Mass Readings for : Tuesday, 16th April, 2024

Catholic Ireland

Liturgical Readings for : Tuesday, 16th April, 2024

Tuesday, Third Week of Easter

FIRST READING

A reading from the Book The Acts of the Apostles 7:51-8:1
Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

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.

The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God

Responsorial Psalm     Ps 30
Response    Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
Or   Alleluia!

1. 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. Response

2. 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. Response

3. Let your face shine on your servant. Save me in your love.
You hide those who trust you in the shelter of your presence from the plotting of men. Response

Gospel Acclamation Jn 10: 14
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the good shepherd, says the Lord, I know my sheep and my own know me.
Alleluia!

or Jn 6:35
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

The Lord be with you And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John 6:30-35 Glory to you, O Lord
It was not Moses who gave you bread from heaven,
it is my Father who gives you the bread from heaven.

The 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 Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Gospel Reflection Tuesday, Third Week of Easter John 6:30-35

More than once in the gospels, people come to Jesus asking him to perform a sign before they will take him seriously. In today’s gospel reading people ask Jesus, ‘What sign will you give to show us that we should believe in you? What work will you do?’ This is immediately after Jesus had done the work of feeding a large crowd with five barley loaves and two fish. Here was a work that was a sign for those with eyes to see. This work pointed beyond itself to Jesus’ true identity. His feeding of the crowd with bread and fish was a sign that Jesus was ‘the bread of life’ in the language of today’s gospel reading. The real significance of Jesus’ miraculous work of feeding the crowd lay in what it has to say about who Jesus is for all those who believe in him. The crowd who were fed would become hungry again, however,

Jesus remains the bread of life for all who come to him, not just during his public ministry, but for all future generations who will come to him as risen Lord. Jesus is our bread of life today. The promise he makes in today’s gospel reading is made to each one of us, ‘those who come to me will never be hungry; those who believe in me will never thirst’. The risen Lord promises to satisfy the deepest hungers and thirsts in our heart, the hunger and thirst for love, for forgiveness, for justice, for peace, for communion, for life to the full. Here and now, in our own place and time, he is bread of life for all who believe in him and for all who come to him. We encounter the Lord as bread of life in a special way at the Eucharist. Yet the Lord’s invitation to come to him as bread of life is not limited to the Eucharist. He can be our daily bread of life wherever we find ourselves.
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