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
Throughout the series of stories about the beginning of creation, we are always confronted with the perplexing question, which continues to occupy us even today: How can God’s goodness be reconciled with an existence of uncertainty and tragedy? Why does man kill his brother? Even more curiously, the spiral of sin and anger continues unabated after the Fall. From the very beginning, we come to know God as one whose mercies are so great that we can hardly grasp them: He protects Cain, so as to put an end to the continual ongoing of death and violence. How does God’s grace help us to love our enemies?
FIRST READING Gen. 4, 1-15.25
Cain attacked his brother and killed him.
From the Book of Genesis
Man had sexual intercourse with his wife Eve;
and she conceived and gave birth to Cain,
and she said :
“By the favor of the Lord
I have brought forth a male child.”
Then she gave birth to Abel, his brother.
Abel became a shepherd and Cain a farmer.
In time, Cain brought an offering to the Lord
from the fruits of the ground.
Abel also brought an offering,
the firstborn of his best sheep.
The Lord graciously looked down on Abel and his sacrifice,
but to Cain and his sacrifice He paid no attention.
A wild fury seized Cain,
and his face became grim.
Now the Lord said to Cain :
“Why are you furious
and why is your face so grim?
“If ye do good, there is cheerfulness ;
but do ye not do good,
then sin lurks at your door as a besieger,
coveting thee.
“Will ye be able to remain masters of him?”
Thereupon Cain said to his brother Abel :
“Let us go for a walk.”
And when they were outside,
Cain attacked his brother and killed him.
Now the Lord said to Cain :
“Where is thy brother Abel?”
Cain answered :
“I don’t know.
“Am I supposed to look after my brother then?”
Then the Lord said :
“What hast thou done?
“Hear, the blood of thy brother
cries out to Me from the ground!
“Therefore thou shalt be accursed,
banished from the ground that opened its mouth
to receive from thy hand the blood of thy brother !
“The ground that thou dost cultivate shall yield nothing more ;
a wanderer and a vagabond shalt thou be upon the earth !”
Then Cain said to the Lord:
“That punishment is too heavy to bear.
“Thou shalt drive me from the cultivated ground ,
and I shall be far from Thee.
“I shall be a wanderer and a vagabond on the earth,
and anyone who meets me can kill me.”
But the Lord answered him :
“Nay! Whoever it is who kills Cain ,
he shall pay sevenfold!”
And the Lord gave Cain a mark,
to prevent anyone who met him from killing him.
Adam again had sexual intercourse with his wife ;
she gave birth to a son and named him Set.
For, she said, God has given me another son
in the place of Abel, who was killed by Cain.
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 50(49), 1, 8, 16bc-17, 20-21
Bring to God the sacrifice of your praise.
The Lord, the God of gods, speaks,
He calls the earth from the east to the west:
I do not reproach you about sacrifices:
Thy sacrificial animals I see burning all the time.
What speakest thou there of my commandments
and have my covenant always on your tongue?
Thou who art averse to discipline
and never heedeth my words.
You sit down to speak evil of your brother,
thou slanderest thy mother’s son.
Will I be silent if you do this?
Or do you think that I am like you?
I accuse you, I put everything before you.
ALLELUIA Hebr. 4, 12
Alleluia.
The word of God is living and powerful,
and it penetrates to the very core of soul and spirit.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Mk. 8, 11-13
How much does this generation desire a sign?
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Mark
At that time the Pharisees came up
and began to argue with Jesus.
In order to test Him,
they demanded of Him a sign from heaven.
He heaved a sigh from the depths of his heart and said :
“What is it that this generation desires a sign?
“Verily, I say unto you :
In no case will a sign be given to this generation.”
He left them, got back into the boat
and returned to the other side.
__________________________________________________________________________
Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On the care of the common home
80. Nevertheless, God, who wants to act with us and count on our cooperation, is also able to extract something good from the evil we do, because “the Holy Spirit has an infinite resourcefulness peculiar to the divine spirit, which can ensure that even the knots of the most complicated and impenetrable human affairs can be untangled”. Somehow, He has wanted to limit Himself to the creation of a world in need of development and where many things that we think of as evils, dangers or sources of suffering are in reality part of the birth pangs that prompt us to cooperate with the Creator. He is present in the deepest interior of every thing, without determining the autonomy of his creature, and this too causes the legitimate autonomy of earthly realities. This divine presence, which ensures the survival and development of every being, “is the continuation of creative action”. The Spirit of God has filled the universe with potencies that make it possible for something new to constantly sprout from the very womb of things. “Nature is nothing but the rationale of a certain art, especially the divine art, which is written in things, by which things themselves move towards a certain goal. As if the master builder of ships could allow the wood to move by itself to assume the shape of the ship.”
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