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
Since Jesus’ death, the cross of Jesus has been an integral part of the Christian’s life. Those who want to follow Him meet the temptations He Himself went through in the desert, viz: Saving His life; Winning the whole world; Reaching the glory of God. To follow Him is to go ‘His’ Way, to let go, to lose, to deny Himself, to be crucified, to go through all this with Him to Easter. Truly a true conversion. His words are addressed not only to the apostles but to each of us.
FIRST READING Dt. 30, 15-20
Behold, I hold before you today life and happiness.
From the Book of Deuteronomy
Moses took the floor and spoke to the people :
‘I hold out to you today life and happiness ,
but also death and misfortune.
‘If you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God ,
which I give you this day,
if ye love the Lord your God,
go his ways and keep his commandments,
precepts and ordinances,
then shall ye live and be multiplied
and the Lord thy God will bless thee
in the land which ye are about to take possession of.
‘But if thy heart stray,
if thou listen not, and art tempted,
so that thou bow down to other gods and worship them,
then I announce to thee this day,
that you will perish and not live long
on the ground which, after the crossing of the Jordan
will take possession of.
‘I take this day heaven and earth as witnesses against thee.
‘Life and death I hold before thee, blessing and curse.
‘Choose life then,
then thou and thy descendants shall possess life,
by loving the Lord thy God,
listening to Him and remaining attached to Him.
‘For on this it depends, whether ye shall live
And whether ye shall dwell long upon the ground ,
which the Lord gave to thy fathers,
to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by oath.’
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.
He is like a tree, planted by the water,
which bears fruit in its time;
In summer his leaves do not wither,
but everything he does brings him prosperity.
The wicked do not fare so well :
The wind blows them away like chaff.
For the Lord watches the way of the dishes,
the way of sinners is a dead end.
VERS FOR THE GOSPEL Ps. 95(94), 8 ab
Listen today to the voice of the Lord,
and be not obstinate.
GOSPEL Lk. 9, 22-25
Whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.
From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Luke
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples :
‘The Son of Man ,
must suffer much
and be rejected by the elders,
high priests and scribes,
but after being put to death
He will rise on the third day.’
But to all He spoke:
‘Whoever wants to be My follower ,
must follow Me by denying himself
and by taking up his cross every day.
‘For whoever wants to save his life will lose it.
‘But whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.
‘What use is it for a man to gain all the world ,
if by so doing he causes himself his ruin and death?’
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Fratelli tutti
Encyclical of
POPE FRANCISCUS
On brotherhood and social friendship
209. Might it not otherwise happen that fundamental
human rights, which today are considered inviolable
be denied by the powerful of the moment, having received the
‘consent’
of an apathetic and fearful population? Nor would a
pure consensus among different peoples, which is also manipulable,
be sufficient. We already have evidence in abundance of all the good that
we are capable of doing, but at the same time we must recognise the capacity for
destruction that is within us. Is the indifferent and ruthless
individualism into which we have fallen is also not the result of a
laziness to search for the highest values beyond
momentary needs? Added to relativism is the danger that the
most powerful or convenient succeeds in imposing a supposed truth.
However, ‘with respect to the moral norms that intrinsically evil
forbid, neither privileges nor exceptions exist for anyone.
Whether someone is ruler of the world or the last outcast on the
earth: with respect to the moral requirements, we are all absolutely
equal’.
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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