The Lord has truly risen
Invitation
May I hereby draw your attention to
the daily reading of the Gospel?
This invitation wants to make you partakers of the joy
of the Gospel. Everyone, no one except,
can experience that joy by opening their hearts
to the healing power of God’s word.
Available every day.
Consideration
Today we have the famous speech on the Areopagus.
Paul wanders alone in Athens, watching over his companions. What he sees arouses his wrath. He abhors pagan religiosity. God does not dwell in man-made temples (verse 2a); God does not ask to be cared for by human hands (verse 25 sacrifices); God cannot be depicted in man-made images (verse 29). Yet in all this, he finds a starting point for speaking about the true God. Their search is positive. His appearance is certainly not a success for the Athenians. Especially the resurrection belief gives offense, and their last remark is meant to be mocking rather than a show of interest.
FIRST READING Acts 17:15,22-18:1
What you worship without knowing it I come to proclaim to you.
From the Acts of the Apostles
On that day Paul’s companions led him away as far as Athens
and left a message for Silas and Timothy
to rejoin him as soon as possible.
Arriving in Athens
Paul stood in the middle of the Areópagus
and took the floor :
“Men of Athens,
I see by everything how much awe ye have for higher beings.
“For as I walked around and looked at what you worship
I even discovered an altar with the inscription :
To an unknown god.
“Well,
what you worship without knowing
that I come to proclaim to thee.
“The God who made the world and all that is in it,
dwells not in temples made by hands.
“Nor is He cared for by human hands
as if He needed anyone,
for He gives to each life and breath
yes, everything.
“All the human race He caused to arise from one,
to inhabit the whole surface of the earth,
whereby He established the seasons
and the boundaries of their habitation ;
and to seek God,
whether they might find Him by groping.
“For He is not far from every one of us.
“For through Him, we have life,
moving and being ;
as some of your own poets have said :
For we are of His generation.
“If, therefore, we belong to God’s lineage,
we must not think
that the divine would resemble gold or silver or stone,
to a product of human skill and ingenuity.
“Without regard to those times of ignorance,
let God now bring to men the message
that they must repent all and everywhere.
“For He has appointed a day,
in which He is going to judge the world according to justice
by a man whom He has appointed for that purpose.
“To all, He gave proof thereof
by raising Him from the dead.”
But when they heard of the resurrection of the dead
some scoffed at it
while others said :
“We will hear about that on occasion.”
Thus Paul went away from them.
Yet some joined him
and came to faith,
including Dionysius the Areopagite
and a woman called Dámaris
and others.
After this, Paul left Athens and came to Corinth.
INTERLUDIUM Ps 148, 1-2, 11-12ab, 12c-14a, 14bcd
Full are heaven and earth of your glory.
Or: Alleluia.
Praise the Lord, from heaven;
praise Him, all that is above.
Praise Him, all His angelic hosts,
praise Him, all His army.
Princes of the earth with all your peoples,
lords, and judges in all the land;
young men and young girls,
greybeards, and children, all together :
Let them now praise the Name of the Lord,
for this Name alone is exalted.
Glorious is He above earth and heaven.
Glorious He also made His people.
He is the glory of all His faithful,
of Israel’s people, His own possession.
ALLELUIA
Alleluia.
He who called all into existence
and had mercy on us, His people,
He rises, Christ the Lord!
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Jn 16:12-15
The Spirit of truth will bring you to the full truth.
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
John
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples :
“Yet much have I yet to say unto you,
but ye cannot bear it now.
“However, when He comes, the Spirit of truth,
He will bring you to the full truth ;
He will not speak from Himself
but speak all that He hears
and announce unto thee the things to come.
“He will glorify Me because He will proclaim to you
what He has received from Me.
“I said that He will proclaim to you
what He has received from Me,
because all that the Father has is Mine.”
________________________________________________________
Laudato Si
Encyclic by
POPE FRANCIS
On caring for the common home
172. For poor countries, eradicating misery and the social development of their inhabitants must be a priority; at the same time, they must examine the scandalous level of consumption in some privileged sectors of their population and better tackle corruption. Certainly, they must also develop less polluting forms of energy production, but for this, they must be able to count on the help of the countries that have grown very much at the expense of the current pollution of the planet. The direct exploitation of abundant solar energy requires the establishment of mechanisms and subsidies so that developing countries can have access to technology transfer, technical assistance, and financial resources, but always paying attention to the concrete circumstances, since “the compatibility of installations with the context for which they are designed is not always adequately appreciated”. The costs would be low compared to the risk of climate change. In any case, it is above all an ethical decision, based on the solidarity of all peoples.
To be continued
The Bible text in this issue is taken from The New Translation of the Bible,
©Dutch Bible Society 2004/2007.
Considerations from Liturgical suggestions for weekdays and Sundays
Laudato Si Official English translation
_____________________________________________________________________________