Invitation
May I draw your attention to:
the daily reading of the Gospel?
This invitation aims to share with you the joy of the Gospel. Everyone, without exception,
can experience that joy by opening their hearts
to the healing power of God’s word.
Available every day
Consideration
‘He who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, because I always do what pleases him.’ Simply meditating on these words, repeating them in our hearts, makes us happy people. Thanks to Jesus, through him and in him, we can share the same intimate bond with God. Do we feel abandoned or alone? God will not leave us alone. Doing what pleases the Lord? That is the perfect response to His love. In this way, we become people who increasingly resemble those for whom God intended from the beginning: people in His image and likeness.
FIRST READING Num. 21, 4-9
Anyone who has been bitten and looks up at the bronze serpent shall live.
From the Book of Numbers
At that time, the Israelites set out from Mount Hor
towards the Red Sea,
for they wished to go round Edom.
But on the way, the people grew impatient.
They turned against God and against Moses.
“Have you brought us out of Egypt only to die in the wilderness?
“There is no bread, there is no water,
and we are sick of this miserable food.”
Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people.
These bit the Israelites, and many of them died.
Now the people came to Moses and said:
“We have sinned,
for we have turned against the Lord and against you.
“Pray to the Lord that he may take these snakes away from us.”
Then Moses prayed for the people
and the Lord said to him:
“Make a bronze snake and set it on a pole.
“Anyone who has been bitten and looks at it,
shall live.”
Moses made a bronze serpent
and set it on a pole.
Anyone who had been bitten by a serpent
and looked at the bronze serpent,
lived.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Ps . 102(101), 2-3, 16-18, 19-21
Lord, hear my prayer,
let my cry come before you.
Lord, hear my prayer,
let my cry come before you.
Do not hide your face from me;
when troubles weigh me down.
Give me your attention, Lord,
hear me as soon as I call upon you.
The nations shall again revere your Name,
the rulers of the earth your glory, Lord;
when you rebuild the walls of Zion,
when You return there in full splendour;
when You hear the voice of the oppressed,
do not turn a deaf ear to their pleas.
Write this down for the coming generation
and let our sons give thanks to the Lord for it.
The Lord looks down from His holy height,
He looks down from heaven upon the earth.
He will hear the cry of the prisoners,
for the Lord is ever merciful,
his mercy is boundless.
GOSPEL John 8, 21-30
When you have lifted up the Son of Man, you will know that I am He.
From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John
At that time, Jesus spoke to the Pharisees:
“I am going away;
and you will seek Me,
but you will die in your sins.
‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’
The Jews then said:
‘Surely He is not going to commit suicide;
since He says:
“Where I am going, you cannot come?”
But He replied:
“You are from below,
I am from above.
“You are of this world,
I am not of this world.
“That is why I told you
that you will die in your sins,
for if you do not believe that I am,
you will die in your sins.”
They then asked Him:
“Who are You, then?”
Jesus replied:
“Why should I even speak to you about this?
“I could say much against you to condemn you.
“But He who sent Me is true,
and what I have heard from Him
that I speak to the world.”
They did not understand that He was speaking to them of the Father.
Then Jesus said:
“When you have lifted up the Son of Man,
then you will realise that I am He
and that I do nothing of My own accord,
but speak all these things,
just as the Father has taught Me.
“And He who sent Me
is with Me;
He has not left Me alone,
because I always do what pleases Him.”
When He had spoken thus,
many came to believe in Him.
____________________________________________________________
Laudato Si
Encyclical of
POPE FRANCIS
On Care for Our Common Home
66. The creation stories in the Book of Genesis, through their symbolic
and narrative language, offer a profound teaching on human existence
and its historical reality. These stories suggest that
human existence is based on three fundamental, closely
interconnected relationships: the relationship with God, with our neighbour, and with the earth.
According to the Bible, these three vital relationships have been broken, not only
outside us, but also within us. This rupture is sin. The harmony between
the Creator, humanity and all creation has been destroyed, because we have presumed to take
God’s place. This fact has also altered the nature of the command to subdue the earth (cf. Gen. 1:28) and to
cultivate and keep it (cf. Gen. 2:15). As a result, the
originally harmonious relationship between humanity and nature has turned into
a conflict (cf. Gen. 3:17–19). It is therefore significant that the
harmony which Saint Francis of Assisi experienced with all creatures
has been interpreted as a healing of this rupture. Saint Bonaventure said that through
universal reconciliation with all creatures, Francis was in some way restored to the state of original
innocence.40 Far from that model, today sin is visible in all its
devastating power in wars, in the various forms
of violence and abuse, in the abandonment of the most vulnerable, in the attacks on nature.
To be continued
Every day at 1 am
The Bible text in this edition is taken fromThe New Bible Translation,
©Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap 2004/2007.
Reflections from Liturgical Suggestions for Weekdays and Sundays
Laudato Si Official English translation
________________________________________________________________________