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
In the fourth chapter of the book of Revelation, we clearly enter the Apocalyptic. This is a vision of God’s glory itself, from whence all further revelations of this book must occur. God Himself is unapproachable and ineffable. The author does not even attempt to describe Him except in a visionary impression with much trepidation. The rest are inadequate images. The reminiscence of Isaiah’s calling vision is unmistakable. The ‘holy, holy, holy, we repeat every day in the Eucharistic prayer.
FIRST READING Apok. 4, 1-11
Holy, Lord, God, Omnipotent,
who was and who is and who is to come.
From the Revelation of the holy apostle John
I, John, had the following vision :
I saw a door in heaven standing open
And the voice, loud as a trumpet,
which I had heard speaking to me before called out :
‘Come up here ,
then I will show you what is to happen hereafter.’
Immediately, I became enraptured.
And behold :
There was a throne in heaven
and on the throne was Someone seated.
And He who sat on it
was of appearance like jasper stone and carnelian.
And around the throne was a rainbow, bright as emerald.
Twenty-four thrones surrounded the throne
And on those thrones were seated twenty-four elders,
dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads.
From the throne went forth rays of lightning
And thunderous thunders.
And seven fiery torches were burning before the throne ;
these are the seven spirits of God.
And before the throne was like a sea of glass, like crystal.
And around the throne were four beasts ,
studded with eyes before and behind.
And the first animal resembled a lion,
and the second looked like a young bull,
and the third animal had a face like a man’s,
and the fourth animal resembled an eagle in its flight.
And the four animals each had six wings ;
Around and within they were set with eyes.
And they cried without resting day and night :
‘Holy, holy, holy,
Lord, God, Omnipotent,
who was and who is and who is to come.’
And whenever the animals bring glory, honour and thanks
to Him who is seated on the throne,
and who lives through the ages of ages,
the twenty-four elders fall down
before Him who is seated on the throne,
to worship Him who lives for ever and ever.
And they cast down their crowns before the throne, saying :
‘Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God
to receive glory and honour and power ;
For Thou hast created the universe :
By Thy will it arose and was created.’
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 150, 1-2, 3-4, 5-6
Holy, holy, holy,
Lord, God, Omnipotent (Apoc. 4, 8b)
Or : Alleluia.
Praise the Lord in His palace,
praise Him in His high heaven.
Praise Him for His great deeds,
praise Him for His majesty.
Praise Him with trumpet blasts,
Praise the Lord with harp and zither.
Praise Him with tympani and rain dance,
Praise Him with guitar and flute.
Praise Him with clanging of cymbals,
praise Him with cymbal tinkling:
All that breathes : Praise the Lord !
ALLELUIA Ps. 25(24), 4c, 5a
Alleluia.
Teach me to know your paths, Lord ;
Lead me according to your word.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Lk. 19, 11-28
Why didn’t you take my money to the bank?
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Luke
In those days Jesus had come near Jerusalem,
and since it was believed that the Kingdom of God
was going to appear immediately,
He told this parable:
‘A man of high birth went on a journey to a far country
to obtain kingship and then return.
‘He called ten of his servants,
gave them ten pounds and spoke to them :
Do business with them during my absence.
‘His countrymen, however, hated him
and sent an envoy after him to say :
We do not want this man to be king over us.
‘When he had returned ,
having obtained the kingship after all,
he sent for those servants to whom he had given his money.
‘The first one came and said :
Lord, your pound has yielded ten.
‘He replied :
Excellent, good servant !
Because thou hast been faithful in something small
thou shalt have authority over ten cities.
‘Thereupon the second came and spoke :
Lord, thy pound hath yielded five.
‘To him also the Lord answered :
And thou, thou shalt have authority over five cities.
‘Then came the third and said :
Lord, here is thy pound ;
I tucked it away in a cloth and kept it that way ;
I had fear of thee
because thou art a stern man,
who reclaims what you have not put out
and who reaps what thou hast not sown.
‘To him the lord replied :
With your own words I will condemn you, bad servant.
‘You knew that I am a strict man
who reclaims what I have not expelled
and who reaps what I did not sow.
‘Then why didn’t you take my money to the bank?
‘Then I could have claimed it with interest on my return.
‘And to those who stood by, he ordered :
Take from him that pound
and give it to him who has the ten pounds.
‘They threw up :
Lord, he already has ten pounds.
‘But he continued :
I say to you :
To every one who has shall be given ;
but to him who has not, it will still be taken away
even what he has.
‘And those enemies of mine ,
those people who did not want me to be king over them :
Bring them here and stab them before me.’
After Jesus had spoken these words
He moved on and went up to Jerusalem.
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Fratelli tutti
Encyclical of
POPE FRANCISCUS
On brotherhood and social friendship
Freedom, equality and fraternity
103. Fraternity is not only the result of conditions of
respect for individual freedom nor of a certain
regulated equality. Although these are conditions to make it possible,
they are not sufficient to result as a necessary outcome from this
flow. Fraternity has something positive to offer freedom and equality.
What happens without a consciously cultivated fraternity, without a
political will for brotherhood, translated into an education for brotherhood,
to dialogue, to the discovery of reciprocity and mutual enrichment
as values? It happens that freedom is restricted and thus rather
turn out to be a condition of solitude, pure autonomy to belong to someone or
belong to anything, or just to possess and enjoy. This does not exhaust
not at all the richness of freedom, which is primarily focused on love.
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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