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
Following Christ means following Him in His total love and surrender to the Father, and in His self-giving to His fellow human beings. This passage from the Gospel expresses for us what is essentially Christian. It has been a dangerous and centuries-old temptation for Christians to separate these two. After all, they must be inextricably linked. Love for one’s neighbour without love for God is mere humanism. Love for God without love for one’s neighbour is an insult to God, for whom every human being is unique. If we maintain this balance, perhaps the words will also be addressed to us: You are not far from the kingdom of God.
FIRST READING Hos . 14, 2-10
We will never again say to the work of our hands: You are our God!
From the Prophet Hosea
Thus says the Lord:
“Return, Israel, to the Lord your God,
for you have stumbled over your guilt.
“Come with your words as a gift,
return to the Lord and say to Him:
You forgive all guilt;
accept also our good will:
We will give our words as sacrificial animals.
“Assyria cannot save us;
we will no longer ride on horses
and to the work of our hands
we will never again say: You are our God.
“You, Lord, are the one
with whom the orphan finds compassion.
“I will heal them of their unfaithfulness
and give them my love from my heart.
“My anger has turned away from them.
“I will be like the dew to Israel:
He will blossom like a lily
and take root like a tree in Lebanon.
“His shoots will spread out,
his splendour will be like that of the olive tree,
his fragrance like that of Lebanon.
“They shall sit again in his shade;
they shall be able to grow corn,
they shall blossom like the vine
and be renowned like the wine of Lebanon.
“What then have I to do with idols, Ephraim?
“It is I who answer him
and who look after him.
“I am like an evergreen cypress:
To me you owe your fruits.
“Who is wise enough to realise this,
who is sensible enough to understand it?
“Indeed, the ways of the Lord are right:
The righteous walk in them,
but rebels fall in them.”
INTERLUDIUM Ps . 81(80), 6c-8a, 8bc-9, 10-11, 14,17
I am the Lord, your only God,
so listen, my people, when I warn you!
Now I hear a voice I have never heard before:
I have taken the burden from your shoulders.
Your hands have laid down the carrying baskets;
you have called upon Me, and I have delivered you.
From the storm clouds I answered you,
at Meribah I tested you.
Hear then, my people, when I warn you,
Israel, listen to Me!
Never let a foreign god be among you,
do not worship gods from other countries.
For I am the Lord, your only God,
who brought you out of Egypt.
Oh, if only my people would listen to me,
if only Israel would walk in my ways;
then I would feed my people with wheat flour,
and satisfy them with honey from the rock.
VERSES BEFORE THE GOSPEL Ps. 95(94), 8ab
Listen today to the voice of the Lord,
and do not be stubborn.
GOSPEL Mk . 12, 28b-34
The Lord our God is the only Lord, you shall love Him with all your heart.
From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Mark
At that time, a scribe approached Jesus
and asked him,
“What is the first commandment?”
Jesus replied,
“The first is:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is the only Lord.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.
“The second is this:
You shall love your neighbour as yourself.
“There is no other commandment greater than these two.”
Then the scribe said to Him:
“You are right, Teacher, in saying that He is the only one and there is no other but Him;
and to love Him with all one’s heart,
with all his mind and with all his strength,
and to love one’s neighbour as oneself,
is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him,
“You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Laudato Si
Encyclical of
POPE FRANCIS
On Care for Our Common Home
55. Gradually, some countries are making significant progress,
developing more efficient controls and a more sincere fight
against corruption. The ecological sensitivity of peoples has
grown, even if it is not enough to change harmful consumption habits,
which do not seem to be decreasing, but are expanding
and developing. This is happening, to give just one simple example,
with the ever-increasing use and intensity of air conditioning:
in their pursuit of immediate profit,
the markets are stimulating demand even more.
If an outsider were to observe humanity, he would be astonished at such behaviour, which sometimes seems suicidal.
To be continued
Every day at 1 am.
The Bible text in this publication is taken fromThe New Bible Translation,
©Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap 2004/2007.
Reflections from Liturgical suggestions for weekdays and Sundays
Laudato Si Official English translation