Liturgical Readings for : Sunday, 12th May, 2024
The Ascension of the Lord-Year B
World Communications Day
‘The Ascension of Christ means our salvation as well ;
where the glorious Head has gone before, the body is called to follow in hope.
For on this day not only have we been confirmed in our possession of paradise,
but we have even entered heaven in the person of Christ;
through his grace we have regained far more than we had lost through the devil’s hatred’
This is a week of prayer for the coming of the Holy Spirit and recalls the waiting in prayer of the disciples with Mary.
FIRST READING
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles 1:1-11
He was lifted up while they looked on.
In my earlier work, Theophilus, I dealt with everything Jesus had done and I taught from the beginning until the day he gave his instructions to the apostles he had chosen through the Holy Spirit, and was taken up to heaven. He had shown himself alive to them after his Passion by many demonstrations: for forty days he had continued to appear to them and tell them about the kingdom of God. When Jesus had been at table with them, he had told them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for what the Father had promised.
‘It is’ he had said ‘what you have heard me speak about:
John baptised with water but you, not many days from now, will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.’
Now having met together, they asked him,
‘Lord, has the time come? Are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’
He replied, ‘It is not for you to know times or dates that the Father has decided by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judaea and Samaria, and indeed to the ends of the earth.’
As he said this he was lifted up while they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight. They were still staring into the sky when suddenly two men in white were standing near them and they said,
‘Why are you men from Galilee standing here looking into the sky?
Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven,
this same Jesus will come back in the same way as you have seen him go there.’
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God
Responsorial Psalm Ps 46:2-3, 6-9 R/v6
Response God goes up with shouts of joy;
the Lord goes up with trumpet blast.
or Alleluia!
1. All peoples, clap your hands, cry to God with shouts of joy!
For the Lord, the Most High, we must fear, great king over all the earth. Response
2. God goes up with shouts of joy; the Lord goes up with trumpet blast.
Sing praise for God, sing praise, sing praise to our king, sing praise. Response
3. God is king of all the earth. Sing praise with all your skill.
God is king over the nations; God reigns on his holy throne. Response
SECOND READING
A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Ephesians 1:17-23
He made him sit at his right hand, in heaven.
May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him.
May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, what rich glories he has promised the saints will inherit and how infinitely great is the power that he has exercised for us believers. This you can tell from the strength of his power at work in Christ, when he used it to raise him from the dead and to make him sit at his right hand, in heaven, far above every Sovereignty, Authority, Power, or Domination, or any other name that can be named not only in this age but also in the age to come. He has put all things under his feet and made him, as the ruler of everything, the head of the Church; which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creation.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God
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Optional (shorter) Second Reading, for Year B Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-13
Fully mature with the fullness of Christ.
I, the prisoner in the Lord, implore you to lead a life worthy of your vocation. Bear with one another charitably, in complete selflessness, gentleness and patience. Do all you can to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together.
There is one Body, one Spirit, just as you were all called into one and the same hope when you were called.
There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God who is Father of all, over all, through all and within all. Each one of us, however, has been given his own share of grace, given as Christ allotted it. It was said that he would: When he ascended to the height, he captured prisoners, he gave gifts to men.
When it says, ‘he ascended’, what can it mean if not that he descended right down to the lower regions of the earth? The one who rose higher than all the heavens to fill all things is none other than the one who descended. And to some, his gift was that they should be apostles; to some, prophets; to some, evangelists; to some, pastors and teachers; so that the saints together make a unity in the work of service, building up the body of Christ. In this way we are all to come to unity in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God, until we become the perfect Man, fully mature with the fullness of Christ himself.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God
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Gospel acclamation Mt 28: 19
Alleluia, alleluia!
Go, make disciples of all the nations; I am with you always;
yes, to the end of time.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you And with your spirit.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark 16:15-20 Glory to you, O Lord
He was taken up into heaven: there at the right hand of God he took his place.
Jesus showed himself to the Eleven, and said to them,
‘Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation. He who believes and is baptised will be saved; he who does not believe will be condemned.These are the signs that will be associated with believers:
in my name they will cast out devils;
they will have the gift of tongues;
they will pick up snakes in their hands, and be unharmed should they drink deadly poison;
they will lay their hands on the sick, who will recover.’
And so the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven:
here at the right hand of God he took his place, while they, going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Taken from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, published and copyright 1966 by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd
