Daily Mass Readings for June 16, 2024: Gospel — Mc 4, 26-34

2 2 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “‘I will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and plant it. I will pluck from the top one of its tender twigs; I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. 2 ³ I will plant it on a high mountain of Israel, and it will raise branches and produce fruit and become a beautiful cedar. Every bird will live under it; every winged creature will live in the shade of its branches. 2 ⁴ All the trees of the field will know that I am the Lord. I make the high tree low; I raise up the low tree. I make the green tree wither, and I make the dry tree sprout. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it!’”

⁶ Therefore we are always full of courage, and we know that as long as we are alive here on earth we are absent from the Lord— ⁷ for we live by faith, not by sight. ⁸ Thus we are full of courage and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹ So then whether we are alive or away, we make it our ambition to please him. 1 ⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be paid back according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or evil.