Land countess of Thuringia
Born 7 July 1207
Died 17 November 1231
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 is a curious reading that also later inspires Paul later in the letter to Romans. The author devotes a lot of attention to idolatry, of which he had all too many examples in Egypt. Curious, on the one hand, is the leniency towards the pagans because of their seeking (cf. Eucharistic prayer IV) for God. On the other hand, they are inexcusable. Surely all earthly reality, according to the Book of Wisdom, refers to the supreme creator of it all.
FIRST READING Wis. 13, 1-9
If they have been able to penetrate
to the knowledge of the universe,
how have they not discovered the Lord of all this beforehand?
From the book of Wisdom
Foolish by nature were all men
who knew not of God,
who were not able
in the visible goods the One who is, to recognise,
who saw the works, and yet knew not the artist,
but the fire, or the wind, or the trembling air,
or the starry world, the violence of the water,
or the lights in the firmament
regarded as gods who govern the world.
If they have made gods of these things
because they were captivated by their beauty,
then may we know that the Lord of all this
is so much more beautiful:
For the Creator of all that
is also the origin of all beauty!
And if they were struck by the power
and the violence of those things,
then let them understand
that the Maker of all that is so much more powerful!
Starting from the greatness and the beauty of the creatures
one can come by comparison
to the knowledge of the Creator!
Certainly, one should not rebuke these people too harshly:
They do err, but they seek God
and they want to find Him.
They search out His works among which they live,
and believe their eyes, for what they see is beautiful.
For on the other hand they are not to be excused:
If they have been able to penetrate to the knowledge of the universe,
how then did they not discover beforehand the Lord of all things?
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 19(18), 2-3, 4-5
The heavens declare the glory of God.
The heavens declare the glory of God,
the firmament shows us the work of his hands.
The day proclaims it to the next day,
the night passes on to the night.
Not a word is spoken, not a voice is heard,
not a sound is heard ;
yet their cry rings out over the whole earth,
their message penetrates to the edge of the world.
ALLELUIA Phil. 2, 15-16
Alleluia.
Shine like stars in the universe,
and hold fast the word of life.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Lk. 17, 26-37
So shall it be
on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke
In those days Jesus said to his disciples:
“As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be in the days of the Son of Man.
They ate and drank and married and were given in marriage
until the day when Noah entered the ark
and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Or as it was in the days of Lot:
They ate and drank, bought and sold,
planted and built,
but on the day that Lot departed from Sodom
it rained down from heaven a burning sulfur that destroyed them all;
so shall it be
on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
Whoever is on the roof that day
while his possessions are within the house,
must not come down to get them;
and so whosoever is in the land must not return.
Remember Lot’s wife.
He who tries to save his life will lose it
and he who loses it will keep it.
I say unto you, if there be two in a bed that night,
one will be taken and the other left behind.
If two women are grinding together
one will be taken and the other left behind.”
When the disciples thereupon asked Him:
“Where, Lord?”
He answered them:
“Where the corpse lies, there the vultures
will gather.”
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Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On the care of the common home
109. The technocratic paradigm also tends to dominate economic and political life. The economy accepts every advance in technology with a view to profit, without concern for its potentially negative impact on human beings. Finance overwhelms the real economy. The lessons of the global financial crisis have not been assimilated, and we are learning all too slowly the lessons of environmental deterioration. Some circles maintain that current economics and technology will solve all environmental problems, and argue, in popular and non-technical terms, that the problems of global hunger and poverty will be resolved simply by market growth. They are less concerned with certain economic theories which today scarcely anybody dares defend, than with their actual operation in the functioning of the economy. They may not affirm such theories with words, but nonetheless support them with their deeds by showing no interest in more balanced levels of production, a better distribution of wealth, concern for the environment and the rights of future generations. Their behaviour shows that for them maximizing profits is enough. Yet by itself the market cannot guarantee integral human development and social inclusion. At the same time, we have “a sort of ‘superdevelopment’ of a wasteful and consumerist kind which forms an unacceptable contrast with the ongoing situations of dehumanizing deprivation”, while we are all too slow in developing economic institutions and social initiatives which can give the poor regular access to basic resources. We fail to see the deepest roots of our present failures, which have to do with the direction, goals, meaning and social implications of technological and economic growth.
To be continued
The Bible text in this edition is taken from De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling,
©Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap 2004/2007.
Recitals from Liturgical suggestions for weekdays and Sundays
Laudato Si Official English translation
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