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
In the vision of yesterday and today, one sees very clearly the apocalyptic genre that differs from the prophetic genre. Prophets speak to evil people from God’s side, so that they would repent and thereby a change for the better would occur. They threaten and warn of what will happen if people do not repent. Apocalypse expects nothing more from human repentance. The time is ripe, the measure is full. God Himself intervenes and establishes His Kingdom. It is the Highborn who intervenes. Mysterious is the figure of the Son of Man who arrives on the clouds (yesterday) and to whom the Most High gives dominion. It is precisely this title that Jesus repeatedly puts in his mouth which is not without significance for his mission and his person.
FIRST READING Dan. 7, 15-27
Kingship, dominion and glory
will be given
to the people of the saints of the Most High.
From the Prophet Daniel
In those days Daniel spoke :
“At the vision I saw I was internally confused
and the images that passed through my mind troubled me.
“I approached one of those present
and asked him the exact meaning of it all.
“He gave me the following explanation.
“The four great beasts are four kings
who will reign on earth ;
after that, the saints of the Most High will
will receive the kingship
and they will possess it forever,
from eternity to eternity.”
Then I wanted to know the meaning of the fourth beast,
which differed from all the others,
was extraordinarily fearsome,
had teeth of iron and claws of bronze,
that ate and crushed,
and trampled what it left with its paws;
and what the ten horns on its head meant
and the eleventh, which shot up and through which three fell out ;
that horn had eyes and a mouth full of boasting
and looked bigger than the others.
In my vision I saw that this horn was battling
with the saints and overwhelmed them,
so that the Most High came
and justice was delivered to the saints of the Most High
and the time came
that the saints took possession of kingship.
Then someone told me the following :
“The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom ,
which will exist on earth ;
it will differ from all other kingdoms ;
all the earth shall devour, trample and crush it.
“The ten horns are ten kings ,
who will come forth from that kingdom
and after them there will come an eleventh ,
who will differ from the previous ones
and will overthrow three kings.
“He will turn against the Most High,
abuse the saints of the Most High
and set out to change his feasts and law.
“And the saints of the Most High
will be at his mercy.
“The court of justice will take its seat
and they will take away his rule
and ruin and destroy him for good.
“Then the kingship,
the dominion and glory of all the empires under heaven
be given
to the people of the saints of the Most High.
“His kingship is an everlasting kingship
and all powers will serve and obey Him.”
INTERLUDIUM Dan. 3, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87
Praise the Lord, praise and exalt Him forever.
Praise the Lord, all people
Israel, praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, all His priests,
all His servants, praise Him.
Praise Him, spirits of the righteous,
pious, humble hearts, praise Him.
ALLELUIA Lk. 21, 28
Alleluia.
Raise yourselves and lift up your heads
for your salvation comes near.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Lk 21:34-36
Be vigilant at all times and pray that you may be able
to escape all those things that are about to take place.
From the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Luke
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples :
“Take care that your minds are not dulled
by an intoxication of drunkenness and the cares of life ;
let not the coming of the Son of Man
not seize you as a snare unawares ,
for that day will come upon all, wherever in the world.
“Be vigilant at all times, therefore, and pray
that you may be able to escape
from all those things that are about to take place,
and that you may stand firm
before the face of the Son of Man.”
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Laudato Si
Encyklica of
Pope Francis
On caring for the common home
199. One cannot claim that the empirical sciences are the life,
the deepest essence of all creatures and the whole of reality
fully explain. To do so would mean that methodological limits
are illegitimately crossed. If one reflects within this closed framework
reflects, aesthetic sensibility, poetry and even the capacity
of reason to understand the meaning and purpose of things. I would
recall that “classical religious texts can offer a meaning
destined for all times, have a motivating power that
always opens new horizons […]. Is it reasonable and intelligent to relegate them to hiddenness simply because they were born in a
context of a religious faith?”. In reality, it is simplistic to
thinking that ethical principles can only be put forward purely abstractly, detached from any context can be put forward, and the fact that they are expressed in a religious language does not take away any
value to them. The ethical principles that reason can perceive ,
can sometimes reappear under a different guise and be expressed in different,
also religious terms.
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
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