Thursday in the thirty-fourth week.

 

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
Today’s readings are not about horror and misery, but about the call we are all given to face misery and trial with open eyes, trusting that God will be near us. That is how it was with Daniel, that is how it will be when the Son of Man comes. All Christians who once bore a heavy cross in their lives, wondering where God was in their misery, know what true faith is. They know that God is faithful to people – that He is far more faithful to us, than we are to Him.It is the thread running through the sheathing of Israel, it is the thread running through our lives. Those who are truly deeply tested also know that they need the church to keep believing, but not to hide behind it. Those who continue to believe through trials make the greatest profession of faith there is. It is this personal confession that builds up the Krerk.

FIRST READING            Dan. 6, 12-28

My God has sent his angel to muzzle the lions.

In those days, men of King Daríus raided
into the house of Daniel
where they found him
making supplications to his God.
They then went to the king
and reminded him of the royal ban
with the words:
“Have you not issued a prohibition,
that whoever within thirty days makes supplication
to any god or man other than you, king,
be cast into the lion’s den?”
The king replied:
“That is established as a law of Mith and Persians,
which is irrevocable.”
Then they said to the king:
“Daniel, one of the exiles from Judah ,
does not disturb thee,
nor to the prohibition you have issued,
but three times a day he performs his prayer.”
This accusation did not please the king at all
and he sunk into means to save Daniel.
Until sunset, he made attempts to do so,
but those men pressured the king, saying:
“Remember, king, it is a law for Medes and Persians
that a ban or decree cannot be tampered with
issued by the king.”
Thereupon the king gave orders to fetch Daniel.
When Daniel was cast into the lion’s den ,
the king said to him:
“May your God, so faithfully worshipped by you, save you!”
So they took a stone
and placed it on the opening of the pit.
The king sealed it with his own seal
and with those of his imperial giants
to exclude any outside intervention.
The king went to his palace,
spent the night in fasting
and allowed no women to come;
there was no question of sleeping.
At the crack of dawn,
when it began to get light,
the king got up and made haste to the lion’s den.
Arriving at the pit
he began calling out to Daniel in a plaintive tone.
He said:
“Daniel, servant of the living God,
has your God, so faithfully worshipped by you,
be able to save thee from the lions?”
To this Daniel replied:
“King, live forever!
My God has sent his angel
to muzzle the lions.
They did no injury to me,
since I am innocent in God’s eyes.
But even against you, king, I have done nothing wrong.”
Extremely pleased, the king ordered
Daniel to be pulled out of the pit.
Thereupon Daniel was pulled out of the pit.
He had suffered no injury,
because he had trusted in his God.
Now the king ordered
to fetch the men who had accused Daniel
and to throw them with their children and wives
into the lion’s den.
They had not yet reached the bottom of the pit,
when the lions had already seized them
and shattered their bones.
Then king Daríus wrote
to all the peoples, nations and languages living on earth:
“Much salvation be to you!
By me it is hereby decreed
that in all parts of my kingdom
should respect and fear the God of Daniel,
for He is the living God who abides forever.
His kingship is imperishable
and His reign lasts until the end.
He saves and delivers and He performs miraculous signs
in heaven and on earth:
He saved Daniel from the clutches of the lions.”

Interludium                Dan. 3, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74

Praise the Lord, praise and exalt Him forever.

Praise Him, mists and showers,
hail and ice, praise the Lord.

Praise Him, sleet and snow,
nights and days, praise Him.

Praise Him, light and dark,
lightning and clouds, praise Him.

praise the Lord, all the earth,
praise and exalt Him forever.

ALLELUIA                       Apok. 2, 10c

Alleluia.
Be faithful unto death, saith the Lord,
and I will give you the crown of life.
Alleluia.

GOSPEL                         Lk. 21, 20-28

Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles
until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled.

At that time Jesus said to his disciples:
“When ye see Jerusalem surrounded by armies ,
know then that its destruction is near.
Then let those in Judea flee to the mountains:
who are in the city go out
and they that dwell in the land enter not into the city:
days of vengeance are they,
in which all that is written will be fulfilled.
Woe to the pregnant and suckling in those days.
For great distress shall come upon the land
and judgment of punishment upon this people.
Some will fall by the devouring sword,
others will be scattered as captives among all nations.
Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles
until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled.
There will be signs on the sun, moon and stars
and on the earth peoples will be in fear,
distraught by the roar of the tempestuous sea.
People will die of terror,
in suspense of what is about to happen to the world,
for the heavenly hosts will be thrown into confusion.
Then they will see the Son of Man coming on a cloud,
with power and great glory.
When all this begins to unfold ,
arise and lift up your heads,
for your salvation is at hand.”

__________________________________________________

Laudato Si

Encyclical of

Pope Francis

On caring for our common home

197. We need a politics that has a broad vision and
develops a new integrated approach by involving in an interdisciplinary
dialogue involving the different aspects of the crisis. Often, the
politics itself is responsible for the loss of prestige through corruption
and the lack of proper transparent politics. If the state in a
region does not fulfil its own role, some economic interest groups can
appear as benefactors and have real power because
they feel empowered not to adhere to certain norms and
thereby even various forms of organised crime that are difficult to eradicate,
human trafficking, drug trafficking and violence. If politics cannot
is able to break through a perverse logic and furthermore remains stuck in incoherent narratives, we will continue to fail to address humanity’s major problems. A strategy of real change requires rethinking the
totality of processes, because it is not enough to make superficial
reflections on the environment, while not questioning the underlying
logic of the current culture is not questioned. A healthy politics
should be able to meet this challenge.

To be continued
Every day at 1 am

The Bible text in this edition 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