Monday 15 April
2013
Readings at Mass
____________________
First reading
Acts
6:8-15
Stephen was filled with grace and power
and began to work miracles and great signs among the people. But then certain
people came forward to debate with Stephen, some from Cyrene and Alexandria who
were members of the synagogue called the Synagogue of Freedmen, and others from
Cilicia and Asia. They found they could not get the better of him because of
his wisdom, and because it was the Spirit that prompted what he said. So they
procured some men to say, ‘We heard him using blasphemous language against
Moses and against God.’ Having in this way turned the people against him as
well as the elders and scribes, they took Stephen by surprise, and arrested him
and brought him before the Sanhedrin. There they put up false witnesses to say,
‘This man is always making speeches against this Holy Place and the Law. We
have heard him say that Jesus the Nazarene is going to destroy this Place and
alter the traditions that Moses handed down to us.’ The members of the
Sanhedrin all looked intently at Stephen, and his face appeared to them like
the face of an angel.
Stephen was a Hellenist, he spoke
Greek and came from outside Palestine. Like many Hellenist Jews he may have resented
the monopoly of the Temple – there was only one Temple and that in Jerusalem. That
was the sacred place for the Jews and the place of all sacrifice. The Hellenists
were the first to recognise that new converts would not need to become Jews.
Psalm
Psalm
118:23-24,26-27,29-30
They are happy whose life is blameless.
or
Alleluia!
Though the princes sit plotting against
me
I ponder on your statutes.
Your will is my delight;
your statutes are my counsellors.
They are happy whose life is blameless.
or
Alleluia!
I declared my ways and you answered;
teach me your statutes.
Make me grasp the way of your precepts
and I will muse on your wonders.
They are happy whose life is blameless.
or
Alleluia!
Keep me from the way of error
and teach me your law.
I have chosen the way of truth
with your decrees before me.
They are happy whose life is blameless.
or
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel Acclamation
Jn20:29
Alleluia, alleluia!
‘You believe, Thomas, because you can
see me.
Happy are those who have not seen and
yet believe.
Alleluia!
Or
Mt4:4
Alleluia, alleluia!
Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the
mouth of God.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
John
6:22-29
After Jesus had fed the five thousand,
his disciples saw him walking on the water. Next day, the crowd that had stayed
on the other side saw that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not
got into the boat with his disciples, but that the disciples had set off by
themselves. Other boats, however, had put in from Tiberias, near the place
where the bread had been eaten. When the people saw that neither Jesus nor his
disciples were there, they got into those boats and crossed to Capernaum to
look for Jesus. When they found him on the other side, they said to him, ‘Rabbi,
when did you come here?’
Jesus
answered:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
you are not looking for me because you
have seen the signs
but because you had all the bread you
wanted to eat.
Do not work for food that cannot last,
but work for food that endures to
eternal life,
the kind of food the Son of Man is
offering you,
for on him the Father, God himself, has
set his seal.’
Then they said to him, ‘What must we do if we are to
do the works that God wants?’ Jesus gave them this answer, ‘This is working for
God: you must believe in the one he has sent.’
Jesus and the Words
of Eternal Life
Jesus tells the Jews and us not
to make the possession of things the be all and end all of life. They will slip
through our fingers. We must work for that which lasts forever. Jesus does not
trust the faith of these disciples. It is based on the startling miracle of the
loaves. They see him as no more than a wonder-worker. He wants to lead them to
faith in him as Saviour and Source of Eternal Life. What is the faith God
demands? It is not just accepting that Jesus is God and Saviour. When asked if
the disciples will also go away, Peter will say, to whom shall we go you have
the Words of Eternal Life. Saving faith is to know Jesus and commit our lives
to him. We are to live with and for him. Is your life lived for him alone?
Tuesday 16 April
2013
Readings at Mass
____________________
First reading
Acts
7:51-8:1
Stephen said to the people, the elders
and the scribes: ‘You stubborn people, with your pagan hearts and pagan ears.
You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do.
Can you name a single prophet your ancestors never persecuted? In the past they
killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, and now you have become
his betrayers, his murderers. You who had the Law brought to you by angels are
the very ones who have not kept it.’
They
were infuriated when they heard this, and ground their teeth at him.
But
Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of
God, and Jesus standing at God’s right hand. ‘I can see heaven thrown open’ he
said ‘and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ At this all the
members of the council shouted out and stopped their ears with their hands;
then they all rushed at him, sent him out of the city and stoned him. The
witnesses put down their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul. As
they were stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’
Then he knelt down and said aloud, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them’;
and with these words he fell asleep. Saul entirely approved of the killing.
____________________
Psalm
Psalm
30:3-4,6,8,17,21
Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my
spirit.
or
Alleluia!
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a mighty stronghold to save me,
for you are my rock, my stronghold.
For your name’s sake, lead me and guide
me.
Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my
spirit.
or
Alleluia!
Into your hands I commend my spirit.
It is you who will redeem me, Lord.
As for me, I trust in the Lord:
let me be glad and rejoice in your love.
Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my
spirit.
or
Alleluia!
Let your face shine on your servant.
Save me in your love.
You hide them in the shelter of your
presence
from the plotting of men.
Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my
spirit.
or
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Acclamation
Jn10:14
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;
I know my own sheep and my own know me.
Alleluia!
Or
Jn6:35
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the bread of life, says the Lord.
He who comes to me will never be hungry;
he who believes in me will never thirst.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
John
6:30-35
They people said to Jesus, ‘What sign
will you give to show us that we should believe in you? What work will you do?
Our fathers had manna to eat in the desert; as scripture says: He gave them
bread from heaven to eat.’ Jesus answered:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
it was not Moses who gave you bread from
heaven,
it is my Father who gives you the bread
from heaven,
the true bread;
for the bread of God
is that which comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world.’
‘Sir,’ they said ‘give us that bread
always.’ Jesus answered:
‘I am the bread of life.
He who comes to me will never be hungry;
he who believes in me will never thirst.’
The
End of Searching
Bread is a symbol for everything we
need for life in this world. This bread cannot give eternal life. However much
we have of his world’s goods everything ends after a few years with our death.
It can therefore never satisfy the heart of man. Jesus promises to give us that
which will satisfy the heart of man so that we do not long for anything more.
This is the bread that has come done from heaven. They do not understand him
correctly. Jesus explains, “I am the bread of life”. Whoever comes to know
Jesus and has an intimate relationship with him will not hunger or thirst for
anything more. They will be truly rich and in every way satisfied. This is not
a theory. It is to be an experience. It comes through daily seeking a
relationship with him. Have you experienced the
fulfilment offered by Jesus?
Wednesday 17
April 2013
Readings at Mass
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First reading
Acts
8:1-8
That day a bitter persecution started
against the church in Jerusalem, and everyone except the apostles fled to the
country districts of Judaea and Samaria.
There
were some devout people, however, who buried Stephen and made great mourning
for him.
Saul
then worked for the total destruction of the Church; he went from house to
house arresting both men and women and sending them to prison.
Those
who had escaped went from place to place preaching the Good News. One of them
was Philip who went to a Samaritan town and proclaimed the Christ to them. The
people united in welcoming the message Philip preached, either because they had
heard of the miracles he worked or because they saw them for themselves. There
were, for example, unclean spirits that came shrieking out of many who were
possessed, and several paralytics and cripples were cured. As a result there
was great rejoicing in that town.
____________________
Psalm
Psalm
65:1-7
Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
Cry out with joy to God all the earth,
O sing to the glory of his name.
O render him glorious praise.
Say to God: ‘How tremendous your deeds!
Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
Because of the greatness of your
strength
your enemies cringe before you.
Before you all the earth shall bow;
shall sing to you, sing to your name!’
Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
Come and see the works of God,
tremendous his deeds among men.
He turned the sea into dry land,
they passed through the river dry-shod.
Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
Let our joy then be in him;
he rules for ever by his might.
His eyes keep watch over the nations:
let rebels not rise against him.
Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Acclamation
Jn10:27
Alleluia, alleluia!
The sheep that belong to me listen to my
voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they follow me.
Alleluia!
Or
cf.Jn6:40
Alleluia, alleluia!
It is my Father’s will, says the Lord,
that whoever believes in the Son shall
have eternal life,
and that I shall raise him up on the
last day.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
John
6:35-40
Jesus said to the crowd:
‘I am the bread of life.
He who comes to me will never be hungry;
he who believes in me will never thirst.
But, as I have told you,
you can see me and still you do not
believe.
All that the Father gives me will come
to me,
and whoever comes to me I shall not turn
him away;
because I have come from heaven, not to
do my own will,
but to do the will of the one who sent
me.
Now the will of him who sent me
is that I should lose nothing of all
that he has given to me,
and that I should raise it up on the
last day.
Yes, it is my Father’s will
that whoever sees the Son and believes
in him shall have eternal life,
and that I shall raise him up on the
last day.’
Jesus,
Source of our Strength
Jesus says, “I am”. This is the name for
God in the Old Testament. Jesus uses it in seven different ways as he relates
to us in different ways. Today he says, “I am the bread of life”. ‘Bread’
satisfies and nourishes us. Jesus is the source of our strength and by his
presence in us nourishes the life of God within us. Through him, we become more
and more like God himself. “We will become like him, because we will see him as
he is” (1John 2:3). “In him we can do all things” (St. Paul
Thursday 18 April
2013
Readings at Mass
____________________
First reading
Acts
8:26-40
The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip
saying, ‘Be ready to set out at noon along the road that goes from Jerusalem
down to Gaza, the desert road.’ So he set off on his journey. Now it happened
that an Ethiopian had been on pilgrimage to Jerusalem; he was a eunuch and an
officer at the court of the kandake, or queen, of Ethiopia, and was in fact her
chief treasurer. He was now on his way home; and as he sat in his chariot he
was reading the prophet Isaiah. The Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go up and meet that
chariot.’ When Philip ran up, he heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and
asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ ‘How can I’ he replied ‘unless
I have someone to guide me?’ So he invited Philip to get in and sit by his
side. Now the passage of scripture he was reading was this:
Like a sheep that is led to the
slaughter-house,
like a lamb that is dumb in front of its
shearers,
like these he never opens his mouth.
He has been humiliated and has no one to
defend him.
Who will ever talk about his
descendants,
since his life on earth has been cut
short!
The eunuch turned to Philip and said, ‘Tell
me, is the prophet referring to himself or someone else?’ Starting, therefore,
with this text of scripture Philip proceeded to explain the Good News of Jesus
to him.
Further
along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, ‘Look, there is
some water here; is there anything to stop me being baptised?’ He ordered the chariot
to stop, then Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water and Philip
baptised him. But after they had come up out of the water again Philip was
taken away by the Spirit of the Lord, and the eunuch never saw him again but
went on his way rejoicing. Philip found that he had reached Azotus and
continued his journey proclaiming the Good News in every town as far as
Caesarea.
____________________
Psalm
Psalm
65:8-9,16-17,20
Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
O peoples, bless our God,
let the voice of his praise resound,
of the God who gave life to our souls
and kept our feet from stumbling.
Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
Come and hear, all who fear God.
I will tell what he did for my soul:
to him I cried aloud,
with high praise ready on my tongue.
Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
Blessed be God
who did not reject my prayer
nor withhold his love from me.
Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord, who hung for us upon the tree,
has risen from the tomb.
Alleluia!
Or
Jn6:51
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the living bread which has come
down from heaven,
says the Lord.
Anyone who eats this bread will live for
ever.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
John
6:44-51
Jesus said to the crowd:
‘No one can come to me
unless he is drawn by the Father who
sent me,
and I will raise him up at the last day.
It is written in the prophets:
They will all be taught by God,
and to hear the teaching of the Father,
and learn from it,
is to come to me.
Not that anybody has seen the Father,
except the one who comes from God:
he has seen the Father.
I tell you most solemnly,
everybody who believes has eternal life.
‘I am the bread of life.
Your fathers ate the manna in the desert
and they are dead;
but this is the bread that comes down
from heaven,
so that a man may eat it and not die.
I am the living bread which has come
down from heaven.
Anyone who eats this bread will live for
ever;
and the bread that I shall give is my
flesh,
for the life of the world.’
Those in Jesus Live
Forever
The Father calls everyone but in whispers. He will not
violate our freedom. Those who love the Truth surrender to the Truth and come
to Jesus. We must accept Jesus as we accept food: we must listen to his Word
and embrace it. He comes in ‘the flesh’: in the weakness of humanity, in the
human condition of pain and suffering. He has embraced the anguish of human
life. When he embraced the human condition, he embraced each human being too.
He embraced you. To believe is to accept Jesus in all his humanity, with all
his bloody wounds. He gives you everything he has. He gives you the Holy Spirit,
who gives you God’s life as his child. To believe is to live in Jesus. He lives
forever. Those in him also live forever. Have you accepted Jesus in his
humanity? Have you eternal life in you now?
Friday 19 April
2013
Readings at Mass
____________________
First reading
Acts
9:1-20
Saul was still breathing threats to
slaughter the Lord’s disciples. He had gone to the high priest and asked for
letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, that would authorise him to
arrest and take to Jerusalem any followers of the Way, men or women, that he
could find.
Suddenly,
while he was travelling to Damascus and just before he reached the city, there
came a light from heaven all round him. He fell to the ground, and then he
heard a voice saying, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ ‘Who are you,
Lord?’ he asked, and the voice answered, ‘I am Jesus, and you are persecuting
me. Get up now and go into the city, and you will be told what you have to do.’
The men travelling with Saul stood there speechless, for though they heard the
voice they could see no one. Saul got up from the ground, but even with his
eyes wide open he could see nothing at all, and they had to lead him into
Damascus by the hand. For three days he was without his sight, and took neither
food nor drink.
A
disciple called Ananias who lived in Damascus had a vision in which he heard
the Lord say to him, ‘Ananias!’ When he replied, ‘Here I am, Lord’, the Lord
said, ‘You must go to Straight Street and ask the house of Judas for someone
called Saul, who comes from Tarsus. At this moment he is praying, having had a
vision of a man called Ananias coming in and laying hands on him to give him
back his sight.’
When
he heard that, Ananias said, ‘Lord, several people have told me about this man
and all the harm he has been doing to your saints in Jerusalem. He has only
come here because he holds a warrant from the chief priests to arrest everybody
who invokes your name.’ The Lord replied, ‘You must go all the same, because
this man is my chosen instrument to bring my name before pagans and pagan kings
and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he himself
must suffer for my name.’ Then Ananias went. He entered the house, and at once
laid his hands on Saul and said, ‘Brother Saul, I have been sent by the Lord
Jesus who appeared to you on your way here so that you may recover your sight
and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ Immediately it was as though scales fell
away from Saul’s eyes and he could see again. So he was baptised there and
then, and after taking some food he regained his strength.
He
began preaching in the synagogues, ‘Jesus is the Son of God.’
____________________
Psalm
Psalm
116:1-2
Go out to the whole world; proclaim the
Good News.
or
Alleluia!
O praise the Lord, all you nations,
acclaim him all you peoples!
Go out to the whole world; proclaim the
Good News.
or
Alleluia!
Strong is his love for us;
he is faithful for ever.
Go out to the whole world; proclaim the
Good News.
or
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Acclamation
cf.Lk24:46,26
Alleluia, alleluia!
It was ordained that the Christ should
suffer
and rise from the dead,
and so enter into his glory.
Alleluia!
Or
Jn6:56
Alleluia, alleluia!
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
lives in me, and I live in him,
says the Lord.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
John
6:52-59
The Jews started arguing with one
another: ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ they said. Jesus replied:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
if you do not eat the flesh of the Son
of Man and drink his blood,
you will not have life in you.
Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink
my blood
has eternal life,
and I shall raise him up on the last
day.
For my flesh is real food
and my blood is real drink.
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
lives in me
and I live in him.
As I, who am sent by the living Father,
myself draw life from the Father,
so whoever eats me will draw life from
me.
This is the bread come down from heaven;
not like the bread our ancestors ate:
they are dead,
but anyone who eats this bread will live
for ever.’
He taught this doctrine at Capernaum, in
the synagogue.
Jesus
Gives Himself to Others through Us
“Flesh” is an Aramaic expression for
humanity, “Blood” the expression for life. Jesus tells us that we are to
receive him in all his humanity and in a humanity, which gives his life for us.
He gives himself so that we may live forever. We will find all our fulfilment
in him because his humanity is “true food” and his life poured out for us is
“true drink”. There will total union in love in which Jesus gives us himself with
the life of God. Living in him, we live with his life. Our old life has gone. Jesus
gives himself supremely in the Holy Eucharist: the bread, which “is my Body”,
and the wine which “is my Blood”. This is the visible way of the union with the
Risen Jesus through faith. One with him we also must give our lives for others.
Do you give your life?
Saturday 20
April 2013
Readings at Mass
____________________
First reading
Acts
9:31-42
The churches throughout Judaea, Galilee
and Samaria were now left in peace, building themselves up, living in the fear
of the Lord, and filled with the consolation of the Holy Spirit.
Peter
visited one place after another and eventually came to the saints living down
in Lydda. There he found a man called Aeneas, a paralytic who had been
bedridden for eight years. Peter said to him, ‘Aeneas, Jesus Christ cures you:
get up and fold up your sleeping mat.’ Aeneas got up immediately; everybody who
lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they were all converted to the Lord.
At
Jaffa there was a woman disciple called Tabitha, or Dorcas in Greek, who never
tired of doing good or giving in charity. But the time came when she got ill
and died, and they washed her and laid her out in a room upstairs. Lydda is not
far from Jaffa, so when the disciples heard that Peter was there, they sent two
men with an urgent message for him, ‘Come and visit us as soon as possible.’
Peter
went back with them straightaway, and on his arrival they took him to the
upstairs room, where all the widows stood round him in tears, showing him
tunics and other clothes Dorcas had made when she was with them. Peter sent
them all out of the room and knelt down and prayed. Then he turned to the dead
woman and said, ‘Tabitha, stand up.’ She opened her eyes, looked at Peter and
sat up. Peter helped her to her feet, then he called in the saints and widows
and showed them she was alive. The whole of Jaffa heard about it and many
believed in the Lord.
____________________
Psalm
Psalm
115:12-17
How can I repay the Lord for his
goodness to me?
or
Alleluia!
How can I repay the Lord
for his goodness to me?
The cup of salvation I will raise;
I will call on the Lord’s name.
How can I repay the Lord for his
goodness to me?
or
Alleluia!
My vows to the Lord I will fulfil
before all his people.
O precious in the eyes of the Lord
is the death of his faithful.
How can I repay the Lord for his goodness
to me?
or
Alleluia!
Your servant, Lord, your servant am I;
you have loosened my bonds.
A thanksgiving sacrifice I make;
I will call on the Lord’s name.
How can I repay the Lord for his
goodness to me?
or
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia!
We know that Christ is truly risen from
the dead:
have mercy on us, triumphant King.
Alleluia!
Or
cf.Jn6:63,68
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they
are life;
you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
John
6:60-69
After hearing his doctrine many of the
followers of Jesus said, ‘This is intolerable language. How could anyone accept
it?’ Jesus was aware that his followers were complaining about it and said, ‘Does
this upset you? What if you should see the Son of Man ascend to where he was
before?
‘It is the spirit that gives life,
the flesh has nothing to offer.
The words I have spoken to you are
spirit
and they are life.
‘But there are some of you who do not
believe.’ For Jesus knew from the outset those who did not believe, and who it
was that would betray him. He went on, ‘This is why I told you that no one
could come to me unless the Father allows him.’ After this, many of his
disciples left him and stopped going with him.
Then
Jesus said to the Twelve, ‘What about you, do you want to go away too?’ Simon
Peter answered, ‘Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal
life, and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God.’
Finding
God in the Human Situation
Jesus gives himself for the life of
the world - in the weakness of his humanity, in the pain and humiliation of the
Cross and now in the ‘weakness’ of the Bread and Wine of the Eucharist. Disciples
who believe only because of miracles cannot accept this. God comes to us by way
of the humanity of Jesus. Likewise, we go to God through our earthly human
life. We find sanctity in human living, not it escaping from our human
situation. We find it not in the forest but in the kitchen and the market place
through love and justice. We must accept
Jesus on his terms and love him through service in love for others. Peter is
our model. The disciples struggled to find God in Jesus. We struggle to find
him in the ‘poor and lame’. Have you found the “holy One of God” in your
street?
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