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
Today’s Gospel once again summarizes the events of the past week. The risen Lord appears a number of times, and each time there is unbelief and stubborn refusal on the part of the disciples to give credence to the testimonies. Once with twelve, one of whom betrayed the Messiah and another denied his ties to Him, and the rest fled, a small, frightened group remains after Jesus’ death. Now that their Master has been crucified they too are in danger, and desperate and despondent they spend their days somewhere hidden. Therefore, the contrast with their attitude a few days later could not be greater: We find the disciples self-confident and determined, united in an enthusiastic community, persistently testifying in Jerusalem – even to the Sanhedrin – that the crucified one still lives. It is therefore inevitable that in those few days something significant happened, something so profound and substantial that it could explain this turnaround. The proclamation of a new exodus from the bondage of sin and evil will spread everywhere from now on.
FIRST READING Acts 4, 13-21
It is impossible for us not to speak of what we have seen and heard.
From the Acts of the Apostles
In those days
the high priests,
the elders of the people and the scribes were amazed
when they saw the boldness of Peter and John.
They recognized them as companions of Jesus.
Because they also saw the healed man standing with them
they knew not to object.
After they had ordered them to leave the Sanhedrin
they consulted each other and said :
“What should we do with these people?
“It is clear to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem
that an unmistakable miracle has been performed by them.
“We cannot deny that.
“But in order to prevent the rumor of it
be spread still further among the people,
we should threaten to forbid them
ever again to speak to any human being with an appeal to that Name.”
Then they called them in
and forbade them from ever saying or teaching anything
with an appeal to Jesus’ Name.
Peter and John, however, answered them :
“Judge for yourself
Whether it would be justifiable before God
if we listened to you more than to God.
“It is impossible for us
not to speak of what we have seen and heard.”
After threatening them again
they set them free
because in view of the people
they did not know how to punish them ;
for all glorified God for what had happened.
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 118(117), 1, 14-15, 16ab-18, 19-21
I thank Thee, that Thou hast heard me.
or : Alleluia.
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is gracious.
My strength and my power is the Lord,
It is He who delivers me.
Now there is a shout of celebration and happiness
in all the tents of the pious.
The Lord intervened with a mighty hand,
the hand of the Lord established me,
the hand of the Lord was mighty.
I shall not die but shall live
and universally recount the work of the Lord,
beaten, disciplined the Lord has me,
but not doomed.
Open up the gate of righteousness,
in it I will go and thank the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord,
the pious enter into it.
I thank Thee, that Thou hast heard me,
that Thou hast brought me salvation.
ALLELUIA Ps. 118(117), 24
Alleluia.
This is the day, which the Lord has made,
we will celebrate it in gladness.
Alleluia.
SEQUENCE
Let us praise the Lamb of Easter,
let us 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 is risen,
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 Mk 16, 9-15
Go out into all the world and proclaim the Gospel.
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Mark
After Jesus
early in the morning of the first day of the week
was risen,
He first appeared to Mary Magdalene,
from whom He had cast out seven devils.
This one went on to tell
to those who had been his companions
and now mourned and wept.
But when they heard
that He was alive and had been seen by her
they did not believe it.
Then He appeared in another form
to two of them
when they were on foot on their way out.
After these had returned
they told the others,
but even they were not believed.
Later He appeared to the eleven
while they were sitting at the table.
He reproached them for their stubborn unbelief,
because they had not believed those
who had seen Him after He had risen.
Thereupon He spoke to them :
“Go into all the world
and proclaim the Gospel to all creation.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclic by
POPE FRANCIS
On the care of the common home
140. Due to the number and variety of factors to be taken into account when determining the environmental impact of a concrete undertaking, it is essential to give researchers their due role, to facilitate their interaction, and to ensure broad academic freedom. Ongoing research should also give us a better understanding of how different creatures relate to one another in making up the larger units which today we term “ecosystems”. We take these systems into account not only to determine how best to use them, but also because they have an intrinsic value independent of their usefulness. Each organism, as a creature of God, is good and admirable in itself; the same is true of the harmonious ensemble of organisms existing in a defined space and functioning as a system. Although we are often not aware of it, we depend on these larger systems for our own existence. We need only recall how ecosystems interact in dispersing carbon dioxide, purifying water, controlling illnesses and epidemics, forming soil, breaking down waste, and in many other ways which we overlook or simply do not know about. Once they become conscious of this, many people realize that we live and act on the basis of a reality which has previously been given to us, which precedes our existence and our abilities. So, when we speak of “sustainable use”, consideration must always be given to each ecosystem’s regenerative ability in its different areas and aspects.
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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