Monday – St. Charbel Makhlüf, pr.

H. Charbel was a Maronite monk from Lebanon. Born on May 8, 1828
and died on December 24, 1898. He was canonized in 1977.

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
In two readings we get the story of the passage through the Red Sea. On the one hand, this passage is drawn by oriental exaggeration and fantastically recounted. On the other hand, we find traces of accuracy, e.g. in the description of the chariots. For the first time in the story, the theme of ‘grumbling’ occurs and is repeated again and again. It clearly shows the tension between the risk of the desert and the journey with God and the choice for relative security where one does not have to risk anything. It is the path of every believer who must constantly bear the risk of faith.

 

FIRST READING      Ex. 14, 5-18

The Egyptians will know that I am God,
when I exalt myself at the expense of Pharaoh.

From the Book of Exodus

When it was reported to the king of Egypt
that the people had disappeared,
Pharaoh and his courtiers changed their minds
and they exclaimed :
“How could we let the Israelites
from our service?”
So he had his chariots harnessed
and took his men with him :
Six hundred of the best chariots and all the vehicles of Egypt,
each one manned by three men.
For the Lord had made Pharaoh, the king of Egypt,
obstinate again
so that he went after the Israelites
who had set out under the mighty protection of the Lord.

With all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh,
with his charioteers and his army,
the Egyptians went in pursuit.
They caught up with the Israelites while they were encamped by the sea,
at Pi-Hachirot, before Baal-Sefon.
As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites
suddenly saw that the Egyptians had come after them.
They were filled with fear
and they cried aloud to the Lord.
But to Moses, they said :
“Were there no graves in Egypt
did you bring us to die in the desert?
“How did you get it into your head
to take us out of Egypt?
“Didn’t we warn you in Egypt?
Do not meddle with us,
let us stay in the service of the Egyptians?
“It is better to serve them than to die in the desert.
Moses answered the people :
“Fear not and persevere :
And you will see how the Lord will save you today.
“For today you see the Egyptians;
then you will see them no more, never again.
“The Lord will fight for you;
you shall not lift a finger.”
Then the Lord spoke to Moses :
“What is it that you are calling me for.
“Command the Israelites to go forward.
“Thou shalt lift up thy hand,
stretch out thy staff over the sea, and cleave it in two.
“Then the Israelites have
to cross the dry ground through the sea.
I am going to make the Egyptians stubborn,
so they will go after them.
“And then I will glorify myself at the expense of Pharaoh
and all his armies, his chariots, and his charioteers.
“The Egyptians will know that I am God the Lord,
when I glorify Myself at the expense of Pharaoh,
his chariots and his chariot drivers.”

INTERLUDIUM  Ex. 15, 1-2, 3-4, 5-6

I sing to the Lord, the victor.

I sing to the Lord, the victor,
He drove horses and horsemen into the sea.
The Lord is my strength, to Him I give thanks for my salvation,
the Lord is my God, to Him is my song.

The God of my fathers, to Him I will praise,
a mighty warrior, His name is the Lord.
Pharaoh’s chariots and his armies drowned,
and the Reed Sea swallowed up the souls of his people.

The waves have swept over them,
they fell like a stone into the deep.
Your hand, Lord, which is mightier than men,
your hand has brought down the enemy.

 

ALLELUIA Ps. 119(118), 34

Alleluia.
Give me the understanding to keep your law, Lord,
To follow it with all my heart.
Alleluia.

 

GOSPEL    Mt 12, 38-42

The Queen of the South
shall rise in judgment with this generation.

From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Matthew

On a certain day some of the scribes and Pharisees
addressed Jesus with the words :
“Master, we want to see a sign from You.”
But He answered them :
“An evil and adulterous generation desires a sign,
but no other sign will be given to them
than that of the prophet Jonah.
“Just as Jonah spent three days and three nights
in the belly of the sea monster,
so shall the Son of Man dwell three days and three nights
in the bosom of the earth.
“The people of Nineveh will rise at the judgment
together with this generation
and condemn them,
for they have repented at the preaching of Jonah :
Well, here is more than Jonah.
“The queen of the south shall rise in judgment
together with this generation
and condemn it,
for she came from the ends of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon.”

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Laudato Si

Encyclic of

POPE FRANCIS

On Care of the Common Home 

240. The divine Persons are subsistent relations, and the world, created according to the divine model, is a web of relationships. Creatures tend towards God, and in turn, it is proper for every living being to tend towards other things so that throughout the universe we can find any number of constant and secretly interwoven relationships. This leads us not only to marvel at the manifold connections existing among creatures but also to discover a key to our own fulfillment. The human person grows more, matures more, and is sanctified more to the extent that he or she enters into relationships, going out from themselves to live in communion with God, with others, and with all creatures. In this way, they make their own trinitarian dynamism which God imprinted in them when they were created. Everything is interconnected, and this invites us to develop a spirituality of that global solidarity that flows from the mystery of the Trinity.

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 weekdays and Sundays
Laudato Si Official English translation

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