Monday in the sixth week of the year

 

Invitation

May I draw your attention to
the daily reading of the Gospel?

This invitation is intended to share with you the joy
of the Gospel. Everyone, without exception,
can experience that joy by opening their heart
to the healing power of God’s word.

Available every day.

Consideration
The letter of James belongs to the wisdom literature. Even though the thoughts are very loosely strung together, they are nevertheless surprisingly rich and vividly formulated. The writer must have been a gifted man. He addresses his letter to the twelve tribes in the dispersion. The dispersion or diaspora refers to the Jews scattered outside Palestine. Thus, the letter could also have been intended for all Jews in the diaspora who had converted to Christianity.

FIRST READING                James 1:1-11

You know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness,
so that you may be perfect and without blemish.

Beginning of the letter of Saint James the Apostle

James,
servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
greets the twelve tribes in the Dispersion.

Brothers and sisters,
consider yourselves very fortunate
when all kinds of trials come upon you,
for you know
that such testing of your faith
produces steadfastness;
and steadfastness must be fully realised,
so that you may be perfect and blameless
and lacking in nothing.
If any of you lacks wisdom,
he should ask God for it,
and it will be given to him,
for God gives to all
without reservation and without reproach.
But he must pray with confidence,
without wavering.
He who wavers is like the waves of the sea,
tossed by the wind.
Such a person,
being double-minded and unstable in all his ways,
should not think that he will receive anything from the Lord.
The poor Christian should be proud of his high position,
and the rich man of his lowliness!
For the rich man will perish like a flower in the grass.
The sun rises with its scorching heat;
it withers the grass,
the flower falls off,
and all its splendour is gone.
So too will the rich man perish:
in the midst of his undertakings he will wither away.

INTERLUDIO                     Ps. 119(118), 67-68, 71-72, 75-76

Through your mercy, Lord, may I live.

Before I was humbled, I was in error,
but now I hold fast to your words.
You are gracious and your deeds are good;
let me know only what you decree.

The torment was a blessing to me:
it taught me what you decree.
The law from your mouth is more precious to me
than treasures of silver and gold.

What you have decreed is just, Lord, I know,
you have punished me rightly;
but let your mercy comfort me now,
as you once promised your servant.

ALLELUIA                   cf. Lk. 8, 15

Alleluia.
Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it in a good and noble heart,
and bear fruit through their steadfastness.
Alleluia.

GOSPEL     Mark 8,11-13

What sign does this generation desire?

From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark

At that time, the Pharisees came forward
and began to argue with Jesus.
To test him,
they asked him for a sign from heaven.
He sighed deeply from his heart and said:
“What does this generation desire a sign?
“Truly, I say to you:
in no case will a sign be given to this generation.”
He left them, got back into the boat
and returned to the other side.

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Laudato Si

Encyclical of

POPE FRANCIS

On Care for Our Common Home

30. While the quality of available water continues to deteriorate,
in some places there is a growing tendency to privatise this scarce
resource, turning it into a commodity subject to the laws of the
market. In reality, access to safe drinking water
a fundamental and universal human right, because it determines the
survival of people and is therefore a prerequisite for the
exercise of other human rights. This world has a
heavy social debt towards the poor who have no access
to drinking water, because this means that they are denied the right to life
, which is rooted in their inalienable dignity. This debt is partially
offset by greater economic efforts
to provide clean water and purification facilities for the poorest
people. However, there is a waste of water in developed
countries, but also in developing countries that have large reserves.
This makes it clear that the water problem is partly a matter of
education and culture, because there is no awareness of the seriousness
of this behaviour in a context of great inequality.
To be continued
Every day at 1 am