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.
Opening Word
As brothers and sisters, the Lord invites us
on this first day of the week.
Jesus calls us to be perfect,
holy as He is holy.
He asks that we let go of ourselves
in order to walk with the other
and so become more and more one
with Him and with one another.
The Holy Spirit whom we received at our
baptism and confirmation and who lives in us,
wants to help us with this.
Pray we grow in perfection through His power.
FIRST READING Lev. 19, 1-2.17-18
Love your neighbor as yourself.
From the book of Leviticus
The Lord spoke to Moses:
“Say to all the community of the Israelites :
Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.
“Do not be hateful to your brother.
“Judge one another :
Then you will not be guilty of another’s sin.
“Do not take revenge on a fellow citizen
And do not bear a grudge against him.
“Love thy neighbor as thyself.
“I am the Lord.”
Responsorial Ps. 103(102), 1-2, 3-4, 8 and 10, 12-13
Refrain
The Lord is merciful and benevolent.
Glorify, my soul, the Lord,
his holy Name from the depth of thy being!
Glorify, my soul, the Lord,
forget not his benefits!
It is He who forgives you your debts,
who heals thee from thy afflictions.
It is He who saves you from destruction,
who surrounds you with his favor and mercy.
The Lord is merciful and benevolent,
longsuffering and kind.
He does not deal with us as we deserve,
forgives us not our trespasses.
As far as the distance from east to west,
so He expels sin from us.
As much as a father loves his children ,
so much does the Lord love his servants.
SECOND READING Cor. 3:16-23
All things are yours, but ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
From the first letter of the holy apostle Paul to the Christians of Corinth
Brothers and sisters,
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
If anyone ruins the temple of God ,
God will destroy him.
For the temple of God is holy,
and that temple is you.
Let no one delude himself.
If anyone among you thinks he is wise
– namely wise according to the standards
of this age that is passing away –
then he must become a fool
to learn true wisdom.
The wisdom of this world is foolishness before God.
After all, it is written :
“He catches the wise in their own cunning”,
and elsewhere :
“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise.
“He knows how worthless they are.”
Therefore let no one seek salvation with men.
For everything is yours,
whether it be Paul or Apollos or Cephas,
world, life or death,
present or future,
everything is yours,
but ye are Christ’s,
and Christ is of God.
Verse for the Gospel 1 John 2, 5
Alleluia.
He who keeps the word of Christ,
in him truly is God’s love complete.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Mt. 5, 38-48
Love your enemies.
From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew
At that time Jesus said to his disciples:
“You have heard that it was said :
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
“But I say to you not to resist injustice ,
but if anyone strikes you on the right cheek,
turn to him the other also.
“If anyone wishes to take you to court
and take away your undergarment ,
let him also take the outer garment.
“If someone demands that you go one mile with him ,
go two with him.
“Give to whom you ask,
and turn not away if any man will borrow of thee.
“Thou hast heard it said :
Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thy enemy.
“But I say unto thee :
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
that ye may become children of your Father in heaven,
who maketh the sun to rise on the wicked and the good
and makes it rain
on the just and the unjust.
“For if ye love those who love you ,
what right have ye to wages?
“Do not tax collectors do the same?
“And if thou only salute thy brethren ,
what extraordinary thing dost thou do?
“Do not the heathen do the same?
“Be ye therefore perfect,
as thy Father in heaven is perfect.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On the care of the common home
86. The totality of the universe, with its many relationships, best reveals the inexhaustible riches of God. Saint Thomas Aquinas has wisely underlined that multiplicity and diversity arise “from the intention of the first agent,” Who has willed that “what is lacking in each thing is supplemented by the other things to represent the divine goodness” , because “His goodness cannot be adequately represented by one creature.” Therefore, we must accept the diversity of things in their many relationships. Therefore, one better understands the importance and significance of each creature when one considers it in the totality of God’s plan. The Catechism teaches the following: “The interdependence of creatures is willed by God. The sun and the moon, the cedar and the flower, the eagle and the sparrow: the spectacle of their infinite variety and inequality means that no creature has enough of itself. They exist only in interdependence to complement each other mutually, at the service of each other.”
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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