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
‘Today, listen to the voice of the Lord and do not be stubborn.’ So goes the refrain of the response psalm. Psalm 95 primarily refers to the desert and the unwillingness of the people. This theme not only characterises the desert journey, but is also taken up repeatedly by the prophets, such as Jeremiah today: ‘They persist in their evil’. Jesus repeatedly takes up this reproach. People do not listen, they do not see the signs, they are not open. NOW we too are asked: ‘Are you open to what God’s Spirit whispers in your heart?
FIRST READING Jer. 7:23-28
This is a people who will not listen to the Lord, their God.
From the Prophet Jeremiah
Thus says the Lord:
‘This only have I commanded them:
Listen to me, and I will be your God
and you shall be my people.
’Walk in the way that I command you,
then it will go well with you.
‘But they did not listen or obey.
’They persistently did evil.
‘They turned away more and more.
’From the time of your fathers’ exodus from Egypt
until now
I have sent you my servants the prophets again and again.
‘But they did not listen to me
nor obey me.
‘They were more stubborn than their ancestors.
’Tell them and warn them, but they will not listen.
Call to them, but they will not answer.
“You must tell them:
This is the people
that will not listen to the Lord, their God,
who will not be taught.
‘Honesty is gone,
it no longer comes to their lips.
INTERLUDIUM Psalm 95(94):1-2, 6-7, 8-9
Today, listen to the voice of the Lord
and do not be stubborn. Come, let us greet the Lord with jubilation,
let us sing praises to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before him with thanksgiving,
and make music to him with instruments of praise. Let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the Lord who made us.
For he is our God, and we are his people,
the shepherd and we are the flock. Today, then, listen to his voice:
Be not stubborn as at Meribah,
as in Massah in the desert;
where your fathers tempted Me
though they had seen My works
VERSE FOR THE GOSPEL Mt. 4, 17
Repent, says the Lord,
for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
GOSPEL Lk. 11:14-23
He who is not with me is against me.
From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Luke
Once Jesus cast out a devil that was mute.
As soon as the devil had gone out, the mute man could speak again.
The people were astonished at this.
But some of them said,
‘By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.‘
Others – to test him –
demanded of him a sign from heaven.
But he knew what they were thinking and said to them:
’Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste;
and house falls upon house.
‘If Satan himself is in conflict with himself,
how can his kingdom stand?
‘You say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub.
’If I cast out devils through Beelzebub,
through whom do your sons cast them out?
“Therefore they will be your judges.
‘But if I drive out demons by the finger of God,
then indeed the kingdom of God has come to you.
‘When a strong man, well-armed, guards his own house and yard,
his possessions are safe.
’But when someone stronger than he comes along and overcomes him,
the stronger man robs him of his full armour,
in which he placed his trust,
and divides what he possesses as booty.
‘He who is not with Me is against Me,
and he who does not gather with Me scatters.’
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‘Fratelli tutti
Encyclical of
POPE FRANCIS
On fraternity and social friendship
230. The challenge of overcoming what divides us, without losing
of each person without losing their identity, requires that all persons
maintain a fundamental sense of belonging. For ‘our society will flourish
when every person and social group feels truly at home. In a
family, there are parents, grandparents and children, all at home, none excluded.
If someone is experiencing a problem, no matter how serious, even if ’he or she
asked for it’, the others come to his aid and support him;
his grief is shared by all. […] In families, everyone contributes to the
common project and everyone works for the common
good, but without destroying the individual; on the contrary, they contribute to
and support him. They argue, but one thing does not change: the
family ties. Family arguments are followed by reconciliation. Everyone
shares each other’s joys and sorrows. That is what being a family is all about! If only
we could manage to look at our political opponents or our neighbours
with the same eyes we use to look at our children,
wives, husbands, fathers and mothers. How wonderful that would be!
Do we love our society or does it remain something far removed from us,
something anonymous in which we have no stake, that does not affect us, does not
obligate us?
To be continued
Every day at 7 am
The Bible text in this issue is taken from The New Bible Translation,
©Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap 2004/2007.
Reflections from Liturgical suggestions for weekdays and Sundays
Fratelli tutti Official English translation ________________________________________________________________