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 power of God’s word.
Available every day.
Consideration
Jesus lived out God’s first covenant with His people according to His deepest intentions. Law and prophets were fully realized, fulfilled, and completed in Him. Of this new and unique covenant, Paul became a servant. God Himself made him capable of this. After all, He gives His Spirit, which makes alive and strengthens faith. After all, God wants people to share in the happiness He has set aside for them. And He also shows which way one can take to taste that happiness, namely, the way of Jesus. God also makes us capable of giving the best possible response to His love. Therefore: glorify the Lord our God (Ps 99:5.9).
FIRST READING II Cor. 3, 4-11
Christ has made us capable
to be servants of a new covenant,
not of the letter but of the Spirit.
From the holy apostle Paul’s second letter to the Christians of Corinth
Brothers and sisters,
Great is our trust in God
thanks be to Christ.
Again :
This does not mean that we are capable of ourselves
so that we can attribute any merit to ourselves.
All our ability comes from God.
It is He who has made us capable
to be servants of a new covenant,
not of the letter but of the Spirit.
For the letter kills
but the Spirit makes us alive.
Well,
the ministry of Death
whose charter was engraved on stones
was already accompanied by such glory,
that the children of Israel
could not look up to the countenance of Moses
because of the splendor that radiated from it ;
and yet it would soon disappear again.
How much more glorious
must then be the ministry of the Spirit!
And if the ministry
that was in the service of condemnation was so honorable,
how much more so than the ministry that proclaims acquittal.
What once seemed glory is not actually glory,
compared to this all-transcending glory.
If the perishable revealed itself with glory,
how much more will this be true of the permanent.
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 99(98), 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Holy is He, the Lord our God.
Glorify the Lord our God,
and prostrate yourselves before His footstool,
for He is holy!
Moses and Aaron were his priests,
Samuel was among his worshippers:
They cried unto the Lord, who heard them
and spoke to them in the column of cloud.
They listened to His commands,
to all that He commanded them.
Lord our God, Thou hast heard them,
Thou hast dealt with them graciously,
but what they did Thou hast punished.
Glorify the Lord our God
and cast thyself down before His holy mountain,
for holy is He, the Lord our God.
ALLELUIA Mt. 4, 4b
Alleluia.
Not from bread alone does man live,
but from all that proceeds from the mouth of God.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Mt. 5, 17-19
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Matthew
At that time Jesus said to his disciples :
“Do not think that I have come
to lift up Law and Prophets ;
but to bring fulfillment.
“For verily I say unto you :
Sooner yet shall heaven and earth perish,
than one iota or tittle perish out of the Law,
before all things are done.
“Whoever, therefore, one of these precepts,
even the slightest,
lifts up and so teaches men,
shall be counted the least in the kingdom of heaven,
but whoever upholds and teaches them,
shall be esteemed great in the kingdom of heaven.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On the care of the common home
200. Any technical solution which science claims to offer will be powerless to solve the serious problems of our world if humanity loses its compass, if we lose sight of the great motivations which make it possible for us to live in harmony, to make sacrifices, and to treat others well. Believers themselves must constantly feel challenged to live in a way consonant with their faith and not contradict it with their actions. They need to be encouraged to be ever open to God’s grace and to draw constantly from their deepest convictions about love, justice, and peace. If a mistaken understanding of our own principles has at times led us to justify mistreating nature, to exercise tyranny over creation, to engage in war, injustice, and acts of violence, we believers should acknowledge that by so doing we were not faithful to the treasures of wisdom which we have been called to protect and preserve. Cultural limitations in different eras often affected the perception of these ethical and spiritual treasures, yet by constantly returning to their sources, religions will be better equipped to respond to today’s needs.
To be continued
The Bible text in this issue is taken from The New Translation of the Bible,
©Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap 2004/2007.
Considerations from Liturgical suggestions for weekdays and Sundays.
Laudato Si Official English translation
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