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
Listen today to the voice of the Lord and do not be obstinate. This is how the refrain of the response psalm sounds. That psalm refers first of all to the desert and to the unwillingness of the people. This theme not only characterizes the desert journey, but is repeatedly echoed by the prophets, as today Jeremiah: “They remain stubborn in anger. Repeatedly Jesus takes up this reproach. One does not listen, one does not see the signs, one is not open. The liturgical “present” addresses this question to us as well. Am I open to the prompting of God’s Spirit?
FIRST READING Jer. 7,23-28
This is a people who will not listen to the Lord their God.
From the Prophet Jeremiah
Thus speaks the Lord :
“This alone I have commanded them :
Listen to me, and I will be your God
and you shall be my people.
“Follow the way that I show you,
and it will go well with you.
“But they have not listened and have not obeyed Me.
“They remained stubborn in wickedness.
“The more and more they turned away from Me.
“Since the exodus of your forefathers from Egypt,
until this day,
I have sent you My servants the prophets over and over again.
“But they have not listened to Me
and disobeyed Me.
“They remained stubborn, even more so than their forefathers.
“Tell them all that, they will not listen ;
call to them, they will not answer.
“Then you must say to them :
Here now is the people
who will not listen to the Lord their God,
who will not be taught.
“Gone is the sincerity,
it no longer comes from their lips.”
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 95(94), 1-2, 6-7, 8-9
Listen today to the voice of the Lord
and be not obstinate.
Come, let us greet the Lord with jubilation,
let us praise the Rock of our salvation.
Let us appear before Him with a song of praise,
honoring Him with song.
Come, let us fall adoringly to the earth,
kneeling before Him who created us.
He is our God and we are his people,
He is the shepherd and we are his flock.
Listen therefore this day to his voice:
Do not be obstinate as once in Meriba,
as at Massa in the desert;
where your fathers wanted to defy me
though they had seen my deeds.
VERSE FOR THE GOSPEL Mt 4, 17
Repent, says the Lord,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
GOSPEL Lk. 11, 14-23
Whoever is not with Me is against Me.
From the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Luke
Once Jesus drove out a devil who was mute.
As soon as the devil was cast out, the mute could speak again.
The people were amazed.
But some of them said :
“By Beelzebub, the prince of devils He casts out devils.”
Others – to put Him to the test –
desired of Him a sign from heaven.
But He knew their thoughts and spoke to them :
“Every kingdom that is inwardly divided decays into a wasteland ;
one house falling on another.
“If now Satan also is at variance with himself ,
how can his kingdom stand?
“For you say that I cast out the devils through Beelzebub.
“If I cast out the devils through Beelzebub,
then by whom do your sons cast them out?
“Therefore they shall be your judges.
“But if I cast out the devils by the finger of God,
then indeed the Kingdom of God has come to you.
“When a strong man, armed with weapons, guards his house and yard,
his property is safe.
“If, however, there comes one who is stronger than he and overcomes him,
he shall plunder his whole armor,
on which he has placed his trust,
and distributes what he has as booty.
“He who is not with Me is against Me,
and whoever does not gather with Me scatters.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclic by
POPE FRANCIS
On the care of the common home
111. Ecological culture cannot be reduced to a set of urgent and partial responses to the problems of environmental degradation, resource depletion and pollution. It should be a different outlook, a thinking, a politics, an educational programme, a lifestyle and a spirituality that shape an existence in the face of advancing technology. Otherwise, even the best ecological initiatives may end up being locked within the same globalised logic. Simply looking for a technical remedy for every environmental problem that arises means isolating issues that are in reality interconnected, and hiding the true and deepest problems of the world system.
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