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
Opening word
Slowly, summer is returning.
The seeds that were planted earlier ,
are now growing in abundance.
We only notice after a while
what has quietly grown.
The same is true of the seeds
that God plants in people’s hearts.
In this celebration, let us pray
for patience with ourselves and with each other.
Let us also pray for trust
in the germination of the seed.
FIRST READING Ez. 17, 22-24
I will lift up a humble twig.
From the prophet Ezekiel
This is what the Lord God says:
‘I will myself from the top of the tall cedar
take a twig and put it in the ground;
from the topmost of the young branches
I will pluck a twig
and I Myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain ,
on the mountains of Israel’s highland I will plant it.
‘It will bear branches,
form fruit and become a beautiful cedar.
‘Under it all birds of all kinds of plumage will nest;
in the shade of its branches they will nest.
‘And all the trees of the open field will acknowledge
that I, the Lord, have withered a succulent tree
and made a barren tree to blossom;
I, the Lord, have said it and I will do it.’
RESPONSORIAL Ps. 92(91), 2-3, 13-14, 15-16
Refrain
How glorious it is to praise the Lord.
How glorious it is to praise the Lord,
To praise Your Name, Most High.
To report Your goodness every morning
And all through the night Your faithfulness.
The pious shoot up like palm trees,
thriving like cedars of Lebanon;
They are planted at the house of the Lord,
they blossom in God’s court.
Even when they are already old they bear fruit,
they remain succulent and fresh.
They point out how righteous the Lord is,
my Rock, in Him there is no injustice.
SECOND READING 2 Cor. 5, 6-10
Our only honour is, whether at home or abroad, to please the Lord.
From the holy apostle Paul’s second letter to the Christians of Corinth
Brothers and sisters,
We always keep good cheer.
We are aware that we,
while we are at home in the body,
are far from the Lord.
We live in faith, we do not see Him.
But we keep courage
and would rather move out of the body
to take up our abode with the Lord.
Therefore, our only glory is,
whether at home or abroad,
to please Him.
For all must appear before Christ’s judgment seat,
that each may receive the reward
for what he has done in this life,
good or evil.
Verse for the gospel
Alleluia.
The seed is the word of God
and Christ is the Sower.
All who find Him,
live forever.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Mk. 4, 26-34
It is the tiniest seed and it grows bigger than all the garden crops.
From the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Mark
At that time, Jesus said to the crowd:
‘It goes with the kingdom of God
as with a man who sows his land;
he sleeps and rises, night and day,
and meanwhile the seed germinates and sprouts,
but he does not know how.
‘By its own power the earth brings forth fruit,
first the green culm, then the ear,
then the mature grain in the ear.
‘As soon as the fruit allows, he strikes the sickle into it,
for it is time for the harvest.’
And further:
‘What comparison can we find for the Kingdom of God
and in what parable shall we represent it?
‘It resembles a mustard seed.
‘When that is sown in the ground,
it may be the tiniest seed on earth;
but once sown, it sprouts up
and it grows bigger than all garden crops,
and it gets big branches
so that the birds can nest in its shade.’
In many such parables, He proclaimed His teachings to them
in the way they could understand.
Other than in parables, He did not speak to them ,
but once with His disciples alone
He gave explanations of everything.
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APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION LAUDATE DEUM
OF THE HOLY FATHER
POPE FRANCISCUS
TO ALL PEOPLE
OF GOOD WILL
71. Attempts by households to reduce pollution and waste and to consume with wise
consuming, are creating a new culture. The mere fact that personal, family and
community habits are changing, contributes to greater concern about the
lack of responsibility among political sectors and to indignation about
the lack of interest of those in power. So let us
realise that even if from a quantitative point of view this does not have an immediate and remarkable
effect, we do help bring about major transformational processes that emerge deep from the
society are emerging.
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
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