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.
Considerations
The deep joy of knowing God in our midst is bwell obscured by stubborn adherence to sacrifices and rituals. This has always been the case, even to this day. With Jesus, something new has begun. His coming only seeks to bring joy to those who open their hearts to his presence and his message. He who offers sacrifices of praise, he truly honours Me. ‘He who walks straight paths, he finds the salvation of God,’ the psalm echoes.
FIRST READING I Sam. 15, 16-23
To obey is better than to sacrifice.
The Lord has rejected thee, and thou shalt be no more king.
From the first Book of Samuel
In those days, Samuel said to Saul :
“I will proclaim to thee
what the Lord has said to me this night.”
Saul replied : “Speak.”
Samuel said :
“Thou mayest think thyself unimportant ,
yet thou art the head of the tribes of Israel ,
for the Lord hath anointed thee king over Israel.
“The Lord hath sent thee forth with the commission :
Go up against the Amalekites,
put a spell on the sinners and fight them
until thou hast exterminated them.
“Why then have ye not listened to the Lord,
but cast thyself upon the spoils
and done what displeases the Lord?”
Then Saul said to Samuel :
“But still I have listened to the Lord
and yet I have gone where the Lord sent me ;
I brought Agag, the king of Amalek, with me
And to the Amalekites the ban was made.
“The people took from the spoil sheep and cattle ,
the best of what was under the curse,
to offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”
But Samuel spoke :
“Would fire and victims be as dear to the Lord
as obedience to his word ?
“Nay, obedience is better than sacrifice,
obedience worth more than the fat of goats.
“Defiance is equal to the sin of sorcery,
unseemliness with idolatry.
“Because ye have rejected the word of the Lord ,
the Lord hath rejected thee
and thou shalt be no more king.
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 50(49), 8-9, 16bc-17, 21, 23
He who walks straight paths finds the salvation of God.
I do not reproach you about sacrifices :
your sacrificial animals I see burning all the time.
I will have no more bull from your houses
And rams from your sheepfold I do not ask.
But to the sinner the Lord says :
What do you always speak of my commandments
and have my covenant always on your tongue?
Thou that lovest discipline
and never heed My words.
Would I then be silent if you did such a thing?
Or do you think I am equal to you?
I accuse thee. I put everything before you.
He who offers sacrifices of praise, honours Me truly,
he that walketh aright findeth the salvation of God.
ALLELUIA Ps. 111(110), 8ab
Alleluia.
The work of the Lord is good and trustworthy,
all that He decrees stands immovable.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Mk. 2, 18-22
Can the friends of the bridegroom fast
as long as the bridegroom is with them ?
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark
When the disciples of John and the Pharisees
once held a day of fasting, they came to ask Jesus :
“Why do
the disciples of John and those of the Pharisees ,
but not your disciples ?”
Jesus spoke to them :
“Can then the friends of the bridegroom fast
as long as the bridegroom is with them ?
“As long as they have the bridegroom in their midst
they cannot fast.
“However, days will come
when the bridegroom is taken away from them and then ,
at that time, they will fast.
“No one sews a verstellap of unshrunk cloth
on an old garment.
“Otherwise the inserted piece will pull on it,
the new piece to the old,
and the tear will get even bigger.
“And no one puts young wine in old sacks ;
otherwise the wine makes the sacks burst
and the wine is lost with the sacks.
“Nay, young wine in new sacks.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On caring for the common home
167. Mention should be made of the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. There it was declared that “human beings are at the centre of the concern regarding sustainable development”. 1 Reiterating here and there the contents of the Stockholm Declaration (1972), it reaffirmed, among other things, international cooperation on care for the ecosystem of the whole earth, the obligation of those who pollute to burden themselves economically with it, the duty to consider the impact of any work or project on the environment. He has proposed a goal of stabilising atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations to reverse the tendency towards global warming. He also developed an agenda with a programme of action and a convention on biological diversity, principles declared on forests. While that summit was truly innovative and prophetic for its time, the agreements have had a low level of realisation because there are no adequate mechanisms of monitoring, periodic review and sanction for dereliction of duty in this regard. The proclaimed principles continue to call for effective expeditious avenues for and practical realisation.
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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