Holy Exaltation of the Cross is a feast of the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church
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
In the liturgy of Good Friday, the cross is raised and we sing ‘Behold this precious cross, on which the Lord was willing to die for us. Come, let us adore!’ Today, too, we look up to the Cross that cross is a sign of humiliation and exaltation. An instrument of evil has become in Christ a sign of liberation. Because it speaks of the omnipotence of God’s love, as Christians we may sing and venerate this sign. Come, let us worship, in silent awe and in jubilant praise, because Christ on his cross carried all mankind from Good Friday to Easter.
FIRST READING Num. 21, 4-9
Everyone who was bitten by a serpent
and lifted up his eyes to the bronze serpent remained alive.
From the Book of Numbers
From Mount Hor, the Israelites went
in the direction of the Reed Sea,
for they wanted to go around Edom.
But on the way, the people became impatient.
They turned against God
and against Moses:
“Have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the desert?
“There is no bread,
there is no water
and this inferior food is against us.”
Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes upon the people.
These bit the Israelites
and many of them died.
Now the people came to Moses and said :
“We have sinned,
for we have turned against the Lord and against you.
“Pray to the Lord,
that he will take these serpents away from us.”
Then Moses prayed for the people
and the Lord said to him :
“Make such a poisonous snake
and put it on a pole.
Everyone who is bitten and looks up to it
will be alive.”
Moses made a bronze snake
and put it on a pole.
Everyone who was bitten by a snake
and turned his eyes on the bronze serpent
remained alive.
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 78(77), 1-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38
Let us never forget what God has done.
Listen, my people, to my instruction,
open your ears to what I am saying to you.
I will tell you a wise lesson
that lies hidden in the past.
They sought Him only when He smote them,
then they sought him in sorrow;
then they knew again that the Lord was their rock,
the Most High their Saviour.
But with their mouths they deceived him,
they lied to him with their tongues;
for inwardly they were not sincere,
believing not in his covenant.
Yet he was merciful, forgiving their sins,
and did not utterly destroy them.
Again and again, he restrained his wrath.
ALLELUIA
Alleluia.
We worship and praise You, Christ,
because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL John 3, 13-17
The Son of Man must be exalted.
From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
John
In those days Jesus said to Nicodemus :
“Never has anyone ascended into heaven ;
except He who came down from heaven,
the Son of Man.
“And this Son of Man must be lifted up
as Moses once lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
so that everyone who believes
in Him shall have eternal life.
“For so much did God love the world
that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish
but shall have eternal life.
“God did not send his Son
into the world to judge the world,
but that the world through Him might be saved.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On Care of the Common Home
45. In some places, rural and urban alike, the privatization of certain spaces has restricted people’s access to places of particular beauty. In others, “ecological” neighbourhoods have been created which are closed to outsiders in order to ensure an artificial tranquillity. Frequently, we find beautiful and carefully manicured green spaces in so-called “safer” areas of cities, but not in the more hidden areas where the disposable of society live.
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 weekdays and Sundays
Laudato Si Official English translation
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