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
After John, we have the betrayal in Matthew’s version. Judas is clearly quoted as “one of the twelve,” this is a chosen of the Lord, who “surrenders” his master. Throughout the history of Christianity, this is the greatest possible scandal. What was the motive? Greed for money? John suggests that Judas was a thief, and Matthew also writes, “What will you give me if I play Him into your hands?” But Judas may also have been disappointed in a Messiah who did not seize power and drive out the Romans. Either way, the fact of the betrayal is there, one does not invent such a thing. Woe to the disciple who betrays his master.
FIRST READING Isa. 50, 4-9a
My face I have not turned away from those who slander me and spit on me.
From the prophet Isaiah
The Lord has given me
the tongue of a good student,
so that I may speak to the despondent.
In the morning he raises me up to speak,
in the morning, He raises me up to listen,
so that I may hear what a disciple hears.
God the Lord has spoken to me
and I have not resisted,
I did not flinch.
My back I offered to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who snatched my beard.
And I did not turn away my face
from those who slander me and spit on me.
God the Lord will help me :
Therefore I will not be ashamed.
He is beside me, my defender !
Who dares to accuse me?
Let us face each other!
Who is my opponent? He approaches me!
The Lord is my helper!
Who will convince me of my guilt?
RESPONSORIAL Ps. 69(68), 8-10, 21bcd-22, 31, 33-34
Hear me because thou art merciful, Lord,
now is the time of mercy.
For your sake I have endured every reproach,
though the red of shame rose to my face.
I became a stranger to my relatives,
my own brothers know me no more.
The care of your house has worn me out,
on me came the scorn of those who scorn you.
The defamation has broken my heart,
the taunts are unbearable.
I waited in vain for mercy,
for comfort, but I did not find it.
They put poison in my food,
they quenched my thirst with vinegar.
God’s Name I will praise in my song,
praising him with gratitude everywhere.
Behold, the humble, and rejoice,
take courage, all of you who seek God.
God listens to what a poor person asks Him,
and does not forget his prisoners.
VERSE FOR THE GOSPEL
Do we pay homage to our King,
for He alone has shown mercy
for our debt.
GOSPEL Mt 26, 14-25
The Son of Man is going, as it is written of Him,
but woe to the man by whom he is delivered !
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Matthew
In those days one of the twelve,
named Judas Iscariot,
went to the high priests and said:
“What will you give me if I play Him into your hands?”
They paid him out thirty pieces of silver.
And from then on
he sought a favorable opportunity to deliver Him.
On the first day of the unleavened bread
the disciples came and asked Jesus :
“Where do You want us to prepare the Passover meal for You?”
He answered :
“Go to the city and say to such and such :
The Master lets it be known :
My hour is at hand;
with you I will take my disciples to the Passover meal.”
The disciples did as Jesus had instructed them
and prepared the Passover meal.
When evening had fallen
He lay down with the twelve disciples.
During the meal He spoke :
“Verily, I say unto you :
one of you shall deliver Me up.”
Smartly struck, one after another began to ask Him :
“Surely it is not I, Lord?”
He answered :
“He who puts his hand in the dish with Me
shall deliver Me up.
“Well goes the Son of Man,
as it is written of Him,
but woe to the man
by whom the Son of Man is delivered up!
“It would be better for him
if he had not been born, that man!”
Judas, his betrayer, also took the floor and said :
“Surely it is not I, Rabbi ?”
He answered him :
“Thou sayest.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On the care of the common home
131. I would like to take here the balanced position of Saint John Paul II, who explicitly pointed out the benefits of scientific and technological progress, “which bear witness to how noble is the vocation of man to participate in the creative action of God,” but at the same time he recalled “that any intervention in the field of the ecosystem cannot avoid taking into account its consequences in other fields.” He stated that the Church appreciates any contribution “from the study and applications of molecular biology, complemented by other disciplines such as genetics and its technological application in agriculture and industry.” Although he also said that this should not pave the way for “indiscriminate genetic engineering,” which ignores the negative effects of these interventions. It is impossible to inhibit human creativity. If one cannot prohibit an artist from expressing his creative endowment, neither can one hinder those who possess special gifts for scientific and technological development and whose endowments have been bestowed by God for the service of others. At the same time, one cannot but reconsider the purposes, effects, context and ethical constraints of that human activity, which is a form of power with great risks.
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 the weekdays and Sundays
Laudato Si Official English translation
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