Celebration to commemorate the moment a church was dedicated
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.
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.
Opening word
Today we celebrate the ordination feast of our own church.
Time and again we gather here to pray and celebrate.
From faith this church was ooit built,
it was dedicated and consecrated.
For us it is holy ground,
a home for God and people.
We gather there in good and bad days.
Jesus is there for us every time,
guest and host at the same time.
In the same way, He wanted to be a guest with Zacchaeus.
He came to his home and Zacchaeus repented.
‘Salvation has come to this house’.
Today this church is our home,
where we may be granted salvation.
FIRST READING I Kings 8, 22-23.27-30
Thou hast said that Thy name shall dwell there
and that Thou wilt listen there
to the supplication of thy people Israel.
From the first Book of Kings
In those days Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord,
in front of all the community of Israel.
He stretched out his hands to heaven and said :
“Lord, God of Israel ,
apart from You there is no god in heaven above
or down here on earth,
who is so merciful and so faithful
to the covenant with Your servants
Who with all their heart turn their steps towards Thee.
“But would Thou, God, really dwell on earth?
“Even heaven and the heaven of heavens
cannot contain Thee !
“How then this temple that I have built ?
“Then heed the entreaties of Thy servant,
Lord my God,
and listen to his cries
and to the prayer Your servant addresses to You today.
“Let Your eyes watch over this temple day and night
and over the sanctuary of which Thou hast said
that Thy name would dwell there,
and listen to the prayer
which Thy servant addresses Thee in this place.
“Listen therefore to the supplication of thy servant
and of thy people Israel,
which they shall address to Thee in this place.
“Yea, Thou shalt hear it from heaven, Thy dwelling place.
“Hear then and grant forgiveness.”
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 84(83), 3, 4, 5, 10, 11
How dear to me is Your dwelling place, Lord of heavens!
My soul longs and yearns for Your sanctuary.
My heart and all my being
go forth rejoicing to You, the God who lives.
For even the sparrows do find shelter,
the swallows a nest for their brood ;
to me that is Your altar, Lord of heavenly powers,
my King and my God!
Happy they who dwell in thy house, O Lord,
who may praise You there always.
God, my protector, look down,
look up to your anointed one.
For me, one day in your court is better
than a thousand days elsewhere.
Much rather I stand on the threshold of God’s house
than to be a guest in the tent of sinners.
ALLELUIA cf Lk 8:15
Alleluia.
Blessed are those who keep the Word of God which they heard
in a good and noble heart
and bring forth fruit by their constancy.
Alleluia.
SECOND READING 1 Peter 2:4-9
Thou art a chosen generation, a royal priesthood.
From the first letter of the holy apostle Peter
Dearly beloved,
Enter into the Lord, the living stone,
rejected by men,
but chosen and precious in the sight of God.
Let yourselves also be joined as living stones
in the building of the spiritual temple.
As a holy priesthood, dedicate spiritual sacrifices,
that are pleasing to God through Jesus Christ.
That is why the Scriptures say:
“I lay in Zion a stone ,
a chosen, precious cornerstone.
“And whoever trusts in Him will not be disappointed.”
Precious applies to you who believe.
But for the unbelievers applies:
“The stone which the builders rejected ,
that has become the cornerstone”,
but also:
“A stone on which they stumble,
a rock over which they stumble”.
They stumble because they refuse to obey the word;
and that is what they were meant to do.
But ye are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
God’s own people,
destined to proclaim the glorious deeds
of Him who called you out of darkness
to His marvellous light.
Verse for the gospel John 14.6
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. 19, 1-10
The Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost.
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke
At that time, Jesus entered Jericho.
As He passed through it,
a certain Zacchaeus,
chief toll collector and rich man,
wants to see who Jesus was.
But he did not succeed because of the crowd,
for he was small in stature.
To see Him anyway, he walked fast ahead
and climbed a wild fig tree
because Jesus would pass by there.
When Jesus came to that place
He looked up and said to him:
“Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must be a guest in your house.”
Zacchaeus came down quickly and received Him full of joy.
All saw this and noted morosely:
“He has gone to take up residence with a sinner!”
But Zacchaeus stepped up to the Lord and spoke:
“Lord, by this I donate half of my property to the poor ;
and if I have extorted anything from anyone
I will give it back to him fourfold.”
Jesus spoke to him:
“Today salvation has come to this house ,
for this man too is a son of Abraham.
For the Son of Man has come to seek
and to save what was lost.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclic by
POPE FRANCIS
On caring for the common home
83. The final goal of the course of the universe lies in the fullness of God, already achieved through Christ, pivot of universal maturation. Thus we add another argument to reject any despotic and irresponsible domination of the other creatures by the human being. The ultimate goal of the other creatures is not us. On the contrary, all proceed with us and through us towards the common goal that is God, in a transcendent fullness where the risen Christ embraces and illuminates all. Indeed, the human being, endowed with intelligence and love and drawn to the fullness of Christ, is called to bring all creatures back to their Creator.
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
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