Born in Nursia (c.480-543) Twin sister of St Benedict
Patron saint against thunderstorms
Invitation
May I hereby call your attention to
the daily reading of the Gospel?
This invitation wants to share with you the joy of the Gospel.
Everyone, no one excepted,
can experience that joy by opening his heart
to the healing effect of God’s word.
Available every day.
Consideration
The story of the Fall is exceptionally rich in meaning. First, it gives us an insight into the psychology of temptation and sin. The temptation comes from outside – a feast for the eyes – but the temptation is also within, in the heart of man: Gaining insight. Sin has to do with freedom. Further, here we get another answer to one of Israel’s many questions: Whence comes the sense of shame? Why do the people walk clothed?
Piece by piece, these stories build Israel’s ethical system: The relationship between man and woman, brother and brother, father and son, nation and nation and through it all: Between man and God.
FIRST READING Gen. 3, 1-8
You shall become like God,
through the knowledge of good and evil.
From the Book of Genesis
Of all the animals that God the Lord had made,
there was none so cunning as the serpent.
She said to the woman :
“Did God really say
that you must not eat from any tree in the garden?”
The woman said to the serpent:
“We may eat of the fruits
of the trees in the garden.
“God has only said :
Of the fruit of the tree
that is in the middle of the garden you shall not eat ;
you must not even touch them ;
otherwise you will die.”
But the serpent said to the woman :
“Thou shalt not die at all!
“God knows that your eyes will open
if you eat from that tree,
and you will become like God,
through the knowledge of good and evil.”
Then the woman saw
that it was good eating from that tree,
and how pleasing it was to the eye,
and how attractive it was to gain insight from it.
So she plucked a fruit and ate of it;
and she gave it to her husband,
who was standing by her, and he also ate from it.
Now the eyes of both of them were opened
and they found that they were naked.
So they bound fig leaves together
and made them into aprons.
Then, at the rising of the afternoon wind,
the thunder of God the Lord
sounded in the garden,
man and his wife hid themselves from God
among the trees of the garden.
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 32(31), 1-2, 5, 6, 7
Happy the one whose fault was forgiven.
Happy the one whose fault was forgiven,
whose sin was covered by God.
Happy the one who has no fault with God,
whose heart hides no crime.
I have confessed my sin before You,
denied my guilt no longer.
I spoke : Before the Lord I confess my fault ;
then Thou forgavest my sin.
Therefore the pious man will turn to Thee
whenever he is threatened by calamity;
though a flood break over him,
the calamity shall not touch him.
My refuge art Thou, my Savior in distress,
Thou shalt compass me about in prosperity and joy.
ALLELUIA Eph. 1, 17-18
Alleluia.
The God of our Lord Jesus Christ
may lighten our inner eye,
to see how great is the hope
to which He calls us.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Mk 7, 31-37
He makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Mark
At that time
Jesus left the region of Tyre
and went over Sidon to the Sea of Galilee,
in the midst of the region of Dekápolis.
A deaf and dumb man was brought to Him
and begged Him to lay hands on him.
Jesus took him aside, outside the circle of the people,
put his fingers in his ears
and touched his tongue with saliva.
Then He lifted up his eyes to heaven,
sighed and spoke to him : “Effeta”,
which means: Open up,
and the band of his tongue was loosened
so that he spoke normally.
He forbade them to say it to anyone ;
but the more emphatically He forbade it,
the louder they proclaimed it.
Beside themselves with amazement they exclaimed :
“He has done everything,
He makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On the care of the common home
77. “The word of the Lord made the heavens” (Ps 33:6) . Thus we are reminded that the world comes from a decision, not from chaos or chance, and this gives it even more splendour. There is a free choice expressed in the creative word. The universe did not come into being as the result of an arbitrary omnipotence, display of power or desire for self-assertion. Creation belongs to the order of love. God’s love is the fundamental reason for all creation: “For everything that exists Thou dost love, and Thou lovest nothing of what Thou hast made; yea, if Thou hadst hated anything, Thou wouldst not have created it” (Wis. 11, 24) . Thus, every creature is subject to the tenderness of the Father, who assigns it a place in the world. Even the fleeting life of the most insignificant creature is the subject of His love, and in those few seconds of its existence He surrounds it with His affection. St Basil the Great said the Creator is also “goodness without calculation” and Dante Alighieri spoke of the “love that moves the sun and the other stars”. Therefore, one ascends from the created works “to His loving mercy”.
To be continued
The Bible text in this issue is taken from The New Bible Translation,
©Dutch Bible Society 2004/2007.
Considerations from Liturgical Suggestions for Weekdays and Sundays
Laudato Si Official English translation