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
God needs people. He calls them into His service, but He uses different criteria than we do. For Him, outward show does not count: He looks at the heart. He called and anointed David and the Spirit came upon him. Jesus too will declare: ‘The Spirit of the Lord has come upon Me because He has anointed Me. He has sent Me’. In every Eucharist, God sends his Spirit on us so that we may be one, united to each other in love.
FIRST READING I Sam. 16, 1-13
Samuel anointed David in the midst of his brothers.
Since that day, the Spirit of the Lord was skilful over David.
From the first Book of Samuel
In those days the Lord spoke to Samuel :
“How long wilt thou grieve over Saul ,
when I have rejected him
and he shall no longer be king over Israel ?
“Fill a horn with oil :
I send thee to Isaï the Bethlehemite ,
for one of his sons
have I destined for kingship.”
But Samuel said :
“How can I do that?
“If Saul hears, he will kill me.”
The Lord replied :
“Thou takest a calf and saith
that thou comest to sacrifice to the Lord.
“Thou must invite Isaiah to the sacrifice
and I will then tell thee
what thou must do ;
the one I appoint thou must anoint.”
Samuel did as the Lord commanded.
When he arrived in Bethlehem,
the elders of the city
met him dismayed and asked :
“Surely your coming means nothing evil?”
He replied :
“Nothing but good.
” I have come to sacrifice to the Lord :
see to it that thou art holy
and then come with me to sacrifice.”
Samuel made sure
that Isaï and his sons sanctified themselves
and called them together for the sacrifice.
When they arrived, Samuel’s gaze fell on Eliab and he thought :
The one standing there before the Lord
is undoubtedly his anointed one !
But the Lord said to Samuel :
“Do not rely on his appearance
or his tall stature; him I do not want.
“For God does not see as a man sees ;
A man looks at the outward appearance ,
but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Then Isaï called Abinadab
and presented him to Samuel, but Samuel said :
“The Lord has not chosen him either.”
So Isaï presented seven of his sons to Samuel,
but Samuel said to Isaï :
“None of them has the Lord chosen.”
Thereupon he asked Isaï :
“Are these all your boys?”
He replied :
“Only the youngest is missing ; he is herding the sheep.”
Then Samuel said to Isaï :
“Then send for that one
for we will not go to table until he is here.”
So Isaï sent for him.
The boy was reddish, had beautiful eyes and a pleasant appearance.
Now the Lord said :
“Him thou must anoint :he is.”
So Samuel took the horn with oil
and anointed David in the midst of his brothers.
Since that day, the spirit of the Lord was skilful over David.
Then Samuel left and went to Ramah.
INTERLUDIUM Ps 89(88), 20, 21-22, 27-28
My servant David I have sought.
Once thou didst appear to thy prophet
And revealed Thou Thy decree :
A strong man have I given the throne,
a chosen one taken from among the people.
My servant David have I sought
and anointed him with my consecrated oil ;
as a sign that my hand will always support him
and that my arm will give him strength.
He shall call upon Me : thou art my Father,
my God, the rock of my salvation.
I will designate him as the firstborn,
as the highest of the kings of the earth.
ALLELUIA Ps. 119(118), 27
Alleluia.
Lead me in the way of your commands, Lord,
then I will be mindful of your deeds.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Mk 2, 23-28
The Sabbath was made for the sake of man but not man for the Sabbath.
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark
Once Jesus went through the cornfields on a Sabbath
and His disciples, while going, began to pick ears of wheat.
The Pharisees said to Him :
“Why are they doing something on the Sabbath that is not lawful?”
He answered them in reply :
“Hast thou never read what David did, when he was in want
and he and his companions went hungry ?
“How he under the high priest Abjatar
went into the house of God
and ate of the showbread, which only the priests are allowed to eat,
and how he also gave of it to his companions?”
And He added :
“The Sabbath was made for the sake of man
but not man for the sake of the Sabbath.
So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclic by
POPE FRANCIS
On caring for the common home
168. Among the positive experiences can be mentioned, for example, the Basel Convention on hazardous waste with a system of disclosure, established levels and controls, as well as the mandatory convention on international trade in wild animal and plant species in danger of extinction, which provides for the sending of delegations to monitor effective implementation. Thanks to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and its implementation by the Montreal Protocol and its amendments, the problem of its thinning seems to have entered the stage of a solution.
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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