Invitation
May I hereby draw 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 their hearts
to the healing power of God’s word.
Available every day.
Opening word
As believers, we seek to live
after the example of Jesus Christ.
We are committed to discovering God’s will
and allow ourselves to be led by his Spirit.
In doing so, we carry within us the hope
that God will be close to us
when our faith is weak and fragile.
Like Martha and Mary at the death of Lazarus,
here we want to entrust ourselves to the God of all life:
He is the solid foundation of our faith
and of our hope for new life.
FIRST READING Ez. 37, 12-14
I will pour out my spirit on you and you shall live.
From the book of Ezekiel
Thus God the Lord speaks:
“I am going to open your graves ;
in multitudes I will bring you out of your graves
and bring you to the soil of Israel.
“And then when I have opened your graves
and shall have carried you away in multitudes from your graves ,
ye shall know that I am the Lord.
“My spirit I will pour out on you and you will live;
I will establish thee on thy own ground
and ye shall know that I am the Lord:
What I say, that I accomplish!”
Such is the Lord’s divine word.
Responsorial Ps. 130(129), 1-2, 3-4, 5-6ab, 7-8
Refrain
The Lord is ever merciful,
his mercy unlimited.
Out of the depths I cry, Lord,
listen to my voice.
Will attentively hear
to my supplication.
If Thou continue to remember sins,
Lord, who will stand?
But with Thee I find forgiveness,
therefore my heart seeks Thee.
In the Lord I put my hope,
in his Word I trust.
Eagerly I look forward to Him,
more than watchmen to the morning.
For the Lord is ever merciful,
his mercy unlimited.
He will deliver Israel
from his iniquity.
SECOND READING Rom. 8:8-11
The Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you.
From the letter of the holy apostle Paul to the Christians of Rome
Brothers and sisters,
Those who live selfishly,
cannot please God.
But your existence is not governed
by complacency,
but by the Spirit,
because the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Would anyone not have the Spirit of Christ,
then he does not belong to Him.
If Christ is in you ,
though your body remains through sin
consecrated to death,
but your spirit lives,
thanks to righteousness.
And if the Spirit of God
Who raised Jesus from the dead, dwells in you,
He Who raised Christ Jesus from the dead,
will also one day quicken your mortal body
by the power of his Spirit, who dwells in you.
Verse for the Gospel John 11, 25a and 26
Praise and honour be to You, Lord Jesus.
I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord,
Whoever believes in Me shall not die for ever.
Praise and honour be to You, Lord Jesus.
GOSPEL Jn 11:1-45
I am the resurrection and the life.
From the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John
In those days
there was someone sick, a certain Lazarus from Bethany,
the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
Mary was the woman who had anointed the Lord with fragrant oil
and had dried his feet with her hair.
The sick Lazarus was her brother.
Lazarus’ sisters sent Jesus the message:
“Lord, he whom You love is sick.”
When Jesus heard this, He said:
“This sickness does not lead to death ,
but is for the sake of God’s glory,
that through it the Son of God may be glorified.”
Jesus loved Marta, her sister and Lazarus very much.
So when He heard that Lazarus was sick,
although He remained on the spot for two more days,
but then He said to His disciples:
“Let us go again to Judea.”
The disciples said:
“Rabbi, only recently did the Jews try to stone Thee
and now art Thou going there again?”
Jesus replied:
“Does not the day have twelve hours?
“During the day a person can go without stoning ,
because he sees the light of this world.
“But if anyone goes by night, he knocks himself
because the light is not in him.”
Thus He spoke.
And He added:
“Our friend Lazarus is asleep ,
but I am going there to awaken him.”
His disciples remarked:
“Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.”
Jesus, however, had spoken of his death ,
while they believed He was speaking of the rest of sleep.
Therefore, Jesus then told them bluntly:
“Lazarus has died ,
and for your sake I rejoice that I was not there,
that ye may believe.
“But let us go to him.”
Then Tomas, nicknamed Didymus, said to his fellow disciples:
“Let us also go to die with Him.”
On his arrival, Jesus found
that Lazarus had been lying in the tomb for four days.
Betania now was close to Jerusalem,
at a distance of about three kilometres.
Many Jews had therefore come to Martha and Mary
to comfort them over the loss of their brother.
As soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming ,
she went to meet Him;
Mary, however, stayed at home.
Marta said to Jesus:
“Lord, if Thou hadst been here ,
my brother would not have died.
“But even now I know
that whatever Thou dost ask of God,
God will give it to Thee.”
Jesus said to her:
“Thy brother shall arise.”
Marta replied:
“I know that he will rise at the resurrection on the last day.”
Jesus said to her:
“I am the resurrection and the life.
“Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he has died,
and everyone who lives in faith in Me,
shall not die for ever.
“Believest thou this?”
She said to Him:
“Yes, Lord, I firmly believe that Thou art the Messiah ,
the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
After these words, she went to call her sister Mary
and said softly:
“The Master is here and is asking for you.”
As soon as Mary heard this,
she quickly got up and went to Him.
Jesus had not yet arrived in the village,
but was still at the place where Martha had met Him.
When the Jews who were in the house with Mary to comfort her,
suddenly saw her get up and leave,
they followed her
thinking she was going to the tomb to weep there.
When Mary came to the place where Jesus was,
she fell at His feet as soon as she saw Him and said:
“Lord, if Thou hadst been here
my brother would not have died.”
When Jesus saw her weeping ,
and likewise the Jews who had come with her,
a shudder ran through Him
and deeply moved, Jesus spoke:
“Where hast thou laid him down?”
They said to Him:
“Come and see, Lord.”
Jesus began to weep,
so that the Jews said:
“See how He loved Him.”
But some of them said:
“Could He who opened the eyes of a blind man ,
not also make the latter not die?”
Coming to the tomb, Jesus again experienced a shudder.
It was a rock tomb and there was a stone in front of it.
Jesus said:
“Take away the stone.”
Marta, the sister of the deceased, said to Him:
“He already smells, for it is already the fourth day.
Jesus answered her:
“Did I not tell you that if you believe ,
ye shall see the glory of God?”
Then they took away the stone.
Jesus lifted his eyes to heaven and spoke:
“Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me.
“I knew well that Thou always hearest Me ,
but for the sake of the people around Me
have I said this ,
that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me.”
After these words, He called out in a loud voice:
“Lazarus, come out!”
The dead man came out,
feet and hands bound with bandages
and with a sweat cloth around his face.
Jesus commanded them:
“Untie him and let him go.”
Many Jews, who had come to Mary
and saw what Jesus had done,
believed in Him.
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Laudato Si
Encyclic by
POPE FRANCIS
On caring for the common home
121. We are still waiting for the development of a new synthesis that overcomes the false forms of dialectics of recent centuries. Christianity itself, keeping true to its identity and the treasure of truth it has received from Jesus Christ, is always reflecting on itself and expressing itself anew in dialogue with the new historical situations, thus allowing its eternal newness to blossom.
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
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