31/5/18  Visitation of the Virgin Mary to Elizabeth – Feast First Reading  Book of Zephaniah 3:14-18a.  Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!  The LORD has removed the judgment against you, he has turned away your enemies; The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst, you have no further misfortune to fear.  On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem: Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged!  The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; He will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, He will sing joyfully because of you,  as one sings at festivals.  Gospel  Luke 1:39-56.  Mary set out in those days and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah,  where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.  When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit,  cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.  And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.  Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior.  For he has looked with favor on his lowly servant;  from this day all generations will call me blessed. The Almighty has done great things for me,  and holy is his name. He has mercy on those who fear him  in every generation. He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things;  and the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of his servant Israel ,  remembering his promise of mercy, The promise he made to our fathers,  to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home. 

30/5/18 Wednesday of the Eighth week in Ordinary Time First Reading  First Letter of Peter 1:18-25.  Realizing that you were ransomed from your futile conduct, handed on by your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold  but with the precious blood of Christ as of a spotless unblemished lamb.  He was known before the foundation of the world but revealed in the final time for you,  who through him believe in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.  Since you have purified yourselves by obedience to the truth for sincere mutual love, love one another intensely from a (pure) heart.  You have been born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed, through the living and abiding word of God,  for: “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of the field; the grass withers, and the flower wilts;  but the word of the Lord remains forever.” This is the word that has been proclaimed to you.  Gospel  Mark 10:32-45.  The disciples were on the way, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus went ahead of them. They were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. Taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them what was going to happen to him.  “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles  who will mock him, spit upon him, scourge him, and put him to death, but after three days he will rise.”  Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”  He replied, “What do you wish (me) to do for you?”  They answered him, “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.”  Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” They said to him, “We can.” Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized;  but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared.”  When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John.  Jesus summoned them and said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;  whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.  For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”    29/5/18  Tuesday of the Eighth week in Ordinary Time First Reading  First Letter of Peter 1:10-16.  Beloved: Concerning this salvation, prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and investigated it,  investigating the time and circumstances that the Spirit of Christ within them indicated when it testified in advance to the sufferings destined for Christ and the glories to follow them.  It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you with regard to the things that have now been announced to you by those who preached the good news to you (through) the holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels longed to look.  Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, live soberly, and set your hopes completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  Like obedient children, do not act in compliance with the desires of your former ignorance  but, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct,  for it is written, “Be holy because I (am) holy.”  Gospel  Mark 10:28-31.  Peter began to say to Jesus, “We have given up everything and followed you.”  Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel  who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.”  But many that are first will be last, and (the) last will be first.” 

28/5/18  Monday of the Eighth week in Ordinary Time First Reading  First Letter of Peter 1:3-9.  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you  who by the power of God are safeguarded through faith, to a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the final time.  In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials,  so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  Although you have not seen him you love him; even though you do not see him now yet believe in him, you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy,  as you attain the goal of (your) faith, the salvation of your souls.  Gospel  Mark 10:17-27.  As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  Jesus answered him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother.'”  He replied and said to him, “Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.”  Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, “You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to (the) poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”  At that statement his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.  Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at his words. So Jesus again said to them in reply, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!  It is easier for a camel to pass through (the) eye of (a) needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”  They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves, “Then who can be saved?”  Jesus looked at them and said, “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.” 

27/5/18   The Most Holy Trinity – Solemnity First Reading  Book of Deuteronomy 4:32-34.39-40.  Moses said to the people: “Ask now of the days of old, before your time, ever since God created man upon the earth; ask from one end of the sky to the other: Did anything so great ever happen before? Was it ever heard of?  Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live?  Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, with his strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors, all of which the LORD, your God, did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?  This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart, that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and that there is no other.  You must keep his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you today, that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may have long life on the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you forever.”  Second Reading  Letter to the Romans 8:14-17.  For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.  For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, “Abba, Father!”  The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,  and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.  Gospel  Matthew 28:16-20.  The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

17/5/18  Thursday of the Seventh week of Easter First Reading  Acts of the Apostles 22:30.23:6-11.  Wishing to determine the truth about why Paul was being accused by the Jews, the commander freed him and ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to convene. Then he brought Paul down and made him stand before them.  Paul was aware that some were Sadducees and some Pharisees, so he called out before the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees; (I) am on trial for hope in the resurrection of the dead.”  When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the group became divided.  For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection or angels or spirits, while the Pharisees acknowledge all three.  A great uproar occurred, and some scribes belonging to the Pharisee party stood up and sharply argued, “We find nothing wrong with this man. Suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”  The dispute was so serious that the commander, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, ordered his troops to go down and rescue him from their midst and take him into the compound.  The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage. For just as you have borne witness to my cause in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness in Rome.”  Gospel  John 17:20-26.  Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: “I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,  so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.  And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one,  I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me.  Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me.  I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.”

16/05/18  Wednesday of the Seventh week of Easter First Reading  Acts of the Apostles 20:28-38.  At Miletus, Paul spoke to the presbyters of the Church of Ephesus: “Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock of which the holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, in which you tend the church of God that he acquired with his own blood.  I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock.  And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth to draw the disciples away after them.  So be vigilant and remember that for three years, night and day, I unceasingly admonished each of you with tears.  And now I commend you to God and to that gracious word of his that can build you up and give you the inheritance among all who are consecrated.  I have never wanted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.  You know well that these very hands have served my needs and my companions.  In every way I have shown you that by hard work of that sort we must help the weak, and keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus who himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'”  When he had finished speaking he knelt down and prayed with them all.  They were all weeping loudly as they threw their arms around Paul and kissed him,  for they were deeply distressed that he had said that they would never see his face again. Then they escorted him to the ship.  Gospel  John 17:11b-19.  Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed, saying: “Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are.  When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled.  But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely.  I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.  I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.  Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth.  As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world.  And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.” 

10/5/18  Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter First Reading  Acts of the Apostles 18:1-8.  Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. He went to visit them and, because he practiced the same trade, stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. Every sabbath, he entered into discussions in the synagogue, attempting to convince both Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began to occupy himself totally with preaching the word testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. When they opposed him and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your heads! I am clear of responsibility.  From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” So he left there and went to a house belonging to a man named Titus Justus, a worshiper of God; his house was next to a synagogue. Crispus, the synagogue official, came to believe in the Lord along with his entire household, and many of the Corinthians who heard believed and were baptized. Gospel  John 16:16-20 Jesus said to his disciples:  “A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me.” So some of his disciples said to one another, “What does this mean that he is saying to us, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” So they said, “What is this ‘little while’ of which he speaks? We do not know what he means.”  Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing with one another what I said, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.”

9/5/18  Wednesday of the Sixth week of Easter First Reading   Acts of the Apostles 17:15.22-34.18:1.  After Paul’s escorts had taken him to Athens, they came away with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.  Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said: “You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious.  For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines, I even discovered an altar inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’ What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you.  The God who made the world and all that is in it, the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands,  nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything. Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything.  He made from one the whole human race to dwell on the entire surface of the earth, and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions,  so that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for him and find him, though indeed he is not far from any one of us.  For ‘In him we live and move and have our being,’ as even some of your poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’  Since therefore we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the divinity is like an image fashioned from gold, silver, or stone by human art and imagination.  God has overlooked the times of ignorance, but now he demands that all people everywhere repent  because he has established a day on which he will ‘judge the world with justice’ through a man he has appointed, and he has provided confirmation for all by raising him from the dead.”  When they heard about resurrection of the dead, some began to scoff, but others said, “We should like to hear you on this some other time.”  And so Paul left them.  But some did join him, and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the Court of the Areopagus, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.  After this he left Athens and went to Corinth.  Gospel   John 16:12-15.  Jesus said to his disciples: “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.  But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.  Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.”

8/5/2018  Tuesday of the Sixth week of Easter First Reading  Acts of the Apostles 16:22-34.  The crowd in Philippi joined in the attack on Paul and Silas, and the magistrates had them stripped and ordered them to be beaten with rods.  After inflicting many blows on them, they threw them into prison and instructed the jailer to guard them securely.  When he received these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and secured their feet to a stake.  About midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God as the prisoners listened,  there was suddenly such a severe earthquake that the foundations of the jail shook; all the doors flew open, and the chains of all were pulled loose.  When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew (his) sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped.  But Paul shouted out in a loud voice, “Do no harm to yourself; we are all here.”  He asked for a light and rushed in and, trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas.  Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”  And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved.”  So they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house.  He took them in at that hour of the night and bathed their wounds; then he and all his family were baptized at once.  He brought them up into his house and provided a meal and with his household rejoiced at having come to faith in God.  Gospel  John 16:5-11.  Jesus said to his disciples: “Now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts.  But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.  And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation: sin, because they do not believe in me;  righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me;  condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.”

7/5/18 Monday of the Sixth week of Easter First Reading   Acts of the Apostles 16:11-15.  We set sail from Troas, making a straight run for Samothrace, and on the next day to Neapolis,  and from there to Philippi, a leading city in that district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We spent some time in that city.  On the sabbath we went outside the city gate along the river where we thought there would be a place of prayer. We sat and spoke with the women who had gathered there.  One of them, a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, from the city of Thyatira, a worshiper of God, listened, and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying.  After she and her household had been baptized, she offered us an invitation, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my home,” and she prevailed on us. Gospel   John 15:26-27.16:1-4a.  Jesus said to his disciples: “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning. I have told you this so that you may not fall away.  They will expel you from the synagogues; in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God. They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me.  I have told you this so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you.”

6/5/18  Sixth Sunday of Easter First Reading  Acts of the Apostles 10:25-26.34-35.44-48.  When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and, falling at his feet, paid him homage.  Peter, however, raised him up, saying, “Get up. I myself am also a human being.”  Then Peter proceeded to speak and said, “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.  Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him.  While Peter was still speaking these things, the holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the word.  The circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were astounded that the gift of the holy Spirit should have been poured out on the Gentiles also,  for they could hear them speaking in tongues and glorifying God. Then Peter responded,  “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people, who have received the holy Spirit even as we have?”  He ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.  Second Reading  First Letter of John 4:7-10.  Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.  Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.  In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.  In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.  Gospel  John 15:9-17.  Jesus said to his disciples: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.  If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.  I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.” This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.  No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.  I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.  This I command you: love one another.”

5/5/18  Saturday of the Fifth week of Easter First Reading  Acts of the Apostles 16:1-10.  Paul reached (also) Derbe and Lystra where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek.  The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him,  and Paul wanted him to come along with him. On account of the Jews of that region, Paul had him circumcised, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.  As they traveled from city to city, they handed on to the people for observance the decisions reached by the apostles and presbyters in Jerusalem.  Day after day the churches grew stronger in faith and increased in number.  They traveled through the Phrygian and Galatian territory because they had been prevented by the holy Spirit from preaching the message in the province of Asia.  When they came to Mysia, they tried to go on into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them,  so they crossed through Mysia and came down to Troas.  During (the) night Paul had a vision. A Macedonian stood before him and implored him with these words, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”  When he had seen the vision, we sought passage to Macedonia at once, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.  Gospel  John 15:18-21.  Jesus said to his disciples: “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.  Remember the word I spoke to you, ‘No slave is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me.”

4/5/18  Friday of the Fifth week of Easter First Reading  Acts of the Apostles 15:22-31.  The apostles and presbyters, in agreement with the whole church, decided to choose representatives and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. The ones chosen were Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brothers.  This is the letter delivered by them: “The apostles and the presbyters, your brothers, to the brothers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia of Gentile origin: greetings.  Since we have heard that some of our number (who went out) without any mandate from us have upset you with their teachings and disturbed your peace of mind,  we have with one accord decided to choose representatives and to send them to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,  who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  So we are sending Judas and Silas who will also convey this same message by word of mouth:  ‘It is the decision of the holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities,  namely, to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meats of strangled animals, and from unlawful marriage. If you keep free of these, you will be doing what is right. Farewell.'”  And so they were sent on their journey. Upon their arrival in Antioch they called the assembly together and delivered the letter.  When the people read it, they were delighted with the exhortation.  Gospel  John 15:12-17.  Jesus said to his disciples: “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.  No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.  I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.  This I command you: love one another.”

3/5/18  Saints Philip and James, apostles – Feast First Reading  First Letter to the Corinthians 15:1-8.  I am reminding you, brothers and sisters, of the Gospel I preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand.  Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.  For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures;  that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures;  that he appeared to Kephas, then to the Twelve.  After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.  After that he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.  Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me.  Gospel  John 14:6-14.  Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said to him, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?  Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.  Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves.  Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.  And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it. 

2/5/18  Wednesday of the Fifth week of Easter First Reading  Acts of the Apostles 15:1-6.  Some who had come down from Judea were instructing the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice, you cannot be saved.”  Because there arose no little dissension and debate by Paul and Barnabas with them, it was decided that Paul, Barnabas, and some of the others should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and presbyters about this question.  They were sent on their journey by the church, and passed through Phoenicia and Samaria telling of the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers.  When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, as well as by the apostles and the presbyters, and they reported what God had done with them.  But some from the party of the Pharisees who had become believers stood up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and direct them to observe the Mosaic law.”  The apostles and the presbyters met together to see about this matter.  Gospel  John 15:1-8.  Jesus said to his disciples: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you.  Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.  I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.  Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.  By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.” 

1/5/18  Tuesday of the Fifth week of Easter First Reading  Acts of the Apostles 14:19-28.  In those days, some Jews from Antioch and Iconium arrived and won over the crowds.  They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.  But when the disciples gathered around him, he got up and entered the city. On the following day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.  After they had proclaimed the good news to that city and made a considerable number of disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.  They strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”  They appointed presbyters for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord in whom they had put their faith.  Then they traveled through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia.  After proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia.  From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now accomplished.  And when they arrived, they called the church together and reported what God had done with them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.  Then they spent no little time with the disciples.