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. 

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".

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; 

God’s “concern” for every human being, shown especially by the protection of guardian angels, was one of the focal points of Pope Benedict XVI’s remarks to the faithful gathered for the Sunday Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square. The Pope also discussed this Sunday's Gospel, noting that the reading from the 21^st chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew, “closes with a particularly severe warning from Jesus, addressed to the chief priests and elders of the people: Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit. (Matt. 21.43).”

Jill Bevilacqua reflects on the Gospel for the Twentyseventh Sunday in Ordinary time in her programme "There's more in the Gospel than meets the eye."

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Gospel MT 21:33-43

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people:
"Hear another parable.
There was a landowner who planted a vineyard,
put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower. 
Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey.
When vintage time drew near,
he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce. 
But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat,
another they killed, and a third they stoned. 
Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones,
but they treated them in the same way. 
Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking,
'They will respect my son.'
But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another,
'This is the heir.
Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.'
They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 
What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?"
They answered him,
"He will put those wretched men to a wretched death
and lease his vineyard to other tenants
who will give him the produce at the proper times." 
Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes?
Therefore, I say to you,
the kingdom of God will be taken away from you
and given to a people that will produce its fruit."

Jill Bevilacqua reflects on the Gospel for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time in her programme "There's more in the Sunday Gospel than meets the eye." 

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Gospel MT 21:28-32

Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people:
"What is your opinion?
A man had two sons.
He came to the first and said,
'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.'
He said in reply, 'I will not, '
but afterwards changed his mind and went.
The man came to the other son and gave the same order.
He said in reply, 'Yes, sir, 'but did not go.
Which of the two did his father's will?"
They answered, "The first."
Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you,
tax collectors and prostitutes
are entering the kingdom of God before you.
When John came to you in the way of righteousness,
you did not believe him;
but tax collectors and prostitutes did.
Yet even when you saw that,
you did not later change your minds and believe him."