Born as Karol Jozef Wojtyla on 18 May 1920
Elected pope on 16/10/78
Canonised on 27/04/2014 by Pope Francis
Invitation
May I draw your attention to
the daily Gospel reading?
This invitation wants to share with you 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
The entire letter to the Ephesians is addressed to Gentile Christians, but today is particularly striking. Like yesterday, there is a contrast between the past and the present, between ‘then’ and ‘now’. The message is addressed to those who were ‘far away’ and are now united with those who were ‘near’. They had been shut out, but now the wall of separation is gone. The last two sentences express this festively in the image of the unique building of which Jesus himself is the keystone.
FIRST READING Ephesians 2:12-22
Christ is our Peace, He who made the two worlds one.
From the holy apostle Paul’s letter to the Christians in
Ephesus
Brothers and sisters,
Remember that at that time you were separated from Christ,
excluded from the fellowship of Israel,
ignorant of the promises of salvation,
without hope and without God in the world.
But now you, who were once far away, have been brought nearer in Christ Jesus
in Christ Jesus you have been brought nearer
through the blood of Christ.
For He is our Peace,
He who has made the two worlds one,
and has broken down the dividing wall
by destroying the enmity in His flesh,
namely the law of commandments with its ordinances.
He has made peace
by creating in his person out of the two one new Man,
and reconciling them both to God in one body
through the cross, in which He killed the enmity.
He came
and proclaimed peace to those of you who were far away
and peace to those who were near.
For in Him we both, in one Spirit, have access to the Father.
we have access to the Father.
So you are no longer strangers and displaced persons
but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
while the keystone is Christ Jesus Himself,
who holds the whole building in place.
In Him it grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
In Him you too are built into a dwelling place of God
To a dwelling place of God,
in the Spirit.
INTERLUDIUM Ps 85(84), 9ab-10, 11-12, 13-14
I will listen to what God says to me
a word of reconciliation.
I will hear what God says to me,
a word of reconciliation.
A word for his people, for all who serve him,
for all who open their hearts to him.
His salvation is near for those who fear him,
His glory comes to dwell with us again.
When faithfulness and mercy meet, when peace and justice embrace each other
If peace and justice embrace each other;
then faithfulness will spring from the earth
and justice will look down from heaven.
Then the Lord will give us his blessing
and our land will bring forth rich fruit.
Then through Him justice will advance
and prosperity will follow in His footsteps.
HALLELUJAH II Cor. 5:19
Alleluia.
It was God who in Christ
reconciled the world to Himself
and gave us the message of reconciliation.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Lk 12:35-38
Blessed are the servants
whom the Lord will find watching at his coming.
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St Luke
At that moment, Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Have your loins girded and your lamps burning.
Conduct yourselves as people
who await the return of your Lord
Who is going to the wedding feast
That when He comes and knocks, they may immediately open to Him.
Blessed are the servants
whom the Lord will find awaiting His coming.
Truly, I say to you
He will gird Himself
and He will invite them to the table
and He will pass them by to serve.
Though he comes in the second or in the third watch of the night,
happy are the servants he thus meets’.
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Fratelli tutti
Encyclical of
POPE FRANCISCUS
On brotherhood and social friendship
74. In those who pass away, there is a particularity that we must not overlook:
they were religious people. Indeed, they were devoted to the worship of God : a priest and a Levite. This deserves special attention: it indicates that being a believer in God and worshipping Him
does not guarantee that one will live as it pleases God.
A person who believes cannot be faithful to all that
his faith demands , and yet he or she can feel
close to God and consider themselves more worthy than others.
Conversely, there are ways of
faith that promote openness of heart to brothers and sisters
and that foster an authentic openness to God. Saint John
Chrysostom knew how to respond to this challenge
to Christians, expressed with great clarity, to say: ‘Do you really want to worship the body of Christ? Despise
then, if he is naked. Worship him not in the temple with silk robes,
while outside he suffers cold and nakedness.
The paradox is that those who say they do not believe sometimes experience
God’s will better than believers.
Continued
Every day at 1 am
The Bible text of this issue is taken from The New Translation of the Bible,
The New Bible Translation, ©Dutch Bible Society 2004/2007.
Reflections on liturgical suggestions for weekdays and Sundays
Fratelli tutti Official English translation