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 that joy by opening their hearts
to the healing power of God’s word.
Available every day
Considerations
Today’s first reading outlines the recurring course of Israel’s history. It is always the same pattern found in the attitude of the people: They are in distress, upon which they repent to the only God; then God saves his people, upon which they again become unfaithful to their Lord. After Joshua’s death, a similar situation arises again. How will Israel now live in that promised land and keep the Lord’s commands and precepts? How can they avoid chaos if there is no true leader? Should there not be a king? The answer is: Always in biblical history, someone stands up; a charismatic figure, a leader in difficult times. That is God’s promise, also to us. This is the whole window in which not only the book of Judges but also our lives unfold.
FIRST READING Judges. 2, 11-19
The Lord made judges act in Israel;
but even to their judges the people continued not to listen.
From the Book of Judges
In those days
the Israelites began to do what displeases the Lord.
They worshipped the Baals
and abandoned the Lord,
the God of their fathers, who had led them out of Egypt.
They ran after other gods,
gods of the nations around them ;
they bowed down before them and offended the Lord.
They abandoned the Lord and worshipped Baal and the Astartes.
Then the Lord’s wrath ignited against Israel.
He handed them over to plunderers who robbed them
and gave them up to their enemies all around,
so that they were no longer able to stand against their adversaries.
Everything they undertook failed,
because the Lord was against them,
as He had said and sworn.
But whenever the need was greatest
the Lord had judges intervene,
who freed them from the grip of the plunderers.
But they did not keep listening to their judges either.
Disobediently they ran after other gods
and bowed down before them.
Very soon they deviated again
from the way their forefathers had followed:
Who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord;
they did not.
When God made the Lord a judge,
He was with the judge as long as they lived.
The Lord delivered them from the power of their enemies,
for when they sighed
under the yoke of their persecutors and oppressors,
He took pity on them again.
But hardly had the judge died,
or they fell into sin again, worse than their fathers.
They ran after other gods,
worshipped them and bowed down to them.
They stubbornly refused
to break with those former practices and customs.
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 106(105), 34-35, 36-37, 39-40, 43ab, 44
Do not forget me, Lord, who is well pleased with your people.
Our fathers did not exterminate the inland peoples
as the Lord had commanded ;
but mingled among the heathen
and adopted their bad customs.
They bowed the knee before their images of gods ,
which became a trap for them.
Their own sons they sacrificed ,
their daughters to the demons.
They made themselves unclean by their actions,
committed fornication by their behaviour.
Therefore the Lord became wroth with his people
and disgusted with His inheritance.
No matter how often the Lord brought salvation,
they taunted Him again and again.
But God cared about their misery
as often as He heard their cries for help.
ALLELUIA 2 Thess. 2, 14
Alleluia.
God has called us
through the proclamation of the gospel,
that we might obtain the glory
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Mt 19:16-22
Wilt thou be perfect, sell what thou possess,
and with it you will possess treasure in heaven.
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Matthew
Once someone came to Jesus to ask :
“Master, what good must I do
to acquire eternal life?”
He told him :
“Why do you want to know from Me what is good?
“One only is good.
“If ye wish to enter into Life ,
then keep the commandments.”
“Which ones” – he asked.
Jesus replied :
“The well-known ones :
Thou shalt not kill ,
thou shalt not commit adultery,
thou shalt not steal,
thou shalt not bear false witness,
honour thy father and thy mother
and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
“I have maintained all that
– declared the young man –
wherein do I still fall short?”
Jesus spoke to him:
“Wilt thou be perfect ,
then go home,
sell what you possess and give it to the poor;
thereby you will truly possess treasure in heaven.
“And then come back to follow Me.”
But when the young man heard this advice
he went away distraught
because he owned many goods.
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On caring for the common home
21. One should also consider the pollution caused by waste, including the hazardous waste present in various environments. Hundreds of millions of tonnes of waste are produced every year, many of which are non-degradable: domestic and commercial waste, demolition waste, clinical, electronic and industrial waste, highly toxic and radioactive waste. The earth, our home, increasingly seems to be turning into an immense repository of rubbish. In many parts of the planet, the elderly nostalgically recall the landscapes of other times, which now appear as buried under rubbish. The chemicals used in the city and in the fields, as much as the industrial waste, can have an effect of bio-accumulation in the organisms of the inhabitants on the fringes, and this also occurs, when the level of presence of a toxic element in a place is low. Measures are often taken only when the effects caused are irreversible for the health of individuals.
To be continued
The Bible text in this issue is taken from The New Bible Translation,
©Dutch Bible Society 2004/2007.
Considerations from Liturgical suggestions for weekdays and Sundays
Laudato Si Official English translation
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