Invitation
May I ask for your attention for
reading the Gospel every day?
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 uniqueness of Jesus and his relationship with the Father are developed further after the event with the lame man. But let us look at the first reading. In rich imagery, it speaks of the end of the exile, of the protection on the return journey, of the division of the land as at the time of the entry. In short, there is a clear allusion to the first Exodus from Egypt. The last verse is particularly moving. ‘Can a woman forget her infant, or fail to cherish the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.’
FIRST READING Isaiah 49:8-15
I will form you and make you the covenant man to restore the land.
From the Prophet Isaiah
Thus says the Lord:
‘At the time of my favour I will answer you;
on the day of salvation I will help you.
’I will form you and make you
to be the man of the covenant,
to restore the land,
to divide the spoiled inheritance again,
to say to the captives: Come out!
and to those who sit in darkness: Show yourselves!
‘They will graze along the roads,
they will graze on the bare ground.
’They will not suffer from hunger or thirst,
no scorching wind, no burning sun will harm them,
for He who has mercy on them
guides them
and brings them to the water springs.
‘I will make tracks on all my mountains
and my roads will be levelled.
’There are those who come from afar;
others come from the north and the sea coast,
and still others from Sinim.
‘Heaven, rejoice, and you, earth, be glad!
‘Mountains, break forth into jubilation,
for the Lord has come to comfort his people,
to take pity on his poor servants.
’Zion thinks: ‘The Lord has forsaken me,
my God has forgotten me.’
“Can a woman forget her infant?
‘Does a mother not have more to do
with the child of her womb?
‘And even if a mother would forget her child,
no, I will never forget you!’
INTERLUDE Ps. 145(144), 8-9, 13cd-14, 17-18
The Lord is full of love and compassion.
The Lord is loving and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love.
The Lord is concerned for every human being,
merciful to all he has made.
God is faithful in all his words
and holy in all he does.
The Lord supports those about to fall,
he lifts up all who are bowed down.
The Lord is just in all his ways,
and holy in all He does.
The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,
to all who pray to Him in truth.
VERSE FOR THE GOSPEL John 6:64b and 69b
Your words, Lord, are spirit and life ;
your words are words of eternal life.
GOSPEL John 5:17-30
As the Father raises the dead and makes them alive,
so the Son also makes alive whomever he wants.
From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
John
At that time
Jesus defended himself against the Jews with the words:
“To this day
my Father is continuously at work
and I, too, do not cease to work.‘
For this reason, the Jews were even more determined to kill Him .
After all, He did not merely violate the Sabbath,
but He even called God His own Father
and thereby made Himself equal to God.
Jesus then spoke up again and said:
’Truly, truly, I say to you:
the Son can do nothing on his own
but only what he sees the Father doing.
‘And the Son does
exactly what the Father does.
’The Father loves the Son
and shows him all he does.
‘And he will show him even greater works
than these, so that you will be amazed.
’For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life,
so also the Son makes alive whomever he wants to.
‘The Father judges no one,
but he has
entrusted all judgement to the Son,
so that all may honour the Son as they honour the Father.
’He who does not honour the Son
does not honour the Father who sent him.
“Truly, truly, I say to you:
Whoever listens to my word
and believes in the one who sent me
has eternal life and will not be condemned;
he has already crossed over from death to life.
“Truly, truly, I say to you,
an hour is coming, and is now here,
when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God
and those who hear it will live.
‘Just as the Father has life in himself,
so he has granted also to the Son
to have life in himself.
’And he has given him authority to execute judgement,
because he is the Son of Man.
“Do not be amazed at this,
for the hour is coming
when all who are in their graves
will hear his voice
‘Then those who did good
will come forth to the resurrection of life,
but those who did evil will come forth to the resurrection of judgement.
“I cannot help but judge:
I judge as I hear
and my judgement is just,
for I seek not my own will
but the will of the one who sent me.”
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Fratelli tutti
Encyclical of
POPE FRANCIS
On fraternity and social friendship
The value and meaning of forgiveness
236. Some prefer not to speak of reconciliation,
believing that conflict, violence and rupture are
part of the normal functioning of society. In fact,
in every human group there are more or less subtle forms of power struggles
between different sectors. Others claim that recognising
forgiveness is the same as relinquishing one’s own space, allowing
others to control the situation. Therefore, they believe it is better to
maintain a power play that makes it possible to keep the forces in
balance between the different groups. Still others
believe that reconciliation is something for the weak, who are not capable of a
dialogue that gets to the bottom of things, and therefore choose to
escape the problems by hiding the injustices: they are not capable of
tackling the problems and prefer a false peace.
To be continued
Every day at 1 am
The Bible text in this edition is taken from The New Bible Translation,
©Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap 2004/2007.
Considerations from Liturgical suggestions for weekdays and Sundays
Fratelli tutti Official English translation
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