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
For everything that happened to Jesus, during his life across the cross to glory with God, there is only one single ground: God’s incomprehensible, immeasurable, measureless love. A world alienated from God can never close the gap from within itself: the initiative comes from God. It is in Jesus that God went to extremes to save man. That gives man a certain responsibility, which he can freely take up or refuse: he is for or he is against Jesus, he believes or he does not believe. He can make choices, for better or for worse. And even those who do not know Jesus and do good are, in a sense, living in God.
FIRST READING Acts 4, 32-37
One in heart and one in soul
From the Acts of the Apostles
The crowd that had accepted the faith
were one in heart and one in soul
and there was no one who called any of his possessions
called his property;
on the contrary, they owned everything in common.
With strength and insistence, the apostles bore witness
of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus
and rich grace rested on them all.
There was not a single needy among them,
because all who owned lands or houses sold them
and brought the proceeds
to lay at the apostles’ feet.
To each was distributed of it according to his need.
Thus Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus,
who had been nicknamed Barnabas by the apostles,
– which means: Son of consolation –
a field which he sold
and from which he brought the money
to lay it at the apostles’ feet.
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 93 (92), 1ab, 1c-2.5
The Lord is king, clothed with glory.
Alleluia
The Lord is king, clothed with splendour,
with power the Lord has girded himself.
As firm as the earth, unshakable,
so firm is thy throne through the ages,
from everlasting, God, art Thou!
Reliable is all that Thou dost testify,
thy house be holy forever.
ALLELUIA Rom. 6, 9
Alleluia.
Christ, once risen from the dead
dies no more;
death has no more power over Him.
Alleluia
GOSPEL John 3:7-15
Never has anyone ascended to heaven except He who
descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
From the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John
At that time Jesus said to Nicodemus:
“Verily, verily, I say unto thee:
Thou must be born again.
“The wind blows where it will:
Thou hearest its hissing
but knoweth not whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth;
so it is with every one that is born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus answered Him:
“How can this come about?”
Thereupon Jesus said again:
“Thou art a teacher of Israel, and knowest not even this?
“Verily, verily, I say unto thee:
We speak of what We know ,
and We testify of what We have seen
but Our testimony ye accept not.
When ye believe not even when I speak to you of things already known on earth ,
how then will you believe
when I speak to thee of things still hidden in heaven?
“Never has anyone ascended to heaven ,
except He who descended from heaven,
the Son of Man.
“And this Son of Man must be lifted up ,
as Moses once lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
so that everyone who believes
in Him shall have eternal life.”
____________________________________________________________________________________
APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION LAUDATE DEUM
FROM THE HOLY FATHER
POPE FRANCISCUS
TO ALL PEOPLE
OF GOOD WILL
2. Eight years have passed since I published the encyclical Laudato Si’, when I wanted to share with all of you, my brothers and sisters of our suffering planet, my sincere concern for the preservation of our common home. But with the passage of time, I have realised that our responses have not been adequate, while the world we live in is collapsing and perhaps approaching breaking point. On top of this, there is no doubt that the effects of climate change will increasingly damage the lives of many people and families. We will feel its effects in terms of healthcare, sources of employment, access to resources, housing, forced migration, etc.
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 Deum Official English translation
_____________________________________________________________________________