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
Opening word
In moments of pain and sorrow
God sometimes seems so far away.
He seems absent when suffering befalls us.
The way Jesus went – the way of the cross –
however, shows how much God cares for us
and how much He gives us life.
The cross does not deter
when we trust in God’s love and faithfulness.
Let us open our hearts to His Word
and grow more and more in faith.
FIRST READING Jer. 20:7-9
The word of the Lord brings me shame and reproach.
From the prophet Jeremiah
The prophet Jeremiah prayed as follows:
“Lord God, Thou hast tempted me, I have succumbed;
Thou art too strong for me,
I cannot stand Thee.
“All day long people laugh at me,
everyone mocks me.
“Every time I speak, I have to shout,
shouting ‘violence and oppression’.
“The word of the Lord brings me
disgrace and defamation every day.
“Sometimes I think:
I don’t want any more of it,
I no longer speak in His name.
“But then a fire flares up in my heart,
it burns in my bones.
“I make every effort to contain it
but I don’t succeed.”
Responsorial Ps 63(62), 2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
Refrain
To Thee, Lord, my soul thirsts and my heart yearns.
God, my God be Thou,
I seek Thee already at dawn.
To Thee my soul thirsts and my heart yearns
Like barren fields for rain.
Thus I look up to the place where Thou dost dwell,
I contemplate Thy power and glory.
More worthy than life is Thy mercy to me,
my mouth proclaims Thy praise.
I will praise Thee as long as I live,
stretch out my hands to Thee.
My soul will be satiated with nourishing food,
my mouth shall thank Thee jubilantly.
For Thou hast always been my protector,
I bask under Thy wings.
With all my heart I cling to Thee,
it is Your hand that sustains me.
SECOND READING Rom. 12, 1-2
Consecrate yourselves as a living sacrifice.
From the letter of the holy apostle Paul to the Christians of Rome
Brothers and sisters,
I beseech you by God’s mercy:
Dedicate yourselves to God
as a living, holy sacrifice,
which He can accept.
That is the spiritual worship that suits you.
Do not tailor your behaviour to this world.
Become different people, with a new vision.
Then you will be able
to find out what God wants from you,
and what is good, what is very good and perfect.
Verse for the Gospel Cf. Eph 1:17-18
Alleluia.
May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten our inner eye
to see how great is the hope to which He calls us.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Mt 16:21-27
Whoever wants to be my follower must deny himself.
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew
At that time, Jesus began to make it clear to His disciples
that He had to go to Jerusalem;
that there He would have to suffer much from the elders,
the high priests and the scribes,
but that after being put to death,
He would rise on the third day.
Then Peter took Jesus aside
and began to entertain Him earnestly about it:
“That forbids God, Lord! Such a thing must never happen to You!”
But Jesus turned around and said to Peter:
“Go away, Satan, back!
“Thou art an offence to Me ,
for thou art guided by human considerations
and not by what God wills.”
And then to his disciples:
“Whoever wants to be My follower ,
must follow Me by denying himself
and taking up his cross.
“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it.
But whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
“What good is it for a man to gain all the world ,
if at the cost of his own life?
“Or what will a man be able to give
in exchange for his own life?
“For the Son of Man will come
in the glory of his Father,
accompanied by His angels,
and then He will repay each one according to his deeds.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclical by
POPE FRANCISCUS
On caring for the common home
34. It probably bothers us to become aware of the extinction of a mammal or a bird because of their greater visibility. But the proper functioning of ecosystems also requires mushrooms, algae, worms, small insects, reptiles and the innumerable variety of micro-organisms. Some few few numerous species, which usually go unnoticed, play a fundamental critical role in stabilising the balance of a place. While the human being has to intervene, when a geosystem enters a critical phase, today the level of human intervention in a reality as complex as nature is such that the disasters continually caused by the human being necessitate a new intervention by it, so that human activity becomes ubiquitous with all the risks involved. This creates a vicious circle where the intervention of the human being to solve a difficulty often ends up making the situation worse. For example, many birds and insects that go extinct by virtue of toxic pesticides created by technology are useful for agriculture itself and their disappearance will have to be compensated by yet another technological intervention, which is likely to result in new harmful effects. The efforts of scholars and technicians trying to solve problems created by human beings are laudable and sometimes admirable. But when we look at the world, we note that this level of human intervention, often in the service of money and consumerism, is actually causing the earth we live on to become less rich and beautiful, more and more bounded and grey, while at the same time the development of technology and supply for consumption continues to increase without limit. Thus it seems that we delude ourselves into believing we can replace an irrepeatable and unrecoverable beauty with another, created by us.
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
Laudato Si Official English translation