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 at 7 a.m.
Introduction
In both the first reading and the gospel
we are introduced to a generous widow.
Even though they have almost nothing left for themselves,
yet they give away the little they own.
By doing so, they bear witness to God.
He also does not tire of giving himself away
and spreading his love generously.
Let us be apprenticed to small and simple people,
who bring us to the heart of the Gospel
and let us also become more and more aware
of God’s boundless love for us.
FIRST READING 1Kon. 17, 10-16
Out of a handful of flour, the widow made a loaf and brought it to Elijah.
From the first book of Kings
In those days the prophet Elijah rose up
and left for Sarefat.
When he came to the city gate ,
a widow was there gathering wood.
He called out to her:
‘Be so good and fetch for me in your jug a little water;
I would like to drink some.’
When she went to fetch it, he called after her:
‘Be so good and bring a piece of bread too.’
She replied:
‘So where the Lord your God lives, I have no more bread;
only a handful of flour left in the pot
and a little oil in the jar.
‘I will now gather some wood and go home shortly
to prepare food for me and my son for the last time;
after that, death awaits us.’
Elijah replied:
‘Fear not,|
go home and do as you intend
but make from the flour and oil
bread for me first and bring it to me;
for yourself and your son you can take care of afterwards.
‘For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel:
The jar of flour does not run out
and the jar of oil does not run out
until the Lord makes it rain again.’
Then she went, did as Elijah had said
and day by day they had food, he, she and her family.
The jar of flour did not empty and the jug of oil did not run out
according to the word the Lord had spoken through Elijah.
RESPONSORIAL Ps. 146(145), 7, 8-9ab, 9cd-10
Refrain
Praise now, my soul, the Lord.
The Lord always keeps His word,
He provides justice for the oppressed.
The Lord gives bread to the hungry,
He sets the captives free.
The eyes of the blind the Lord opens,
He raises up the brokenhearted.
The Lord loves the righteous,
the Lord preserves the uprooted.
The Lord gives support to orphans and widows,
but sinners he lets get lost.
The Lord is king for ever,
your God, Zion, reigns over all generations.
Second Reading Heb 9:24-28
Christ was sacrificed once to cleanse the sins of many.
From the letter to the Hebrews
Brothers and sisters,
Christ did not enter the sanctuary that was
– made by human hands –
is only a symbol of the true sanctuary;
He entered heaven itself
to be present there now with God for our sake.
Nor does He have to sacrifice Himself there again and again,
whereas the high priest, year after year
enters the Most Holy Place with blood that is not His own.
Otherwise, Christ would have had to suffer several times
from the beginning of the world;
but in fact He appeared only once,
at the climax of history
to absolve sins by His sacrifice.
It is man’s fate to die once
and after that comes judgement;
so too Christ was sacrificed once
because He had taken the sins of all upon Himself;
when He appears a second time it will be
free from sin,
to bring salvation to all who look forward to Him.
Verse for the gospel Mt.5,3
Alleluia.
Blessed are the poor in spirit
For to them belongs the kingdom of heaven.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Mk. 12,38-44
This poor widow sacrificed the most.
From the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Mark
At that time, Jesus also gave this warning when teaching :
‘Beware of the scribes ,
who like to walk around in long robes,
who are greeted in the marketplace,
who lust after the chief seats in the synagogues
and the places of honour at meals,
but who gobble up the homes of widows
while performing long prayers for appearances ;
a stricter sentence will be passed on these people.’
He sat down opposite the sacrificial box
and watched as the people threw copper pieces into it
while many a rich person dropped many into it.
There also came a poor widow
who threw in two pennies, worth a penny.
He now called his disciples to him and spoke :
‘Verily, I say unto you :
that poor widow has sacrificed the most
Of all those who threw something into the offering box ;
they all put in something of their abundance
but she offered from her poverty all that she possessed,
everything she had to live on.’
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Fratelli tutti
Encyclical of
POPE FRANCISCUS
On brotherhood and social friendship
93. When Saint Thomas Aquinas tried to specify what the
experience of loving, which God with his grace makes possible
he explained it as a movement that draws attention to the
other ‘and in doing so regards it as united with itself’.
The affective attention one gives the other causes a focus on a
disinterested search for his well-being. All this assumes an esteem,
an appreciation, which ultimately lies behind the word ‘charity’:
being loved is ‘dear’ to me, i.e. I hold her
of great value. And ‘from the love by which a given person
is dear to someone, comes the good that one bestows on him’.
To be continued
Every day at 1 am
The Bible text in this edition is taken from The New Bible Translation,
©Dutch Bible Society 2004/2007.
Considerations from Liturgical suggestions for weekdays and Sundays
Fratelli tutti Official English translation
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