Christian doctrine regards the family as the cornerstone of society.
The Holy Family is the model of the Christian home.
Invitation
May I draw your attention to
the daily reading of the Gospel
This invitation wants to share with you the joy of the Gospel.
of the gospel. Everyone, without exception
can experience that joy by opening his or her heart
to the healing power of God’s word.
Available every day.
Consideration
In Jesus, God has come to us.
Evil and darkness are still there, but they do not have the last word.
But they do not have the last word.
The last word belongs to the power of God.
Mary and Joseph trusted in this:
They lived by faith in the divine promises of redemption and peace.
This allowed Jesus, the Messiah, to be at home with them.
On the feast of the Holy Family, we ask
that God may bless all our families and homes.
May God be present with us today too,
people of our time.
FIRST READING Sir. 3, 2-6,12-14
He who fears the Lord honours his parents.
From the book of Wisdom of Jesus Sirach
The Lord has appointed the father over the children
And has given the mother right over her children.
He who honours his father receives forgiveness of sins,
and as one who gathers treasures
is he who honours his mother.
He who honours his father rejoices in his children,
and when he prays he is heard.
He who honours his father will enjoy a long life.
And he who obeys his father
refreshes the heart of his mother.
He who fears the Lord honours his parents.
Son, take care of your father in his old age
and do not torment him as long as he lives.
On the day you need him, he will think of you;
you who are still in full strength, do not despise your father.
Compassion for your father will not be forgotten,
free from sins, build up your house.
Reply Psalm 128(127), 1-2, 3, 4-5
Entrebillo
Blessed are those who fear God
Go in the way of the Lord.
Blessed are those who fear God
Go in the way of the Lord.
Thou shalt eat the fruit of thy labour,
happy and prosperous shalt thou be.
Thy wife in thy house
Is like a vine richly laden.
And like olive branches around the trunk,
So are thy children around thy table.
Yes, so is every man blessed
Who honours the Lord.
Bless the Lord from Zion,
that you may see Jerusalem prosperous
as long as your days last.
SECOND READING Col 3:12-21
On domestic life in the Lord.
From the letter of the holy apostle Paul to the Christians in Colossae
Brothers and sisters,
clothe yourselves
as God’s holy and beloved elect,
in tender compassion, kindness, humility,
gentleness and patience.
Forbear one another
and forgive one another if anyone has a complaint against another.
As the Lord has forgiven you
forgive one another.
Add to all this love as the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of Christ reign in your hearts;
For to this you have been called, as members of one body,
and be thankful.
May the word of Christ in all its riches
dwell among you.
Teach and exhort one another with all wisdom.
Sing to God with grateful hearts psalms, hymns and songs
hymns and songs,
inspired by the Spirit.
And whatever you do in word or deed
do all in the name of Jesus, the Lord,
thanking God the Father through Him.
Wives, be submissive to your husbands,
as befits Christians.
Husbands, love your wives
and do not be petulant to her.
Children, obey your parents in everything.
For that pleases the Lord.
Fathers, do not mock your children,
lest they be discouraged.
Gospel verse Col 3, 15a and 16a
Alleluia.
May the peace of Christ reign in your hearts.
May the word of Christ
dwell among you in all its riches.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Lk. 2, 41-52
Remember how grievously
your father and I have sought you.
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Luke
Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover.
To Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover.
And according to the custom of this feast
when Jesus was 12 years old.
But at the end of those days, they returned home.
The child Jesus, however, remained behind in Jerusalem
without his parents knowing.
He thought he was with the caravan,
they went away for a day,
and looked for him among relatives and acquaintances.
When they did not find him
they returned to Jerusalem while searching for him.
Only after three days did they find him in the temple,
where he sat among the teachers
to whom he listened and asked questions.
Everyone who heard him
were amazed at his insight and his answers.
When his parents noticed he was there, they felt defeated.
His mother said to him
‘Son, why did you do this to us?
‘Think with how much pain
your father and I have looked for you.
But He replied:
‘Why did you search for me?
‘Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’.
But they did not understand what He meant by that.
He went with them to Nazareth
and submitted Himself to them.
His mother kept everything that had happened in her heart.
And as the years passed, Jesus grew in wisdom and in His wellbeing with God and with people.
With God and with people.
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Fratelli tutti
cyclical of
Pope Francis
On brotherhood and social friendship
Local and universal
142. It is worth recalling that ‘there is a tension between globalisation and
localisation creates a tension. There needs to be a focus on the
global dimension so as not to fall into mundane pettiness.
At the same time, the local, that which keeps us grounded,
should not be lost sight of. These two things
together prevent us from falling into one of these extremes: the one, that
citizens living in an abstract and globalised universalism, […]; the other,
that they become a folk museum of local hermits, condemned to keep repeating the same thing, […].
over and over again, unable to
be challenged by what is different and to appreciate beauty
that God spreads beyond their borders’. We need to look
to the global, which frees us from petty pettiness.
When a home is no longer a family, but a compound, a cell,
the global frees us, because it is, as it were, the ultimate goal that leads us to fulfilment.
At the same time, we have to accept it wholeheartedly
because it possesses something that the global does not: ferment,
be, enrich, trigger subsidiarity mechanisms. Therefore universal brotherhood and
social friendship within any society are two inseparable and equally essential poles.
To be Continued
Every day at 1 am
The Bible text of this issue is taken from The New Translation of the Bible,
©Dutch Bible Society 2004/2007.
Reflections on the liturgical suggestions for the days of the week.
Fratelli tutti English translation