Saturday – Our Lady on Saturday

Invitation

May I take this opportunity to 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 true situation in the Southern Kingdom is often portrayed in a veiled manner in the Book of Kings. The cult of Baal was widespread there, both amongst the people and amongst the kings, and the archaeological finds leave no room for doubt on this matter.
Today’s reading turns briefly to the Book of Chronicles, as this painful account is missing from the Book of Kings. Jonah’s disloyalty and the murder of Zechariah, the son of his protector, the priest Jehoiada, are indeed dramatic. In Luke 11:51, Jesus refers to this episode. Jonah himself is killed as a result of a conspiracy.

FIRST READING            2 Chron. 24:17–25

Zechariah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

From the Second Book of Chronicles

After the death of the priest Jehoiada
the leading men of Judah
and paid homage to King Joash.
And the king listened to them.
In those days, the people neglected
the temple of the Lord, the God of their fathers,
and worshipped sacred pillars and idols.
Because of this sin, a fierce wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem.
The Lord sent prophets to them to bring them to repentance;
who warned them, but they would not listen.
Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah,
the son of Jehoiada the priest.
He stood before the people and said to them:
‘Thus says God:
Why do you break the Lord’s commandments
without gaining anything by it?
‘Because you have forsaken the Lord,
He has forsaken you!”
But the people conspired against Zechariah
and, on the king’s orders, they stoned him
in the forecourt of the Lord’s temple.
King Joash had so little regard
of all the favours that Jehoiada had shown him,
that he had his son, Zechariah, put to death.
As he lay dying, he cried out:
‘May the Lord see this and avenge it!’
At the turn of the year, the Aramean army marched against Joash;
they invaded Judah and Jerusalem,
put all the leading men of the people to death,
and sent all the spoils they had taken
to the king of Damascus.
For although the Aramean army
consisted of only a few men,
the Lord caused a great deal of plunder to fall into their hands,
because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers,
had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers.
They also carried out the judgement against Joash.
For when they had left him in great pain,
his courtiers conspired against him
to avenge the blood of Jehoiada’s son.
They murdered him in his bed.
He was buried in the City of David,
but not in the tombs of the kings.

INTERLUDIUM                Ps. 89(88), 4–5, 29–30, 31–32, 33–34

He shall have my favour for ever.

I have made a covenant with David,
promised my chosen servant with an oath:
I will sustain your line for ever,
and your throne shall endure for all time.

He may count on my favour for ever;
my covenant with him shall stand for ever.
I will not put an end to his line,
nor his throne, as long as the heavens endure.

Should his sons turn away from my law
and no longer live according to my commandments;
if they violate my statutes,
and fail to obey my commands;
then I will punish their transgressions with the rod,
and make them atone for their guilt with blows.
But I will not withhold my favour from him;
I remain faithful to what I have promised.

 

ALLELUIA              Ps . 119(118), 18

Alleluia.
Open my eyes, O Lord, that I may behold
the glory of your law.
Alleluia.

 

GOSPEL            Mt. 6, 24–34

Do not worry about tomorrow.

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

At that time, Jesus said to his disciples:
“No one can serve two masters:
he will hate one and love the other,
or be devoted to one and despise the other.
“You cannot serve both God and Mammon.
“Therefore I tell you:
Do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or what you will drink,
nor for your body,
what you will wear.
“Is not life more than food
and the body more than the clothes?
“Look at the birds of the air:
they do not sow or reap or gather into barns,
yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
“Are you not then much more valuable than they?
“Besides, which of you is able
to add a single cubit to the span of his life, however much he may fret?
“And why do you worry about clothes?
“Look at the lilies in the field: how they grow.
“They neither toil nor spin.
“Yet I tell you:
Even Solomon in all his splendour
was not clothed like one of these.
“If God so clothes the plants of the field,
which is still standing today
and which is thrown into the oven tomorrow
clothes them like this,
how much more will he clothe you, you of little faith?
“So do not worry about the question:
what shall we eat
or what shall we drink
or what shall we wear?
“For the pagans pursue all these things.
“Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
“But seek first the Kingdom and its righteousness:
and all these things will be given to you as well.
“So do not worry about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will take care of itself.
“Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

_______________________________________________________________ 

Laudato Si

Encyclical of

POPE FRANCIS

On care for our common home

152. The housing crisis is acute in many parts of the world, both in rural areas and in major cities,
a serious problem because the state budget usually
covers only a fraction of the demand. Not only the poor, but a
large section of society face serious difficulties in
acquiring a home of their own. Home ownership is of great
importance for the dignity of the person and the development of the
family. It is a central theme in human ecology. Wherever
a particular place has already seen the development of chaotic clusters of dilapidated houses,
the priority must be to further develop those neighbourhoods,
not to uproot their inhabitants and
drive them away. When the poor live in polluted suburbs, “it is
necessary to proceed with a relocation and not to add suffering to suffering,
to provide the appropriate information in advance,
offer alternatives in the form of decent housing and to involve the stakeholders
directly involved in the process’. At the same time, creativity should
should lead to the integration of deprived neighbourhoods into a welcoming city.
“How beautiful are those cities that manage to overcome unhealthy mistrust
and integrate those who are different, turning that integration into a new factor
of development! How beautiful are the cities that, even in their architectural
planning, are full of spaces that connect, forge relationships
and foster mutual recognition!

To be continued
Every morning at 1 am