Cyril was a monk and patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444.
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
God is not somewhere in the clouds. He is there where work awaits us. There where courage is required of us to undertake, to engage, to put the Gospel into practice. Is that not the essence of the Lord’s coming to earth: the Word made man ? ‘doing’ the Word, ‘giving hands and feet’ to the Word: that is the best description we can give of our Saviour. In my personal walk of life, do I transform God’s Word into a concrete gesture, into a service task ? Does my prayer change the course of my day ?
FIRST READING 2 Kings 24, 8-17
The king of Babylon led Jehoiakin and all the brave men into exile in Babylon.
From the second Book of Kings
Jehoiakin was eighteen years old when he became king
and he reigned three years in Jerusalem.
His mother’s name was Nechusta
and was a daughter of Elnatan, from Jerusalem.
He did what the Lord disliked,
just as his father had done.
At that time, the campaigners of Nebuchadnezzar,
king of Babylon,
went to Jerusalem
and laid siege to the city.
During the siege
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, himself appeared before the city.
Then King Jehoiakin of Judah with his mother,
his courtiers, his high officials and chamberlains
surrendered to the king of Babylon.
And the latter took him captive.
It was in the eighth year of his reign.
Nebuchadnezzar dragged all the treasures of the temple of the Lord
and of the royal palace out of Jerusalem
and removed the gold from all the objects
which King Solomon of Israel
had made in the temple of the Lord,
just as the Lord had foretold.
From Jerusalem he carried out all the high officials and all the warriors,
a convoy of ten thousand men,
with all the smiths and locksmiths, away into exile;
no one remained but the poorest of the land.
He led Jehoiakin to Babylon ;
also the king’s mother,
his wives, his chamberlains and the chiefest of the country
he carried from Jerusalem to Babylon.
Seventeen thousand warriors, a thousand smiths and locksmiths ,
all brave men involved in the war,
were carried off into exile by the king of Babylon.
Then the king of Babylon appointed
Mattaniah, who was an uncle of Jehoiakin,
as king in his place
and changed his name to Sidkiah.
Interludium Ps. 79(78), 1-2, 3-5, 8, 9
God of our salvation, for your Name’s sake, deliver us.
God, pagans have been forced into your inheritance,
they have desecrated your holy temple
and made a mess of your city.
Your servants they have killed,
their corpses lie as carrion for the birds,
the wild animals eat their flesh.
Like water their blood flowed from the walls
and no one was there to bury them.
We arouse the mockery of our neighbours,
those around us smirking at us.
How long, Lord, wilt Thou remain eternally wroth
and let Thou burn Thy wrath like fire ?
Let us not atone for past sins,
meet us with Thy mercy,
for we are but weak men.
Ah, help us, God of our salvation, for thy Name’s sake,
deliver us, forgive our sins.
ALLELUIA cf. Acts 16, 14b
Alleluia.
Make our hearts receptive, Lord,
and that we turn to the word of your Son.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Mt 7, 21-29
One house was built on rocky ground, the other on sand.
From the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Matthew
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples :
“Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord!
shall enter the kingdom of heaven ,
but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.
“Many will say to Me on that day:
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your Name
and have we not cast out devils in your Name
and done many miracles in Your Name?
“But then I will declare to them unequivocally:
Never have I known thee;
depart from Me,
ye that do iniquity!
“Now every one who hears these words of Mine and acts on them ,
may be compared
to a wise man
who built his house on rocky ground.
“The rain fell down, the mountain streams came down ,
the storm rose and they poured on that house,
but it did not fall in, for it was founded on the rock.
“But every one who hears these words of Mine
yet does not act upon them,
may be compared to a fool
who built his house on the sand.
“The rain fell down, the mountain streams came down,
the storm came up and they pounded that house,
so that it was completely destroyed.”
When Jesus had finished this speech
the people were beside themselves with amazement at His teaching.
For He was not teaching like their Scribes,
but as one in authority.
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To be continued
Every morning at 7am
This edition’s Bible text is from the New Translation of the Bible,
The Bible text of this edition is from the New Bible Translation, © Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap 2004/2007.
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