Catholic Ireland
Liturgical Readings for : Saturday, 4th May, 2024
Saturday, Fifth Week of Easter
The conflict between believer and the world is part of the Christian inheritance
Optional memorial of St Conleth, bishop
FIRST READING
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles 16:1-10
Come across to Macedonia and help us.
From Cilicia Paul went to Derbe, and then on to Lystra. Here there was a disciple called Timothy, whose mother was a Jewess who had become a believer; but his father was a Greek. The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of Timothy, and Paul, who wanted to have him as a travelling companion, had him circumcised. This was on account of the Jews in the locality where everyone knew his father was a Greek.
As they visited one town after another, they passed on the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, with instructions to respect them. So the churches grew strong in the faith, as well as growing daily in numbers. They travelled through Phrygia and the Galatian country, having been told by the Holy Spirit not to preach the word in Asia. When they reached the frontier of Mysia they thought to cross it into Bithynia, but as the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them, they went through Mysia and came down to Troas.
One night Paul had a vision: a Macedonian appeared and appealed to him in these words,
‘Come across to Macedonia and help us.’
Once he had seen this vision we lost no time in arranging a passage to Macedonia, convinced that God had called us to bring them the Good News.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God
Responsorial Psalm Ps 99
Response Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Or Alleluia!
1. Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing for joy. Response
2. Know that he, the Lord, is God. He made us, we belong to him,
we are his people, the sheep of his flock. Response
3. Indeed, how good is the Lord, eternal his merciful love.
He is faithful from age to age. Response
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, Alleluia!
The Lord, who hung for us upon the tree, has risen from the tomb.
Alleluia!
or Col 3:1
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ,
you must look for the things that are in heaven where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John 15:18-21 Glory to you, O Lord
You do not belong to the world, because my choice withdrew you from the world.
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘If the world hates you, remember that it hated me before you.
If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own;
but because you do not belong to the world,
because my choice withdrew you from the world, therefore the world hates you.
Remember the words I said to you:
A servant is not greater than his master.
If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too;
if they kept my word, they will keep yours as well.
But it will be on my account that they will do all this,
because they do not know the one who sent me.’
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Gospel Reflection Saturday, Fifth Week of Easter John 15:18-21
We are given a sense in today’s first reading of Paul’s mission being directed by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Lord. They travelled in response to the promptings of the Spirit. At the end of the reading, the Spirit communicates with Paul through the medium of a vision. One night, while Paul was in Troas on the North West coast of modern Turkey, he had a vision. Someone from the Roman province of Macedonia (northern Greece today), appeared to him and appealed to him in these words, ‘Come across to Macedonia and help us’. Paul promptly responded to this invitation and it resulted in the gospel being preached on the continent of Europe for the first time.
The Spirit continues to guide the church today. We are aware that we are in a time of great transition in the church. It can be an unsettling time, but it is also an exciting time. We can be sure that the Spirit will direct us in these days. The Spirit is always at work in the life of the church, and in our own personal lives, bringing new life out of death, opening up new opportunities when past opportunities seem to have run their course.
In the gospel reading, Jesus alerts us to the likelihood that his disciples, the church, will experience the same hostility and persecution as he did. As he says, ‘A servant is not greater than his master’. We are all trying to be the Lord’s servants, and Jesus says plainly that if they persecuted him they will persecute his servants. Yet, just as the Spirit was with Jesus in his moments of struggle, so the same Spirit is with his church, all of us, in our moments of struggle, and we can trust the Spirit to bring us to where the Lord wants to take us. What the Lord needs from us is a willingness to be brought where the Spirit is leading us. This is something we all need to pray for at this time.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
