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
The end of the church year alternately takes the book of Daniel and the Apocalypse as day readings. These are two books that speak of the end times, so liturgically we are also right if we read these books now. Both books use rather unusual imagery found in apocalyptic literature. This literature speaks of the mysteries of the end times in images and symbols that we do not understand without explanation. The book of Daniel begins with six stories from Babylonian times. Today we get the first story. Daniel and his companions remain faithful to their Jewish beliefs and customs in exile.
FIRST READING Dan. 1, 1-6.8-20
No one appeared to measure up
with Daniel, Chananiah, Misael and Azariah.
Beginnings of the prophet Daniel
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim,
king of Judah,
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, went to Jerusalem
and laid siege to the city.
The Lord delivered Jehoiakim, king of Judah,
to the king of Babylon,
and also some of the temple vessels,
which Nebuchadnezzar placed
in the treasury of the temple of his god.
To Aspenaz, his court marshal,
the king ordered
to choose from among the Israelites some young men,
who were of royal blood or distinguished descent,
without any body defect, well-formed, versatile,
with extensive knowledge and a keen intellect,
suitable for service in the king’s palace.
He was to teach them the language and script of the Chaldeans.
The king stipulated
that their daily menu was to consist
of the dishes of the royal table
and the wine he himself drank.
The training was to last three years ;
after that they would enter the king’s service.
These young men
included Daniel, Chananiah, Misael and Azariah,
all from Judah.
Daniel, however, resolved,
not to defile himself
at the dishes of the royal table
and at the wine poured by the king.
So he asked the court marshal for food
to which he would not defile himself.
And God voted the court marshal benevolent
and benevolent towards Daniel.
The court marshal said to Daniel :
“I fear that my lord, the king ,
who has determined your food and drink,
will find that you are not as good-looking
as the other young men of your age
and then I will get into
trouble with the king.”
At that, Daniel turned to the chamberlain
to whose care the court marshal
Daniel, Chananiah, Misael and Azariah had entrusted,
with the request :
“Try your servants
and give us for ten days
eat only vegetables and drink water ;
then compare our appearance with that of the young men
who eat the dishes of the royal table
and then act with your servants according to your findings.”
The chamberlain agreed to the proposal
and for ten days
he gave them the requested food on a trial basis.
When the ten days were over ,
they looked healthier and more prosperous
than all the other young men,
who had eaten the dishes from the royal table.
Henceforth, the chamberlain took the food and wine
intended for them and gave them vegetables.
To these four young men, God bestowed science,
knowledge of all literature and wisdom;
To Daniel He gave insight into visions and dreams.
When the time had passed
which King Nebuchadnezzar had fixed
and they were to appear before him,
the court marshal presented them to the king.
During the interview the king had with them,
it turned out that none of them could measure up
with Daniel, Chananiah, Misael and Azariah.
So they entered the king’s service.
And whenever the king consulted them,
he could see that their wisdom and insight
was ten times greater
than that of any diviner or conjurer
in all his realm.
INTERLUDIUM Dan. 3, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56
Praised be Thou, Lord, God of our fathers,
to Thee be praise throughout all ages.
Praised be Thy holy glorious Name,
praise be to Thee in all ages.
Praised be Thou in the house of Thy glory,
to Thee be praise in all ages.
Praised be Thou on the throne of Thy kingdom,
to Thee be praise in all ages.
Praised be Thou who searches the depths,
enthroned on kerubs, in all ages.
Praised be Thou in the dome of heaven,
to Thee be praise in all ages.
ALLELUIA Mt 24, 42a, 44
Alleluia.
Be vigilant
for the Son of Man is coming at the hour
when ye expect it not.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Lk 21:1-4
A needy widow threw two pennies into the offering box.
From the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Luke
In those days it happened that Jesus looked up
and saw the rich throwing their gifts into the sacrificial chest,
but He also saw a needy widow
who threw in two pennies.
And He spoke :
“Truly, I say to you :
That poor widow has thrown in the most of all.
“Those people have all
thrown in something of their abundance with the gifts for God,
but she offered from her poverty everything she had to live on.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On caring for the common home
119. Nor should the critique of a skewed anthropocentrism put the value of relationships between persons on the back burner. If the ecological crisis is an emergent or outward manifestation of an ethical, cultural and spiritual crisis of modern times, we need be under no illusion that we can restore sanity to our relationship with nature and the environment without restoring sanity to all fundamental human relationships. When Christian thinking claims for human beings a special value above other creatures, it gives room for an appreciation of each human person and thus encourages the recognition of the other. Being open to a “you” capable of knowing, loving and engaging in dialogue remains the great nobility of the human person. Therefore, with regard to an adequate relationship with creation, there is no need to downplay the social dimension of the human being, nor its transcendent dimension, its openness to the divine “You”. Indeed, one cannot put forward a relationship with the environment and leave out the relationship with other persons and with God. That would be a romantic individualism disguised as ecological beauty and a suffocating locking oneself in immanence.
To be continued
The Bible text in this issue is taken from The New Translation of the Bible,
©Dutch Bible Society 2004/2007.
Considerations from Liturgical suggestions for weekdays and Sundays
Laudato Si Official English translation
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