Christian doctrine regards the family as the cornerstone of society.
The Holy Family is a model for the Christian household.
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
Thanks to the family in which Jesus grew up,
Jesus is deeply rooted in Jewish tradition.
He is a true son of Abraham and heir to the promise.
Gradually, He will
– as ancient Simeon already foresees –
not only an heir,
but also be the fulfilment of the promise.
Let us open our hearts to meet Him:
The Light for all nations.
FIRST READING Gen. 15, 1-6; 21, 1-3
Thy heir shall be one whom thou shalt beget.
From the book of Genesis
In those days the word of the Lord sounded
in a vision to Abram:
“Thou must not fear, Abram; I will be thy shield.
“Thy reward shall be very great!”
Then Abram said:
“Lord God, what profiteth me thy gifts?
“For I remain but childless
and the Damascene Elijah will become the possessor of my house.
“Surely thou gavest me no offspring,
and a subject shall be my heir.
Then the word of the Lord was addressed to him:
“Not he shall be thy heir;
thy heir shall be one whom thou shalt beget.”
Now the Lord led Abram outside and said:
“Look at the sky and count the stars, if thou canst.”
And He assured him:
“So numerous shall thy posterity be.”
Abram believed the Lord
and He counted it as righteousness to him.
The Lord favoured Sarah, as He had said,
and fulfilled the promise He had made to her.
Sarah became pregnant
and gave Abraham a son in his old age,
at the time God had mentioned.
Abraham gave to the son born to him
and given to him by Sarah,
the name Isaac.
Responsorial Ps. 105(104), 1b-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
Refrain
The Lord is our God,
for ever his covenant remains in force.
Glorify the Lord and worship His Name,
proclaim His deeds to the nations.
Sing to Him and pluck the strings for Him,
recount all His wondrous works.
Go great on the holy name of the Lord,
rejoice, ye who follow Him.
Indulge in Him, in His mighty arm,
ever seek His face.
Never forget the miracles He did,
His signs and His promises.
Ye offspring of His servant Abraham,
ye sons of Jacob, his beloved.
For ever and ever His covenant remains in force,
which He has promised for a thousand generations.
The covenant He made with Abraham before,
the oath He once swore to Isaac.
SECOND READING Hebrews 11, 8.11-12.17-19
The faith of Abraham, Sarah and Isaac.
From the letter to the Hebrews
Brothers and sisters,
By faith
Abraham responded to the call of God,
and set out for a land
that was destined for him and his heirs.
By faith, Sara too,
though her time had long since passed,
received the power of fruitfulness,
for she knew that He had made that promise,
would keep His word.
Therefore, to one man ,
and still in his old age
was given an offspring,
numerous as the stars in the sky,
countless as the grains of sand on the beach of the sea.
By faith Abraham,
when he was put to the test,
sacrificed Isaac.
He who had received the promises,
was about to sacrifice his only son,
the son of whom he had been told:
“Only those who descend from Isaac ,
shall count as your offspring.”
For Abraham was convinced
that God even has the power to raise the dead to life;
and from death he has, so to speak
regained his son as well.
Verse for the gospel Heb. 1:1-2
Alleluia.
In many ways God has spoken to our fathers
through the prophets;
at the end of time He has spoken to us in the Son.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Lk. 2:22-40
The Child grew up filled with wisdom.
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Luke
When the time arrived
when Mary and the child, according to the law of Moses,
had to be cleansed,
his parents brought Jesus to Jerusalem
to dedicate Him to the Lord,
according to the precept of the Law of the Lord:
Every firstborn of the male sex
must be consecrated to the Lord,
and to offer according to the provisions of the Law of the Lord
to offer a sacrifice,
namely a pair of turtles or two young pigeons.
Now there lived in Jerusalem a certain Simeon,
a law-abiding and pious man
who expected Israel’s consolation,
and the Holy Spirit rested on him.
He had received a word of God from the Holy Spirit
that death would not strike him
before he would have beheld the Lord’s Anointed One.
Driven by the Spirit, he had come to the temple.
When the parents brought the child Jesus there
to fulfil to Him the precept of the Law,
Simeon also took the Child in his arms
and proclaimed God’s praise with the words:
“Your servant now, Lord, according to your word, let you go in peace:
My eyes have now beheld thy salvation
which Thou hast prepared for all nations;
a light shining for the Gentiles,
a glory to thy people Israel.”
His father and mother were amazed
at what was said of the Child.
Thereupon Simeon pronounced a blessing over them
and he said to Mary, his mother:
“Behold, this Child is destined to the fall or resurrection of many in Israel ,
for a sign to be refuted,
that the disposition of many hearts may be revealed;
and thy own soul shall be pierced by a sword.”
There was also a prophetess, Hanna,
a daughter of Fanuel, from the tribe of Asher.
She was very elderly
and after her youth she had lived with her husband for seven years.
Now she was a widow of eighty-four.
She stayed in the temple constantly
and served God day and night through fasting and prayer.
At this time she approached ,
thanked God and spoke of the child to all
who were expecting the deliverance of Jerusalem.
When the parents of Jesus
had fulfilled all the precepts of the Law of the Lord,
they returned to Galilee, to their city of Nazareth.
The child grew up and increased in strength;
he was filled with wisdom
and the grace of God rested on Him.
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On the care of the common home
153. The quality of life in cities is largely related to transport, which is often a cause of great suffering for residents. In cities, many cars drive around used by one or two people, making traffic crowded, raising the level of pollution, consuming huge amounts of non-renewable energy and necessitating the building of more roads and car parks, which harm the urban network. Many experts agree on the need to prioritise public transport. However, some of the necessary measures will struggle to be accepted peacefully by society without a substantial improvement in that transport, which, due to overcrowding in many cities, involves undignified treatment of people, inconvenience or scarce frequency of facilities and insecurity.
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