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 power of God’s word.
Available every day.
Consideration
God is truly making new beginnings. The be fruitful, be numerous and populate the earth echoes Genesis 1, 28. It is even repeated twice here. Man as the “image” of God is also evident here. God’s covenant with Noah refers to further texts in Genesis, namely Abraham and Moses. There are also other parallels: The rescue of Abraham and his family from sinful Sodom (2 Pe 2:5-6), and the rescue of Moses and all the people from the water.
FIRST READING Gen 9:1-13
I will set my bow in the clouds ;
which shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.
From the Book of Genesis
God blessed Noah with his sons and said to him:
“Be fruitful, become numerous and populate the earth.
“There will be fear and terror for you
among all the animals of the earth,
to all the birds of the air,
to everything that creeps on the ground
and with all the fish in the sea ;
under your dominion they are put.
“Everything that lives and moves shall serve you for food ;
all that I give you besides the green crop.
“Only flesh with the soul
-flesh with the blood in it
shall ye not eat.
“And I will reclaim thy blood also:
From all animals I will reclaim it ;
and also of men, of men among themselves,
I will reclaim the life of man.
“Whoever sheds the blood of man ,
his own blood is shed by men,
for in his image God made men.
“Then be fruitful and become numerous,
populate the earth and become numerous.”
God said to Noah and his sons :
“Now I enter into my covenant
with you and with your descendants ,
and with all living creatures that are with you,
with the birds and the four-footed beasts,
with all the beasts of the earth that are with you,
all that came out of the ark,
all the beasts of the earth.
“I make a covenant with you ,
that never again shall any living creature
shall be destroyed by the waters of the flood ,
and that never again shall a flood arise
to destroy the earth.”
And God said :
“This is the sign of the covenant ,
which I establish between Me, and you,
and all living creatures that are with you,
for all generations.
“I set My bow in the clouds ;
which shall be the sign
of the covenant between Me and the earth.”
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 102(101), 16-18, 19-21, 29, 22-23
The Lord looks down from heaven on earth.
The heathen shall again dread thy Name,
the princes of the earth thy glory, Lord;
when Thou rebuildest the walls of Zion,
when Thou returnest there in full glory;
when Thou hearest the voice of the plundered,
dismiss not their entreaties beside Thee.
Set this then in writing for the coming generation
and let our sons thank the Lord for it.
The Lord looks down from his holy height,
He looks down from heaven on earth.
He will hear the cries of the captives,
redeeming those devoted to death.
The offspring of your servants
shall again have a dwelling place,
their offspring shall remain before thy face.
Then on the Zion his Name shall be proclaimed again,
his praise in the holy city;
when peoples and tribes shall come thither
to pay homage to God the Lord.
ALLELUIA 2 Thess. 2, 14
Alleluia.
God has called us
through the proclamation of the gospel,
that we might obtain the glory
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Mk. 8, 27-33
Thou art the Christ.
The Son of Man will have to suffer much.
From the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark
At that time Jesus went with his disciples
to the villages around Caesarea from Philip.
On the way, He asked His disciples the question :
“Who do people say that I am?”
They answered Him :
“John the Baptist ;
others say Elijah
and still others say that Thou art one of the prophets.”
Thereupon He asked them the question :
“But thou, who sayest thou that I am?”
Peter answered :
“Thou art the Christ.”
But He expressly forbade them
speaking to anyone about this.
Thereupon He began to teach them
that the Son of Man should suffer much
and rejected by the elders,
the high priests and the scribes,
but that after being put to death
would rise three days later.
He spoke these words without restraint.
Then Peter took Jesus aside
and began to entertain Him earnestly about it.
But turning around, Jesus looked at his disciples
and added Peter in a stern tone :
“Go away, Satan,
back !
“For thou art guided by human considerations
and not by what God wills.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On the care of the common home
83. The final goal of the course of the universe lies in the fullness of God, already achieved through Christ, pivot of universal maturation. Thus we add another argument to reject any despotic and irresponsible domination of the other creatures by the human being. The ultimate goal of the other creatures is not us. On the contrary, all proceed together with us and through us toward the common goal that is God, in a transcendent fullness where the risen Christ embraces and illuminates all. Indeed, the human being, endowed with intelligence and love and drawn to the fullness of Christ, is called to bring all creatures back to their Creator.
To be continued
The Bible text in this issue is taken from The New Bible Translation,
©Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap 2004/2007.
Considerations from Liturgical Suggestions for Weekdays and Sundays.
Laudato Si Official English translation
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