to the Father” (CCC 615). How do we know the sins for which Christ died? Catholic doctrine tells us (CCC 1846-1876 specifically, but all of Part Three of the Catechism).

In today’s Alleluia, we hear the gospel, or good news, that Jesus Himself preached: “The Kingdom of God is at hand.” A takeaway from today’s Gospel Reading is that “Everyone is called to enter the Kingdom” (CCC 543). This is the reason Christ died for us while we were still sinners. He sacrificed Himself on the cross so that everyone would have the potential to enter the Kingdom of God. God’s invitation to enter His Kingdom – the Kingdom of infinite love and happiness, the restoration of the Garden of Eden – is the completion of His unconditional love for us sinners (CCC 1042-1048).

The Alleluia also gives us what Christ immediately and intrinsically added to His gospel: “Repent and believe in the gospel.” Repentance, or conversion, is “the first step in returning to the Father from whom one has strayed by sin” (CCC 1423). The call to conversion “is an essential part of the proclamation of the Kingdom” (CCC 1427). To what must we be converted and lovingly try to convert others? All Catholic doctrine and the worship, morality, and prayer based on it.

• From the First Reading (Exodus 19:2-6a): Ex 19:5-6 is cited in CCC 709, 762, and 2810; and Ex 19:6 in CCC 63 and 1539.
• From the Second Reading (Romans 5:6-11): Rom 5:8 is cited in CCC 604; and Rom 5:10 in CCC 603 and 1825.
• From the Alleluia (Mark 1:15): Mk 1:15 is cited in CCC 541, 1423, and 1427.
• From the Gospel (Matthew 9:36—10:8): Mt 9:38 is cited in CCC 2611; Mt 10:5-7 in CCC 543; and Mt 10:8 in CCC 1509, 2121, and 2443.

June 21, Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time

We should take from today’s Second Reading that Original Sin is “an essential truth of the Faith” (CCC 388). “The doctrine of original sin is, so to speak, the ‘reverse side’ of the Good News that Jesus is the Savior of all men, that all need salvation, and that salvation is offered to all through Christ” (CCC 389). Everyone has a fallen human nature and lives in a fallen universe (CCC 402-409). “The account of the fall in Genesis 3 uses figurative language, but affirms a primeval event, a deed that took place at the beginning of the history of man” (CCC 390). Salvation from a fallen human nature and fallen universe “comes from Christ the Head and the Church which is his Body” (CCC 846).

Yes, God invites everyone to enter His Kingdom, as we saw in last week’s Alleluia and Gospel. Yet in today’s Gospel, Jesus both consoles and warns: “Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.” Citing these verses, the Catechism declares: “The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live on it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it . . . Service of and witness to the faith are necessary for salvation” (CCC 1816). What should we profess, confidently bear witness to, and spread in order to avoid denying Christ before others? Catholic doctrine.

To appreciate the Readings of last week and this week, we need to understand love. “To love is to will the good of another” (CCC1766). God loves us by wanting what is good for us, not by approving of all we are and do. Likewise, we love others not by approving of all they are and do. “Hate the sin, but love the sinner” was advice St. Augustine gave about human relationships. It also accurately describes God’s relationship with us, a relationship which must be mutual, not one-sided. Just because Christ died for our sins, entrance to the Kingdom is not automatically given. We must choose the Kingdom. As Jesus said elsewhere, “If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love.”

• From the First Reading (Jeremiah 20:10-13): Jer 20:7-18 is cited in CCC 2584.
• From the Responsorial Psalm (Psalms 69:8-10, 14, 17, 33-35): Ps 69:10 is cited in CCC 584.
• From the Second Reading (Romans 5:12-15): Rom 5:12-21 is cited in CCC 388; and Rom 5:12 in CCC 400, 402, 602, 612, and 1008.
• From the Alleluia (John 15:26b, 27a): Jn 15:26 is cited in CCC 244, 248, 263, 692, 719, 729, 1433, and 2671.
• From the Gospel (Matthew 10:26-33): Mt 10:28 is cited in CCC 363 and 1034; Mt 10:29-31 in CCC 305; Mt 10:32-33 in CCC 1816; and Mt 10:32 in CCC 14 and 2145.

June 28, Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

An important doctrine about Baptism is supported by today’s Second Reading: “we who were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death . . . so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in the newness of life.” This newness of life has two meanings: “even now . . . the justification of our souls” and also “the new life he will impart to our bodies” on the Last Day (CCC 658). For more on justification, which is being in the state of grace or right relationship with God, see CCC 1987-2029.

The Catechism refers to the Second Reading in order to assert a supremely important doctrine about Catholic worship: “In the liturgy of the Church, it is principally his own Paschal mystery [of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection] that Christ signifies and makes present. . . . all other historical events happen once, and then they pass away, swallowed up in the past. The Paschal mystery of Christ, by contrast cannot remain only in the past because . . . [it] participates in the divine eternity, and so transcends all times while being made present in them all” (CCC 1085).

In today’s Gospel, Jesus says to the Twelve Apostles, “Whoever receives you receives me.” The Catechism quotes this verse when presenting the doctrine that “[t]he apostles’ ministry is the continuation of his mission” (CCC 858). In other words, God reveals Himself not only through Sacred Scripture, but also through Sacred Tradition, which is what “comes from the apostles and hands on what they received from Jesus’ teaching and example and what they learned from the Holy Spirit” (CCC 83). Why be Catholic and not Protestant? Because the Catholic Faith includes God’s Revelation in Sacred Tradition, and Protestant Faith does not.

• From the Responsorial Psalm (Psalms 89: 2-3, 16-17, 18-19): Ps 89 is cited in CCC 709.
• From the Second Reading (Romans 6:3-4, 8-11): Rom 6:3-4 is cited in CCC 1214, 1227, and 1987; Rom 6:4 in CCC 537, 628, 648, 654, 658, 730, 977, and 1697; Rom 6:8-11 in CCC 1987; Rom 6:10 in CCC 1085; and Rom 6:11 in CCC 1694.
• From the Alleluia (1 Peter 2:9): 1 Pt 2:9 is cited in CCC 709, 782, 803, 1141, 1268, and 1546.
• From the Gospel (Matthew 10:37-42): Mt 10:37 is cited in CCC 2232; Mt 10:38 in CCC 1506; and Mt 10:40 in CCC 858.

[1] CCC abbreviates Catechism of the Catholic Church. Any number after it is the number of a paragraph in the Catechism. For example, “CCC 95” means paragraph 95 of the Catechism.

[2] 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 my best judgment was used to select which verses and doctrines to cover in this column. The bullet points allow the reader to explore further the Biblical basis of Catholic doctrine.

[3] If a Reading is not listed, then none of its verses is cited by the CCC.