Invitation
May I hereby draw 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 their hearts
to the healing power of God’s word.
Available every day.
Consideration
After the flood, God again establishes evil in the human heart. But this time he finds a reason to be long-suffering: when Noah’s ark lands back on the dry earth, Noah first of all builds an altar to thank and honour God. This gesture leads God to ‘repent’: ‘He will never again curse the earth’, even if evil remains rooted in man’s heart. Christ will go even further in this: He will take on the evil, the sinfulness of mankind and die for it. How do I deal with the evil in my heart? What helps me overcome it?
FIRST READING Gen 8, 6-13.20-22
Noah looked out; and behold, the ground was dry
From the Book of Genesis
After the lapse of forty days, Noah opened the window
which he had put in the ark.
He released a raven, which kept flying back and forth
until the water on the earth had dried up.
Then he released a dove,
to see if the water had already receded from the earth’s surface.
But the dove found no place
where its paws could rest,
and returned to him in the ark;
for the water still covered all the ground.
Noah reached out his hand,
picked up the dove and brought it back to him in the ark.
Now he waited another seven days ,
and then released another dove from the ark.
When the dove returned to him towards evening,
it carried a green olive leaf in its beak.
Then Noah understood that the water
must have subsided from the earth.
He waited another seven days,
and then released another dove;
but this dove did not return to him.
In the six hundredth year,
on the first day of the first month,
the water over the earth began to dry up.
Now Noah pushed aside the roof of the ark
and looked out ;
and behold, the ground was dry.
Then Noah built an altar in honour of the Lord;
He chose among the clean animals
And out of the pure birds ,
and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
God the Lord smelled the pleasant fragrance
and said to himself :
“Never again will I curse the earth’s soil
because of men :
for the heart of man has been inclined to evil
from childhood.
“Neither shall I ever again afflict the other living creatures ,
as I have now done.
“As long as the earth exists ,
there will be sowing time and harvest time, cold and heat,
summer and winter, day and night.
“Never will that cease.”
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 116(115), 12-13, 14-15, 18-19
With sacrifices I will praise You, Lord.
Or: Alleluia.
How can I give thanks
For all that the Lord gave me ?
I lift the sacrificial cup,
the Name of the Lord I call upon.
I will fulfil my vows
Where all his people see it.
For precious in His sight
the life of whoever worships Him.
Iki will fulfil my vows
where all his people see,
in the forecourt of thy temple,
in your Jerusalem.
ALLELUIA 1 Thess. 2, 13
Alleluia.
Receive the divine word of preaching,
not as the word of men
but as what it is indeed :
the word of God.
Alleluia
GOSPEL Mk. 8, 22-26
The blind man was so completely healed that he saw everything clearly.
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark
At that time, Jesus and his disciples came to Bethsaida.
There they brought a blind man to Him
and begged Him to touch him.
Jesus took the blind man by the hand and took him outside the village.
There He put saliva on his eyes,
laid His hands on him and asked him :
“Can you see anything yet?”
He looked and he replied :
“I see people, for I see them walking ,
but they look like trees;”
Then Jesus laid hands on his eyes once more.
Now he saw sharply and was so completely healed
that he saw everything clearly.
He sent him home with the warning :
“Don’t even go into the village.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On caring for the common home
82. However, it would also be wrong to think that the other living beings should be regarded as pure objects subject to the arbitrary rule of the human being. If nature is seen only as an object of profit and interest, this also has serious consequences for society. The view that supports the arbitrariness of the fittest has promoted tremendous inequality, injustice and violence for most of humanity, because resources become the property of whoever comes first or whoever has the power: the winner gets everything. The ideal of harmony, justice, fraternity and peace that Jesus advocated is diametrically opposed to this model, and He expressed it in this way when He referred to the powers of His time: “The rulers of nations rule them with an iron fist, and the great ones abuse their power over them. This must not be the case with you; whoever wants to become great among you must be a servant of you” (Mt 20:25-26) .
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
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