Doctor and priest. Founder Barnabite House
Born December 1502
Died 5 July 1539
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 his heart
to the healing effect of God’s word.
Available every day
CONSIDERATION
The great figures of the Old Testament, David and Solomon, Moses and the patriarchs, are not idealised lightly. They are people with flaws, and those flaws are boldly exposed. The same applies to Abraham today. Although he is the father of all believers, his attitude towards Hagar and Ishmael is not very courageous – even if it is somewhat justified. In fact, this attitude corresponds to the legal practice of the time.
FIRST READING Genesis 21, 5. 8-20
The son of the slave woman
may not become co-heir with my son Isaac.
From the Book of Genesis
Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born.
The child grew up and was taken from the breast.
On the day that Isaac was taken from the breast,
Abraham gave a great feast.
But when Sarah saw the son that Hagar, the Egyptian,
had once given to Abraham, smiled,
she said to Abraham:
Chase away that slave woman and her son,
for the son of that slave
may not become co-heir with my son Isaac.”
Abraham found this demand very inappropriate, because it was about his son.
God, however, told him :
What Sarah demanded of the boy and of your slave woman
you must not regard as improper.
“Listen to everything she says to you :
For only through Isaac will you have an offspring
that shall bear thy name.
“But the son of the slave woman also
I will make him a nation,
because he also is a child of you.”
The next morning Abraham provided Hagar with bread
and a sack of water, put the child on her shoulder
and sent them away.
But on the way she got lost in the desert of Berseba.
When the bag of water was empty
she put the child under a bush
and sat down a yard away,
for she thought, I cannot watch my child die.
She stayed there and wept loudly.
God heard the boy’s cry
and the angel of God called out to Hagar from heaven:
“What is it, Hagar? Do not be afraid,
for God in His presence has heard
the weeping of thy child.
“Arise, take the boy and hold him firmly,
for I will make him a great nation.”
Then God opened her eyes,
so that she saw a well;
she filled the bag with water
and she filled the bag with water again and gave the boy to drink.
And God protected the boy.
When he was grown up, he lived in the desert
and became an experienced archer.
INTERLUDIUM PS. 34(33), 7-8, 10-11, 12-13
Those who cry out in distress, the Lord listens to them.
They cry out in distress, the Lord listens to them
and puts them out of their misery.
The angel of God establishes a barrier around them,
to protect all who fear God.
Reverence the Lord, ye who are consecrated to Him,
for he who respects Him never suffers.
The rich have become poor and needy,
who go to the Lord never lack anything.
Come, children, listen to what I say to you;
I am teaching you to fear the Lord.
Who is there amongst you that loves life
and longs for days of prosperity?
ALLELUIA 2 Tim. 1, 10b
Alleluia.
Our Saviour Christ Jesus has destroyed death,
and lit up imperishable life
through the Gospel.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Mt 8, 28-34
What have You to do with us, Son of God?
From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Matthew
When Jesus came to the other side of the lake
into the land of the Gadarenes,
two possessed men walked towards Him.
They came out of the sepulchres
and were very dangerous, so that no one could pass by them.
Suddenly they began to shout :
“What have you to do with us, Son of God?
“Have you come here to torment us before time?
Some distance away from them
they were tending a large herd of swine.
The devils begged Him:
If Thou dost cast us out, send us into the flock of boars .
He said to them: “Go.”
And they left them.
Hardly had they taken possession of the boars,
when the whole herd fell from the steep bank into the lake
and perished in the water.
The swineherds fled,
and in the city they told everything,
including what had happened to the possessed.
Then the whole city ran out to meet Jesus;
and when they saw him
they asked him to leave their land.
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On Care of the Common Home
221. Various convictions of our faith, developed at the beginning of this Encyclical can help us to enrich the meaning of this conversion. These include the awareness that each creature reflects something of God and has a message to convey to us, and the security that Christ has taken unto himself this material world and now, risen, is intimately present to each being, surrounding it with his affection and penetrating it with his light. Then too, there is the recognition that God created the world, writing into it an order and a dynamism that human beings have no right to ignore. We read in the Gospel that Jesus says of the birds of the air that “not one of them is forgotten before God” (Lk 12:6). How then can we possibly mistreat them or cause them harm? I ask all Christians to recognize and to live fully this dimension of their conversion. May the power and the light of the grace we have received also be evident in our relationship to other creatures and to the world around us. In this way, we will help nurture that sublime fraternity with all creation which Saint Francis of Assisi so radiantly embodied.
To be continued
The Bible text in this edition is taken from De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling,
©Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap 2004/2007.
Recitals from Liturgical suggestions for the week and Sundays
Laudato Si Official English translation
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