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
Everything in this period is in a minor key. It is dark everywhere. They are alone; they are driven off course; they are afraid. Then comes the great turning point: “It is I” (“I am” words). With Jesus near, everything changes. This is a typically Christian text. Everything is centred on Jesus. Here, too, there are Old Testament echoes of Yahweh striding over the waves, mastering the chaos. The relevance to our own lives is obvious. Whatever happens – loneliness, distress, confusion – in the presence of Jesus, everything changes.
FIRST READING Acts 6, 1-7
The apostles chose seven men, full of faith and the Holy Spirit.
From the Acts of the Apostles
In those days,
as the number of disciples continued to grow,
the Hellenists began to grumble against the Hebrews,
because in the daily distribution of food,
their widows were being overlooked.
The Twelve then called the disciples together and said:
“It is not right for us to neglect the word of God,
by devoting ourselves to the distribution of food.
“Therefore, brothers, look for seven men from among you,
of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom.
We will then entrust this task to them,
whilst we ourselves will devote ourselves to prayer
and to the ministry of the word.”
This proposal met with the approval of the whole assembly,
and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit,
Philip, Prochorus,
Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas,
and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch.
These were presented to the apostles,
who, after praying, laid their hands on them.
The word of God spread,
and the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly;
a large number of priests also became believers.
RESPONSORIAL Ps. 33(32), 1-2, 4-5, 18-19
Grant us, Lord, your mercy,
as we place our trust in you.
or: Alleluia.
Rejoice, you who are righteous, in the Lord;
let all who are upright praise him.
Honour the Lord with the sound of the lyre,
and play for Him on the harp.
For the word of the Lord is true,
and all His works are faithful.
He loves justice and righteousness,
the earth is full of His kindness.
It is God who watches over His servants,
those who trust in His favour.
He will deliver them from death,
and feed them in times of famine.
ALLELUIA
Alleluia.
Christ rose from the tomb,
He who died for us on the cross.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL John 6, 16-21
They saw Jesus walking on the lake.
From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
John
When evening came,
Jesus’ disciples went down to the lake.
They got into a boat
and set out for the other side of the lake,
towards Capernaum.
By the time darkness had fallen,
Jesus had not yet joined them.
The lake became rough because there was a strong wind.
After rowing for about twenty-five or thirty stadia,
they saw Jesus
walking across the lake towards the boat,
and they were afraid.
But Jesus spoke to them:
“It is I; do not be afraid.”
They wanted to take Him on board,
but immediately afterwards the boat reached the shore
towards which they were heading.
Laudato Si
Encyclical of
POPE FRANCIS
On Care for Our Common Home
90. This does not mean equating all living beings and depriving humanity of the special value that simultaneously entails a tremendous responsibility. Nor does it entail a deification of the earth, which would deprive us of our calling to work with it and protect its fragility. Such views
would ultimately create a new imbalance in an attempt to escape the reality that challenges us. One sometimes sees an obsession with denying the human person any superiority.
However, we ought to be concerned that other living beings are treated in an irresponsible manner. But we ought above all to be outraged by the immense inequality that exists amongst us humans, because we continue to tolerate the fact that some consider themselves more worthy than others. We no longer notice that some are dragged along in humiliating misery, with no means of overcoming it, whilst others do not even know what to do with what they possess, vainly parading a supposed sense of superiority and a level of wastefulness that it would be impossible to generalise without destroying the
planet. In fact, we continue to allow some to feel
more human than others, as if they were born with greater rights.
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
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