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
After a long exile (from 587 to 538), the people of God return home to the Promised Land. The rebuilding of the temple begins, thanks to the help of other (non-believing) peoples ordered by the Persian king. This decision is seen as a tentative step towards God’s universal plan of salvation: An admirable attempt to promote respect for diversity among people and peoples. In these times of faith fragmentation and prejudice, the first reading can help us look into our own hearts: What attitude do we have towards other believers? And are we paying enough attention to our personal relationship with God, to its deepening, so that we can later witness to Him?
FIRST READING Ezr. 1:1-6
Let all those who belong to the Lord’s people
return to Jerusalem and build a temple there.
Beginnings of the book of Ezra
In the first year of reign of Cyrus
the king of Persia,
the Lord had the prophecy fulfilled
which He had made through Jeremiah.
He gave Cyrus, the king of Persia, in
to proclaim a message throughout his kingdom
and send around letters of the following content.
Thus speaks Cyrus, king of Persia:
“The Lord, the God of heaven,
hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth.
“He has commanded me to build for Him
a temple at Jerusalem in Judah.
” Let all those of you who belong to His people,
return under His care to Jerusalem in Judah
and build a temple to the honour of the Lord,
the God of Israel, the God who dwells in Jerusalem.
“Wherever there are still Israelites ,
these shall receive from their fellow citizens silver and gold,
livestock and cattle, and moreover we gifts
for the temple of God in Jerusalem.”
The family heads of Judah and Benjamin,
the priests and the Levites,
all whom God instructed,
made preparations for the return journey
to rebuild the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem.
And their neighbours gave them as contributions
silver and gold objects,
livestock and cattle and all kinds of valuables
and other gifts they spontaneously offered.
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 126(125), 1-2ab, 2cd-3, 4-5, 6
Great was what the Lord did to us
The Lord brought back Zion’s exiles:
It was as if we were dreaming.
Then all mouths laughed
and every tongue rejoiced.
Then people among the nations said:
Great is what the Lord did to them.
Great was what the Lord did to us,
which is why we are so happy.
Now turn our fate for the better, Lord,
as a brook does in the southern desert.
Who sow under tears
they reap with jubilation.
Full of care they go out
laden with sowing sacks;
but return singing
laden with their sheaves.
ALLELUIA Jn 14:5
Alleluia.
I am the way, the truth and the life, says the Lord;
no one comes to the Father except through Me.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Lk. 8, 16-18
The lamp is placed on the standard
that all who enter may see the light.
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke
At that time, Jesus said to the crowd:
“No one lights a lamp
to hide it under a bowl
or put it under a resting bench,
but he places it on a stand,
so that all who enter may see the light.
Nothing is hidden that will not be made public,
nothing secret that will not be known
and shall come to light.
So take heed how ye listen.
To him who has shall be given;
but he who has not:
Even what he thinks he has shall yet be taken away from him.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On the care of the common home
56. In the meantime, economic powers continue to justify the current global system, where speculation and the search for financial gain prevail, which tend to ignore any context and the effects on human dignity. It thus becomes clear that environmental decay and human and ethical decay are closely linked. Many will say they are unaware that they are committing immoral acts because the constant scattering deprives us of the courage to perceive the reality of a limited and finite world. Therefore, “everything fragile, like the environment, remains defenceless in the face of the interests of the deified market, which have turned into an absolute rule”.
To be continued
The Bible text in this issue is taken from The New Translation of the Bible,
©Dutch Bible Society 2004/2007.
Considerations from Liturgical suggestions for weekdays and Sundays
Laudato Si Official English translation
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