Born 21 Aug 1567 Died 28 Dec 1622
Bishop of Geneva and Annecy
Orator and mystic
Invitation
May I hereby draw your attention to
the daily reading of the Gospel?
This invitation wishes 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
Jesus wanted to be a universal brother. In the Gospel, we read how He sought to connect with the prayer of the other, of any other, regardless of his social standing: the centurion, Zacchaeus, Martha, the blind, the leper, regardless of his ethnic or religious origin: Roman, Canaanite, Semaritan. He is elated by the trust shown in the prayers addressed to Him: ‘I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such great faith’(Mt 8:10). He is open to the prayer of the tax collector, but does not recognise himself in that of the Pharisee because it excludes others: ‘I thank you that I am not like…(Lk 18, 11). In true universal prayer, there is no place for vetoes. On the contrary, prayer helps me to give each of my brothers their proper place, however difficult living together may sometimes be, and to feel better that we are growing towards each other despite the distance and complementing each other despite the differences between us.
(Brother Christian de Chergé, L’invincible espérance)
FIRST READING Hebrews 8, 6-13
The covenant of which Jesus is mediator is much loftier.
From the letter to the Hebrews
Brothers and sisters,
In fact
the ministry to which Jesus has fallen is far more exalted,
as are the covenant of which He is the mediator
and the promises on which it rests.
Had the first covenant been without fault
then they would not have looked back for a second one.
But God lauds their errors with these words :
‘Days are coming, says the Lord,
that I will make with the house of Israel and the house of Judah
a new covenant.
‘It will be different from the covenant I made with their fathers
when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt ,
for they have not kept My covenant
and I no longer cared for them, says the Lord.
‘And so shall be the covenant
which I will make with the house of Israel ,
says the Lord:
‘My laws I impress upon their minds
and I engrave them in their hearts :
I will be their God and they will be My people.
‘Then no one shall teach another
nor say to his brother : Know your Lord.
‘All will know Me, from the smallest to the greatest.
‘For I will forgive their iniquities
and remember their sins no more.’
By speaking of a new covenant
He has declared the first to be obsolete,
and everything that becomes old and aged
is about to disappear.
Interludium Ps 85(84), 8, 10, 11-12, 13-14
Faithfulness and mercy go together.
Show us your mercy,
give us your salvation, O Lord.
Your salvation is near to those who fear You,
your Glory comes to dwell with us again.
When faithfulness and mercy meet one another
if peace and justice embrace each other ;
then faithfulness shall spring from the earth,
and justice will look down from heaven.
Then the Lord will give us his blessing
and our land will bear rich fruit.
Then for Him out of righteousness shall go
and prosperity follow His steps.
ALLELUIA Ps. 119(118), 88
Alleluia.
Be merciful to me and let me live, Lord,
then I will remain faithful to what You ordain.
Alleluia.
Gospel Mk. 3, 13-19
Jesus called to Himself those He Himself wanted ; and they came to Him
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark
At that time Jesus went up the mountain
and called to Himself those He Himself wanted ;
and they came to Him.
He appointed twelve to accompany Him
and to be sent out by Him to preach,
with power to cast out devils.
So He appointed these twelve ;
Simon, whom He gave the name Peter ;
further, James the son of Zebedee
and John, the brother of James,
to whom He gave the name Boanérges, meaning :
Sons of thunder ;
then Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew,
Tomas, James the son of Alphaeus,
Taddeus, Simon the Zealot
and Judas Iscariot, who delivered Him up.
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Fratelli tutti
Encyclical of
POPE FRANCISCUS
On brotherhood and social friendship
168. The market alone does not solve everything, even if they sometimes want us to believe this dogma
of neoliberal belief would have us believe. It concerns a poor, repetitive
thinking that always proposes the same recipes for every challenge that
presents itself. Neoliberalism only reproduces itself and
thereby resorts to the magical theory of ‘overflow’-or
‘trickle-down’ – without naming it – as the only way to solve social
solve social problems. One does not notice that the supposed ‘overflowing’
provides a solution to inequality, which is a source of new
forms of violence that threaten the social fabric. On the one hand, an
active economic policy indispensable that aims to ‘promote an economy
foster an economy that promotes diversification in production and entrepreneurial creativity’
so that employment can be increased rather
rather than reduced. Speculation with easy gain as its fundamental objective
continues to cause carnage. On the other hand, ‘without
internal forms of solidarity and mutual trust its economic
function fully. And today it is this trust
that has been lost’.141 This is not the end of history and the
dogmatic recipes of prevailing economic theory proved not to be
infallible. The fragility of world systems in the face of
the pandemic made it clear that not everything can be solved
be solved with market freedom and that, besides rehabilitating a
sound policies that are not subject to financial dictates, ‘once again
put human dignity at the centre and build on this
pillar we must build the alternative social structures we need’.
To be continued
every day at 1 am
The Bible text in this issue 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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