General of the Franciscans
Canonised in 1482 and Church teacher in 1588
Invitation
May I hereby draw your attention to
the daily reading of the Gospel?
This invitation wishes 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
The book of Exodus contains deep symbolism (with sometimes ironic allusions). For example, it is no coincidence that Pharaoh wants to drown all Israel’s young boys, that his own daughter of all people pulls Moses out of the water, and that later Pharaoh’s army will drown in pursuit of that man. The ‘reed’ that saves Moses, and the Reed Sea where the Israelites are saved are also typical. The name of Moses himself helps to emphasise that symbolism. ‘I rescued him from the water’. As a matter of fact, the whole people will be ‘saved through the water’.
FIRST READING Ex. 2, 1-15a
The child was called Moses,
because he had been rescued from the water.
When he grew up he went to his brothers.
In those days, a certain person from the tribe of Levi took
took a girl from that tribe to wife.
The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son.
When she saw how beautiful the child was,
she kept it hidden for three months.
But when she saw no more opportunity
to keep it hidden any longer,
she took a basket of reeds,
covered it with asphalt and pitch and put the child inside.
Then she put it among the reeds on the bank of the Nile.
At some distance, the child’s sister positioned herself concealed,
to see what would happen.
Now Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe,
while her servants kept walking up and down
along the bank of the river.
Suddenly she saw the basket among the reeds
and sent her slave to fetch it.
She opened it, looked, and there lay a weeping little boy.
Full of pity, she cried out:
“Of course a Hebrew child!”
Then the child’s sister came
asked Pharaoh’s daughter:
“Shall I go and find a nurse among the Hebrew women ,
to feed the child for you?”
Pharaoh’s daughter replied, “Yes, do so.”
The girl rushed off and fetched the child’s mother.
Pharaoh’s daughter commanded her:
“Take this child and feed it for me;
i will personally reward you for it.”
Then the woman took the child and fed it.
And when the child had grown up ,
she brought it back to Pharaoh’s daughter.
The latter adopted him as her own son.
She named him Moses, for, she said,
i pulled him out of the water.
Once, when Moses had grown up, he went to his brothers
and witnessed their forced labour.
He saw an Egyptian knocking down a Hebrew,
one of his brothers.
He looked in all directions and when he saw
that no one was around, he knocked the Egyptian down
and hid him under the sand.
The following day he went out again
and saw two Hebrew men fighting with each other.
He asked the one who was wrong:
“Why are you beating your comrade?”
The man replied:
“Who appointed you lord and judge over us?
Do you sometimes intend to kill me too ,
just like that Egyptian?”
Then Moses got scared and thought:
“So it has become known after all.”
Pharaoh also heard of the event
and had been intent on killing Moses ever since.
But Moses managed to escape Pharaoh
and fled to Midian.
INTERLUDIUM Ps 69(68), 3, 14, 30-31, 33-34
Behold, ye ranks, and rejoice,
take courage, all of you who seek God.
Deeply I sink in the mud,
my foot finds no solid ground.
I sink in the waves,
the current drags me down defenceless.
But my prayer, Lord, I turn to Thee,
now is the time of mercy.
Hear me because You are merciful
and faithful in giving help.
I bow under my grief ;
God, let Your help protect me.
God’s Name will I praise in my singing,
thankfully praise it everywhere.
Take heed, ye humble ones, and rejoice,
take courage, all of you who seek God.
God listens to what a poor person asks Him,
does not forget his prisoners.
ALLELUIA Ps. 27(26),11
Alleluia.
Show me your way, Lord, in the face of opposition,
lead me along smooth paths.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Mt 11, 20-24
The fate of Tyre and Sidon
will be better to bear on Judgement Day than yours.
In those days Jesus began
the cities in which most of his miracles had happened,
reproaching them for not repenting.
“Woe to you, Chórazin; woe to you, Betsáïda!
Tyre and Sidon
would long ago, in sackcloth and ashes, have repented,
had the miracles happened to them
which have taken place with you.
Yes, I say to you:
The fate of Tyre and Sidon
will be better to bear on the judgment day than yours.
And thou, Capernaum,
wilt thou sometimes be exalted to heaven?
Down to the underworld thou shalt sink.
If in Sodom
had the miracles happened that were done to thee ,
it would have continued to this day.
Yet I say to you:
The fate of the land of Sodom
will be better to bear on the judgment day than yours.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclical by
POPE FRANCISCUS
On caring for the common home
52. The external debt of poor countries has become an instrument of control,
but the same does not happen with ecological debt. In
various ways, developing countries, where the
main reserves of the biosphere, contribute to the development
of the richest countries at the expense of their own present and future. The
soil of the poor of the South is rich and little polluted, but the
access to ownership of the goods and resources to
meet their own livelihood needs is prohibited to them by a
structurally perverse system of trade and property. It is
necessary for developed countries to contribute to clearing this debt
by reducing their use of non-renewable energy and
providing the neediest countries with resources and political
programmes that support manageable development. The poorest
regions and countries have fewer opportunities to use new models
to reduce environmental pressures because they cannot
cover them. It is therefore necessary to remain clearly aware
that with climate change there are differentiated responsibilities
and, as the United States bishops have said, it is
appropriate” to focus “above all” on the needs of the poor, the weak
and vulnerable, in the debate often dominated by the most powerful
interests”.One must strengthen the awareness that we are one human
family. There are no political and social boundaries and
barriers that allow us to isolate ourselves, and for this very reason there is
neither room for the globalisation of indifference.
To be continued
Every day at 1 am
The Bible text in this issue is taken from The New Translation of the Bible,
©Dutch Bible Society 2004/2007.
Considerations from Liturgical suggestions for weekdays and Sundays
Laudato Si Official english translation
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