Wednesday – H. Johannes Berchmans

Saint Johannes Berchmans ( 1621) was from Diest and entered the Jesuits in
Mechelen. He died at the age of 22 while studying for the priesthood in Rome.
He is the patron saint of students.

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

Following Jesus and being a good person.
These are desires of all times.
How do I do that concretely ?
That is a question of all times.
Scripture gives us a clear answer today:
Keeping God’s commandments
and giving to God what we hold most dear.
Following Jesus apparently means sacrificing and letting go of something.
A young believer from Diest, Jan Berchmans,
has responded to these challenging words.
Let us pray through his intercession
that we find the courage to let go of what is dear to us
and thus follow Jesus with all our lives.

FIRST READING                     Dan. 5, 1-6,13-14,16-17,23-28
Fingers of a human hand appeared
that wrote on the wall.

At that time king Belsássar set up a great banquet
for a thousand of his imperial giants.
He drank wine in the presence of the thousand guests
and under the influence of the wine he gave orders
to fetch the gold and silver vessels
which his father Nabukadnezzar
had taken away from the temple in Jerusalem.
Belsássar, with his empire greats,
his wives and concubines to drink from those vessels.
So one brought the gold and silver vessels,
which had been taken away from the temple in Jerusalem,
and the king, his lords of the realm,
his wives and concubines drank from them.
And in drinking the wine
they praised the gods of gold and silver,
of bronze, iron, wood and stone.
While they were doing so,
fingers of a human hand appeared
and they wrote something
on the plastered wall of the royal palace,
just opposite the chandelier.
The king saw the writing hand;
he changed colour and became confused,
his hip joints slackened
and his knees bumped together.
Then Daniel was led before the king
and the king said to him:
“Art thou Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah ,
whom the king, my father, carried away from Judah?
I have heard of thee ,
that the spirit of the gods is in thee
and that thou art gifted with insight,
wit and extraordinary wisdom.
I have been told of thee
that thou canst explain dreams and untangle knots.
Well, if thou canst read the writing
and explain it to me, thou shalt be clothed with purple,
wear the golden chain around thy neck
and reign third in the kingdom.”
To this, Daniel replied to the king:
“Keep your gifts and give your gifts to another.
However, I will read the scripture before the king
and give him the explanation of it.
Above the Lord of heaven you have wished to exalt yourself;
you have had the tableware taken from his temple
and you, your lords, your wives and concubines
have drunk wine from it;
gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone,
who see not, hear not and know nothing,
you have honoured,
while you honoured the God
in whose hand is your breath and all your life,
have not praised.
Therefore He made that hand write this script.
And this is written there.
Mene, mene, tekel ufarsin.
Its explanation reads:
mene: counted God your reigning years
and put an end to it;
tekel: weighed you on the scales and found you too light;
peres: divided is thy kingdom
and given to the Medes and Persians.”

INTERLUDIUM                Dan. 3, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67

Praise the Lord, praise and exalt Him forever.

Praise the Lord, bright sun and moon,
bright stars, praise Him.

Praise Him, rain and dew,
all stormy winds, praise Him.

Praise Him, fire and heat,
cold and frost, praise the Lord.

ALLELUIA                 Lk. 21, 36

Alleluia.
Be vigilant and pray at all times
and that we may stand firm
before the face of the Son of Man.
Alleluia.

GOSPEL                    Lk 21:12-19
Thou shalt be an object of hatred to all
because of my Name :
Not a hair of your head shall be lost.

At that time, Jesus said to his disciples:
“They will seize you and persecute you,
they will hand you over to the synagogues and imprison you,
take you before kings and governors
for my Name’s sake.
It will end up for you in giving testimony.
Well, impress it on thee,
that then ye should not prepare your defence.
For I will give you a language and a wisdom
which none of thy adversaries
will be able to resist or contradict.
Thou shalt be overcome even by parents and brothers,
by kinsmen and friends
and some of you will have them put to death.
You will be an object of hatred to all
for the sake of my Name:
Not a hair on your head will be lost.
By being steadfast you will gain your life.”

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Laudato Si

Encyclical of

POPE FRANCISCUS

On caring for the common home

196. What is the place of politics? We recall the principle of subsidiarity,
which grants freedom for the development of capacities, present at all levels,
but at the same time demands greater responsibility for the common good on the part of whoever has the most power. It is true that today some economic
powers exert more influence than the states themselves, but one cannot
not justify: it would not be able to favour a different logic that would
be able to deal with the various aspects of the current crisis. The logic that does not leaves room for a genuine concern for the environment is equivalent to that in which there is no room for concern to include the most vulnerable, because “in the prevailing model “of success” and “private right” it seems to make no sense to invest in that those left behind, the weak or less gifted,
can find their way in life”.

To be continued
Every day at 1 am