Liturgical Readings for : Saturday, 1st June, 2024
Saturday of 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Year 2
Memorial of St Justin, martyr
FIRST READING
A reading from the letter of St Jude 17:20-25
God can keep you from falling and bring you safe to his glorious presence, innocent and happy.
Remember, my dear friends, what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ told you to expect. You must use your most holy faith as your foundation and build on that, praying in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves within the love of God and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to give you eternal life. When there are some who have doubts reassure them; when there are some to be saved from the fire, pull them out; but there are others to whom you must be kind with great caution, keeping your distance even from outside clothing which is contaminated by vice.
Glory be to him who can keep you from falling and bring you safe to his glorious presence, innocent and happy. To God, the only God, who saves us through Jesus Christ our Lord, be the glory, majesty, authority and power, which he had before time began, now and for ever. Amen.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 62
Response For you my soul is thirsting, O Lord, my God.
1. O God, you are my God, for you. I long; for you my soul is thirsting.
My body pines for you. like a dry weary land without water. Response
2. So I gaze on you in the sanctuary to see your strength and your glory.
For your love is better than life, my lips will speak your praise. Response
3. So I will bless you all my life, in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul shall be filled as with a banquet, my mouth shall praise you with joy. Response
Gospel Acclamation 1 Pt 1: 25
Alleluia, alleluia!
The word of the Lord remains for ever: What is this word?
It is the Good News that has ben brought to you.
Alleluia!
or Col 3: 16. 17
Alleluia, alleluia!
Let the message of Christ, in all its richness, find a home with you;
through him give thanks to God the Father.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to Mark 11: 27-33 Glory to you, O Lord
What authority have you for acting like this?
Jesus and his disciples came to Jerusalem, and as Jesus was walking in the Temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, and they said to him,
‘What authority have you for acting like this? Or Who gave you authority to do these things?’
Jesus said to them,
‘I will ask you a question, only one;
answer me and I will tell you my authority for acting like this.
John’s baptism: did it come from heaven, or from man? Answer me that.’
And they argued it out this way among themselves:
‘If we say from heaven, he will say, “Then why did you refuse to believe him?” But dare we say from man?‘ – they had the people to fear, for everyone held that John was a real prophet. So their reply to Jesus was, ‘We do not know.’
And Jesus said to them, ‘Nor will I tell you my authority for acting like this.’
The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Saturday, Eighth Week in Ordinary Time Mark 11:27-33
Jesus was a person of great authority. He derived his authority from his special relationship with God. He recognized the Temple in Jerusalem as his Father’s house and that gave him the authority to cleanse the Temple, disturbing the money changers and those selling pigeons. Because of what he did there, the religious leaders in today’s gospel reading come up to him and ask him, ‘What authority have you for acting like this? Who gave you this authority?’ We know the answer to that question. Jesus had the authority to do what he did because he was God’s Son and God was at work in and through him. That is why we take Jesus as our authority today. We recognize him as Lord of our lives. We take our lead from him. We invite him to shape our lives, to direct what we say and do. We invite his Spirit into our lives and we try to open ourselves to the promptings of his Spirit. The Lord is our authority and we know that his authority is a life-giving authority, an authority that sets us free from sin and the fear of death. Earlier in Mark’s gospel, Jesus said he had authority on earth to forgive sins. We gladly submit to the Lord’s authority because it is an authority that renews us, heals us and will eventually lead us to eternal life.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
