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.
CONSIDERATION
In the fourth chapter of the ¨Paul letter,¨ the focus is on the Christian’s lifestyle. How to please God? How to live by his precepts? ‘Ye know the precepts which we have given you by the authority of the Lord Jesus’: The original Greek reads, ‘ Thou knowest the steps which thou must take’. The Christian life is a journey, a constant walking with Jesus. Christians are invited by the Lord not to fall silent in discouragement and doubt, but to keep moving continuously. He calls everyone to progress steadily in His ways. Do we make enough time to ask Him what progress He requires of us? What do we see when we look back at the road we have already traveled?
FIRST READING I Thess. 4, 1-8
God wants you to sanctify yourselves.
From the first letter of the holy apostle Paul to the Christians of Thessalonica
Brothers and sisters,
We ask and exhort you in the Lord Jesus,
that you accept the tradition which you have received from us
concerning a way of life pleasing to God,
even more faithfully than you already do.
You know the precepts
which we have given you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
In the first place God wants
that ye sanctify yourselves by abstaining from fornication.
Every one of you
should live with his wife in holy discipline and honor,
without being carried away by passion
like the pagans, who do not know God.
Let no one go too far
and shortchange his brother in this matter
for the Lord punishes all this,
as we have already emphatically declared to you in the past.
God has not called us to unchastity but to sanctification.
Therefore, whoever disregards these admonitions
despises not a man but God,
Him who gives you His Holy Spirit.
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 97(96), 1, 2b, 5-6, 10, 11-12
Be glad in the Lord, ye pious.
The Lord is king, the earth may rejoice,
glad are the lands around the sea,
right, and righteousness bears his throne.
Mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
the ruler of all the world.
The heavens proclaim his holiness
and all nations behold his glory.
The Lord loves those who hate evil,
He keeps watch over His faithful
And rescues them from cruel hands.
Every light comes to the pious,
happiness for the upright in heart.
Be glad in the Lord, ye pious,
glorify his holy Name.
Alleluia Ps.27(26), 11
Alleluia.
Show me your way, Lord, in the face of opposition,
lead me along smooth paths.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Mt. 25, 1-13
There is the bridegroom! Draw near to him!
From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew
At that time, Jesus spoke to his disciples in parables.
He said:
‘Then it will be with the kingdom of heaven
as with ten girls who went out with their lamps,
to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish,
the other five wisely.
For the foolish took their lamps
but no oil;
the wise, however, took their lamps
also brought jars of oil.
Now when the bridegroom waited for them
they all dozed off and slept.
But in the middle of the night there was a shout:
There is the bridegroom! Go and meet him!
Immediately all the girls were awake
and trimmed their lamps.
The silly ones said to the wise ones:
Give us some oil, for our lamps are going out.
But the wise ones replied:
Nay, there should not once be enough for us and you together.
Rather go to the vendors and get some for yourselves.
But while they were on their way to buy
came the bridegroom,
and those who were ready
entered with him to celebrate the wedding;
and the door was locked.
Later the other girls also came and said:
Lord, lord, open up!
But he answered:
Verily I say unto thee, I know thee not.
So be vigilant, for ye know neither day nor hour.’
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On caring for the common home
The loss of biodiversity
32. Earth’s resources are also being plundered as a result of conceptions of the economy and commercial activity that are too linked to the immediate outcome. The loss of forests and woods simultaneously implies the loss of species that could be extremely important resources in the future, not only for food but also for curing diseases and many services. The different species contain genes that could be important resources for meeting some human needs or solving some environmental problems in the future.
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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