Invitation
May I draw your attention to
The daily reading of the Gospel
This invitation seeks to convey the joy
of the Gospel. Everyone, without exception
can experience that joy by opening his or her heart
to the healing power of the Word of God.
Available every day
Consideration
Both Jeremiah and John the Baptist had to be put out of the way. It would be no different with Jesus. Following Him, talking about Him, almost always leads to opposition, violence and persecution in many forms. As Christians, we don’t look for all that, it just happens. Where do we find the strength to endure it? Isn’t our greatest strength our deep connection with Jesus and with all who have gone his way? We find that connection in his presence, in prayer.
FIRST READING Jer. 26:11-16. 24
By the Lord’s command I proclaim all this.
From the prophet Jeremiah
In those days the priests and the prophets said
To the nobles and to all present :
‘This man Jeremiah is guilty of death.
‘He has prophesied against this city;
You yourselves have heard it.
But Jeremiah said to the nobles and to all present :
‘All the threats against this temple and against this city that you have heard
which you have heard,
I have spoken them at the command of the Lord.
‘So change your lives, listen to the Lord your God.
‘Perhaps then He will repent of the calamity with which He has threatened you.
With which He has threatened you.
‘With me, of course, you can do whatever you want:
I am in your power.
‘But if you kill me, you should know
that you are bringing innocent blood upon yourselves
on this city and its inhabitants,
for it is at the command of the Lord
that I proclaim all this.
Then the nobles and all those present said
to the priests and the prophets:
‘This man is not guilty of death.
‘He has spoken to us in the name of the Lord’.
It was mainly because of Achikam, the son of Shaphan, that Jeremiah did not fall.
That Jeremiah did not fall into the hands of the rabble
who wanted to kill him.
INTERLUDIUM Ps 69(68), 15-16, 30-31, 33-34
My prayer, O Lord, I pray to you,
now is the time of mercy.
Save me from the mire in which I am sinking.
Deliver me from those who hate me.
Grant that I do not drown in the depths,
That I am not swept away by the current.
Grant that the abyss does not devour me,
That the mouth of the abyss does not close over me.
I bow under my sorrow;
God, may your help protect me.
The name of God I will praise in my song
Praising Him gratefully everywhere.
Behold, ye ranks, and rejoice,
take courage, all who seek God.
God hears what a poor person asks of Him,
He does not forget His prisoners.
ALLELUYA Ps. 130(129), 5
Alleluia.
In the Lord I put my hope,
On his word I trust.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Mt 14, 1-12
Herod had John beheaded.
His disciples went and told this to Jesus.
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Matthew
In those days the fame of Jesus began
was getting through even to Herod the prince,
and so he said to his courtiers:
“That must be John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead.
Hence these miraculous powers work in him’.
Because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip,
Herod had John arrested
and put him handcuffed in prison,
because John had said to him:
It is not lawful for you to take her as your wife.
So Herod had actually wanted to kill him ,
but he was afraid to do it
because the people mistook John for a prophet.
But when the daughter of Herodias danced before the company on Herod’s birthday.
danced for the company on Herod’s birthday,
she pleased him so well that he swore an oath to give her everything she asked for.
To give him everything he asked for.
Her mother had given him the answer
and she said:
“Give me, still here, on a platter
the head of John the Baptist.
Although this was close to the king’s heart, he wanted it,
for the sake of his tablemates, he wanted to keep his oath
and ordered it to be given to him.
Therefore, he ordered
John to be beheaded in prison.
His head was placed on a platter
and given to the girl, who took it to her mother.
His disciples came and took the body and buried it;
Then they went to Jesus to report.
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Continued
Every morning at 1 am
The Bible text of this edition is from the New Bible Translation,
© Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap 2004/2007.
Reflections on liturgical suggestions for weekdays and Sundays
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