Invitation
May I hereby draw your attention to
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
Joel is a prophet who acts after the exile. Some of his readings also appear in the liturgy of Lent: Penance and reversal are the theme of his proclamation.
A plague of locusts provides the occasion to call for repentance and prayer. Joel sees the natural phenomenon as a harbinger of the approaching day of the Lord. God’s Spirit will then be poured out on those who are good, for those who do evil, judgement and destruction await. Today we can reflect on our will to repent. Do we wait until calamity strikes us in our lives to turn to the Lord Jesus?
FIRST READING Joel 1, 13-15 ; 2, 1-2
The day of the Lord has come ;
a day of darkness and of darkness.
From the prophet Joel
Gird yourselves with mourning, ye priests,
lament, ye that perform the service of the altar,
come and spend the night in mourning clothes,
ye who perform the service of my God,
for to the house of thy God
are denied meal offerings and libations.
Proclaims a holy fast,
convenes a solemn assembly,
gathers the elders,
gather all the inhabitants of the land,
into the house of the LORD your God,
and cry to the LORD for help.
Woe when it comes, that day!
Yes, the day of the LORD is near,
he comes as destruction by the Mighty One.
Blow the trumpet on Zion,
sound the alarm on my holy mountain:
All the inhabitants of the land must tremble!
Yes, the day of the LORD has come;
yes, he is near,
a day of darkness and of darkness,
a day of clouds and darkening.
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 9, 2-3, 6, 16, 8-9
Justice will God judge all the world,
and impartial will be his judgement.
You I want to thank, Lord, from all my heart
and recount all Thy wonders.
Joyful and delighted at what You do
i want to sing Your Name, Most High.
The heathen Thou hast threatened,
struck down the sinners,
their name Thou hast blotted out forever.
The heathen were cast into their own pit,
their foot came into the snare, which they spared me.
But God remains eternally seated on His throne,
immovable stands His judgment seat.
Justice will He judge all the world,
and impartial shall be His judgement.
ALLELUIA I John 2, 5
Alleluia.
Whoever keeps the word of the Lord,
in Him truly is God’s love complete.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Lk 11:15-26
If by the finger of God I cast out devils ,
then indeed the kingdom of God has come to you.
From the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke
Once when Jesus had cast out a devil
some said:
“By Beelzebub, the prince of devils, He casts out devils.”
Others – to put Him to the test –
desired from Him a sign from heaven.
But He knew their thoughts and spoke to them:
“Every kingdom divided inwardly decays into a wasteland;
one house falls upon another.
Now if Satan too is at odds with himself ,
how can his kingdom stand?
For you say that through Beelzebub I cast out devils.
If by Beelzebub I cast out devils,
by whom do your sons cast them out?
Therefore they will be your judges.
But if by the finger of God I cast out devils ,
then indeed the Kingdom of God has come to you.
When a strong man, well armed, guards his house and yard,
his property is safe.
However, if someone stronger than him comes and overcomes him,
then this one robs his full equipment,
on which he put 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, he scatters.
When the unclean spirit leaves a man ,
he goes wandering around in barren lands looking for rest.
If he does not find it then he says:
I return to my home, which I have left.
On his arrival, he finds it cleaned and in order.
Then he joins seven other spirits,
even worse than himself;
they move in and take up residence there.
The latter is worse for that man than the former.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclical of
POPE FRANCISCUS
On caring for the common home
149. Moreover, it has been proven that the extreme poverty that one finds in
some situations without harmony, space and opportunity for
integration, facilitates the emergence of inhuman behaviour
and manipulation of people by criminal organisations. For the
residents of socially very weak neighbourhoods, the daily experience of
overcrowding and social anonymity experienced in big cities
experience evokes a sense of uprootedness that provokes anti-social behaviour and
violence. Yet I am keen to stress that love is stronger
is. Very many people in these circumstances are able to form bonds of
togetherness and coexistence that transform overcrowding
into an experience of community in which the walls of the self are
broken down and the boundaries of egoism are overcome. This
experience of communal happiness usually evokes creative responses
to beautify a building or a residential area.
To be continued
Every day at 1 am
The Bible text in this issue is taken from The New Bible Translation,
©Dutch Bible Society 2004/2007.
Considerations from Liturgical suggestions for weekdays and Sundays
Laudato Si Official English translation
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