Wednesday in the fourteenth week

Invitation

May I ask you to consider
reading the Gospel every day?

This invitation aims to share the joy
of the Gospel with you. Everyone, without exception,
can experience that joy by opening their heart
to the healing power of God’s Word.

Available every day.

Consideration

The Gospel was not written to satisfy our curiosity. Christ has commissioned everyone to proclaim his message, to fight against evil and to do good. No one should consider themselves exempt from this task because they are too young, too uneducated or too shy. Nor did Jesus seek out twelve outstanding intellectuals. He sought, first and foremost, people who were willing to follow Him, who were capable of being the Lord’s friend and disciple to the very end. We, too, have been given that mission. What are we doing with it?

FIRST READING                  Hos. 10:1–3, 7–8, 12
Now is the time to seek the Lord.

From the prophet Hosea

Israel is a luxuriant vine
which also bears luxuriant fruit.
And the more abundant these fruits are,
the more altars Israel erects.
The more beautiful her land is,
the more beautifully she adorns her memorial stones.
Because they are so double-hearted,
they shall now pay for their guilt.
The Lord Himself deals the final blow to their altars
And shatters the stones of wisdom.
Yes, then we shall say:
‘We have no king,
For if we do not fear the Lord,
What use is a king to us?’
Samaria has been silenced,
her king is like a broken branch
floating on the water.
The high places of abomination – that sin of Israel – have been destroyed.
Have been destroyed.
Thorns and thistles overgrow their altars.
Then they cry out to the mountains: ‘Cover us!’
and to the hills: ‘Fall upon us!’
Sow righteousness,
and you shall reap what is good;
Reclaim the fallow land.
Now is the time to seek the Lord,
until He comes and showers you with righteousness.

INTERLUDIUM               Psalm 105(104), 2–3, 4–5, 6–7

Always seek the Lord’s face.

Sing to Him and strike up a tune for Him,
Tell of all His marvellous works.
Exalt the holy name of the Lord,
Rejoice, you who follow Him.

Abide in Him, in His mighty arm,
Always seek His face.
Never forget the wonders He has done,
His signs and His promises.

You, the descendants of His servant Abraham,
children of Jacob, His beloved.
The Lord, He is our only God,
what He decrees applies to the whole earth.

ALLELUIA            Ps. 95(94), 8ab

Alleluia.
Listen today to the voice of the Lord
And do not be stubborn.
Alleluia.

GOSPEL                    Mt. 10:1–7
Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

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

At that time, Jesus called his twelve disciples to him
and gave them the power
to cast out unclean spirits
and to heal every disease and infirmity.
These are the names of the twelve apostles:
First: Simon, called Peter,
with his brother Andrew;
James, son of Zebedee, with his brother John;
Philip and Bartholomew,
Thomas and Matthew the tax collector,
James, the son of Alphaeus,
Thaddeus, Simon the Zealot
and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.
Jesus sent these twelve out with the instruction:
“Do not go amongst the Gentiles,
nor enter any town of the Samaritans;
but you must go
to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
“Proclaim as you go:
‘The Kingdom of Heaven is near’”.

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Laudato Si

Encyclical of

POPE FRANCIS

On Care for Our Common Home

170. Some of the strategies for reducing emissions of polluting gases
are aimed at internationalising the costs to the
environment, with the risk of imposing on countries with fewer resources heavy obligations,
equivalent to those of the most industrialised countries. Imposing these measures penalises
the countries that are most in need of development. In this way, a new injustice is added
under the guise of care for the environment. In this case too, it is a case of going from bad to worse.
Since the effects of climate change will be felt over a long period of time,
even if rigorous measures were to be taken now,
some countries with scarce resources will need assistance to adapt to the effects
that are already becoming apparent and affecting their economies.
It remains certain that there are common but differentiated responsibilities,
simply because, as the bishops of Bolivia have said, “the countries that have benefited
from a high level of industrialisation at the cost of an
enormous amount of greenhouse gas emissions have a greater responsibility to contribute to
resolving the problems they have caused”

To becontinued
Every day at 1 am