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
Yesterday’s parables continue with the stoning scene. ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit’ and, in a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them’ are the final words. What is striking in this account is the mention of Paul, then still the persecutor of the Christians. Luke writes: ‘Paul agreed to the murder of this man, and Paul himself will later confirm this: “I persecuted God’s Church”’. Luke clearly has a purpose in emphasising Paul’s presence as a persecutor. The phrase about Paul follows immediately after the quotation of Stephen’s words – ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ Did Paul hear these words of forgiveness – and did he already understand at that moment that he had to make a radical break with his former life?
FIRST READING Acts 7, 51–8, 1a
Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
From the Acts of the Apostles
In those days Stephen addressed the people,
the elders and the scribes:
“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears,
you are still resisting the Holy Spirit,
just as your fathers did.
“Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?
“They killed those
who foretold the coming of the Righteous One,
whose betrayers and murderers you have now become,
you who
received the Law through the angels;
yet you have not kept it!”
When they heard this, they were furious;
and they gnashed their teeth at him.
But Stephen,
filled with the Holy Spirit,
looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God
and Jesus standing at the right hand of God;
and he cried out:
“I see heaven opened
and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
But they began to shout at the top of their voices,
covered their ears
and rushed at him as one.
They dragged him outside the gate and stoned him.
The witnesses laid their cloaks
at the feet of a young man named Saul.
Whilst they were stoning Stephen,
he prayed:
“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
Then he fell to his knees
and cried out in a loud voice:
“Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”
After these words, he fell asleep.
Saul approved of the murder of this man.
RESPONSORIAL Ps. 31(30), 3cd-4, 6ab, 7b, 8a, 17, 21ab
In trust I place my spirit in your hands, Lord.
Be for me a rock to which I may flee,
a strong fortress where I may dwell in safety.
For evermore You are my rock and my fortress,
Your Name is my guide and my leader.
With confidence I place my spirit in Your hands,
You will protect me, faithful God.
I place my trust in You, Lord,
I may rejoice in Your mercy.
Let Your countenance shine upon Your servant,
save me by Your grace.
The radiance of Your countenance protects me always
when people turn against me.
You take me into Your tent,
sheltered from evil tongues.
ALLELUIA Lk . 24, 46
Alleluia.
Christ had to suffer and die
and rise from the dead,
and thus enter into his glory.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL John 6, 30-35
It is not Moses, but my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.
From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John
In those days the crowd said to Jesus:
“What sign then will you perform,
so that we may see that we ought to believe in you?
“What are you actually doing?
“Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness,
as it is written:
He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”
Jesus replied:
“Truly, truly, I say to you:
what Moses gave you was not the bread from heaven;
the true bread from heaven
is given to you by my Father;
for the bread of God comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world.”
They said to him:
“Lord, give us that bread always.”
Jesus said to them:
“I am the bread of life:
whoever comes to me shall never hunger,
and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
Laudato Si
Encyclical of
Pope Francis
On Care for Our Common Home
92. On the other hand, when the heart is truly open to a universal community,
nothing and no one is excluded from that brotherhood.
Consequently, it is also true that indifference or cruelty towards
the other creatures of this world is ultimately always, in one way or another,
transferred to the way in which we treat other people.
The heart is one, and it will not be long before the contempt that leads someone
to mistreat an animal becomes visible in their relationship with other people.
Any cruelty towards any creature whatsoever “is an affront to human dignity ”.
We cannot consider ourselves people who truly love if we exclude a part of reality.
“Peace, justice and the preservation of thecreation are three issues that are
closely intertwined; one can never separate them so as to treat them individually,
lest we fall back into reductionism”. Everything is interconnected, and all people
are united as brothers and sisters in a wonderful pilgrimage,
bound by the love that God has for each
of his creatures and which also unites us with tender affection
to Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Brother River and Mother Earth.
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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