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
Opening word
‘Forewarned is forearmed’,
we sometimes hear it said.
Today we are also warned again in the Gospel,
the other readings then give us hope and wisdom.
Let us therefore open our hearts
to let that hope and wisdom penetrate
and as a warned man
live vigilantly in the light of the Lord.
FIRST READING Wis. 6, 12-16
Wisdom is found by those who seek it.
From the book of Wisdom
Radiant and never withering is wisdom,
easily she is beheld by those who love her,
found by those who seek it.
Even before one desires her, she has already made herself known.
He who rises early for her, need not strain himself,
for he will find her sitting at his door.
Pondering over her shows perfect insight,
and he who lies awake because of her will soon be free from worry.
For she herself goes around and seeks those worthy of her,
graciously she shows herself to them in their ways
and at every consultation she approaches them.
INTERLUDIUM Ps 63(62), 2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
Refrain
Lord my God, to You my soul thirsts
and craves my heart.
God, my God be Thou,
I seek Thee already at dawn.
For Thee my soul thirsts and my heart yearns
like barren fields for rain.
Thus I look up to the place where Thou dost dwell,
I contemplate Thy power and glory.
More worthy than life is Thy mercy to me,
my mouth proclaims Thy praise.
I will praise Thee as long as I live,
stretch out my hands to Thee.
My soul will be satiated with nourishing food,
my mouth shall thank Thee jubilantly.
When on my bed I think of Thee,
then I keep awake pondering Thee.
For Thou hast always been my protector,
I bask under Thy wings.
SECOND READING I Thess. 4, 13-18 or 13-14
God will take those who have fallen asleep in Jesus
alive with Him.
From the holy apostle Paul’s first letter to the Christians of Thessalonica
Brothers and sisters,
We do not wish to leave you in ignorance
about the fate of those who have fallen asleep;
ye must not be grieved like others
who have no hope.
For we believe that Jesus died and rose again;
likewise God will take those who have fallen asleep in Jesus
alive with Him.
And this we can communicate to you according to a word of the Lord:
we who remain alive until the coming of the Lord,
we shall by no means precede the dead.
For when the command is given,
when the voice of the archangel resounds and the trumpet of God,
then the Lord himself will descend from heaven,
and first the dead who are in Christ will rise;
after that, we who are still alive
together with them
be carried away on clouds in the sky in an instant,
to meet the Lord.
And so we will be together with the Lord forever.
Comfort one another, then, with these words.
Verse for the Eucharist Mt 24:42a and 44
Alleluia.
Be vigilant,
for thou knowest not at what hour the Son of Man cometh.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Mt 25, 1-13
There is the bridegroom! Draw near to him!
From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew
At that time, Jesus spoke to his disciples in parables.
He said:
‘Then it will be with the kingdom of heaven
as with ten girls who went out with their lamps,
to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish,
the other five wisely.
For the foolish took their lamps
but no oil;
But the wise took their lamps
also brought jars of oil.
Now when the bridegroom waited for them
they all dozed off and slept.
But in the middle of the night there was a shout:
There is the bridegroom! Go and meet him!
Immediately all the girls were awake
and fixed their lamps.
The dumb said to the wise:
Give us some oil, for our lamps are going out.
But the wise replied:
Nay, there should not once be enough for us and you together.
Rather go to the sellers and get some for yourselves.
But while they were on their way to buy
came the bridegroom,
and those who were ready
entered with him to celebrate wedding;
and the door was locked.
Later the other girls also came and said:
Lord, lord, open up!
But he answered:
Verily I say unto thee, I know thee not.
Be vigilant therefore, for ye know neither day nor hour.’
____________________________________________________________________
Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On the care of the common home
104. However, we cannot deny that atomic energy, biotechnology, information technology, the knowledge of our own DNA and other abilities we have acquired give us a terrifying power. What is more, they give those who have the knowledge and especially the economic power to exploit them impressive power over the whole of the human race and the entire world. Never has humanity had so much power over itself and nothing guarantees that it will use it well, especially if one considers the way it uses it. It is enough to recall the atomic bombs thrown in the middle of the 20th century, as well as the great use of technology displayed by Nazism, communism and other totalitarian regimes in the service of slaughtering millions of people, without forgetting that today war has increasingly deadly instruments at its disposal. In which hands does so much power reside and in which can it come? It is terribly dangerous that it lies with a small part of humanity.
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