Saint Gregory of Narek lived around the year 1000.
Honoured mainly in the Armenian-Apostolic Church community
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
Jesus ben Sirach warns against impudent trust today. There is with God both compassion and wrath. God’s love that brings reconciliation and peace is not at the expense of our own responsibility. It is not because God grants us new opportunities that we may use his mercy and compassion as an alibi to make things easy for ourselves.
FIRST READING Sir. 5, 1-8
Talm not to return to the Lord.
From the Book of Ecclesiasticus
Do not rely on your riches
And do not say, I depend on no one.
Do not follow your own sense and power
To walk according to the desire of your heart.
Do not say, Who shall have power over me?
for the Lord will surely punish you for that.
Do not say, I have sinned, what has happened to me?
for the Lord is longsuffering.
Do not be so unconcerned about your atonement
That thou wouldst pile sin upon sin,
and say not:
His mercy is great,
He will forgive my many sins,
for both mercy and wrath are with Him
and on sinners His wrath rests.
Talm not to return to the Lord;
delay not from day to day,
for suddenly the wrath of the Lord shoots out,
and in the fire of retribution you will be destroyed.
Do not rely on riches obtained dishonestly,
for they avail thee not in the day of affliction.
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 1, 1-2, 3, 4, 6
Happy is the man,
who puts his hope in the Lord (Ps. 40(39), 5a)
Happy is the man who refuses to do
what wicked men advise him ;
Who does not go the ways of sinners,
does not sit in the midst of mockers;
but who finds his happiness in the Lord’s law,
contemplating it day and night.
He is like a tree, planted by the water,
which bears fruit in its time;
In summer his leaves do not wither,
but all that he does brings him prosperity.
The wicked do not fare so :
the wind blows them away like chaff.
For the Lord watches the way of the dishes,
the way of sinners is a dead end.
Alleluia 1 Jn 2:5
Alleluia.
He who keeps the word of the Lord,
in him truly is God’s love complete.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Mk. 9, 41-50
It is better for you to enter life maimed
than to enter hell in the possession of two hands.
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples:
‘If anyone gives you a cup of water to drink
because ye are Christ’s, verily I say unto you:
his wages shall certainly not escape him.
But if anyone
gives any of these little ones who believe cause to sin ,
it would be better for him
If one put a millstone around his neck and threw him into the sea.
Does thy hand threaten to give thee occasion for sin ,
chop it off;
it is better for you to enter life maimed
than to enter hell in the possession of two hands,
into the unquenchable fire.
Does thy foot give thee occasion for sin,
cut it off;
it is better for you to enter life crippled
than to be cast into hell in possession of two feet.
Does thy eye give thee occasion for sin,
pluck it out;
It is better for you to enter the Kingdom of God with one eye
than to be cast into hell in the possession of two eyes,
where their worm will not die and the fire will not be extinguished.
Everyone will be salted with fire.
The salt is a good thing;
but if the salt becomes saltless
with what will you restore its flavour?
Have salt in yourselves
and live in peace with one another.’
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Fratelli tutti
Encyclical of
POPE FRANCISCUS
On brotherhood and social friendship
202. The lack of dialogue implies that no one in the
individual sectors cares about the common good, but rather
each worries about acquiring the benefits of power, or
at best, with imposing their own way of thinking. Thus
talks will be reduced to mere negotiations, so that
each can obtain all the power and the greatest possible benefits
without jointly seeking the common good. The heroes of the
future will be those who will manage to break through this
unhealthy logic and decide to respectfully defend a language
laden with truth that goes beyond personal interests. May God
grant that these heroes quietly come to light in the heart of our society.
To be continued
Every morning 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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