Homily for Tuesday, Week 12 of Ordinary Time

Homily for Tuesday
Week 12 of Ordinary Time

June 23, 2026
Year II
2 Kings 19: 9-11, 14-21, 31-36
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph Residence, N.R.
“Will you, then, be saved?” (2 Kings 19: 11).

Hezekiah - St. Mary Church, Ahus, Sweden
(produced for Wikipedia by David Castor)

One theme runs thru the collection of Old Testament books attributed to the sacred writer called the Deuteronomist:  Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings.  We might call him the biblical historian or even the archivist.

The theme is, Israel is secure when they’re faithful to their covenant with the Lord, and they meet disaster when they forget the Lord.

So today we find the little kingdom of Judah under threat from the powerful Assyrian empire, which has already devoured the rest of the Near East, including the unfaithful kingdom of Israel.

Hezekiah has been a devout and faithful ruler, one of the few whom the Deuteronomist praises.  Encouraged by the prophet Isaiah, he turns to the Lord, praying for Jerusalem’s deliverance, and the Lord saves the city by inflicting disaster on the arrogant enemy army.

The Defeat of Sennacherib
(Peter Paul Rubens)

In the responsorial psalm, we pondered God’s mercy within his temple (48:10).  That mercy assures God’s people today, Jesus’ Church, that we will stand secure against whoever thinks to surround, overwhelm, and lay her waste (2 Kgs 19:17), whether that be the demonic foe (“the gates of hell shall not prevail against her” [Matt 16:18]) or an earthly oppressor.

Further, like Hezekiah, we trust in God to deliver us from our demonic enemy and from the oppression of our sins.  We count on God’s mercy within the temple of our souls.  We acknowledge our failings, but we know that our Lord Jesus has set us on the firm foundation of his love (Collect).