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
“Thou art from below, I am from above. Thou art of this world, I am not of this world.” The word world does not have this negative sound everywhere in John’s Gospel, but it usually means the world insofar as it is alienated from God and hostile to God. This God-hostile world is sharply contrasted with the world to come. Here the distance between Jesus and his adversaries is strongly emphasised. The words ‘from above’ and ‘from below’ underline this even more clearly. It is not a spatial statement but a theological one that seeks to express the core of the Jesus mystery.
FIRST READING Num. 21, 4-9
Everyone who is bitten and looks up to the bronze serpent will be alive.
From the Book of Numbers
At that time the Hebrews were moving from Mount Hor
in the direction of the Reed Sea,
because they wanted to go around Edom.
But on the way, the people became impatient.
They turned against God and against Moses.
“Have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the desert?
“There is no bread, there is no water.
and that inferior food opposes us.”
Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes upon the people.
These bit the Israelites and many of them died.
Now the people came to Moses and said :
“We have sinned ,
for we have turned against the Lord and against you.
“Pray the Lord to take these serpents away from us.”
Then Moses prayed for the people
and the Lord said to him :
“Make such a poisonous snake and put it on a pole.
“Everyone who is bitten and looks up to it ,
will stay alive.”
Moses made a bronze snake
and put it on a pole.
Anyone who was bitten by a snake
and fixed his eyes on the bronze snake,
remained alive.
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 102(101), 2-3, 16-18, 19-21
Lord, hear my prayer,
let my cry reach You.
Lord, hear my prayer,
let my cry reach You.
Do not hide your face from me
when sorrows press upon me.
Give me your attention, Lord,
hear me when I call upon You.
The heathen shall fear thy name again,
the princes of the earth your glory, Lord ;
when Thou rebuildest the walls of Zion,
when Thou returnest there in full glory;
when Thou hearest the voice of the plunderers,
their supplications not lay down besideThee .
Then set this in writing for the coming generation
and let our sons thank the Lord for it.
The Lord looks down from His holy height,
He looks down from heaven to earth.
He will hear the cry of the captives,
redeeming those consecrated to death.
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 John 8, 21-30
When you shall have lifted up the Son of Man, you shall see that I am.
From the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
John
At that time Jesus spoke to the Pharisees :
“I am going
and ye shall seek me,
but in your sins you shall die.
“Where I go ye cannot come.”
The Jews thereupon said :
“Surely He will not commit suicide
that He says :
Where I go ye cannot come?”
But He resumed :
“Ye are from below,
I am from above.
“Thou art of this world,
I am not of this world.
“Wherefore I said unto you
that thou shalt die in thy sins,
for if ye believe not that I am,
ye shall die in your sins.”
They then asked Him :
“Who then art Thou?”
Jesus answered :
“Why should I even speak to you about that?
“Much could I say about you to your condemnation.
“But He who sent me is true,
and what I have heard of Him
I say to the world.”
They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.
Thereupon Jesus said :
“When ye shall have lifted up the Son of Man ,
then you will see that I am
and that I do nothing of Myself,
but say all these things
as the Father has taught Me.
“And He who sent Me
is with Me ;
He has not left Me alone
because I always do what pleases Him.”
When He spoke thus
many came to believe in Him.
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Laudato Si
Encyclic by
POPE FRANCIS
On caring for the common home
123. The culture of relativism is the same disease that leads someone to take advantage of someone else and treat them purely as objects by forcing them into forced labour or enslaving them because of a debt. The same logic leads to sexually abusing children or abandoning the elderly who are of no use to one’s own interests. It is also the inner logic of those who say: let the economy be regulated by the invisible forces of the market, because its harmful effects on society and nature are inevitable. If beyond the satisfaction of one’s own aspirations and immediate needs, there are neither objective truths nor fixed principles, what limits can human trafficking, organised crime, drug trafficking, trade in blood diamonds and skins of animals in danger of extinction have? Is it not the same relativistic logic that justifies buying organs from the poor to sell or use for experiments, or discarding children because they do not conform to their parents’ wishes? It is the same logic of “use and discard” that produces so much waste just because of the disordered desire to consume more than what one really needs. And then we should not think that political programmes or the force of law will be enough to avoid behaviours that affect the environment; for when culture degenerates and people no longer recognise any objective truth or universally valid principles, laws will only be understood as something arbitrarily imposed, and as obstacles, to be avoided.
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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