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
In Christ, we belong to one another. When Christians are divided among themselves, the message of the even is not well heard. How could we respond to the new challenges in our society, especially those of secularisation and intercultural understanding, if we do not pool the gifts the Holy Spirit entrusted to each of the Christian traditions? How can we pass on to everyone the peace of Christ and be divided ourselves? Let us stop losing so much energy to the antagonisms between Christians, sometimes even within our own denomination! Let us find each other again more often by being together in the presence of God, in listening to the Word, in silence and praise.
(Brother Alois of Taizé, Call for reconciliation among Christians)
FIRST READING I Sam. 18, 6-9 ;19, 1-7
My father Saul wants to kill you.
From the first Book of Samuel
When David in those days
returned from his victory over the Philistine ,
the women from all the cities of Israel marched in
met King Saul singing and dancing,
with tambourines, songs of joy and triangles.
The dancing women raised a chant in turn and sang :
“By thousands Saul struck them down ,
but David by tens of thousands!”
Saul was greatly displeased
and was vehemently annoyed by those words ; he said :
“To David they give ten thousands, to me thousands ;
only kingship is missing to him !”
From then on Saul looked at David with envy !”
He informed his son Jonatan and all his courtiers
that he wanted to kill David.
Thereupon Jonatan informed
to David, whom he was particularly fond of :
“My father Saul wants to kill you.
“Be on your guard tomorrow morning ;
Find a hiding place and keep yourself hidden.
“I will then go out of the city
and come and stand near you with my father.
“Then I will speak to my father about you
and what I am told I will let you know.”
So Jonatan pleaded for David with his father Saul
and said to him :
“Do not let the king offend his servant David.
“He has done nothing against you,” he said.
“On the contrary, what he has done
has been very beneficial to you.
“He has put his life on the line ;
he has defeated the Philistines
and the Lord has given Israel a great victory.
“Thou hast seen it and rejoiced over it.
“Why then should ye transgress
innocent blood and kill David for no reason?”
Saul listened to Jonatan and swore :
“As the Lord lives, David will not be killed!”
Then Jonatan called David
and told him everything that had been said.
He brought David to Saul
and David served Saul again as before.
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 56(55), 2-3, 9-10, 11, 12-13
In the Lord I trust without fear.
Be merciful, God, as people trample on me,
ever assailing and harming me.
My combatants torment me continually,
attack me with might and main.
All my vagabond life You know,
all my tears You have collected in Your jar.
But my enemy yields when I call on Thee,
yes, I know, God will not leave me!
On the Lord and His promise,
in the Lord I trust without fear;
how then would any man harm me?
What I have promised Thee, God, I will fulfil,
Thee I bring the sacrifice of my praise.
For through Thee I have escaped death,
Thee preserve my feet from falling.
Thereby I can go forth before the Face of God
In the light that illuminates all the living.
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. 3, 7-12
The unclean spirits cried out : Thou art the son of God.
But He expressly forbade them to make Him known.
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark
At that time Jesus set out with his disciples
towards the lake,
but a large crowd of people from Galilee went after Him.
Many also came from Judea, Jerusalem, and Idumea,
from the Overjordan
and from the region around Tyre and Sidon came to Him,
because they heard all that He was doing.
He instructed His disciples
to ensure that a boat was at hand for Him,
as a precaution against the crowds pressing in.
For He had already healed many,
with the result that all those suffering from ailments
urged on Him to touch Him.
Even the unclean spirits fell
when they saw Him,
before Him and shouted :
“Thou art the Son of God.”
But He expressly forbade them from making Him known.
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Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
170. Some of the strategies for low emissions of polluting gases focus on the internationalisation of environmental costs, with the risk of imposing onerous obligations, equal to those of the most industrialised countries, on countries with fewer resources. The imposition of these measures penalises the countries most in need of development. In this way, a new injustice is added under the guise of caring for the environment. In this case, too, one goes from the rain into the drizzle. Since the effects of climate change will be felt for a long time, even if rigorous measures were taken now, some countries with scarce resources will need help to adapt to the effects that are already becoming visible and affecting their economies. It remains certain that there are common but differentiated responsibilities, simply because, as the bishops of Bolivia have said, “those countries that have benefited from a high level of industrialisation at the expense of huge greenhouse gas emissions have a greater responsibility to contribute to the solution of the problems they have caused.”
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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