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 rulers of this earth must not forget that their rule is God-given. The greater the power, the greater the responsibility. Misuse of power will therefore be severely punished: In God’s eyes, those who pretend to be incredibly important and powerful but fall short of service are the least important. We know from Jesus that those who are humble and unimportant, small and powerless, are great in God’s eyes.
FIRST READING Dan. 5, 1-6,13-14,16-17,23-28
Fingers of a human hand appeared
that wrote on the wall.
From the prophet Daniel
At that time king Belsássar set up a great banquet
for a thousand of his imperial giants.
He drank wine in the presence of the thousand guests
and under the influence of the wine he gave orders
to fetch the gold and silver vessels
which his father Nabukadnezzar
had taken away from the temple in Jerusalem.
Belsássar, with his empire greats,
his wives and concubines to drink from those vessels.
So one brought the gold and silver vessels,
which had been taken away from the temple in Jerusalem,
and the king, his lords of the realm,
his wives and concubines drank from them.
And in drinking the wine
they praised the gods of gold and silver,
of bronze, iron, wood and stone.
While they were doing so,
fingers of a human hand appeared
and they wrote something
on the plastered wall of the royal palace,
just opposite the chandelier.
The king saw the writing hand;
he changed colour and became confused,
his hip joints slackened
and his knees bumped together.
Then Daniel was led before the king
and the king said to him:
“Art thou Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah,
whom the king, my father, carried away from Judah?
I have heard of thee,
that the spirit of the gods is in thee
and that thou art gifted with insight,
with and extraordinary wisdom.
I have been told of thee
that thou canst explain dreams and untangle knots.
Well, if thou canst read the writing
and explain it to me, thou shalt be clothed with purple,
wear the golden chain around thy neck
and reign third in the kingdom.”
To this, Daniel replied to the king:
“Keep your gifts and give your gifts to another.
However, I will read the scripture before the king
and give him the explanation of it.
Above the Lord of heaven you have wished to exalt yourself;
you have had the tableware taken from his temple
and you, your lords, your wives and concubines
have drunk wine from it;
gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone,
who see not, hear not and know nothing,
you have honoured,
while you honoured the God
in whose hand is your breath and all your life,
have not praised.
Therefore He made that hand write this script.
And this is written there.
Mene, mene, tekel ufarsin.
Its explanation reads:
mene: Counted God your reigning years
and put an end to it;
tekel: Weighed you on the scales and found you too light;
peres: Divided is thy kingdom
and given to the Medes and Persians.”
INTERLUDIUM Dan. 3, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67
Praise the Lord, praise and exalt Him forever.
Praise the Lord, bright sun and moon,
bright stars, praise Him.
Praise Him, rain and dew,
all stormy winds, praise Him.
Praise Him, fire and heat,
cold and frost, praise the Lord.
ALLELUIA Lk. 21, 36
Alleluia.
Be vigilant and pray at all times
and that we may stand firm
before the face of the Son of Man.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Lk 21:12-19
You will be an object of hatred to all
for my Name’s sake :
Not a hair of your head shall be lost.
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples:
“They will seize you and persecute you,
they will hand you over to the synagogues and imprison you,
lead you before kings and governors
for my Name’s sake.
It will end up for you in giving testimony.
Well, impress it on thee,
that then ye should not prepare your defence.
For I will give you a language and a wisdom
which none of thy adversaries
will be able to resist or contradict.
Thou shalt be overcome even by parents and brothers,
by kinsmen and friends
and some of you will have them put to death.
You will be an object of hatred to all
for the sake of my Name:
Not a hair on your head will be lost.
By being steadfast you will gain your life.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclic by
POPE FRANCIS
On caring for the common home
121. We are still waiting for the development of a new synthesis that overcomes the false forms of dialectics of recent centuries. Christianity itself, keeping true to its identity and the treasure of truth it has received from Jesus Christ, is always reflecting on itself and expressing itself anew in dialogue with the new historical situations, thus allowing its eternal newness to blossom.
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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