St Dionysius is patron of France and the city of Paris. During the
persecution of Christians around the year 285, he was beheaded.
St Johannes Leonardi was a priest who founded
the Regular Clerics of the Mother of God in 1574.
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 that joy by opening their hearts
to the healing power of God’s word.
Available every day
Consideration
We follow Jesus on his journey to Jerusalem. Gradually the meaning of this journey will become clear to us; it is the journey we all go on, through life and suffering towards Easter. From the teaching of Jesus we will learn day by day how to travel this journey; what dangers and difficulties await us; but also what joy we will receive as Jesus leads us on this road to God’s kingdom. The book of Jonah already announces the core of the gospels to come. Repeatedly we hear the same wording: Get up…go…; and he got up. Do we dare to get up and go on our way to bear witness to the Lord?
FIRST READING Jon. 1-2, 1. 11
Jonah got up, but to flee, away from the Lord.
Beginnings of the Book Jonah
The word of the Lord was addressed to Jonah,
the son of Aminnai:
“Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city of Nineveh ,
and tell her that her wickedness
has penetrated to Me on high.”
And Jonah rose up, but to flee to Tarsis,
away from the Lord.
He made his way to Jaffa
and he found a ship there
that was about to sail to Tarsis :
He paid for the passage and went on board
to sail with him to Tarsis, away from the Lord.
But the Lord hurled fierce winds on the sea
and a violent storm broke loose on the sea,
that threatened to break the ship.
The sailors became fearful
and each of them cried out to his own god.
To make the ship lighter
they threw the cargo into the sea.
Jonah, however, had descended into the depths of the hold,
laid down there
and had fallen into a deep sleep.
The captain came to him and said to him :
“How can you sleep so deeply?
Get up and pray to your god ;
then perhaps that god will think of us
and we will not perish!”
The men said to each other :
“Come, let us cast lots to see ,
whose fault it is that this disaster befalls us.”
They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.
They asked him :
“You, to whom it lies that this disaster befalls us ,
tell us : Why are you travelling
and whence comest thou?
“What is your land and to what people do you belong?”
Jonah replied :
“I am a Hebrew and I fear the Lord,
the God of heaven,
who made the sea and the land.”
Then the men became very fearful
and they said to Jonah :
“How could you have done such a thing?”
For they heard that he,
in order to get away from the Lord,
had gone on the run; that he told them.
They asked him :
“What should we do to you
to be left alone by the sea?”
For the sea was getting stormier and stormier.
He replied :
“Take me up and throw me into the sea :
Then the sea will leave you alone.
“I know : It is because of me
that this violent storm has struck you.”
The men made another attempt
to row back to land,
but they did not succeed,
because the sea around them became increasingly stormy.
Then they cried out to the Lord :
“Ah Lord, let us not perish ,
if we kill this man,
and do not charge us
as the shedding of innocent blood;
for it hath pleased Thee, O Lord,
to make it happen!
Now the Lord sent a great fish to swallow Jonah.
And Jonah was in the belly of the fish,
three days and three nights.
Then the Lord spoke to the fish
and the fish spat Jonah on dry land.
INTERLUDIUM Jonah. 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8
Out of the grave Thou hast raised me,
my Lord and my God !
In my misery I cried unto the Lord
and He heard me.
From the caverns of death I cried out to Thee,
my voice penetrated to Thee.
Thou hadst cast me into the deep sea,
the waves beat down over my head.
I spoke : Now I am hidden from Thy sight,
never shall I see thy temple again.
For when my soul choked within me
I thought of Thee.
And my prayer penetrated to Thee,
into Your sanctuary.
ALLELUIA Hebrews 4, 12
Alleluia.
The word of God is alive and powerful,
and it penetrates to the kernel of soul and spirit.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Lk. 10, 25-37
Who then is my neighbour?
From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Luke
In those days a lawgiver stepped forward
to put Jesus to the test.
He said :
“Master, what must I do to acquire eternal life?”
Jesus spoke to him :
“What is written in the law?
“What do you read there?”
He answered in reply :
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart and with all thy soul,
with all your strength and all your mind;
and thy neighbour as thyself.”
Jesus said :
“Thy answer is right ,
do so and you shall live.”
But wanting to justify his question
the lawgiver spoke to Jesus :
“And who then is my neighbour?”
Now Jesus took the floor again and said :
“Once a man on his way from Jerusalem to Jericho
fell into the hands of robbers.
“They plundered and abused him
and when they pulled off they left him lying half dead.
“By chance, a priest came along that very road ;
he did see him
but walked around him in a bow.
“So also did a levite :
He passed by there, and he saw him ,
but walked in a bow around him.
“Then a Samaritan who was travelling came to him,
he saw him and took pity.
He stepped up to him,
poured oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them ;
then he lifted him on his own riding animal,
took him to an inn and took care of him.
“The next morning he brought out two tenlings ,
gave them to the innkeeper and said :
Take care of him,
and whatever more you spend
I will reimburse you on my return.
“Which of these three seems to you to be the nearest
of the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”
He replied :
“Who showed him mercy.”
And Jesus spoke :
“Go then and do ye likewise.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On caring for the common home
70. In the story of Cain and Abel, we see that jealousy led Cain to commit the utmost iniquity against his brother. This in turn caused a rift in the relationship between Cain and God and between Cain and the land from which he was exiled. This passage is summed up in the dramatic conversation between God and Cain. God asks, “Where is your brother Abel?” Cain says he does not know, and God insists: “What hast thou done? Hear, the blood of thy brother cries out to me from the ground! Therefore thou shalt be cursed, banished from (this) ground” (Gen 4:9-11) . Neglecting the obligation to nurture and maintain a right relationship with one’s neighbour, towards whom I have a duty of care and protection, destroys my inner relationship with myself, with others, with God and with the earth. When all these relationships are neglected, when righteousness no longer dwells on the earth, then, the Bible tells us, all life is in danger. This is what the story of Noah teaches us, when God threatens to wipe out humanity for its persistent inability to live in accordance with the demands of justice and peace: “The days of men are numbered, for they are to blame for the earth being full of acts of violence” (Gen 6:13) . These so ancient stories, rich in deep symbolism, already contained a conviction that is felt today: that everything is interrelated and that an authentic concern for our lives themselves and our relations with nature cannot be separated from brotherhood, justice and fidelity towards others.
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 and Sundays
Laudato Si Official English translation