Born 2/3/ 283 Died 1/8/ 371
Born 4/2/1811 and Died 1/8/1868 Canonised 9/12/1962
Invitation
May I hereby call your attention
for 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 The people of God were given this law at Sinai: every 50 years, injustices that have crept in must be righted. After all, man’s weakness demands redress. That means sewing up the meshes of the network of our relationships with genuine goodness,so that everyone can re-breathe and rejoice for the salvation God is preparing for us.
FIRST READING Lev. 25. 1. 8-17
In the fiftieth year, everyone is restored to his former property.
From the Book of Leviticus God spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai :
“After the lapse of seven sabbatical years, seven times seven years ,
together forty-nine years,
on the day of atonement,
the tenth day of the seventh month,
sound loudly the trumpet.
“In all thy land thou must sound the trumpet.
“That fiftieth year must be a holy year for you :
then thou must proclaim in the land that all the inhabitants release their slaves.
“It must be a jubilee year for thee ;
everyone is restored to his former property and returns to his family.
“The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee year for you ;
thou shalt not then sow, nor reap the aftergrowth, nor pluck the grapes of thy unpruned vineyard,
for it is the jubilee year ;
that must be holy to you.
“Only what the land produces by itself may you eat.
“In the jubilee year everyone shall be restored to his former possession.
“When ye sell a piece of land to a fellow people
or buy land from him, you may not disadvantage each other.
“When you buy land from a people’s associate, in fixing the price you should
take into account the number of years since the last jubilee year.
“And he must calculate the selling price
according to the number of years it still yields crops.
“The price will be higher, if many years are yet to come,
and lower, if few years are to pass,
for he is selling you a number of crop years.
“Do not disadvantage your fellow people ;
have reverence for your God.
“I am the Lord your God.”
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 67(66), 2-3, 5, 7-8
Give that the nations honour Thee, O God,
that all nations honour Thee!
God, be merciful to us and bless us,
show us the light of thy countenance;
that on earth may one know thy ways,
in all lands thy salvation.
Let all nations rejoice for joy
because thou dost rule the nations justly
and governs all things on earth
The earth gave us its fruits,
the blessing of our God,
God so grant us His blessing
that all the earth fear Him.
ALLELUIA John 6, 64b, 69b
Alleluia
Your words, Lord. are spirit and life ;
your words are words of eternal life.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Mt 14, 1-12
Herod ordered John to be beheaded.
His disciples went to report it to Jesus.
From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew
At that time Jesus’ renown began
began to penetrate to the prince Herod,
and he therefore said to his courtiers :
“That must be John the Baptist ; he has risen from the dead ;
hence those miraculous powers work in him.”
For because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip,
herod had John seized
and thrown into prison handcuffed,
because John had said to him :
It is not lawful for you to have her as a wife.
Therefore Herod had actually wanted to put him to death ,
but he was afraid to do so
because the people mistook John for a prophet.
However, when the daughter of Herodias
danced for the company on Herod’s birthday,
she pleased him so much that he swore an oath
to give her everything she would ask for.
Her mother had clued her in on the answer
and so she said :
“Give me, here still, on a platter
the head of John the Baptist.”
Although this was close to the king’s heart, he still wanted to,
also because of his table companions, he wanted to keep his oath
and he ordered it to be given.
He therefore ordered
John to be beheaded in prison.
His head was brought in on a platter
and given to the girl who brought it to her mother.
His disciples came and took the corpse and buried it ;
then they went to report it to Jesus.
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Laudato Si
Encyclical of
POPE FRANCISCUS
On caring for the common home
70. In the story of Cain and Abel, we see that jealousy led Cain to commit the utmost iniquity against his brother. This in turn caused a rift in the relationship between Cain and God and between Cain and the land from which he had been exiled. This passage is summed up in the dramatic conversation between God and Cain. God asks, “Where is your brother Abel?”. Cain says he does not know, and God insists: “What hast thou done? Hear, the blood of thy brother cries out to me from the ground! Therefore thou shalt be cursed, banished from [this] ground” (Gen 4:9-11). Neglecting the obligation to nurture and maintain a right relationship with one’s neighbour, towards whom I have a duty of care and protection, destroys my inner relationship with myself, with others, with God and with the earth. When all these relationships are neglected, when righteousness no longer dwells on the earth, then, the Bible tells us, all life is in danger. This is what the story of Noah teaches us, when God threatens to wipe out humanity for its persistent inability to live in accordance with the demands of justice and peace: “The days of men are numbered, for they are to blame for the earth being full of acts of violence” (Gen 6:13). These so ancient stories, rich in deep symbolism, already contained a conviction felt today: that everything is interrelated and that an authentic concern for our own lives and our relations with nature cannot be separated from brotherhood, justice and fidelity towards others.
To be continued
Every day at 1 am
©Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap 2004/2007.
Considerations from Liturgical suggestions for weekdays and Sundays
Laudato Si Official English translation