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
We should not be afraid to ask ourselves the question whether we really love. By extension, there is the inevitable question of the various guises in which hatred and evil take a place in our lives and hearts. for John, love is a much broader concept than just a feeling impression, an emotion that we express in many and beautiful words and descriptions. It is about love expressed inj deeds. Not intentions alone are important: for Jesus, our deeds count. If we fill our days with concrete gestures of charity, with service to others and to God, then God’s love remains in us. Stronger: then his love becomes so visible that it becomes contagious to those who have not yet met him.
FIRST READING 1 Jn 3:11-21
We have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers.
From the first letter of the holy apostle John
Friends,
This is the message
which ye have heard from the beginning :
That we should love one another.
We must not be like Cain
who was a child of the evil one and killed his brother.
And why did he kill him?
Because his own deeds were evil
and his brother’s were good.
Brethren,
do not be surprised if the world hates you.
We have passed from death to life;
we know it
because we love our brothers.
Man without love is still in the realm of death.
Every one who hates his brother
is a murderer,
and you know
that no murderer has eternal life in him.
What love is
we have learned from Christ :
He gave his life for us.
So we too are obliged to give our lives for our brothers.
How can divine love remain in a man
who has enough money
and yet closes his heart to his brother’s need?
Children,
we must not love with words and slogans
but with concrete deeds.
That is our measure;
thereby we gain the certainty
that we belong to the true God.
Then we may also rest our conscience before Him
even if it condemns us,
for God is greater than our hearts and He knows everything.
Dear friends,
since our conscience need not condemn us
may we deal boldly with God.
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 100(99), 2, 3, 4, 5
Rejoice for the Lord, all nations.
Rejoice for the Lord, all nations,
serve the Lord with joy.
Enter unconcerned before his Face.
Truly, the Lord is God.
He is the Creator and Master,
we are his flock, his people.
Pass through his gates with song,
enters his courts with song.
Bless his Name and honour Him.
He is good to us.
Endless is his mercy,
faithful from generation to generation.
ALLELUIA John 1, 14 and 12b
Alleluia.
The Word became flesh
and has dwelt among us.
To all who accept Him
He gave the ability
to become children of God.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Jn 1:43-51
Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel.
From the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
John
In those days,
when Jesus was about to depart for Galilee
He encountered Philip and said to him:
“Follow Me.”
This Philip was from Bethsaida,
the city of Andrew and Peter.
Philip met Natanael and said to him :
“The one about whom Moses wrote in the Law
and also the prophets,
Him we found :
Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”
Natanael smirked :
“From Nazareth, can anything good come from there?”
To which Philip replied :
“Then come and see.”
Jezus saw Natanael coming towards him
and said, referring to him :
“That is truly an Israelite in whom there is no guile!”
Natanael said to Him :
“How knowestThou me?”
Jesus answered him in reply :
“Before Philip called thee
I saw thee sitting under the fig tree.”
Then Nathanael said to Him :
“Rabbi,
Thou art the Son of God,
Thou art the King of Israel.”
Jesus replied :
“Because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree you believe?
Thou shalt see greater things than these.”
And He added :
“Verily, verily, I say unto thee :
Thou shalt see the heavens open
and see the angels of God ascending and descending
in the service of the Son of Man.”
__________________________________________________________________________
Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On caring for the common home
157. Underlying the principle of the common good is respect for the human person as such, endowed with basic and inalienable rights ordered to his or her integral development. It has also to do with the overall welfare of society and the development of a variety of intermediate groups, applying the principle of subsidiarity. Outstanding among those groups is the family, as the basic cell of society. Finally, the common good calls for social peace, the stability and security provided by a certain order which cannot be achieved without particular concern for distributive justice; whenever this is violated, violence always ensues. Society as a whole, and the state in particular, are obliged to defend and promote the common good.
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
_____________________________________________________________________________