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 calling of Samuel is a wonderful story. It is typological for almost every vocation story, though. Some vocations do happen suddenly, as if lightning strikes as in the vocation stories of prophets. But most vocations come about differently. It is like a drop falling down again and again, unnoticed, until suddenly one starts paying attention to it and can no longer ignore the sound. So is the voice of God. At first, people often push it away; they say: it must be their imagination; I am just imagining things. Finally, it can no longer be ignored in clarity. So say we: Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.
FIRST READING I Sam. 3, 1-10. 19-20
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.
From the first book of Samuel
in those days
young Samuel was doing service in the sanctuary of the Lord,
under the supervision of Eli.
The word of the Lord was then a rarity
and a vision was not common.
One day Eli had put himself to sleep
in his usual place ;
his eyes began to grow weak
and he could no longer see.
The lamp of God had not yet been extinguished
and Samuel was asleep in the sanctuary of the Lord,
where the ark of God stood.
Then the Lord called out :
“Samuel!”
Samuel replied :
“Here I am.”
He ran hastily to Eli and said :
“Here I am. You called me, didn’t you?”
But Eli replied :
“I have not called; go back to sleep.”
Then the Lord called again :
“Samuel!”
Samuel got up, went to Eli and said :
“Here I am. You called me, didn’t you?”
Eli replied :
“I did not call, my boy ; go back to sleep.”
Samuel did not yet know the Lord :
a word from the Lord had never yet been revealed to him.
And again the Lord called Samuel ; now for the third time.
Samuel got up, went to Eli and said:
“Here I am. You called me, didn’t you?”
Then Eli understood that it was the Lord who called the boy.
And he said to Samuel :
“Go to sleep, and should the Lord call you
then you must say :
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”
So Samuel went back to sleep in his usual place.
Then the Lord came and stood by him and called,
as on the previous occasions :
“Samuel, Samuel!”
And Samuel answered :
“Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”
Samuel grew up ; the Lord was with him
and left not one of his words unfulfilled.
And all Israel from Dan to Berseba, came to know
that Samuel had indeed become a prophet of the Lord.
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 40(39), 2, 5, 7-8a, 8b-9, 10
Yes, I come, Lord, to do your will.
With great confidence I have hoped in the Lord,
He has bowed down to me,
answered my cry.
Happy is the man who puts his hope in the Lord,
who does not associate with the rebellious and disobedient.
Gift and sacrifice hast Thou never desired,
but thou hast opened my ears to thy voice.
Thou askest no burnt offering, no kissing offering from me ;
so I said : Yea, I come, as it is written of me :
Thy will to do, my God, that is my joy,
thy law is engraved in my heart.
In the assemblies I have preached righteousness,
my lips not closed, Lord, Thou knowest.
ALLELUIA I Sam. 3, 9 ; John 6,69b
Alleluia.
Speak, Lord, thy servant listens ;
Thy words are words of eternal life.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Mk. 1, 29-39
Many who suffered from all kinds of diseases were healed by Jesus.
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark
At that time
Jzus came out of the synagogue,
and went with James and John
to the house of Simon and Andrew.
Simon’s mother-in-law was bedridden with fever ;
they immediately spoke to Him about her.
Jesus went to her,
took her by the hand and made her get up ;
she became free of fever and ministered to them.
In the evening, after sunset,
they brought all those who were suffering or possessed to Him.
All the city flocked at the door.
Many suffering from all kinds of diseases He healed
and He drove out numerous spirits,
but He did not allow the evil spirits to speak.
Because they knew Him.
Early, still deep in the night, He got up,
went outside and went to a lonely place
where He continued to pray.
Simon and his companions came after Him
and when they had found Him they said :
“everyone is looking for You.”
He answered them :
“Let us go somewhere else,
to the villages in the circumference,
that I may preach there also.
“For to this end I went forth.”
He travelled throughout Galilee,
preached in their synagogues
and drove out the evil spirits.
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On caring for the common home
162. The difficulty of taking this challenge seriously is linked to an ethical and cultural decline that accompanies the ecological. The man and woman of the postmodern world are constantly at risk of becoming deeply individualistic, and many current social problems must be associated with the selfish search for immediate gratification, with the crises of the bonds of family and society, with the difficulties of recognising the other. They are often related to excessive and short-sighted parental consumption that harms the children, who find more and more difficulties in acquiring their own homes and starting families. Moreover, this inability to think seriously about future generations is linked to our inability to broaden the horizon of our concerns and think about how many are excluded from development. Let us not waste our time thinking about the poor of the future, it is enough to remember the poor of today, who have few years to live on this earth and cannot continue to wait. Therefore, “apart from loyal solidarity between generations, there is also an urgent moral need to renew solidarity within the same generation”.
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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