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
We read from Luke the parable about the rich miser and Lazarus. It is a parable that frames well in Lent. Are we paying enough attention, not only to the gap between rich and poor, but to the poor right on our doorstep? Yet it is a parable with a double bottom line. There is more to it. Who are these brothers who will not listen to Moses and the prophets? Who will not even listen to anyone who rises from the dead? Isn’t this about Jesus himself and those who stuck in stubborn unbelief even after the resurrection?
FIRST READING Jer. 17, 5-10
Cursed is he who trusts in men ; blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.
From the Prophet Jeremiah
This is what God the Lord says :
“Cursed is he who trusts in people ,
who relies on a creature and turns away from the Lord.
“He is a barren bush in the steppe,
never does he get rain.
“He stands on barren desert ground,
in a barren, desolate land.
“Blessed is he who trusts in the Lord,
and is secure in Him.
“He is a tree on a river,
its roots reaching down to the water.
“He does not suffer from the heat,
its leaves remain green.
“A time of drought does not trouble Him,
he always bears fruit.
“Nothing is so unreliable as the heart,
incorrigible it is, who can fathom it?
“I, God the Lord, penetrate heart and kidneys,
I repay each according to his conduct,
according to the fruit of his labor.”
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 1, 1-2, 3, 4, 6
Happy is the man,
who puts his hope in the Lord (Ps. 40 (39), 5a)
Blessed is the man who refuses to do
what wicked men advise him ;
who does not go the ways of sinners,
does not sit in the midst of mockers.
He is like a tree, planted by the water,
that bears fruit in due season;
in summer his leaves shall not wither,
but whatsoever he doeth shall prosper him.
The wicked do not fare so :
The wind blows them away like chaff.
For the Lord is careful of the way of the justs,
the way of sinners is a dead end.
VERSE FOR THE GOSPEL Ps 130(129), 5 and 7
In the Lord I put my hope,
in his word I trust ;
for the Lord is ever merciful,
his grace is without limit.
GOSPEL Lk 16, 19-31
You have received your share of good and Lazarus fell victim to evil.
Now he experiences consolation and thou art tortured.
From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke
At that time Jesus said to the Pharisees :
“There was once a rich man
who was dressed in purple and fine linen
and celebrated every day with exuberance,
while a poor man named Lazarus,
lay at the gate covered with sores.
“He longed to satisfy his hunger
with what fell from the rich man’s table.
“But only dogs came and licked his sores.
“Now it came to pass that the poor man died
and was carried by the angels into the lap of Abraham.
“The rich one also died and was given an honorable burial.
“In the underworld, prey to many pains
he lifted up his eyes and saw from afar Abraham
and Lazarus in his lap.
“Then he cried out :
Father Abraham, have mercy on me
and command Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water
and come and refresh my tongue with it,
for I am being tortured by the flames here.
“But Abraham answered :
My son, remember how during your life you have
received your share of good
and how in like manner Lazarus had his share of evil ;
therefore now he is here experiencing consolation
but you are tortured.
Moreover, between us and you there is a wide gulf forever,
so that there is no possibility,
– even if we wanted to.
to go from here to you or from there to us.
“The rich one said :
Then I ask thee, father Abraham,
that thou wilt send him to my father’s house,
for I have five more brothers ;
let him warn them
lest they also
end up in this place of torment.
“But Abraham spoke :
They have Moses and the prophets ; let them listen to them.
But he said: “Oh no, father Abraham!
But if one comes to them from the dead,
they will repent.
“He, however, spoke to him :
If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets ,
they will not be persuaded
if one rises from the dead.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclic by
POPE FRANCIS
On the care of the common home
104. However, we cannot deny that atomic energy, biotechnology, information technology, the knowledge of our own DNA and other abilities we have acquired give us a terrifying power. What is more, they give those who have the knowledge and especially the economic power to exploit them impressive power over the whole of the human race and the entire world. Never has humanity had so much power over itself and nothing guarantees that it will use it well, especially if one considers the way it uses it. It is enough to recall the atomic bombs thrown in the middle of the 20th century, as well as the great use of technology displayed by Nazism, communism and other totalitarian regimes in the service of massacring millions of people, without forgetting that today war has increasingly deadly instruments at its disposal. In which hands does so much power reside and in which can it come? It is terribly dangerous that it lies with a small part of humanity.
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