Invitation
May I draw your attention to
the daily reading of the Gospel
The purpose of this invitation is to share the joy of the Gospel with you.
Everyone, without exception
can experience this joy by opening his or her heart
to the healing effect of God’s word.
Available every day.
CONSIDERATION
A touching gesture: Hezekiah going up the mountain and presenting the letter to God. We can almost hear him say: here, Lord, now read what ultimatum they are giving me…. It is a gesture of all times: people open up to God, people express their fears and worries. When a people, when someone puts their hope in God, miraculous things can happen. History teaches us that Jerusalem will be saved by the arrival of an Egyptian army and the outbreak of the plague. It was read by Israel as a sign from heaven. It also happens that the most faithful and persistent prayer is not answered. That leaves faith in its purest form, which is putting your life in God’s hands and expecting nothing in return.
FIRST READING 2 Kings 19, 9b-11.14-21. 31-35a. 36
I take this city under my care to save it ,
for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.
From the second book of Kings
In those days
Sanherib of Assur again sent envoys to Hezekiah
with the message:
“This you must say to Hezekiah, king of Judah:
Do not be deceived by your God, in whom you trust ,
and do not think that Jerusalem
will escape from the hand of the king of Assyria.
“Certainly, you yourselves have heard
what the kings of Assur have done to all the nations ,
which they have struck with the spell?
Do you want to save yourselves?”
Hezekiah took the envoys’ message and read it.
Then he went to the temple
and laid the letter open before the Lord.
And before the Lord there, Hezekiah uttered the following prayer :
“Lord, God of Israel, You enthroned above the cherubim,
You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth,
You who made heaven and earth.
“Lord, incline your ear and listen;
Lord, open your eyes and see:
Hear with what words Sanherib
May the living God be honoured.
“Surely, Lord,
the kings of Assyria
have destroyed the peoples and their lands
And cast their gods into the fire:
They were not gods
but only human hands, wood and stone;
Therefore they were able to destroy them.
“But You, O Lord our God, deliver us from their clutches ,
That all the kingdoms of the earth may acknowledge
that You alone, O Lord, are God”.
Then Isaiah, the son of Amos, made Hezekiah say:
“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel:
I have heard the prayer that you have addressed to me
because of Sanherib, king of Assur.
“This is the word the Lord has spoken to him:
He despises you, he mocks you,
the virgin, the daughter of Zion ;
he shakes his head against your back
daughter of Jerusalem.
“For out of Jerusalem comes forth a remnant ,
out of Mount Zion comes forth the remnant.
The jealous love of the Lord will work this out.
“Therefore the Lord speaks of the king of Assur:
He shall not enter this city
no arrow shall shoot against it
no shield shall he pursue,
no bulwark will he raise against it.
“He shall return by the way by which he came ,
and this city he shall not enter.
“Thus says the oracle of the Lord:
I take this city under My care to save it,
For My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.
That night the angel of the Lord went out
and killed in the camp of the king of Assyria
one hundred and eighty-five thousand men.
Sanherib, the king of Assur, detached himself,
returned to his own land and remained in Nineveh.
INTERLUDIUM Ps 48(47), 2, 3-4, 10-11
The city of the Lord,
God upholds it for ever.
Great is the Lord, praise be to him
in Jerusalem, the city of our God.
His holy mountain stands there radiant
a joy to all on earth.
To us Zion is the Mount of the Gods,
the city of the great King.
God himself, who dwells in his fortresses,
shows himself a sure fortress.
We celebrate your goodness, God,
here within the walls of your temple.
As far as your name reaches, so far does your glory reach
To the ends of the earth.
Beneficial is all that comes from your hand.
HALLELUYA Ps. 130(129), 5
Alleluia.
In the Lord I put my hope,
On his word I trust.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Mt 7, 6. 12-14
Whatever you want men to do for you, do for them.
do that also for them.
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Matthew
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not give what is holy to the dogs
And do not cast your pearls before swine
lest they trample them under their feet,
lest they turn around and tear you to pieces.
“What ye would that men should do for you, do so also for them.
Do that also for them.
“That is the Law and the Prophets.
“Enter in through the narrow gate;
for wide and broad is the way that leads to destruction.
And there are many who enter through it.
“But how narrow is the gate
and how narrow is the way
that leads to life ,
and there are few who find it.
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Continued
Every day at 1am
The Bible text in this issue is taken from the New Bible Translation,
© Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap 2004/2007.
Reflections on liturgical suggestions for weekdays and Sundays
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