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 reading from Isaiah may go back to the fourth century. The word of God is like a fertile rain. It does its work no matter what. Yet this reading reminds us of the parable of the seed. The seed is never sown fruitlessly. It brings forth fruit. But the rain also falls like the seed on the rocky ground or on the hard road. Thus, the Word of God often ends up on hard, inaccessible soil. Man who closes himself off cannot receive that Word. Perhaps it works anyway – it is a dangerous thought – hardening rather than fertilising. Didn’t we used to speak of grace given in vain?
FIRST READING Isa 55, 10-11
My word does not return until it has accomplished my will and fulfilled its mission.
From the Prophet Isaiah
This is how God the Lord speaks :
“As the rain and the snow fall from heaven
and do not return
there when they have watered the earth,
fertilized it so that it becomes green,
when they have given the seed to the sower
and the bread to the eater,
so shall it be with the word
that comes from my mouth ;
it will not return to Me in vain
until it has done My will and fulfilled its mission.”
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 34(33), 4-5, 6-7, 16-17, 18-19
To the pious who cry the Lord listens
and rescues them from every need.
Glorify the Lord together with me
and let us worship his Name in unison.
I went to the Lord and He heard me,
He saved me from all that I feared.
Rely on Him and you will be happy,
for He will not fail you.
Those who cry out in distress, the Lord listens to them
and puts them out of their misery.
The eye of the Lord is upon the pious,
his ear turned to their supplication.
From evildoers He turns his face away,
they are forgotten on earth.
To the pious who cry the Lord listens
and rescues them from every need.
The Lord is near to sorrowful hearts,
He helps those who acknowledge their guilt.
VERSE FOR THE GOSPEL Mt 4, 4b
Not from bread alone does man live,
but from everything that comes from the mouth of God.
GOSPEL Mt 6:7-15
Thou must pray thus.
From the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew
At that time Jesus said to his disciples :
“When ye pray
do not use the same words as the pagans ;
for they think that by their many words they will be heard.
“So do not imitate their example,
for before you ask Him
your Father knows what you need.
“Thou must therefore pray thus :
Our Father which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
“For if ye forgive men their trespasses
your heavenly Father will forgive you also ;
but if ye forgive not men
your heavenly Father will not forgive your faults either.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclic by
POPE FRANCIS
On the care of the common home
95. The environment is a collective good, a legacy of all humanity and a responsibility of all. If anyone owns a part of it, it is only to manage it for the benefit of all. If we do not, we burden our conscience with denying the existence of the other. This is why the New Zealand bishops have asked what the commandment “thou shalt not kill” means when “a 20 per cent of the world’s population consumes resources to such an extent that they deprive poor peoples and future generations of what they need to survive”.
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 the weekdays and Sundays
Laudato Si Official English translation