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
This is a very important part of the letter. First, there is the occasion: The Christians of Thessalonica do not know what will happen to those who have already died. Like Paul, they expect a speedy return of the Lord. Paul reassures them. But this prompts him to make an important Christological statement.
The word ‘coming’ in the reading is apparently a banal English word. The Greek word is ‘parousie’ and that is a very special word that is used in the Middle East for the inauguration of a ruler. Jesus is given a very high function here. He ‘comes’ back to be Lord and Saviour. This comes forward even more strongly here than in the other letters.
FIRST READING I Tess. 4, 13-18
God will bring those who have fallen asleep in Jesus
alive with Him.
From the first letter of the holy apostle Paul to the Christians of Thessalonica
Brothers and sisters,
We do not want to leave you in ignorance
of the fate of those who have fallen asleep;
thou shalt not be grieved like other men,
who have no hope?
For we believe that Jesus died and rose again;
and likewise, God will bring those who have fallen asleep in Jesus
to life with Him.
And this we can tell you according to the word of the Lord:
We who are alive until the coming of the Lord,
we shall in no wise precede the dead.
For when the command is given,
when the voice of the archangel sounds, and the trumpet of God,
then the Lord himself shall descend from heaven,
and first the dead who are in Christ will rise;
after that, we who are still alive
together with them
shall be carried off in the twinkling of an eye on the clouds in the air,
to meet the Lord.
And so we shall be together with the Lord forever.
Comfort each other with these words.
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 96(95), 1, 3, 4-5, 11-12, 13
God will rule the world justly,
the nations honest and faithful.
Sing to the Lord a new song,
sing to the Lord, all nations.
Announce his glory to the nations,
his wondrous acts to all nations.
For he is mighty and unquenchable
and more to be feared than all the gods.
The gods of the nations are the workmanship of men,
but He is the creator of the universe.
Then the heavens shine and the earth rejoices,
the sea hums along with all that lives there;
the fields sway with all their crops,
and the giants of the forest bow their heads.
They cheer the Lord because He is coming,
He comes as King of the earth.
He will rule the world justly,
the nations honest and faithful.
ALLELUIA Ps. 111(110), 8ab
Alleluia.
The work of the Lord is good and trustworthy,
all that He decrees is immutable.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Lk. 4, 16-30
The Lord has sent me
to bring the Good News to the poor.
No prophet is accepted in his own father’s city.
From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke
In those days Jesus came to Nazareth,
where He had been raised.
He went according to his custom
to the synagogue on the Sabbath day
and stood up to read.
They handed Him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
He opened the scroll
and found the place where it was written:
“The spirit of the Lord has come upon me,
because he has anointed me.
He has sent me
to bring the Good News to the poor,
to prisoners that they may be set free,
and to the blind that they may see;
to release the oppressed into freedom,
to proclaim a year of grace from the Lord.”
Thereupon He rolled the book closed,
handed it back to the servant and sat down.
All eyes in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
Then He began to speak to them:
“The word of the Scripture which you have just heard
has now been fulfilled.”
All assented to Him
and marveled
that words so full of grace flowed from His mouth.
They said:
“Is not this then the son of Joseph?”
He said to them:
“Of course, you will tell me this proverb:
Physician, heal thyself;
do all things which we heard were done in Capernaum,
now also here in your native city.”
But He gave this answer to it:
“Verily, I say unto you:
No prophet is accepted in his own father’s city.
And it is true what I say to you:
For in the days of Elijah,
when the heavens were closed for three years and six months
and a great famine broke out over all the land,
there were many widows in Israel;
yet Elijah was not sent to any of them
but to a widow in Sarepta, in the region of Sidon.
And in the time of the prophet Elisha
there were many lepers in Israel;
yet none of them was cleansed,
except for the Syrian Naaman.”
When they heard this
all those in the synagogue were enraged.
They jumped up, chased him out of the city, and drove him to the steep edge of the mountain on which their city was built,
there to throw him into the abyss.
But He passed in the midst of them and departed.
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On Care of the Common Home
35. In assessing the environmental impact of any project, concern is usually shown for its effects on soil, water, and air, yet few careful studies are made of its impact on biodiversity as if the loss of species or animals and plant groups were of little importance. Highways, new plantations, the fencing-off of certain areas, the damming of water sources, and similar developments, crowd out natural habitats and, at times, break them up in such a way that animal populations can no longer migrate or roam freely. As a result, some species face extinction. Alternatives exist which at least lessen the impact of these projects, like the creation of biological corridors, but few countries demonstrate such concern and foresight. Frequently, when certain species are exploited commercially, little attention is paid to studying their reproductive patterns to prevent their depletion and the consequent imbalance of the ecosystem.
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 week and Sundays
Laudato Si Official English translation
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