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 first thing Jesus does is in a public space – commenting on the scriptures
for the Jewish believers present. He thereby inscribes himself fully in the lineage of classical Jewish religious tradition, but he does not lock himself into it: on the contrary, it will be one of the rare times Jesus will speak in a synagogue. He speaks with authority – an early reference to his divinity – but no one then makes the connection between this man and his Father at all. While those present only look up in amazement and wonder who this man is, the demons already know who He is. We too know who He is. When we bear witness to Him, do we do so with authority? How do we remain animated by God’s Word?
FIRST READING I Sam. 1,9-20
The Lord was mindful of Hanna
and she gave birth to Samuel.
From the first Book of Samuel
After Hanna and Elkana had eaten and drunk in Silo ,
Hanna went to the sanctuary of the Lord.
The priest Eli was sitting there on a seat against the doorpost.
Bitterly distressed
she prayed to the Lord under a stream of tears
and she made this vow :
“God, Lord of heavenly powers,
if You look upon the misery of Your servant
and be mindful of me,
if Thou wilt not forget Thy servant
and grant her a son,
then for all his life
to the Lord :
no razor shall pass over his head.”
When Hanna continued to pray to the Lord for so long ,
the priest Eli began to watch her mouth,
and because Hanna spoke inwardly
and her lips did move ,
but her voice was not audible,
Eli thought she was drunk.
He said to her :
“Stop acting like an inebriated person!
“Rather see to it that you become sober again.”
But Hanna replied :
“You are mistaken, my lord,
I am a woman in deep sorrow.
“I have not drunk wine or spirits
but I pour out my heart before the Lord.
“Do not consider your servant an evil woman ;
Only out of great care and sorrow
have I prayed so long.”
Then Eli replied :
“Go then in peace ,
and may the God of Israel give you
what you have begged from Him.”
Hanna replied :
“I hope that you
may keep a good impression of your servant.”
Then the woman went away ;
she ate and her face brightened.
The next morning
Elkana and Hanna bowed before the Lord
and went back to Ramah.
When Elkana had intercourse with Hanna ,
the Lord was mindful of her;
she became pregnant and in the course of the year
she gave birth to a son.
She named him Samuel,
“for, she said, I have begotten him of the Lord.”
INTERLUDIUM I Sam. 2, 1, 4-5, 6-7, 8abcd
The Lord makes my heart beat with joy.
The Lord makes my heart beat with joy,
my God has lifted up my head.
Now I stand my contenders
because I enjoy His assistance.
The bows of the brave are broken,
the weak are girded with strength.
The rich must go and earn their bread,
the hungry no longer have to work.
The childless gives birth seven times,
the mother’s womb withers away.
The Lord disposes of death and life,
He leads to death and He calls again.
The Lord bestows poverty as well as riches,
humiliation He brings and honour.
He raises the powerless from the dust,
raises from the dirt the lowly;
He gives him a seat among princes,
grants him an honourable place.
For He is the Lord of the pillars of the earth
upon which He once set the earth’s disk.
ALLELUIA Ps. 130(129), 5
Alleluia.
In the Lord I put my hope,
in his word I trust.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Mk. 1, 21-28
Jesus taught as one in authority.
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark
At that time Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum,
and on the next Sabbath He went to the synagogue
where He acted as a teacher.
The people were beside themselves with amazement at His teaching,
for He was not teaching them like the scribes
but as one in authority.
There was in their synagogue precisely a man
who was in the power of an unclean spirit
and began to shout loudly :
“Jesus of Nazareth, what hast Thou to do with us?
“Thou hast come to plunge us into ruin.
“I know who Thou art : the Holy One of God.”
Jesus added to him :
“Be silent and go away from that man.”
The unclean spirit shook him to and fro,
gave another loud cry and went out of him.
All were so amazed that they asked among themselves :
“What does that mean anyway?
“A new teaching with authority!
“He commands the unclean spirits and they obey Him.”
Quickly his fame spread in all directions
all over the region of Galilee.
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On the care of the common home
161. Catastrophic predictions can no longer be viewed with contempt and irony. We could leave too many ruins, deserts and dirt for future generations. The rate of consumption, wastage and environmental degradation is beyond the capabilities of the planet, to the extent that the current lifestyle, since it is unsustainable, can only end in catastrophes, as in fact is already happening periodically in several regions. Reducing the effects of the current imbalance depends on what we do now, especially if we think of the responsibility that those who will suffer the worst consequences will attribute to us.
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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