Maria, ster van de evangelisatie

Book of Revelation 7:2-4.9-14. 
Then I saw another angel come up from the East, holding the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were given power to damage the land and the sea, 
"Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God." 
I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal, one hundred and forty-four thousand marked from every tribe of the Israelites: 
After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. 
They cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb." 
All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, 
and exclaimed: "Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen." 
Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, "Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?" 
I said to him, "My lord, you are the one who knows." He said to me, "These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 

Pope Benedict XVI prayed for the victims of recent flooding in Thailand and Italy. The Holy Father began his remarks to the faithful following the Angelus prayer this Sunday in St Peter’s Square by recalling the devastation in both countries. “Dear brothers and sisters,” he said, “I express my closeness to the people of Thailand hit by serious flooding, as well as in Italy, to those of Liguria and Tuscany, recently damaged by the consequences of heavy rains.”

Pope Benedict XVI received the bishops of Angola and Sao Tomé on Saturday, who are here in Rome for their ad limina visits. In greeting the bishops, the Holy Father recalled his March, 2009 visit to Luanda, during which he said he was able to celebrate Jesus Christ in the midst of a people who never tire of seeking to love and serve with generosity and joy. Pope Benedict also used the occasion to explain that his recent decision to proclaim the Year of Faith from October 2012 to November 2013, was so that the whole Church might demonstrate to all a more beautiful and credible face, that the face of the Lord might show through the Church more clearly.

Jill Bevilacqua brings us reflections for the Thirtyfirst Sunday of the Year in her programme "There's more in the Gospel than meets the eye". Readings by Seàn-Patrick Lovett.

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Gospel Mt 23: 1-12

Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying,
"The scribes and the Pharisees
have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. 
Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you,
but do not follow their example. 
For they preach but they do not practice. 
They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry
and lay them on people's shoulders, 
but they will not lift a finger to move them. 
All their works are performed to be seen. 
They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. 
They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues,
greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation 'Rabbi.'
As for you, do not be called 'Rabbi.'
You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers. 
Call no one on earth your father;
you have but one Father in heaven.
Do not be called 'Master';
you have but one master, the Christ. 
The greatest among you must be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled;
but whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

Book of Malachi 1:14b.2:1-2b.8-10. 
Cursed is the deceiver, who has in his flock a male, but under his vow sacrifices to the LORD a gelding; For a great King am I, says the LORD of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations. 
And now, O priests, this commandment is for you: If you do not listen, 
And if you do not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name, says the LORD of hosts, I will send a curse upon you and of your blessing I will make a curse. Yes, I have already cursed it, because you do not lay it to heart. 
But you have turned aside from the way, and have caused many to falter by your instruction; You have made void the covenant of Levi, says the LORD of hosts. 
I, therefore, have made you contemptible and base before all the people, Since you do not keep my ways, but show partiality in your decisions. 
Have we not all the one Father? Has not the one God created us? Why then do we break faith with each other, violating the covenant of our fathers? 

Psalms 131(130):1.2.3. 
A song of ascents. Of David. LORD, my heart is not proud; nor are my eyes haughty. I do not busy myself with great matters, with things too sublime for me. 
Rather, I have stilled my soul, hushed it like a weaned child. Like a weaned child on its mother's lap, so is my soul within me. 
Israel, hope in the LORD, now and forever. 

Pope Benedict XVI held his weekly General Audience Wednesday, during which he continued his catechetical series on prayer. The focus of the catechesis this was Psalm 136:

Known as the Great Hallel, this Psalm is a great hymn of praise which was traditionally sung at the conclusion of the Passover meal. As such, it was probably sung by Jesus and his disciples at the Last Supper (cf. Mt 26:30). The Psalm takes the form of a litany praising God’s mighty deeds in the creation of the world and in the history of Israel; each reference to God’s saving work is followed by the refrain: “For his steadfast love endures for ever”. It is God’s faithful love, in fact, which is revealed in the ordered beauty of the universe and in the great events of Israel’s liberation from slavery and the pilgrimage of the Chosen People to the land of promise. As we sing this great litany of God’s mighty works, we give thanks that the depth of his steadfast and merciful love was fully revealed in the coming of his only-begotten Son.

Assisi 2011 was the theme of a press conference held in the Vatican on Tuesday looking ahead to next week’s Day of Reflection, Dialogue and Prayer for Peace and Justice in the World. Organised by the Pontifical Councils for Christian Unity, for Interreligious Dialogue, for Justice and Peace and for Culture, next Thursday’s event was called for by Pope Benedict on January 1^st and will bring together in the Umbrian hill town some 300 representatives of all the world’s major religions, as Philippa Hitchen reports:

It was in a packed St Peter’s Basilica on Sunday that Pope Benedict XVI declared that the year 2012 to 2013 was to be a”Year of Faith”. The Holy Father made the announcement during his homily at a mass for the New Evangelisation. The Eucharistic celebration marked the conclusion of a meeting organised by Pontifical Council for the New Evangelisation, which the Pope addressed on Saturday.

Speaking about his decision to invoke this “Year of Faith” Pope Benedict said it was "to give new impetus to the mission of the whole Church to lead men out of the desert in which they often find themselves, to the place of life, of friendship with Christ".

There's more in the Gospel than meets the eye! This week Jill Bevilacqua and Seàn-Patrick Lovett bring us reflections and readings for the Twentyninth Sunday of the Year: 

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Gospel Mt 22:15-21

The Pharisees went off
and plotted how they might entrap Jesus in speech. 
They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying,
"Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man
and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.
And you are not concerned with anyone's opinion,
for you do not regard a person's status.
Tell us, then, what is your opinion:
Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?" 
Knowing their malice, Jesus said,
"Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? 
Show me the coin that pays the census tax." 
Then they handed him the Roman coin. 
He said to them, "Whose image is this and whose inscription?" 
They replied, "Caesar's."
At that he said to them,
"Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar
and to God what belongs to God."

Book of Isaiah 45:1.4-6. 
Thus says the LORD to his anointed, Cyrus, whose right hand I grasp, Subduing nations before him, and making kings run in his service, Opening doors before him and leaving the gates unbarred: 
For the sake of Jacob, my servant, of Israel my chosen one, I have called you by your name, giving you a title, though you knew me not. 
I am the LORD and there is no other, there is no God besides me. It is I who arm you, though you know me not, 
so that toward the rising and the setting of the sun men may know that there is none besides me. I am the LORD, there is no other;