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 excepted,
can experience this joy by opening his heart
to the healing effect of God’s word.
Available every day
Consideration
This reading is not just about the return of all Jews from the scattering. It refers to a kind of religious revival throughout the world. The Gentiles abandon their own gods and want to serve Yahweh. So deep is this total turnaround, so many Gentiles are converting that they will make up ten times the Jewish exiles. We too hope that a runaway world will reflect on the whys and wherefores of its pursuit of ever more and ever better. Then people can be freed from addiction and idolatry, and the unique meaning of Jesus Christ can be discovered and recognised. Does the way we are Christians make others curious? Do we ourselves feel in the depths of our hearts an inexplicable love for all people? What obstacles might we need to clear in our own hearts first to do so?
FIRST READING Zech 8, 20-23
Many nations will come to seek the Lord in Jerusalem.
From the prophet Zechariah
Thus speaks the LORD of the heavenly powers:
“One day peoples will come, and inhabitants of many cities,
and the inhabitants of one city shall go
to those of another, and they shall say:
Let us go and beseech the mercy of the LORD
and let us go and seek the LORD of the heavenly powers;
I also will go with you.
Then many peoples and mighty nations shall come
to seek the LORD of heavenly powers in Jerusalem
and implore His mercy.”
This is how the LORD of the heavenly powers speaks:
“In those days, then, men ,
from nations of all languages,
will seize one Jewish man by the edge of his garment
and say to him:
We will go with you,
for we have heard that God is with thee.”
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 87(86), 1-3,4-5,6-7
God is with us (Zech 8:23).
His city on the holy mountains:
The Lord loveth her;
the gates of Zion far more
than all the tents of Jacob.
How great is it what is prophesied of you,
Jerusalem, city of God!
One day Egypt and Babylon will be numbered
unto them that worship the Lord.
Yea, Philistines and Tyre and Cus,
they too shall be citizens of Zion.
They shall then say, My mother is she,
of her we are all born.
And he shall declare it himself,
the Most High, the Lord;
He shall write in the book of the nations:
These also belong there.
Then they will dance and sing:
The source of our life is you!
ALLELUIA Phil. 2, 15-16
Alleluia.
Shine like stars in the universe,
and hold fast the word of life.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Lk 9, 51-56
Jesus resolutely accepted the journey to Jerusalem.
From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke
When the days of his exaltation
were about to be fulfilled,
Jesus resolutely accepted the journey to Jerusalem
and sent out messengers before him.
These, on their way, came to a Samaritan village
to prepare his stay there.
But the Samaritans did not receive Him,
because Jerusalem was the goal of His journey.
When the disciples James and John became aware of this,
they asked:
“Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven
to destroy them?”
But He turned and rebuked them in a stern tone.
So they left for another village.
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On Care of the Common Home
64. Furthermore, although this Encyclical welcomes dialogue with everyone so that together we can seek paths of liberation, I would like from the outset to show how faith convictions can offer Christians, and some other believers as well, ample motivation to care for nature and for the most vulnerable of their brothers and sisters. If the simple fact of being human moves people to care for the environment of which they are a part, Christians in their turn “realize that their responsibility within creation, and their duty towards nature and the Creator, are an essential part of their faith”. It is good for humanity and the world at large when we believers better recognize the ecological commitments which stem from our convictions.
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
Laudato Si Official English translation
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