Liturgical Readings for : Thursday, 16th May, 2024
Thursday, Seventh Week of Easter
Jesus prays for the gift of unity amongst his followers
Today :Optional memorial of St Brendan, abbot
FIRST READING
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles 22:30; 23:6-11
Now you must bear witness in Rome.
Since the tribune wanted to know what precise charge the Jews were bringing, he freed Paul and gave orders for a meeting of the chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin; then he brought Paul down and stood him in front of them.
Now Paul was well aware that one section was made up of Sadducees and the other of Pharisees,
so he called out in the Sanhedrin,
‘Brothers, I am a Pharisee and the son of Pharisees.
It is for our hope in the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.‘
As soon as he said this a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was split between the two parties. For the Sadducees say there is neither resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, while the Pharisees accept all three. The shouting grew louder, and some of the scribes from the Pharisees’ party stood up and protested strongly,
‘We find nothing wrong with this man. Suppose a spirit has spoken to him, or an angel?’
Feeling was running high, and the tribune, afraid that they would tear Paul to pieces, ordered his troops to go down and haul him out and bring him into the fortress.
Next night, the Lord appeared to him and said,
‘Courage! You have borne witness for me in Jerusalem, now you must do the same in Rome.’
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God
Responsorial Psalm Ps 15
Response Preserve me, Lord, I take refuge in you.
Or Alleluia!
1. Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you. I say to the Lord: ‘You are my God.’
O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup; it is you yourself who are my prize. Response
2. I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel, who even at night directs my heart.
I keep the Lord ever in my sight: since he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm. Response
3. And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad; even my body shall rest in safety.
For you will not leave my soul among the dead, nor let your beloved know decay. Response
4. You will show me the path of life, the fullness of joy in your presence,
at your right hand happiness for ever. Response
Gospel Acclamation Jn 16:7.13
Alleluia, Alleluia!
I will send you the Spirit of truth, says the Lord; he will lead you to the complete truth.
Alleluia!
or Jn 17: 21
Alleluia, Alleluia!
With me in them and you in me, may they be so completely one
that the world will realise that it was you who sent me.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John 17:20-26 Glory to you, O Lord
May they all be one.
Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said:
‘Holy Father, I pray not only for these, but for those also who through their words will believe in me.
May they all be one. Father, may they be one in us, as you are in me and I am in you,
so that the world may believe it was you who sent me.
I have given them the glory you gave to me, that they may be one as we are one. With me in them and you in me, may they be so completely one
that the world will realise that it was you who sent me and that I have loved them as much as you loved me.
‘Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am,
so that they may always see the glory you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Father, Righteous One, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these have known that you have sent me. I have made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and so that I may be in them.’
The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Gospel Reflection Thursday, Seventh Week of Easter John 17:20-26
Today’s gospel reading is the final part of the prayer of Jesus for his disciples. It is a very striking prayer. In the very last line, Jesus expresses his desire, his prayer, that the love with which God the Father loved him may be in his disciples, so that he, Jesus, may be in them. There is a powerful vision there of the life of the disciple, as one in whom God’s love for his Son is alive, and, therefore, Jesus himself is alive. If that became a reality, then the earlier part of Jesus’ prayer would come to pass, ‘Father, may they be one in us… may they be one as we are one’. To the extent that God’s love is alive in us, to the extent that Jesus is alive in us, we will become one, as God the Father and Jesus are one. It is only the risen Lord living in his disciples who can bring about the quality of unity among his disciples that Jesus prays for.
There is another prayer of Jesus in that gospel reading which shows that allowing the Lord to live in us is a foretaste of our eternal destiny. Jesus prays, ‘Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they may always see the glory you have given me’. Therein lies our ultimate destiny, to be with Jesus where he is, in the many roomed house of God his Father, so that we may see his glory. If our ultimate destiny is to be with Jesus in heaven, our present calling is to allow Jesus to be with us, to live in us, to allow God’s love to live in us. The Lord’s communion with us and ours with him is what’s common to our present and future state. The prayer of Jesus shows that if the Lord’s communion with us is genuine, it will find expression in our communion with one another, in our becoming one as he and his Father are one.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd. and used with the permission of the publishers. http://dltbooks.com/
