TODAY’S GOSPEL READING (LUKE 6:12-19)

(Week 23 of the year: Tuesday)

JESUS SPENT THE WHOLE NIGHT IN PRAYER AND HE PICKED TWELVE WHOM HE CALLED “APOSTLES”.

Jesus went out into the hills to pray; and he spent the whole night in prayer to God. When day came he summoned his disciples and picked out twelve of them; he called them “apostles”: Simon whom he called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot who became a traitor.

He then came down with them and stopped at a piece of level ground where there was a large gathering of his disciples with a great crowd of all people from all parts of Judaea and from Jerusalem and from the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon who had come to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. People tormented by unclean spirits were also cured, and everyone in the crowd was trying to touch him because power came out of him that cured them all.

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

 

TODAY’S GOSPEL READING (JOHN 14:1-12)

I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE.

Jesus said to his disciples:
”Do not be troubled! Trust in God and trust in me! In my Father’s house there are many rooms; otherwise I would not have told you that I go to prepare a place for you. After I have gone and prepared a place for you, I shall come again and take you to me, so that where I am, you also may be. Yet you know the way where I am going.”

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me. If you know me, you will know the Father also; indeed you know him, and you have seen him.”

Philip asked him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that is enough.” Jesus said to him, “What! I have been with you so long and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever sees me sees 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?
All that I say to you, I do not say of myself. The Father who dwells in me is doing his own work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; at least believe it on the evidence of these works that I do.

Truly, I say to you, the one who believes in me will do the same works that I do; and he will even do greater than these, for I am going to the Father.

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

 

TODAY’S GOSPEL READING (JOHN 14:7-14)

TO HAVE SEEN ME IS TO HAVE SEEN THE FATHER.

Jesus said to his disciples:
“If you know me, you know the 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 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.”

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

 

24th JANUARY, GOSPEL READING (MARK 3:13-19)

HE SUMMONED THOSE HE WANTED TO BE HIS COMPANIONS.

Jesus went up into the hills and summoned those he wanted. So they came to him and he appointed twelve; they were to be his companions and to be sent out to preach, with power to cast out devils. And so he appointed the Twelve: Simon to whom he gave the name Peter, James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom he gave the name Boanerges or “Sons of Thunder”; then Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, the man who was to betray him.

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

 

TODAY’S BIBLE READING (ACTS 8:26-40)

IF YOU BELIEVE WITH ALL YOUR HEART, YOU MAY BE BAPTISED.

The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Be ready to set out at noon along the road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza, the desert road.” So he set off on his journey. Now it happened that an Ethiopian had been on pilgrimage to Jerusalem; he was an eunuch and an officer at the court of the kandake, or queen, of Ethiopia, and was in fact her chief treasurer. He was now on his way home; and as he sat in his chariot he was reading the prophet Isaiah. The Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and meet that chariot.” When Philip ran up, he heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” “How can I,” he replied, “unless I have someone to guide me?” So he invited Philip to get in and sit by his side. Now the passage of scripture he was reading was this:

Like a sheep that is led to the slaughter-house,
like a lamb that is dumb in front of its shearers,
like these he never opens his mouth.
He has been humiliated and has no one to defend him.
Who will ever talk about his descendants,
since his life on earth has been cut short!

The eunuch turned to Philip and said, “Tell me, is the prophet referring to himself or someone else?” Starting, therefore, with this text of scripture Philip proceeded to explain the Good News of Jesus to him.

Farther along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look, there is some water here; is there anything to stop me being baptised?” He ordered the chariot to stop, then Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water and Philip baptised him. But after they had come up out of the water again Philip was taken away by the Spirit of the Lord, and the eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing. Philip found that he had reached Azotus and continued his journey proclaiming the Good News in every town as far as Caesarea.

V. The word of the Lord.
R. Thanks be to God.

 

A LITANY OF THE SAINTS

Lord, have mercy on us. – Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us. – Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. – Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ, hear us. – Christ, graciously hear us.

Holy Mary, Mother of God – pray for us. (Repeat after each line.)
Saint Michael,
Saint Gabriel,
Saint Raphael,
Holy angels of God,
Saint John the Baptist,
Saint Joseph,
Saint Peter,
Saint Paul,
Saint Andrew,
Saint James,
Saint John,
Saint Thomas,
Saint James,
Saint Philip,
Saint Bartholomew,
Saint Matthew,
Saint Simon,
Saint Jude,
Saint Matthias,
Saint Luke,
Saint Mark,
Saint Stephen,
Saint Mary Magdalene,
Saint Ignatius,
Saint Lawrence,
Saint Vincent,
Saint Fabian and Saint Sebastian,
Saint Cosmas and Saint Damian,
Saint Sylvester,
Saint Gregory,
Saint Ambrose,
Saint Augustine,
Saint Jerome,
Saint Athanasius,
Saint Basil,
Saint Martin,
Saint Nicholas,
Saint Anthony,
Saint Benedict,
Saint Francis,
Saint Dominic,
Saint Perpetua and Saint Felicity,
Saint Agatha,
Saint Lucy,
Saint Agnes,
Saint Cecilia,
Saint Anastasia,
Saint Catherine,
Saint Teresa of Avila,
Saint Therese of the Child Jesus,
Saint Francis Xavier,
Saint John Vianney,
Saint Patrick,
Saint Columba,
Saint Brigid,
Saint Thomas Becket,
Saint John Fisher,
Saint Thomas More,
Saint John Ogilvie,
All holy men and women, – pray for us.

Lord, be merciful – Lord, save your people.
From all evil – Lord, save your people.
From every sin – Lord, save your people.
From everlasting death – Lord, save your people.
By your coming as man – Lord, save your people.
By your death and rising to new life – Lord, save your people.
By your gift of the Holy Spirit – Lord, save your people.

Be merciful to us sinners – Lord, hear our prayer.
Jesus, Son of the living God – Lord, hear our prayer.
Christ, hear us. – Christ, hear us.
Lord Jesus, hear our prayer. – Lord Jesus, hear our prayer.