Invitation
May I hereby draw 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 this joy
by opening their heart to the healing power of God’s word.
Available every day.
Consideration
Even when his love is misunderstood, God remains faithful. For even after his death, Jesus remains a source of divine life; blood and water flow from his side. In the sacraments of Baptism (water) and Eucharist (blood), this flow of life comes to us: Jesus wants to take up residence in our hearts to make them like his. To remain rooted in love: This is also Paul’s prayer. Let us gratefully look up to the crucified one. For us too, the day is near when you will draw water from the well of salvation with a clean heart (Is 12:3).
FIRST READING Deut. 7:6-11
The Lord has loved you and chosen you.
From the book of Deuteronomy
In those days, Moses spoke to the people:
“You are a people dedicated to the Lord your God.
“You He has chosen out of all the nations of the earth
to be His own people.
“Not because you are more numerous than the other nations
has the Lord committed Himself to you and chosen you,
for you are the smallest of all nations;
but because the Lord loved you
and He wanted to keep the oath to your fathers;
therefore He led you out of the land of bondage
with a strong hand and
delivered you from the power of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.
“Recognise, then, that the Lord your God is indeed God,
the faithful God, who keeps the covenant,
who is full of mercy for those who love Him
and keep His commandments to the thousandth generation,
but who punishes all who reject Him in their own person
and ruins them personally.
“He does not wait: Anyone who rejects Him,
He punishes, him personally.
“Fulfil therefore the commandments, precepts and provisions
which I command you this day.”
Responsorial Psalm Ps. 103(102), 1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8 and 10
Refrain
God’s mercy abides forever and ever.
Glorify, my soul, the Lord,
His holy Name from the depths of your being !
Glorify, my soul, the Lord,
do not forget his benefits !
It is He who forgives you your debts,
who heals you of your ills.
It is He who saves you from destruction,
who surrounds you with His favour and mercy.
The Lord is righteous in all He does;
He makes the oppressed receive justice.
He made His ways known to Moses,
He showed His works to Israel’s people.
The Lord is merciful and benevolent,
longsuffering and kind.
He does not deal with us as we deserve,
does not repay us our guilt.
SECOND READING 1 Jn 4:7-16
God first loved us.
From the first letter of the holy apostle John
Friends,
Let us love one another
for love comes from God.
Everyone who loves is a child of God,
and knows God.
Man without love does not know God,
because God is love.
And the love that is God has revealed itself among us by sending his only Son into the world to bring us life.
This is what love consists in: Not we have loved God, but He has loved us,
and He has sent His Son to erase our sins through the sacrifice of His life.
Friends,
if God has loved us so much,
we too must love one another.
Never has anyone seen God,
but when we love one another,
God dwells in us,
and His love has become perfect in us.
This is proof that we abide in Him
as He abides in us,
that He has given us part of His Spirit.
And we, we have seen and we testify,
that the Father has sent His Son
to be the Saviour of the world.
If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,
God dwells in him and he dwells in God.
Thus we have come to know the love that God has for us,
and we believe in it.
God is love: He who dwells in love
dwells in God and God is with him.
Verse for the Gospel Mt 11, 29ab
Alleluia.
Take My yoke on your shoulders and learn from Me:
I am gentle and humble of heart.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Mt 11, 25-30
I am meek and humble of heart.
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew
At that time Jesus spoke:
“I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
because You have hidden these things
from the wise and prudent,
but have revealed them to children.
“Yes, Father, so it has pleased Thee.
“All things have been given to Me by My Father.
“No one knows the Son unless the Father,
and no one knows the Father unless the Son
and he to whom the Son will reveal Him.
“Come to Me all who are exhausted and burdened,
and I will give you rest and relief.
“Take My yoke upon your shoulders, and learn of Me,
I am gentle and lowly in heart;
and ye shall find rest for your souls,
for My yoke is gentle and My burden is light.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclic by
POPE FRANCIS
On caring for the common home
Ecological education and spirituality
202. In many things the course needs to be redetermined, but before all else this applies to humanity, which is in need of change. It lacks the awareness of a common origin, a belonging to each other and a future shared by all. This basic awareness should enable the development of new beliefs, new behaviours and lifestyles. Thus a great cultural, spiritual and educational challenge lies ahead, which will require us to take the long road of renewal.
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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