Collect
Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that we, who have celebrated the paschal festivities,
may by your gift hold fast to them
in the way that we live our lives.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter
Reading
ACTS 28:16-20, 30-31
When he entered Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself,
with the soldier who was guarding him.
Three days later he called together the leaders of the Jews.
When they had gathered he said to them, “My brothers,
although I had done nothing against our people
or our ancestral customs,
I was handed over to the Romans as a prisoner from Jerusalem.
After trying my case the Romans wanted to release me,
because they found nothing against me deserving the death penalty.
But when the Jews objected, I was obliged to appeal to Caesar,
even though I had no accusation to make against my own nation.
This is the reason, then, I have requested to see you
and to speak with you, for it is on account of the hope of Israel
that I wear these chains.”
He remained for two full years in his lodgings.
He received all who came to him, and with complete assurance
and without hindrance he proclaimed the Kingdom of God
and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Responsorial Psalm
PS 11:4, 5 AND 7
R. The just will gaze on your face, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD is in his holy temple;
the LORD’s throne is in heaven.
His eyes behold,
his searching glance is on mankind.
R. The just will gaze on your face, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD searches the just and the wicked;
the lover of violence he hates.
For the LORD is just, he loves just deeds;
the upright shall see his face.
R. The just will gaze on your face, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Alleluia
JN 16:7, 13
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I will send to you the Spirit of truth, says the Lord;
he will guide you to all truth.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
JN 21:20-25
Peter turned and saw the disciple following whom Jesus loved,
the one who had also reclined upon his chest during the supper
and had said,
“Master, who is the one who will betray you?”
When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus,
“Lord, what about him?”
Jesus said to him,
“What if I want him to remain until I come?
What concern is it of yours?
You follow me.”
So the word spread among the brothers that that disciple would not die.
But Jesus had not told him that he would not die,
just
“What if I want him to remain until I come?
What concern is it of yours?”
It is this disciple who testifies to these things
and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true.
There are also many other things that Jesus did,
but if these were to be described individually,
I do not think the whole world would contain the books
that would be written.
May 23
Blessed Oscar Arnulfo Romero (1917-1980)
The night before he was murdered while celebrating Mass, Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador said on the radio: “I would like to appeal in a special way to the men of the army, and in particular to the troops of the National Guard, the police, and the garrisons. Brothers, you belong to our own people. You kill your own brother peasants;
and in the face of an order to kill that is given by a man, the law of God that says ‘Do not kill!’ should prevail.
”No soldier is obliged to obey an order counter to the law of God. No one has to comply with an immoral law. It is the time now that you recover your conscience and obey its dictates rather than the command of sin. . . . Therefore, in the name of God, and in the name of this long-suffering people, whose laments rise to heaven every day more tumultuous,
I beseech you, I beg you, I command you! In the name of God: ‘Cease the repression!’”
Simultaneously, Romero had eloquently upheld the Gospel and effectively signed his own death warrant.
When he was appointed archbishop of San Salvador in 1977, Bishop Oscar Romero was considered a very “safe” choice.
He had served as auxiliary bishop there for four years before his three years as bishop of Santiago de Maria.
Oscar’s father wanted him to be a carpenter—a trade for which he demonstrated some talent. Seminary classes in El Salvador preceded his studies at Rome’s Gregorian University and his ordination in 1942. After earning a doctorate in ascetical theology,
he returned home and became a parish priest and later rector of an interdiocesan seminary.
Three weeks after his appointment as archbishop, Romero was shaken by the murder of his good friend Rutilio Grande, SJ,
a vigorous defender of the rights of the poor.
Five more priests were assassinated in the Archdiocese of San Salvador during Romero’s years as its shepherd.
When a military junta seized control of the national government in 1979, Archbishop Romero publicly criticized the US government for back the junta. His weekly radio sermons, broadcast throughout the country,
were regarded by many as the most trustworthy source of news available.
Romero’s funeral was celebrated in the plaza outside the cathedral and drew an estimated 250,000 mourners.
His tomb in the cathedral crypt soon drew thousands of visitors each year.
On February 3, 2015, Pope Francis authorized a decree recognizing Oscar Romero as a martyr for the faith.
His beatification is scheduled in San Salvador on May 23, 2015.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will proclaim Your Praise!
Invitatory Psalm
Psalm 99 (100)
Christ the Lord has promised us the Holy Spirit:
come, let us adore him, alleluia.
Rejoice in the Lord, all the earth,
and serve him with joy.
Exult as you enter his presence.
Christ the Lord has promised us the Holy Spirit:
come, let us adore him, alleluia.
Know that the Lord is God.
He made us and we are his
– his people, the sheep of his flock.
Christ the Lord has promised us the Holy Spirit:
come, let us adore him, alleluia.
Cry out his praises as you enter his gates,
fill his courtyards with songs.
Proclaim him and bless his name;
for the Lord is our delight.
His mercy lasts forever,
his faithfulness through all the ages.
Christ the Lord has promised us the Holy Spirit:
come, let us adore him, alleluia.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
Christ the Lord has promised us the Holy Spirit:
come, let us adore him, alleluia.
Hymn
Hail the day that sees him rise,
alleluia!
to his throne above the skies;
alleluia!
Christ, the Lamb for sinners given,
alleluia!
enters now the highest heaven!
alleluia!
There for him high triumph waits;
alleluia!
lift your heads, eternal gates!
alleluia!
he hath conquered death and sin;
alleluia!
take the King of glory in!
alleluia!
Lo! the heaven its Lord receives,
alleluia!
yet he loves the earth he leaves;
alleluia!
though returning to his throne,
alleluia!
still he calls mankind his own.
alleluia!
Still for us he intercedes,
alleluia!
his prevailing death he pleads,
alleluia!
near himself prepares our place,
alleluia!
he, the first-fruits of our race.
alleluia!
Lord, though parted from our sight,
alleluia!
far above the starry height,
alleluia!
grant our hearts may thither rise,
alleluia!
seeking thee above the skies.
alleluia!
There we shall with thee remain,
alleluia!
partners of thy eternal reign,
alleluia!
there thy face forever see,
alleluia!
find our heaven of heavens in thee,
alleluia!
Psalm 106 (107)
Thanksgiving after rescue
Let them thank the Lord for his love,
for the wonders he does for men.
Alleluia.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his kindness is for ever.
Let them say this, the people the Lord has redeemed,
those whom he rescued from their enemies
whom he gathered together from all lands,
from east and west, from the north and the south.
They wandered through desert and wilderness,
they could find no way to a city they could dwell in.
Their souls were weary within them,
weary from hunger and thirst.
They cried to the Lord in their trouble
and he rescued them from their distress.
He set them on the right path
towards a city they could dwell in.
Let them give thanks to the Lord for his kindness,
for the wonders he works for men:
the Lord, who feeds hungry creatures
and gives water to the thirsty to drink.
They sat in the darkness and shadow of death,
imprisoned in chains and in misery,
because they had rebelled against the words of God
and spurned the counsels of the Most High.
He wore out their hearts with labor:
they were weak, there was no-one to help.
They cried to the Lord in their trouble
and he rescued them from their distress.
He led them out of the darkness and shadow of death,
he shattered their chains.
Let them give thanks to the Lord for his kindness,
for the wonders he works for men:
the Lord, who shatters doors of bronze,
who breaks bars of iron.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
Let them thank the Lord for his love,
for the wonders he does for men.
Alleluia.
Psalm 106 (107)
They have seen the Lord’s deeds and the wonders he does.
Alleluia.
The people were sick because they transgressed,
afflicted because of their sins.
All food was distasteful to them,
they were on the verge of death.
They cried to the Lord in their trouble
and he rescued them from their distress.
He sent forth his word and healed them,
delivered them from their ruin.
Let them give thanks to the Lord for his kindness,
for the wonders he works for men:
Let them offer a sacrifice of praise
and proclaim his works with rejoicing.
Those who go down to the sea in ships,
those who trade across the great waters –
they have seen the works of the Lord,
the wonders he performs in the deep.
He spoke, and a storm arose,
and the waves of the sea rose up.
They rose up as far as the heavens
and descended down to the depths:
the sailors’ hearts melted from fear,
they staggered and reeled like drunkards,
terror drove them out of their minds.
But they cried to the Lord in their trouble
and he rescued them from their distress.
He turned the storm into a breeze
and silenced the waves.
They rejoiced at the ending of the storm
and he led them to the port that they wanted.
Let them give thanks to the Lord for his kindness,
for the wonders he works for men:
let them exalt him in the assembly of the people,
give him praise in the council of the elders.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
They have seen the Lord’s deeds and the wonders he does.
Alleluia.
Psalm 106 (107)
The upright see and rejoice;
they consider the love of the Lord.
Alleluia.
The Lord has turned rivers into wilderness,
he has made well-watered lands into desert,
fruitful ground into salty waste
because of the evil of those who dwelt there.
But he has made wilderness into ponds,
deserts into the sources of rivers,
he has called together the hungry
and they have founded a city to dwell in.
They have sowed the fields, planted the vines;
they grow and harvest their produce.
He has blessed them and they have multiplied;
he does not let their cattle decrease.
But those others became few and oppressed
through trouble, evil, and sorrow.
He poured his contempt on their princes
and set them to wander the trackless waste.
But the poor he has saved from their poverty
and their families grow numerous as sheep.
The upright shall see, and be glad,
and all wickedness shall block up its mouth.
Whoever is wise will remember these things
and understand the mercies of the Lord.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
The upright see and rejoice;
they consider the love of the Lord.
Alleluia.
God has given us a new birth into living hope, alleluia,
– through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, alleluia.
First Reading
3 John 1:1-15
From the Elder: greetings to my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.
My dear friend, I hope everything is going happily with you and that you are as well physically as you are spiritually.
It was a great joy to me when some brothers came and told of your faithfulness to the truth, and of your life in the truth.
It is always my greatest joy to hear that my children are living according to the truth.
My friend, you have done faithful work in looking after these brothers, even though they were complete strangers to you. They are a proof to the whole Church of your charity and it would be a very good thing if you could help them on their journey in a way that God would approve. It was entirely for the sake of the name that they set out, without depending on the pagans for anything;
it is our duty to welcome men of this sort and contribute our share to their work for the truth.
I have written a note for the members of the church, but Diotrephes, who seems to enjoy being in charge of it, refuses to accept us. So if I come, I shall tell everyone how he has behaved, and about the wicked accusations he has been circulating against us. As if that were not enough, he not only refuses to welcome our brothers, but prevents the other people who would have liked to from doing it, and expels them from the church. My dear friend, never follow such a bad example, but keep following the good one; anyone who does what is right is a child of God, but the person who does what is wrong has never seen God.
Demetrius has been approved by everyone, and indeed by the truth itself.
We too will vouch for him and you know that our testimony is true.
There were several things I had to tell you but I would rather not trust them to pen and ink.
However, I hope to see you soon and talk to you personally.
Peace be with you; greetings from your friends; greet each of our friends by name.
Responsory
Never follow a bad example, but continue to follow the good one:
anyone who does what is right is a child of God, alleluia.
There is some merit in accepting pain if it is endured for the sake of God:
anyone who does what is right is a child of God, alleluia.
Second Reading
An exposition of Ecclesiastes
by St Gregory of Agrigentum
The Church in its unity speaks in the language of every nation
The disciples spoke in the language of every nation. At Pentecost God chose this means to indicate the presence of the Holy Spirit: whoever had received the Spirit spoke in every kind of tongue. We must realise, dear brothers, that this is the same Holy Spirit by whom love is poured out in our hearts. It was love that was to bring the Church of God together all over the world.
And as individual men who received the Holy Spirit, speaks in the language of every people.
Therefore if somebody should say to one of us, “You have received the Holy Spirit, why do you not speak in tongues?” his reply should be, “I do indeed speak in the tongues of all men, because I belong to the body of Christ, that is, the Church, and she speaks all languages. What else did the presence of the Holy Spirit indicate at Pentecost,
except that God’s Church was to speak in the language of every people?”
This way is the way in which the Lord’s promise was fulfilled: No one puts new wine into old wineskins. New wine is put into fresh skins, and so both are preserved. So when the disciples were heard speaking in all kinds of languages, some people were not far wrong in saying: They have been drinking too much new wine. The truth is that the disciples had now become fresh wineskins, renewed and made holy by grace. The new wine of the Holy Spirit filled them, so that their fervour brimmed over and they spoke in manifold tongues. By this spectacular miracle they became a sign of the Catholic Church,
which embraces the language of every nation.
Keep this feast, then, as members of the one body of Christ. It will be no empty festival for you if you really become what you are celebrating. For you are the members of that Church which the Lord acknowledges as his own, being himself acknowledged by her, that same Church which he fills with the Holy Spirit as she spreads throughout the world.
He is like a bridegroom who never loses sight of his own bride;
no one could ever deceive him by substituting some other woman.
To you men of all nations, then who make up the Church of Christ, you the members of Christ, you, the body of Christ, you, the bride of Christ – to all of you the Apostle addresses these words: Bear with one another in love; do all you can to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Notice that when Paul urges us to bear with one another, he bases his argument on love, and when he speaks of our hope of unity, he emphasises the bond of peace. This Church is the house of God. It is his delight to dwell here. Take care, then, that he never has the sorrow of seeing it undermined by schism and collapsing in ruins.
Responsory
God, who can read everyone’s heart, gave the Holy Spirit to the pagans just as he did to us.
He made no distinction between them and us:
he purified their hearts because they believed, alleluia.
God has granted even the pagans the repentance that leads to life.
He made no distinction between them and us:
he purified their hearts because they believed, alleluia.
Let us pray.
Give us grace, almighty God,
to hold fast in life and conduct
to the mystery we have celebrated at Easter.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Let us praise the Lord.
– Thanks be to God.
