The Lord is truly risen
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 except,
can experience that joy by opening his heart
to the healing effect of God’s word.
Available every day.
Consideration
The evangelist John writes from the specific situation in which he and the first Christians found themselves. His stories are filled with symbolism. John wants to tell us today that what happened on the Lake of Tiberias is also happening every day in the young Christian community.
The boat in the story symbolizes the young Church. The emphasis is on the unity of Christians (the one boat, the bursting net that does not tear). It is also striking that in the net of the apostles there are 153 fish. 153 was the total number of fish species known in the ancient world – so the miraculous catch tells of the universality of the mission: All peoples are invited to come to faith. In the early Church, the most diverse people came “into the nets” of the apostles: both Jews and Romans, both Greeks and Syrians, Alexandrians and Persians. They saw the faith of the apostles, and it convinced them.
FIRST READING Acts 4, 1-12
With no one else is salvation to be found.
From the Acts of the Apostles
In those days when Peter and John
spoke to the people after the curing of the lame man
came the priests,
the commander of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them.
Outraged that they were teaching the people
and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead,
they laid hands on them and took them into their safe keeping
until the next day , because it was already evening.
However, many of those who had heard the speech
assumed the faith,
and the number of men increased to about five thousand.
The next day came their authorities,
elders and scribes gathered in Jerusalem
together with the high priest Annas,
with Caiaphas, John, Alexander
and all who belonged to the high priestly family.
They had them led before them and asked :
“By what power or in what name have you done this?”
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke to them :
“Governors of the people and elders!
“If today we are called to account
for a benefit rendered to a deficient man
by which he is healed,
then let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel
that through the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene
whom you crucified
but whom God raised from the dead,
– that through that Name this man stands here healthy before you.
“He is the stone
which ye builders thought worth nothing
and yet became the cornerstone.
“In no other is salvation to be found
and no other name under heaven
has been given to men
in which we are to be saved.”
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 118(117), 1-2, 4, 22-24, 25-27a
The stone which the builders despised,
that has become the cornerstone.
or : Alleluia.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is merciful,
for his mercy is infinite.
Repeat it, tribes of Israel :
Infinite is his mercy !
Repeat it, servants of the Lord :
Endless is his mercy !
The stone which the builders despised,
has become the cornerstone.
It is the Lord who has done this,
a miracle before our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made,
we will celebrate it in joy.
O Lord, give Thou us thy salvation,
o Lord, give us prosperity!
Blessed who comes with the Name of the Lord :
We bless Thee from the house of the Lord ;
the Lord is God, He enlightens us.
ALLELUIA Ps. 118(117), 24
Alleluia.
This is the day that the Lord has made,
we will celebrate it in gladness.
Alleluia.
SEQUENCE
Let us praise the Lamb of Easter,
honour the Lamb of God with sacrifice.
Yes the Lamb saves the sheep,
Christ through his innocence
us poor sinners to the Father.
Death and life, oh miracle,
must fight together.
Who died, He lives, He is our King.
Tell us, Mary,
what is it you have seen?
The emptiness of Christ’s tomb,
the glory of Him who rose again,
angels as witnesses,
the sudarium and the shroud.
My hope, my Christ alive!
Behold He goeth before thee into Galilee.
Truly Christ is risen : Rose from the dead.
O King, our Hero, give us peace. Alleluia.
GOSPEL John 21, 1-14
Jesus stepped closer, took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish.
From the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
John
At that time Jesus appeared again to the disciples
at the lake of Tiberias.
The appearance proceeded as follows :
There were gathered :
Simon Peter, Tomas who is also called Didymus,
Nathanael from Cana of Galilee,
the sons of Zebedee and two more of his disciples.
Simon Peter said to them :
“I am going fishing.”
They replied :
“Then we will go with you.”
So they set out and climbed into the boat
but they caught nothing that night.
When morning came already
Jesus was standing on the beach,
but the disciples didn’t know it was Jesus.
Jesus spoke to them :
“Friends, do you have any fish?”
“No,”
they said.
Then He commanded them :
“Cast out the net to the right of the boat,
and you will catch something.”
After they had done this,
they were unable to retrieve the net
because of the great number of fish.
Thereupon the disciple whom Jesus loved very much said to Peter :
“It is the Lord!”
When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord
he put on his outer garment
– for he wore only an undergarment –
and jumped into the lake.
The other disciples came by boat,
for they were not far from the shore,
only about two hundred cubits,
and dragged the net of fish behind them.
When they had stepped ashore
they saw that a charcoal fire had been set up
with fish on it and bread.
Jesus spoke to them :
“Get some of the fish that you have just caught.”
Simon Peter went back on board and dragged the net ashore.
It was full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three of them
And although there were so many, the net did not break.
Jesus said to them :
“Come and have breakfast.”
Knowing that it was the Lord
none of the disciples dared ask Him :
“Who art Thou?”
Jesus stepped closer,
took the bread and gave it to them,
and the fish as well.
This was the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples
since he had risen from the dead.
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On the care of the common home
139. When we talk about “environment”, we also refer to a special relationship: that between nature and the society that inhabits it. This prevents us from thinking of nature as something separate from us, or as a pure frame of our lives. We are included in it, we are a part of it and we are intertwined with it. The reasons why a place is polluted require an analysis of the functioning of society, its economy, its behaviour, the ways in which it understands reality. Given the scale of change, it is no longer possible to find a specific and independent answer to every part of the problem. It is fundamental to seek integral solutions that take into account the interactions of natural systems with each other and with social systems. There are not two crises separately, an environmental crisis and a social crisis, but one complex social crisis and environmental crisis. The guidelines for a solution call for an integral approach to fight poverty, restore dignity to the excluded, and care for nature at the same time.
To be continued
The Bible text in this issue is taken from The New Bible Translation,
©Netherlands Bible Society 2004/2007.
Considerations from Liturgical Suggestions for Weekdays and Sundays
Laudato Si Official English translation
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