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
In the vision of yesterday and today we see very clearly the apocalyptic genre as distinct from the prophetic genre. Prophets speak from God’s side to the evil people, so that they will repent and a change for the better will occur. They threaten and warn of what will happen if people do not repent. Apocalypse expects nothing more of human conversion. The time is ripe, the measure is full. God himself intervenes and establishes his Kingdom. It is the High Elder who intervenes. Mysterious is the figure of the Son of Man who arrives on the clouds (yesterday) and to whom the Senior Citizen gives dominion. It is precisely this title that Jesus repeatedly uses, which is not without significance for his mission and his person.
FIRST READING Dan. 7, 15-27
The kingship, the dominion and the glory
shall be given
to the people of the saints of the Most High.
From the Prophet Daniel
In those days Daniel spoke :
“At the vision that I saw, I was inwardly confused, and the images
that passed through my mind troubled me.
“I went up to one of those present
and asked him the true meaning of it all.
“He gave me the following explanation.
“The four great animals are four kings
who will reign on earth ;
afterwards, the saints of the Most High
will receive the kingship
and they shall possess it for ever,
from eternity to eternity.”
Then I wanted to know the meaning of the fourth beast,
which was different from all the others,
was extraordinarily fearsome,
had teeth of iron and claws of bronze,
which ate and crushed,
and trampled down what was left with its feet;
and what were the ten horns upon its head?
And the eleventh, which sprang up and caused three to fall out ;
that horn had eyes and a mouth full of boastfulness
and was taller than the others.
In my vision I saw that the horn waged war
with the saints and overwhelmed them,
so that the High Elder came
and justice was done to the saints of the Most High
and the time came
when the saints took the kingship.
Then someone said to me the following :
“The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom ,
which will exist on the earth ;
it will be different from all other kingdoms ;
it will devour, trample and crush all the earth.
“The ten horns are ten kings ,
who shall come forth of that kingdom
and after them shall come an eleventh,
who shall differ from the former
and shall overthrow three kings.
“He shall set himself against the Most High,
abusing the saints of the Most High
and shall set about to change his times and his law.
“And the saints of the Most High
shall be delivered unto his power.
“The tribunal shall sit
and they will take away his dominion
and bring him to ruin and destroy him.
“Then the kingship,
the dominion and the glory of all the empires under heaven
be given
to the people of the saints of the Most High.
“His kingship is an everlasting kingship
and all the powers shall serve and obey Him.”
INTERLUDIUM Dan. 3, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87
Praise the Lord, praise and exalt Him forever.
Praise the Lord, all people
Israel, praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, all his priests,
all his servants, praise him.
Praise Him, spirits of the righteous,
pious, humble hearts, praise Him.
ALLELUIA Lk. 21, 28
Alleluia.
Arise and lift up your heads
for your salvation is at hand.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Lk. 21, 34-36
Be vigilant at all times and pray that you may be able to escape
from all those things which are about to take place.
From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Luke
At that time Jesus said to his disciples :
“See to it that your minds are not dulled
by drunkenness and the cares of life ;
Let not the coming of the Son of Man catch you unawares like a snare,
for that day will come upon all, everywhere in the world.
“Be ye therefore watchful at all times, and pray
that thou mayest be able to escape
from all these things that are about to take place,
and that you may be able to stand
before the Son of Man.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On the Care of the Common Home
The need to protect employment
124. Any approach to an integral ecology, which by definition does not exclude human beings, needs to take account of the value of labour, as Saint John Paul II wisely noted in his Encyclical Laborem Exercens. According to the biblical account of creation, God placed man and woman in the garden he had created (cf. Gen 2:15) not only to preserve it (“keep”) but also to make it fruitful (“till”). Labourers and craftsmen thus “maintain the fabric of the world” (Sir 38:34). Developing the created world in a prudent way is the best way of caring for it, as this means that we ourselves become the instrument used by God to bring out the potential which he himself inscribed in things: “The Lord created medicines out of the earth, and a sensible man will not despise them” (Sir 38:4).
To be continued
The Bible text in this publication is taken from De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling,
©Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap 2004/2007.
Recitals from Liturgical suggestions for the week and Sundays
Laudato Si Official English translation
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