Churches of the Day

Thursday, Seventh Week of Easter

Jesus prays for the gift of unity amongst his followers - a unity that will mirror the Unity of the Trinity

Saints of the Day: St Christopher Magallanes, priest and companions, martyrs
C/f A short life of these saints can be found below todays' Readings and Reflection.   

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. The 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: 1-2. 5. 7-11. R/v 1
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, says the Lord
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/
The Scripture Reflection is made available with our thanks from his book Reflections on the Weekday Readings : The Word is near to you, on your lips and in your heart by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications  c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/

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Saints of the Day: St Christopher Magallanes, priest and companions, martyrs

Christopher was Born in 1869; died on 25 May 1927 at Colotitlan (Mexico). Parish priest, Christobal Magallanes, founder of a clandestine seminary at Totatiche, is commemorated today with 21 other diocesan priests and three laymen. Martyred in Mexico, mostly in 1926-1928, during a fierce religious persecution which outlawed the celebration of the sacraments. They were noted for their courageous faith, for forgiving their executioners, and for their final cry, Viva Christo Rey!

During the millenium year 2000 Pope John Paul II canonised a number of Mexican saints.: Christobal Magallanes and his 24 companion martyrs, priests and laymen; José María de Yermo y Parres, priest and founder of the Religious Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and María de Jesús Sacramentado Venegas, foundress of the 'Daughters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.' The pope rejoiced with the Church of Mexico that it now had intercessors in heaven, models of supreme charity, who followed in the footsteps of Jesus, dedicating their lives to God and their brethren through martyrdom or by generously serving the needy.

Patrick Duffy writes about these Mexican martyrs and saints.

Fr Christobal Magallanes Jara (1869-1927) and 24 companions martyrs
Born in Totaltiche, Jalisco, in the archdiocese of  Guadalajara, Mexico, to a farming family, Christobal worked as a shepherd in his youth. He entered the seminary at 19 and became parish priest in his native parish. He was eager to spread the Gospel. He founded schools, a newspaper, catechetical centres for children and adults, carpentry shops, an electric plant to power the mills and also helped set up agricultural co-ops.

When the anti-Church government closed down the seminaries, Father Christobal gathered displaced seminarians, and started his own seminary, which was quickly suppressed. He formed another, and another, and when they were all closed, the seminarians conducted classes in private homes.

Christobal wrote and preached against armed rebellion, but was falsely accused of promoting the Cristero guerilla revolt. Arrested on 21st May 1927 while en route to celebrate Mass, he was executed without a trial four days later. He gave away his last remaining possessions to his executioners, absolved them, and turned to his companion Fr Agustine Caloca before he was shot, said: "Be at peace, my son; just a minute and then we're in heaven".

José María de Yermo y Parres (1851-1904)
The son of a lawyer, his mother died when he was only seven weeks old. At sixteen José joined the Vincentians, but was ordained priest for the diocese of Leon in 1879. One day he was shocked when he discovered some pigs eating two newly-born babies. This triggered his opening a welcoming place for the needy and abandoned. He also founded the Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and of the Poor to help in the orphanages, hospitals and schools he founded.

St María de Jesús Sacramentado Venegas (1868-1959)
Maria was born at Zapotlanejo, a municipality of Jalisco, Mexico. Her mother died when she was young, and she was brought up by a sister of her husband. She had a great devotion to the Holy Eucharist. At 37 during a retreat, she decided to join a group of ladies caring for the sick in the Hospital of the Sacred Heart founded by the local bishop. All remarked on the love and humility with which she cared for the sick and the poor.

In 1921 she became the superior of the group of the Daughters of the Sacred Heart, now recognised as a religious community in the diocese. She died in 1959.

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Memorable Sayings for Today

“There is no success without sacrifice.
If you succeed without sacrifice it is because someone has suffered before you.
If you sacrifice without success it is because someone will succeed after you.”

~ Adoniram Judson ~

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- Pentecost Vigil and Day Masses -

The Fifty Days of Easter conclude with the Celebration of Penetecost Sunday

Vigil Mass
(This Mass is celebrated on Saturday evening of Pentecost.
Anyone of the following readings from the Old Testament may be chosen)

I

FIRST READING (Anyone of the following readings from the Old Testament may be chosen)
A reading from the book of Genesis 11:1-9
It was named Babel because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth.


Throughout the earth men spoke the same language, with the same vocabulary. Now as they moved eastwards they found a plain in the land of Shinar where they settled. They said to one another,
'Come, let us make bricks and bake them in the fire.' - For stone they used bricks, and for mortar they used bitumen. - 'Come,' they said. 'let us build ourselves a town and a tower with its top reaching heaven. Let us make a name for ourselves, so that we may not be scattered about the whole earth.'

Now the Lord came down to see the town and the tower that the sons of man had built.
'So they are all a single people with a single language!' said the Lord. 'This is but the start of their undertakings! There will be nothing too hard for them to do. Come, let us go down and confuse their language on the spot so that they can no longer understand one another'.

The Lord scattered them thence over the whole face of the earth, and they stopped building the town. It was named Babel therefore, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth. It was from there that the Lord scattered them over the whole face of the earth.

The Word of the Lord      Thanks be to God.          

2 

A Reading from the book of Exodus  19:3-8. 16_20
The Lord came down on the mountain of Sinai,  and  called Moses to the top of the mountain.

Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, 'Say this to the House of Jacob, declare this to the sons of Israel,
"You yourselves have seen what I did with the Egyptians, how I carried you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself. From this you know that now, if you obey my voice and hold fast to my covenant, you of all the nations shall be my very own, for all the earth is mine. I will count you a kingdom of priests, a consecrated nation.
" Those are the words you are to speak to the sons of lsrael.'So Moses went and summoned the elders of the people, putting before them all that the Lord had bidden him. Then all the people answered as one, 'All that the Lord has said, we will do.'

Now at daybreak on the third day there were peals of thunder on the mountain and lightning flashes, a dense cloud, and a loud trumpet blast, and inside the camp all the people trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the bottom of the mountain. The mountain of Sinai was entirely wrapped in smoke, because the Lord had descended on it in the form of fire. Like smoke from a furnace the smoke went up, and the whole mountain shook violehtly. Louder and louder grew the sound of the trumpet. Moses spoke, and God answered him with peals of thunder. The Lord came down on the mountain of Sinai, on the mountain top, and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain.

The Word of the Lord                  Thanks be to God.

3

A Reading from the Prophet Ezekiel 37:1-14
Dry bones , I shall put my spirit in you, and you will live.


The hand of the Lord was laid on me, and he carried me away by the Spirit of the Lord me down in the middle of a valley, a valley full of bones. He made me walk up and down among them. There were vast quantities of these bones on the ground the whole length of the valley; and they were quite dried up. He said to me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?' I said, 'You know, Lord'.
He said, 'Prophesy over these bones. Say, "Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. The Lord says this to these bones: I am now going to make the breath enter you, and you will live. I shall put sinews on you, I shall make flesh grow on you, I shall cover you with skin and give you breath, and you will live; and you will learn that I am the Lord."'

I prophesied as I had been ordered. While I was prophesying, there was a noise, a sound of clattering; and the bones joined together. I looked, and saw that they were covered with sinews; flesh was growing on them and skin was covering them, but there was no breath in them. He said to me, 'Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man. Say to the breath, "The Lord says this: Come from the four winds, breath; breathe on these dead; let them live!"' I prophesied as he had ordered me, and the breath entered them; they came to life again and stood up on their feet, a great, an immense army.

Then he said, 'Son of man, these bones are the whole House of Israel. They keep saying, "Our bones are dried up, our hope has gone; we are as good as dead". So prophesy. Say to them, "The Lord says this:
I am now going to open your graves; I mean to raise you from your graves, my people, and lead you back to the soil of Israel.  And you will know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, my people. And I shall put my spirit in you, and you will live, and I shall resettle you on your own soil; and you will know that I, the Lord, have said and done this - it is the Lord who speaks."

The Word of the Lord      Thanks be to God.

4

A Reading from the Prophet  Joel 3:1-5
I will pour out my spirit on all people.

Thus says the Lord:
'I will pour out my spirit on all mankind.
Your sons and daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men see visions.
Even on the slaves, men and women, will I pour out my spirit in those days. I will display portents in heaven and on earth. blood. and fire and columns of smoke.'

The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,
before the day of the Lord dawns, that great and terrible day.
All who calI on the name of the Lord will be saved,
for on Mount Zion there will be some who have escaped, as the Lord has said, and in Jerusalem some survivors whom the Lord will call.

Responsorial Psalm     Ps 103
Response                        Send forth your Spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth.
or                                         Alleluia!

1. Bless the Lord, my soul! Lord God, how great you are,
clothed in majesty and glory, wrapped in light as in a robe!                                                       Response                   

2. How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you have made them all.
The earth is full of your riches. Bless the Lord, my soul.                                                     Response                   

3. All of these look to you to give them their food in due season.
You give it, they gather it up: you open your hand, they have their fill.                           Response

4. You take back your spirit, they die, returning to the dust from which they came.
You send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the earth.      Response                   

SECOND READING
A reading for the letter to the Romans  8:22-27
The Spirit himself  expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words.

From the beginning till now the entire creation, as we know, has been groaning in one great act of giving birth; and not only creation, but all of us who possess the first-fruits of the Spirit, we too groan inwardly as we wait for our bodies to be set free. For we must be content to hope that we shall be saved - our salvation is not in sight, we should not have to be hoping for it if it were - but, as I say, we must hope to be saved since we are not saved yet - it is something we must wait for with patience.

The Spirit too comes to help us in our weakness. For when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, the Spirit himself  expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words, and God who knows everything in our hearts knows perfectly well what he means, and that the pleas of the saints expressed by the Spirit are according to the mind of God.

Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia!
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL                             

The Lord be with you              And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to  John    7:37-39           Glory to you, O Lord
From his breast shall flow fountains of living water.


On the last day and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood there and cried out:
'If any man is thirsty, let him come to me! Let the man come and drink who believes in me!'

As scripture says: From his breast shall flow fountains of living water.
He was speaking of the Spirit which those who believed in him were to receive; for there was no Spirit as yet because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

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

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Pentecost  Sunday Mass during the Day

FIRST READING 
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.  2:1-11
They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and  the Spirit gave them the gift of speech.
When Pentecost day came round, they had all met in one room, when suddenly they heard what sounded like a powerful wind from heaven, the noise of which filled the entire house in which they were sitting; and something appeared to them that seemed like tongues of fire; these separated and came to rest on the head of each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak foreign languages as the Spirit gave them the gift of speech.

Now there were devout men living in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven, and at this sound they all assembled, each one bewildered to hear these men speaking his own language. They were amazed and astonished. 'Surely' they said 'all these men speaking are Galileans? How does it happen that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; people from Mesopotamia, Judaea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya round Cyrene; as well as visitors from Rome- Jews and proselytes alike-Cretans and Arabs; we hear them preaching in our own language about the marvels of God.'

The Word of the Lord      Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm  Ps 103: 103:1. 24. 29-31  R/v 30 
Response :                     Send forth your Spirit, 0 Lord, and renew the face of the earth.
or                                      Alleluia.

1. Bless the Lord, my soul! Lord God, how great you are,
clothed in majesty and glory, wrapped in light as in a robe!                                              Response                   

2. How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you have made them all.
The earth is full of your riches. Bless the Lord, my soul.                                                     Response                   

3. All of these look to you to give them their food in due season.
You give it, they gather it up: you open your hand, they have their fill.                           Response

4. You take back your spirit, they die, returning to the dust from which they came.
You send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the earth.        Response       

SECOND READING                 

A reading from the first letter of St Paul to the Corinthians  12:3-7. 12-13
It is in the one Spirit we were all baptised.

No one can say, 'Jesus is Lord' unless he is under the influence of the Holy Spirit. There is a variety of gifts but always the same Spirit; there are all sorts of service to be done, but always to the same Lord; working in all sorts of different ways in different people, it is the same God who is working in all of them. The particular way in which the Spirit is given to each person is for a good purpose.

Just as a human body, though it is made up of many parts, is a single unit because all these parts, though many, make one body, so it is with Christ. In the one Spirit we were all baptised, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as citizens, and one Spirit was given to us all to drink.

SEQUENCE

Holy Spirit, Lord of light,
From the clear celestial height
Thy pure beaming radiance give.

Come, thou Father of the poor,
Come with treasures which endure;
Come, thou light of all that live!

Thou, of all consolers best,
Thou, the soul's delightful guest,
Dost refreshing peace bestow;

Thou in toil art comfort sweet;
Pleasant coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.

Light immortal, light divine,
Visit thou these hearts ofthine,
And our inmost being fill:

If thou take thy grace away,
Nothing pure in man will stay;
All his good is turned to ill.

Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour thy dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away:

Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.

Thou, on us who evermore
Thee confess and thee adore,
With thy sevenfold gifts descend:

Give us comfort when we die;
Give us life with thee on high;
Give us joys that never end.      

Gospel Acclamation     
Alleluia, Alleluia!  
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love
Alleluia!

GOSPEL    ( Year A)

The Lord be with you                            And with your spirit
A reading from the Gospel according to John              20:19-23         Glory to you, O Lord
As the Father sent me, so am I sending you. 'Receive the Holy Spirit.

In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them,
'Peace be with you', and showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again,
'Peace be with you. 'As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.'

After saying this he breathed on them and said:
'Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.'

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

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For homily resources for this Sunday's Gospel click here:  https://www.catholicireland.net/sunday-homily/




Taken from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, published and copyright 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House Inc, and used by permission of the publishers.