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
For Israel, God’s blessing has become so obvious that they do not realise how precious it is. Joshua opens the people’s eyes to the blessing they no longer see for themselves. Jesus calls on them to remain faithful to the covenant. Every human being is asked to be faithful to the best of his ability. Because He is, at the same time, profoundly merciful, He knows that not everyone can live up to what He asks. Again and again, He gives opportunities to start over, to everyone: whether married or living alone, whether Pope, priest or lay person: We are all called to live fully. In this way, all people can make something visible of God’s covenant with mankind.
FIRST READING Josh 24, 1-13
I led your father away from the other side of the river
and I have brought you out of Egypt into the West Bank.
From the book of Joshua
In those days Joshua called together all the tribes of Israel
in Shechem, with the elders of Israel,
the heads of families, the judges and the scribes.
When they stood before God,
Joshua addressed the people and said:
“Thus speaks the LORD, the God of Israel:
Your ancestors, Terach, the father of Abraham
and the father of Nachor,
used to live across the River.
There they worshipped other gods.
But by my command, your father Abraham went away from there
and crossed all the land of Canaan.
And I gave him a great generation, and I gave him Isaac.
To Isaac, I gave Jacob and Esau.
I gave Esau the mountainous land of Seir in his possession;
And Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.
Then I sent Moses and Aaron
And I smote Egypt with the plagues with which I afflicted them,
and then brought you out of the land.
When I brought your fathers out of Egypt
and ye came to the sea,
the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horses ,
until they came to the Reed Sea.
When your fathers cried unto the LORD
He put a dark mist between thee and the Egyptians,
and brought the sea upon them, which overwhelmed them.
With your own eyes ye have seen what I did in Egypt.
After ye had tarried in the wilderness a long time
I led you
to the land of the Amorites in the Overjordan.
And when they attacked thee, I gave them into thy power,
so that you may take possession of their land;
I destroyed them before you.
And Balak son of Shephem king of Moab
began the war against Israel.
He summoned Bileam the son of Beor to curse you.
But I did not listen to Bileam,
so that he blessed you,
and I delivered thee out of the power of Balak.
Then didst thou cross over the Jordan, and come unto Jericho.
The citizens of that city,
the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites,
the Hittites, the Girgasites, the Chiwaites, and the Jebusites
waged war against you, but I delivered them to you.
I sent a defeat for you, which made them.
The two kings of the Amorites
drove them out before you,
without the use of your sword or your bow.
Thus I gave you a land for which you did not toil,
dwelling places that ye have not built,
and so you eat of vineyards and olive trees
which ye have not planted.
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 136(135), 1-3, 16-18, 21-22, 24
Give thanks to the Lord for his goodness,
for his mercy is everlasting.
Alleluia.
Give thanks to the Lord for his goodness,
Thanks be to the God of all the gods,
for his mercy is everlasting.
He led his people through the desert of sand,
for his mercy is everlasting.
Glorious kings he has defeated,
for his mercy is everlasting.
Mighty princes hath he slain,
for his mercy is everlasting.
He hath taken away their land,
for his mercy is everlasting.
He gave it to his servant Israel,
for his mercy is everlasting.
From all our enemies he ransomed us,
for his mercy is everlasting.
ALLELUIA Col 3, 16a, 17c
Alleluia.
May the word of Christ
dwell in fullness among you.
Give thanks to God the Father through Him.
GOSPEL Mt 19, 3-12
Because of the hardness of your heart, Moses allowed you to send away your wives,
but not at first.
From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew
In those days Pharisees came to Jesus
to put Him to the test with the question:
“Is a man free to disown his wife for any reason?”
He answered them:
“Have ye not read that the Creator
in the beginning made them male and female
and said:
Therefore shall the man leave his father and mother
to be bound to his wife
and these two shall become one flesh?
Thus they are no longer two,
one flesh as they have become.
What therefore God has joined together
may not a man separate.”
They said to Him:
“Why then did Moses prescribe
when a woman is sent away
to give a letter of divorce?”
He replied:
“Because of the hardness of your heart
Moses allowed you to send your wives away;
but at first it was not so.
So I say to you:
Whoever sends away his wife, and not for fornication,
and marries another, he commits adultery;
and whoever marries a woman who has been sent away, commits adultery.
“The disciples said to Him:
“If the relationship between man and woman is like this,
it is better not to marry.”
He replied:
“Not everyone can understand this,
but only those to whom it is given.
There are unmarried ones
who have come forth from the mother’s womb like this;
and there are unmarried ones
who are made so by men;
but also there are unmarried ones
who have made themselves unmarried
for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.
Whoever is in a position to understand this, let him understand it!
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On the Care of the Common Home by Pope Francis
18. The constant acceleration of change in humanity and the planet today is accompanied by an intensification of the rhythm of life and work in what some call in Spanish “rapidación” (acceleration). Although change is part of the dynamics of complex systems, the speed that human activities impose on it today is contrary to the natural inertia of biological evolution. Added to this is the problem that the objectives of this rapid and continuous change are not necessarily directed towards the common good and sustainable and integral human development. Change is something desirable, but it becomes disturbing when it turns into a deterioration of the world and the quality of life of a large part of humanity.
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 Weeks and Sundays
Laudato Si Official English translation
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