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
It is not by keeping the Law but by faith that man is redeemed. Paul illustrates this with the example of Abraham, which we read today and tomorrow. The promise of God to Abraham was a gift. A favour that one has to earn is no longer a gift. But a wage, says Paul, is not a favour, but a right. His argument is very clear: How could Abraham be justified on the basis of the Law when that Law came only centuries later and when he himself had not even been circumcised? In the context of the time, there was little to argue against such an argument, but it is actually found in the verses that follow the reading.
FIRST READING Rom 4:1-8
Abraham believed in God
and that faith was imputed to him as righteousness.
From the Letter of the Apostle Paul to the Christians of Rome
Brothers and sisters,
What should we think of Abraham, our founding father?
What has he achieved?
If he was justified by his good works,
he has reason to boast ;
but before God he has none !
What does the Scripture say?
“Abraham believed in God
and that faith was imputed to him as righteousness.”
Well then,
he who works is not given his wages as a favour
but as his due.
To him, however, who does not work
but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly,
his faith will be credited as righteousness.
The same is true of the man whom David blessed
and to whom God imputes righteousness
without there being any good works:
“Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven
and whose sins are covered.
“Blessed the man whose sin the Lord does not reckon.”
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 32(31), 1-2, 5, 11
My refuge art thou, my saviour in trouble,
Thou shalt compass me about in prosperity and joy.
Happy the one whose fault is forgiven,
whose sin is covered by God.
Blessed is the man who has no fault with God,
whose heart hides no crime.
Then I confessed my sin before You,
no longer denied my guilt.
I said: before the Lord I confess my fault ;
then Thou forgavest my sin.
Rejoice in the Lord, all ye devout,
rejoice and be glad, upright in heart.
ALLELUIA Ps. 111(110), 8ab
Alleluia.
The work of the Lord is good and sure,
all that he hath decreed stands firm.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Lk. 12, 1-7
Even the hairs on your head are all numbered.
From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Luke
At that time, when thousands of people were gathered together
so that they were almost trampling each other underfoot,
Jesus first addressed his disciples:
“Beware of the leaven,
that is, for the hypocrisy of the Pharisees.
“Nothing is covered or it will be revealed
and nothing is hidden or it will be known.
“For everything that thou hast said in the dark
shall be heard in the light ;
and that which thou hast whispered in the ear within the chamber
shall be proclaimed from the rooftops.
“To you who are My friends I say :
Do not fear those who kill the body
but cannot do a worse thing afterward.
“I will tell you whom ye must fear :
” Fear Him who, after killing, hath power to cast into hell.
“Yes, I say to you, fear Him!
“Can one not buy five sparrows for two pennies?
“Yet God does not forget any of them.
“Yes, even the hairs on your head are all numbered.
“Fear not:
You are worth more than a flock of sparrows.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On Care of the Common Home
81. Human beings, even if we postulate a process of evolution, also possess a uniqueness which cannot be fully explained by the evolution of other open systems. Each of us has his or her own personal identity and is capable of entering into dialogue with others and with God himself. Our capacity to reason, to develop arguments, to be inventive, to interpret reality and to create art, along with other not yet discovered capacities, are signs of a uniqueness which transcends the spheres of physics and biology. The sheer novelty involved in the emergence of a personal being within a material universe presupposes a direct action of God and a particular call to life and to relationship on the part of a “Thou” who addresses himself to another “thou”. The biblical accounts of creation invite us to see each human being as a subject who can never be reduced to the status of an object.
To be continued
The Bible text in this edition is taken from De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling,
©Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap 2004/2007.
Contemplations from Liturgical Suggestions for the Weeks
Laudato Si Official English translation
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