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
As foretold by John, also in Mark the heavens open at the baptism of Jesus. This is always the case over an important place or person. The voice of God underlines here the unique identity of Jesus: “Thou art my Son, my beloved; in thee I am well pleased”. The meaning cannot be misunderstood if one remembers yesterday’s gospel. Water and blood here stand for baptism and the death on the cross. One may well believe in the Incarnation, and assume that Jesus really was baptised by John in the Jordan, among sinners (see gospel). but belief in the Incarnation does not end there.
FIRST READING I John 5, 5-13
There are those witnesses : the Spirit, the water and the blood.
From the first letter of the holy apostle John
Friends,
No one can overcome the world but he who believes
That Jesus is the Son of God.
It is He who has come with water and blood,
Jesus Christ.
He has come
not by water alone but by water and by blood.
The Spirit testifies it
because the Spirit is truth.
For there are three witnesses,
the Spirit,
the water
and the blood
and these three agree.
If we accept the testimony of men
then certainly that of God,
which has so much greater authority ; God Himself guarantees this testimony
which He has given concerning His Son.
Whoever believes in the Son of God
carries God’s testimony in his heart.
He who does not give faith to God
makes Him a liar, for he refuses
to accept God’s own testimony concerning His Son.
And this is the meaning of testimony :
God has given us eternal life in His Son.
He who has the Son
has found life ;
He who does not have the Son of God
neither has life.
I have written this letter to you
to convince you that you have eternal life,
all of you who truly believe in the Son of God.
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 147, 12-13, 14-15, 19-20
Now praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
Or: Alleluia.
Praise now the Lord, Jerusalem!
Zion, glorify thy God !
For He has firmly locked your gates,
blessed thy sons within thy wall.
He lets you cultivate your fields in peace
And feed you with wheat flour.
He sends forth his command over the earth
and hastens his word.
It is he who sent Jacob his word,
His law and commandments for Israel.
Never was there a people He treated like this,
no other does He make His ways known.
ALLELUIA Hebr. 1, 1-2
Alleluia.
After God in former times and in many ways
had spoken to our fathers through the prophets,
He has now, at the end of time,
spoken to us through the Son.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Mk. 1, 6b-11
Thou art my Son, my beloved : in thee I am well pleased.
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Mark
John wore a leather belt around his loins ;
he ate locusts and wild honey.
He preached :
“After me comes the one who is stronger than me ,
and I am not worthy to bow down
and loosen the belt of his sandals.
“I have baptised you with water
but He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.”
At that time, Jesus left Nazareth in Galilee
and was baptised in the Jordan River by John.
And at the same moment He rose from the water ,
he saw the heavens tear open
and the Spirit descended on Him like a dove.
And there came a voice from heaven :
“Thou art my Son ,
my beloved;
in Thee do I delight.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclical by
POPE FRANCISCUS
On caring for the common home
158. In the present conditions of world society, where so much injustice is encountered and the number of people who are cast aside, deprived of basic human rights, is ever increasing, the principle of the common good immediately changes as a logic and inevitable consequence into a call for solidarity and opposition, preferably in favour of the poorest. This choice requires drawing the consequences of the common destiny of the goods of the earth, but requires, as I have tried to show in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium , 2 taking into account before all else the immense dignity of the poor in the light of the deepest beliefs. One only has to look at reality to understand that today this choice is a fundamental ethical requirement for a genuine realisation of the common good.
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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