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 uniqueness of Jesus and his relationship with the Father are further developed after the event with the paralytic. But we look briefly at the first reading. In rich imagery, there is talk here of the end of the exile, of protection on the retreat, of the division of the land as at the time of the entry. In short, there is a clear allusion to the first Exodus from Egypt. The last verse is particularly poignant. “Can a woman forget her infant? Does not a mother have more to do with the child of her womb? And though a mother would forget her child, no, I never forget you!”
FIRST READING Isa. 49, 8-15
I will form you and make you the man of the covenant, to restore the land.
From the Prophet Isaiah
Thus speaks the Lord :
“In the time of my good pleasure I hear you,
in the day of salvation I will come to your aid.
“I will form you and make you
the man of the covenant,
to restore the land,
to redivide the crumbling land,
to say to the captive : “Come out!
and to those who sit in darkness : “Show yourselves!
“Along the roads they shall pasture,
on the barren ground they shall graze.
“They will suffer no hunger or thirst,
no scorching wind, no burning sun to harm them,
for the One who takes care of them,
He guides them,
He brings them to the springs of water.
“Of all my mountains I make lanes
and my paths are made smooth.
“There are some who come from afar ;
others come from the north and from the sea side ,
and others from Sinim.
“Heavens, rejoice, and you, earth, rejoice!
“Mountains, break out in jubilation,
for the Lord has come to comfort his people,
to have mercy on his poor faithful.
“Zion thinks : ‘The Lord has forsaken me,
my God has forgotten me.’
“Can a woman forget her infant?
“Does not a mother have more to do
with the child of her womb?
“And if a mother should forget her child,
no, I will never forget you.”
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 145(144), 8-9, 13cd-14, 17-18
The Lord is full of love and compassion.
The Lord is full of love and compassion,
longsuffering and most gracious.
The Lord is concerned for every person,
merciful to all that He made.
True is God in all his words
and holy in all that He does.
The Lord supports those who are in danger of falling,
raises up those who are weighed down.
The Lord is just in all his ways,
and holy in all he does.
The Lord is near to every one who calls upon Him,
to each one that sincerely prays to Him.
VERSE FOR THE GOSPEL John 6, 64b and 69b
Your words, Lord, are spirit and life ;
your words are words of eternal life.
GOSPEL John 5, 17-30
As the Father raises the dead and makes them alive ,
so also the Son makes alive whom He wills.
From the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
John
At that time
Jesus defended himself against the Jews with the words :
“To this day
my Father is continually at work
and I too do not cease from working.”
For this reason the Jews were even more eager to kill Him :
After all, He was not only violating the Sabbath ,
but He even called God his own Father
and thereby made himself equal to God.
At this Jesus again took the floor and spoke :
“Verily, verily, I say unto you :
The Son can do nothing of himself
but only that which He sees the Father doing.
“And everything that the Father does
does the Son in like manner.
“Yet the Father loves the Son
and shows Him all that He does.
“Even greater works than these will He show Him,
so that ye may be amazed.
“For as the Father raises the dead and makes them alive,
so also the Son quickeneth whom He will.
“The Father judges no one,
but He has
placed judgment entirely in the hands of the Son,
so that all may honor the Son as they honor the Father.
“He who does not honor the Son
neither honors the Father who sent Him.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you :
He who listens to my word
and believes in Him who sent Me,
has eternal life and is not subject to judgment ;
for he has already passed from death to life.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you :
There shall come an hour, yea it is already here,
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God
and they that hear it shall live.
“As the Father has life in Himself,
He also gave to the Son
to have life in Himself.
“He has given Him power to execute judgment ;
for He is the Son of Man.
“Do not marvel at this :
There will come an hour
when all who are in the graves
will hear his voice.
“Then those who did good
will come out of it to the resurrection to life,
but those who did evil will come out until the resurrection to judgment.
“I can do nothing by Myself :
I judge according to what I hear
and my judgment is just,
because I do not seek my own will
but the will of Him who sent Me.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclic by
POPE FRANCIS
On the care of the common home
117. The lack of concern to measure the damage to nature and the impact of decisions on the environment is only a clear reflection of an interest in recognising the message written in the very structures of nature. If one does not recognise in reality itself the importance of a poor person, of a human embryo, of someone with a disability – to name a few examples -, one will find it difficult to hear the cries of nature. Everything is interconnected. If the human being declares himself independent of reality and makes himself the absolute ruler, then the very basis of his existence crumbles, because “instead of fulfilling his role as God’s collaborator in the work of creation, man puts himself in God’s place and thus ultimately incites the revolt of nature”.
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