Invitation
May I ask for your attention for
daily reading of the Gospel?
This invitation is to share the joy
of the gospel with you. Everyone, without exception,
can experience that joy by opening their heart
to the healing power of God’s word.
Available every day.
Consideration
The passage about the visit of the angel Gabriel to Mary has all the characteristics of a vocation story. The initiative comes from God; there is a greeting with the promise of God’s nearness; Mary actually receives a new name that expresses her mission: ‘the Graced One’. In Christ, God will free us from sin, and we will share in the glory of his divine life. Mary’s yes is true freedom. Can we surrender to Jesus‘ message with the same yes?
FIRST READING Isaiah 7:10-14
’The virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel,‘ says the Lord.
From Isaiah
In those days Isaiah the prophet spoke to Ahaz, saying:
’Ask the Lord your God for a sign
whether high in the heavens or deep in the underworld.‘
But Ahaz answered,
’I will not ask;
I will not put the Lord to the test.‘
Then Isaiah said,
’Listen, O house of David!
Is it not enough for you to weary people,
that you must also weary my God?
‘Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign:
The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son,
and he will be called Immanuel, God with us.’
INTERLUDE Ps. 40(39), 7-8, 9, 10, 11
Yes, Lord, I am coming to do your will.
You never asked for sacrifice or offering,
but you opened my ears to hear your voice.
You did not ask for burnt offerings or sacrifices.
Then I said, ‘As is written of me, I will come.
To do your will, my God, is my joy;
your law is written on my heart.
In the assembly I have preached justice,
I have not closed my lips, Lord, you know.
I have not concealed your mercies in my heart,
I have made known your faithfulness and your help.
I have not concealed your favours,
nor your faithfulness, before the people around me.
SECOND READING Hebrews 10:4-10
In the scroll it is written of me:
I have come, O God, to do your will.
From the letter to the Hebrews
Brothers and sisters, it is impossible
that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.
Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
‘Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body you have prepared for me.
’In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you had no pleasure.
‘Then I said,
’As is written of me in the scroll,
“I have come to do your will,
I have come, O God, to do your will.‘
First he says:
’Sacrifices and offerings,
burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire;
they could not please you
though you required them to be offered.‘
And then he says:
’Here I am,
I have come to do your will.’
He abolishes the first in order to establish the second.
By that will we have been sanctified, once for all,
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ.
VERSE FOR THE GOSPEL John 1:14ab
(Alleluia.)
The Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us.
We have beheld his glory.
(Alleluia.)
GOSPEL Lk. 1:26-38
You will conceive and give birth to a son.
From the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke
In those days
the angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David;
the virgin’s name was Mary.
He entered and said to her,
‘Rejoice, you who enjoy God’s favour! The Lord is with you.
You are to be blessed among women.’
She was deeply disturbed by these words
and asked herself what this greeting could mean,
but the angel said to her,
‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God.
‘Look, you will conceive and give birth to a son
and you must name him Jesus.
’He will be great
and will be called the Son of the Most High.
“The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David
and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever
and his kingdom will never end.‘
But Mary said to the angel,
’How can this be, since I am a virgin?‘
The angel answered,
’The Holy Spirit will come upon you
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.
‘Know that even Elizabeth, your relative,
has, in her old age,
received a son
and though she was called barren
is now in her sixth month;
for nothing will be impossible with God.‘
And Mary said:
’Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord;
let it be to me according to your word.’
And the angel departed from her.
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Fratelli tutti
Encyclical of
Pope Francis
On fraternity and social friendship
The architecture and the craft of peace
228. The path to peace does not demand the homogenisation of
society, but it does enable us to cooperate with one another. It can
unite many in the pursuit of shared objectives beneficial to all.
Faced with a certain common
goal, different technical proposals and various experiences can be
offered that serve the general good. It is necessary
that people try to properly identify the problems a society is experiencing
in order to accept that there are different ways of
looking at and solving the difficulties. The road to a
better society always requires us to recognise the possibility that the
other person – at least partially – presents a legitimate perspective, something
that can be taken into account, even if they may have made a mistake or
acted wrongly. After all, ‘one should never label the other person
for what they may have said or done, but they should be valued
on the basis of the promise he carries within him’, a promise that
always leaves a glimmer of hope.
To be continued
Every day at 1 am
The Bible text in this episode is taken from the New Bible Translation,
© Netherlands Bible Society 2004/2007.
Reflections from Liturgical suggestions for the weekdays.
Fratelli tutti english translation