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
Listen today to the voice of the Lord and do not be obstinate. This is how the refrain of the answer psalm sounds. That psalm refers first and foremost to the desert and to the unwillingness of the people. This theme not only characterises the desert journey, but is repeatedly echoed by the prophets like today’s Jeremiah: ‘They remain obstinate in anger.’ Repeatedly, Jesus echoes this reproach. People do not listen, they do not see the signs, they are not open. The liturgical ‘present’ also addresses this question to us. Am I open to the inspirations of God’s Spirit ?
FIRST READING Jer. 7, 23-28
This is a people who will not listen to the Lord their God.
From the Prophet Jeremiah
Thus speaks the Lord :
“This alone have I commanded them :
Listen to Me, and I will be your God
And ye shall be My people.
“Follow the way that I show you ,
then it will go well for you.
“But they did not listen or obey Me.
“They remained stubborn in anger.
“More and more they turned away from Me.
“Since the exodus of your forefathers from Egypt,
until this day,
I have sent you My servants the prophets, again and again.
“But they have not listened to Me
And did not obey Me.
“They remained stubborn, more so than their forefathers.
Call out to them, they will not answer.
“Then you must say to them :
Here now is the people
that will not listen to the Lord its God,
that will not allow itself to be taught.
“Gone is the sincerity,
it no longer passes their lips.”
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 95(94), 1-2, 6-7, 8-9
Listen today to the voice of the Lord
And be not obstinate.
Come, let us greet the Lord with jubilation,
we hail the Rock of our salvation.
Let us appear before Him with a song of praise,
Honour Him with songs.
Come, let us fall to the earth adoringly,
kneel down before Him who created us.
He is our God and we are His people,
He is the shepherd and we his flock.
So listen to his voice this day :
be not obstinate as once in Meriba,
as at Mass in the desert;
where your fathers wanted to defy Me
Though they had seen my deeds.
VERS FOR THE GOSPEL Mt 4, 17
Repent, says the Lord,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
GOSPEL Lk 11:14-23
He who is not with Me is against Me.
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke
Once Jesus drove out a devil who was mute.
As soon as the devil had gone out, the mute could speak again.
The people were amazed.
But some of them said :
“By Beelzebub, the prince of devils He cast out devils.”
Others – to put Him to the test –
desired from Him a sign from heaven.
But He knew their thoughts and spoke to them :
“Every kingdom that is inwardly divided decays into a wasteland ;
one house falls upon another.
“If now Satan too is at odds with himself ,
how can his kingdom stand?
“For you say that through Beelzebub I cast out devils.
“If through Beelzebub I cast out devils ,
by whom do your sons cast them out?
“Therefore they shall be your judges.
“But if by the finger of God I cast out devils ,
then indeed the kingdom of God has come to you.
When a strong man, well-armed, guards his house and yard,
his property is safe.
“However, if someone stronger than him comes and overcomes him ,
then this one robs his full equipment,
on which he put his trust,
and divides what he possesses as booty.
“Whoever is not with Me is against Me,
and whoever does not gather with Me, he scatters.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclic by
POPE FRANCIS
On caring for the common home
219. However, it is not enough for each to improve himself to face a situation as complex as the one facing the present world. Individuals individually may lose the ability and freedom to follow the logic of instrumental reason and end up succumbing to a consumerism without ethics and without meaning for society and the environment. Social problems must be answered with communication networks, not with the sheer sum of individual good deeds: “The demands of this work will be so immense that the possibilities of personal initiatives and the cooperation of individualistically formed individuals will not be able to meet them. A joining of forces and a unity of contributions will be necessary”. 4 An ecological conversion required to create a momentum of sustainable change is also a communal change.
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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