Sixth Week of Easter - Thursday
First Reading Acts 18:1-8
Paul stayed with them and worked and entered into discussions
in the synagogue.
A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles
Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named
Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy
with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the
Jews to leave Rome. He went to visit them and, because he
practiced the same trade, stayed with them and worked, for
they were tentmakers by trade. Every sabbath, he entered into
discussions in the synagogue, attempting to convince both
Jews and Greeks.
When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began
to occupy himself totally with preaching the word, testifying
to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. When they opposed him
and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them,
“Your blood be on your heads! I am clear of responsibility.
From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” So he left there and
went to a house belonging to a man named Titus Justus, a
worshiper of God; his house was next to a synagogue. Cripus,
the synagogue official, came to believe in the Lord along
with his entire household, and many of the Corinthians who
heard believed and were baptized.
The Word of the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia See Jn 14:18 - I will not leave you
orphans, says the Lord; I will come back to you, and your
hearts will rejoice. Alleluia, alleluia
Gospel Jn 16:16-20
You will grieve, but your grief will become joy.
A Reading from the Holy Gospel According to John
Jesus said to his disciples: “A little while and you will no
longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see
me.” So some of his disciples said to one another, “What does
this mean that he is saying to us, ‘A little while and you
will not see me, and again a little while and you will see
me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” So they said,
“What is this ‘little while’ of which he speaks? We do not
know what he means.” Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him,
so he said to them, “Are you discussing with one another what
I said, ‘A little while and you will see me, and again a
little while and you will see me’? Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will
grieve, but your grief will become joy.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
May 17th, 2007
Sixth Week of Easter - Wednesday
First Reading Acts 17:15,22 - 18:1
What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to
you.
A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles
After Paul’s escorts had taken him to Athens, they came away
with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon
as possible.
Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said: “You Athenians,
I see that in every respect you are very religious. For as I
walked around looking carefully at your shrines, I even
discovered an altar inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’ What
therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you. The
God who made the world and all that is in it, the Lord of
heaven and earth, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human
hands, nor is he served by human hands because he needs
anything. Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and
breath and everything. He made from one the whole human race
to dwell on the entire surface of the earth, and he fixed
the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions, so
that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for him and
find him, though indeed he is not far from any one of us.
For ‘In him we live and move and have our being,’ as even
some of your poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’
Since therefore we are the offspring of God, we ought not
to think that the divinity is like an image fashioned from
gold, silver, or stone by human art and imagination. God
has overlooked the times of ignorance, but now he demands
that all people everywhere repent because he has established
a day on which he will ‘judge the world with justice’ through
a man he has appointed, and he has provided confirmation for
all by raising him from the dead.”
When they heard about resurrection of the dead, some began
to scoff, but others said, “We should like to hear you on
this some other time.” And so Paul left them. But some did
join him, and became believers. Among them are Dionysius,
a member of the Court of Areopagus, a woman named Damaris,
and others with them.
After this he left Athens and went to Corinth.
The Word of the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia Jn 14:16 - I will ask the Father
and he will give you another Advocate to be with you
always. Alleluia, alleluia
Gospel Jn 16:12-15
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you to all
truth.
A Reading from the Holy Gospel According to John
Jesus said to his disciples: “I have much more to tell you,
but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit
of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak
on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare
to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because
he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything
that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he
will take from what is mine and declare it to you.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
May 15th, 2007
Sixth Week of Easter - Tuesday
First Reading Acts 16:22-34
Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will
be saved.
A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles
The crowd in Philippi joined in the attack on Paul and Silas,
and the magistrates had them stripped and ordered them to be
beaten with rods. After inflicting many blows on them, they
threw them into prison and instructed the jailer to guard
them securely. When he received these instructions, he put
them in the innermost cell and secured their feet to a
stake.
About midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying and singing
hymns to God as the prisoners listened, there was suddenly
such a severe earthquake that the foundations of the jail
shook; all the doors flew open, and the chains of all were
pulled loose. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison
doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill
himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul
shouted out in a loud voice, “Do no harm to yourself; we are
all here.” He asked for a light and rushed in and, trembling
with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought
them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And
they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your
household will be saved.” So they spoke the word of the Lord
to him and to everyone in his house. He took them in at that
hour of the night and bathed their wounds; then he and all
his family were baptized at once. He brought them up into
his house and provided a meal and with his household rejoiced
at having come to faith in God.
The Word of the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia See Jn 16:7, 13 - I will send to
you the Spirit of truth, says the Lord; he will guide you to
all truth. Alleluia, alleluia
Gospel Jn 16:5-11
For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you.
A Reading from the Holy Gospel According to John
Jesus said to his disciples: “Now I am going to the one who sent
me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But
because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts. But I
tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do
not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will
send him to you. And when he comes he will convict the world in
regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation: sin, because
they do not believe in me; righteousness, because I am going to
the Father and you will no longer see me; condemnation, because
the ruler of this world has been condemned.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
May 15th, 2007
Sixth Week of Easter - Monday
First Reading Acts 16:11-15
The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what
Paul taught.
A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles
We set sail from Troas, making a straight run for Samothrace,
and on the next day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi,
a leading city in that district of Macedonia and a Roman
colony. We spent some time in that city. On the sabbath we
went outside the city gate along the river where we thought
there would be a place of prayer. We sat and spoke with the
women who had gathered there. One of them, a woman named
Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, from the city of Thyatira,
a worshiper of God, listened, and the Lord opened her heart
to pay attention to what Paul was saying. After she and her
household had been baptized, she offered us an invitation,
“If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay
at my home,” and she prevailed on us.
The Word of the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia Jn 15:26b, 27a - The Spirit of
truth will testify to me, says the Lord, and you also
will testify. Alleluia, alleluia
Gospel Jn 15:26-16:4a
The Spirit of truth will testify to me.
A Reading from the Holy Gospel According to John
Jesus said to his disciples: “When the Advocate comes
whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth
who proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And
you also testify, because you have been with me from the
beginning.
“I have told you this so that you may not fall away. They
will expel you from the synagogues; in fact, the hour is
coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering
worship to God. They will do this because they have no
known either the Father or me. I have told you this so that
when their hour comes you may remember that I told you.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
May 13th, 2007
For the Lectionary readings of the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year C, click here.
May 13th, 2007
Fifth Week of Easter - Saturday
First Reading Acts 16:1-10
Come over to Macedonia and help us.
A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles
Paul reached also Derbe and Lystra where there was a
disciple named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was
a believer, but his father was a Greek. The brothers in
Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him, and Paul wanted
him to come along with him. On account of the Jews of that
region, Paul had him circumcised, for they all knew that
his father was a Greek. As they traveled from city to
city, they handed on to the people for observance the
decisions reached by the Apostles and presbyters in
Jerusalem. Day after day the churches grew stronger in
faith and increased in number.
They traveled through the Phrygian and Galatian territory
because they had been prevented by the Holy Spirit from
preaching the message in the province of Asia. When they
come to Mysia, they tried to go on into Bithynia, but the
Spirit of Jesus did not allow them, so they crossed through
Mysia and came down to Troas. During the night Paul had a
vision. A Macedonian stood before him and implored him
with these words, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
When he had seen the vision, we sought passage to Macedonia
at once concluding that God had called us to proclaim the
Good News to them.
The Word of the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia Col 3:1 - If then you were raised
with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated
at the right hand of God. Alleluia, alleluia
Gospel Jn 15:18-21
You do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you
out of the world.
A Reading from the Holy Gospel According to John
Jesus said to his disciples: “If the world hates you,
realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the
world, the world would love its own; but because you do
not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the
world, the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to
you, ‘No slave is greater than his master.’ If they
persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they
kept my word, they will also keep yours. And they will do
all these things to you on account of my name, because
they do not know the one who sent me.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
May 13th, 2007
Fifth Week of Easter - Friday
First Reading Acts 15:22-31
It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to
place on you any burden beyond these necessities.
A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles
The Apostles and presbyters, in agreement with the whole
Church, decided to choose representatives and to send them
to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. The ones chosen were
Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among
the brothers. This is the letter delivered by them: “The
Apostles and the presbyters, your brothers, to the brothers
in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia of Gentile origin: greetings.
Since we have heard that some of our number who went out
without any mandate from us have upset you with their
teachings and disturbed your peace of mind, we have with
one accord decided to choose representatives and to send
them to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, who
have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ. So we are sending Judas and Silas who will also
convey this same message by word of mouth: ‘It is the
decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you
any burden beyond these necessities, namely, to abstain
from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meats
of strangled animals, and from unlawful marriage. If you
keep free of these, you will be doing what is right.
Farewell.’”
And so they were sent on their journey. Upon their arrival
in Antioch they called the assembly together and delivered
the letter. When the people read it, they were delighted
with the exhortation.
The Word of the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia
Jn 15:15b - I call you my
friends, says the Lord, for I have made known to you all
that the Father has told me. Alleluia, alleluia
Gospel Jn 15:12-17
This is my commandment: love one another
A Reading from the Holy Gospel According to John
Jesus said to his disciples: “This is my commandment: love
one another as I love you. No one has greater love than
this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are
my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer
call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his
master is doing. I have called you friends, because I
have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and
appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may
give you. This I command you: love one another.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
May 10th, 2007
Fifth Week of Easter - Thursday
First Reading Acts 15:7-21
It is my judgment, therefore, that we ought to stop
troubling the Gentiles who turn to God.
A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles
After much debate had taken place, Peter got up and said to
the Apostles and the presbyters, “My brothers, you are well
aware that from early days God made his choice among you
that through my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of
the Gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore
witness by granting them the Holy Spirit just as he did us.
He made no distinction between us and them, for by faith
he purified their hearts. Why, then, are you now putting
God to the test by placing on the shoulders of the disciples
a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to
bear? On the contrary, we believe that we are saved through
the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they.” The
whole assembly fell silent, and they listened while Paul
and Barnabas described the signs and wonders God had worked
among the Gentiles through them.
After they had fallen silent, James responded, “My brothers,
listen to me. Symeon has described how God first concerned
himself with acquiring from among the Gentiles a people for
his name. The words of the prophets agree with this, as is
written:
After this I shall return and rebuild the fallen hut of
David; from its ruins I shall rebuild it and raise it up
again, so that the rest of humanity may seek out the Lord,
even all the Gentiles on whom my name is invoked. Thus says
the Lord who accomplishes these things, known from of old.
It is my judgment, therefore, that we ought to stop troubling
the Gentiles who turn to God, but tell them by letter to avoid
pollution from idols, unlawful marriage, the meat of strangled
animals, and blood. For Moses, for generations now, has had
those who proclaim him in every town, as he has been read in
the synagogues every sabbath.”
The Word of the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia Jn 10:27 - My sheep hear my voice,
says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me. Alleluia,
alleluia
Gospel Jn 15:9-11
Remain in my love, that your joy might be complete.
A Reading from the Holy Gospel According to John
Jesus said to his disciples: “As the Father loves me, so I
also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments,
you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s
commandments and remain in his love.
“I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and
your joy might be complete.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
May 9th, 2007
Fifth Week of Easter - Wednesday
First Reading Acts 15:1-6
They decided to go up to Jerusalem to the Apostles and
presbyters about this question.
A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles
Some who had come down from Judea were instructing the
brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic
practice, you cannot be saved.” Because there arose no little
dissension and debate by Paul and Barnabas with them, it was
decided that Paul, Barnabas, and some of the others should
go up to Jerusalem to the Apostles and presbyters about this
question. They were sent on their journey by the Church, and
passed through Phoenicia and Samaria telling of the conversion
of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brethren.
When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the
Church, as well as by the Apostles and the presbyters, and
they reported what God had done with them. But some from the
party of the Pharisees who had become believers stood up
and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and direct
them to observe the Mosaic law.”
The Apostles and the presbyters met together to see about
this matter.
The Word of the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia Jn 15:4a, 5b - Remain in me, as I
remain in you, says the Lord; whoever remains in me will bear
much fruit. Alleluia, alleluia
Gospel Jn 15:1-8
Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit.
A Reading from the Holy Gospel According to John
Jesus said to his disciples: “I am the true vine, and my
Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me
that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes
so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because
of the word that I spoke to you. Remain in me, as I remain
in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless
it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain
in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains
in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me
you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be
thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them
and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. If you
remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever
you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father
glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
May 9th, 2007
Fifth Week of Easter - Tuesday
First Reading Acts 14:19-28
They called the Church together and reported what God had
done with them.
A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles
In those days, some Jews from Antioch and Iconium arrived and
won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of
the city, supposing that he was dead. But when the disciples
gathered around him, he got up and entered the city. On the
following day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.
After they had proclaimed the good news to that city and
made a considerable number of disciples, they returned to
Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch. They strengthened the
spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in
the faith, saying, “It is necessary for us to undergo many
hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.” They appointed
presbyters for them in each Church and, with prayer and
fasting, commended them to the Lord in whom they had put
their faith. Then they traveled through Pisidia and reached
Pamphylia. After proclaiming the word at Perga they went
down to Attalia. From there they sailed to Antioch, where
they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they
had now accomplished. And when they arrived, they called the
Church together and reported what God had done with them and
how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. Then
they spent no little time with the disciples.
The Word of the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia See Lk 24:46, 26 - Christ had to
suffer and to rise from the dead, and so enter into his
glory. Alleluia, alleluia
Gospel Jn 14:27-31a
My peace I give to you.
A Reading from the Holy Gospel According to John
Jesus said to his disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my
peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to
you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard
me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’
If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the
Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have
told you this before it happens, so that when it happens
you may believe. I will no longer speak much with you, for
the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me,
but the world must know that I love the Father and that I
do just as the Father has commanded me.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
May 7th, 2007
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