Mass Readings for : Saturday, 27th April, 2024

Liturgical Readings for : Saturday, 27th April, 2024

Prayer in the name of Jesus draws us closer to his ways.
Optional memorial of St Asicus, bishop

FIRST READING

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles 13:44-52
We must turn to the nations.

The next sabbath almost the whole town of Antioch assembled to hear the word of God. When they saw the crowds, the Jews, prompted by jealousy, used blasphemies and contradicted everything Paul said. Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly. ‘We had to proclaim the word of God to you first, but since you have rejected it, since you do not think yourselves worthy of eternal life, we must turn to the pagans. For this is what the Lord commanded us to do when he said:
“I have made you a light for the nations, so that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.”

It made the pagans very happy to hear this and they thanked the Lord for his message; all who were destined for eternal life became believers. Thus the word of the Lord spread through the whole countryside.

But the Jews worked upon some of the devout women of the upper classes and the leading men of the city and persuaded them to turn against Paul and Barnabas and expel them from their territory. So they shook the dust from their feet in defiance and went off to Iconium; but the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.

The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God

Responsorial Psalm    Ps 97
Response     All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Or     Alleluia!

1. Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm have brought salvation.                         Response

2. The Lord has made known his salvation; has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love for the house of Israel.               Response

3. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord all the earth, ring out your joy.     Response

Gospel Acclamation Rom 6:9
Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ, having been raised from the dead, will never die again.
Death has no power over him any more.
Alleluia!

or Jn 8:31.32
Alleluia, alleluia!
If you make my word your home you will indeed be my disciples,
and you will learn the truth, says the Lord.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL

The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
reading from the holy Gospel according to John 14:7-14 Glory to you, O Lord
To have seen me is to have seen the Father.

Jesus said to his disciples:
‘If you know me, you know my Father too. From this moment you know him and have seen him.’
Philip said, ‘Lord, let us see the Father and then we shall be satisfied.’
‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip,’ said Jesus to him ‘and you still do not know me?‘

‘To have seen me is to have seen the Father, so how can you say, “Let us see the Father“?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?

The words I say to you I do not speak as from myself:
it is the Father, living in me, who is doing this work.
You must believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me;
believe it on the evidence of this work, if for no other reason.

‘I tell you most solemnly, whoever believes in me will perform the same works as I do myself, he will perform even greater works, because I am going to the Father.
Whatever you ask for in my name I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask for anything in my name, I will do it.’

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

*****************

Reflection Saturday, Fourth Week of Easter John 14:7-14

You often hear parents say to children, ‘you are never satisfied’. There is a sense in which that is probably true of all of us. We are never satisfied. Saint Augustine said that our hearts are restless until they rest in God. In today’s gospel reading, Philip is clearly not satisfied. He says to Jesus, ‘Lord, let us see the Father, and then we shall be satisfied’. He understood that it is only in seeing God that all the longings of his heart would be satisfied. Jesus replies to Philip’s words with the statement, ‘To have seen me is to have seen the Father’. Jesus reveals the Father; he is the way to the Father.
We won’t see God the Father in this life, but God has sent us his Son. Although we cannot see Jesus in the way Philip and the other disciples saw him, we can see him with the eyes of faith in this life. We can see him in his Word, in the Eucharist, in the other Sacraments, in each other. Such ‘seeing’ of the Lord won’t fully satisfy us but it gives us a glimpse of what awaits us. As we journey towards our seeing of the Lord ‘face to face’, we try to heed the invitation of the letter to the Hebrews, ‘let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith’.