24th APRIL, BIBLE READING (ACTS 3:11-26)

YOU KILLED THE PRINCE OF LIFE. GOD, HOWEVER, RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD.

Everyone came running towards Peter and John in great excitement, to the Portico of Solomon, as it is called, where the man was still clinging to them. When Peter saw the people he addressed them: “Why are you so surprised at this? Why are you staring at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or holiness? You are Israelites, and it is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, who has glorified his servant Jesus, the same Jesus you handed over and then disowned in the presence of Pilate, after Pilate had decided to release him. It was you who accused the Holy One, the Just One, you who demanded the reprieve of a murderer while you killed the prince of life.

God, however, raised him from the dead, and to that fact we are the witnesses; and it is the name of Jesus which, through our faith in it, has brought back the strength of this man whom you see here and who is well known to you. It is faith in that name that has restored this man to health, as you all can see.

Now I know, brothers, that neither you nor your leaders had any idea what you were really doing; this was the way God carried out what he had foretold, when he said through all his prophets that his Christ would suffer. Now you must repent and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, and so that the Lord may send the time of comfort. Then he will send you the Christ he has predestined, that is Jesus, whom heaven must keep till the universal restoration comes which God proclaimed, speaking through his holy prophets. Moses, for example, said: the Lord God will raise up a prophet like myself for you, from among your own brothers; you must listen to whatever he tells you. The man who does not listen to that prophet is to be cut off from the people. In fact, all the prophets that have ever spoken, from Samuel onwards, have predicted these days.

You are the heirs of the prophets, the heirs of the covenant God made with our ancestors when he told Abraham: in your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed. It was for you in the first place that God raised up his servant and sent him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”

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

 

22nd APRIL, BIBLE READING (ACTS 2:36-41)

YOU MUST REPENT AND EVERY ONE OF YOU MUST BE BAPTISED IN THE NAME OF JESUS.

Peter spoke to the Jews: “The whole House of Israel can be certain that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.”

Hearing this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the apostles, “What must we do, brothers?” “You must repent,” Peter answered, “and every one of you must be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise that was made is for you and your children, and for all those who are far away, for all those whom the Lord our God will call to himself.”

He spoke to them for a long time using many arguments, and he urged them, “Save yourselves from this perverse generation.” They were convinced by his arguments, and they accepted what he said and were baptised. That very day about three thousand were added to their number.

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

 

SHAMROCK, THREE-IN-ONE: ST PATRICK’S TEACHING ABOUT THE HOLY TRINITY

“[On] 17th March we celebrate St Patrick’s Day, the patron saint of Ireland. In his ‘Confessio’ St Patrick writes about the Trinity:

There is no other God, nor ever was, nor will be, than God the Father
• Unbegotten
• Without beginning
• From whom is all beginning
• Who upholds all things, as we have been taught.

And His Son Jesus Christ
• Whom we acknowledge to have been always with the Father
• Who before the beginning of the world was spiritually present with the Father
• Begotten in an unspeakable manner before all beginning
• By Him are made all things visible and invisible.
• He was made man, and
• Having defeated death, was received into heaven by the Father
• And He has given Him a name which is above all names
• That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven, on earth, and under the earth
• And every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and God
• In whom we believe, and whose coming we expect soon to be
• Judge of the living and the dead
• Who will render to every man according to his deeds
• And He has poured forth upon us abundantly…

The Holy Spirit
• The gift and pledge of immortality
• Who makes those who believe and obey sons of God the Father
• And joint heirs with Christ
Whom we confess and adore, one God in the Trinity of the Holy Name.”
– From: “Spiritual Thought from Father Chris”, March 2011

 

POPE FRANCIS GETS A LOT OF PUBLICITY – MUST I BELIEVE EVERYTHING HE’S ALLEGEDLY SAID?

QUESTION: “‘Some of the things that Pope Francis [is reported to have] said have troubled me…’

ANSWER:

1. OFFICIAL TEACHING

‘When the Pope, as shepherd and teacher of all the faithful, solemnly defines a matter of faith or morals, we must give that teaching the assent of faith. The Second Vatican Council reminded us that even when he uses his teaching authority or ‘magisterium’ in a lesser, non-infallible way, we should give that teaching the religious assent of mind and will. Such would be the case with encyclicals or other formal apostolic teaching documents.’

2. POPES ALSO EXERCISE THEIR PASTORAL MINISTRY IN MORE INFORMAL WAYS

‘Popes also exercise their pastoral ministry in more informal ways by giving sermons or talks. In these cases we are not obliged to the same level of assent, although of course we would always respect the teaching of the Holy Father.’

EXAMPLE OF POPE EM. BENEDICT

‘By way of example, Pope Benedict explained in the foreword to ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ that the book was not an exercise of magisterial teaching and that ‘everyone is free to contradict me’ though he asked for a spirit of goodwill in response to his ‘personal search for the face of the Lord’. The same would apply to the informal teaching of Pope Francis. Indeed, the Holy Father has shown his friendly desire for discussion and consultation in his relations with those who have taken issue with some of the things he has said.’

A CLEAR DIFFERENCE

‘According to the teaching of the Church, the Pope has universal ordinary jurisdiction, but there is a clear and obvious difference between the exercise of the formal power of jurisdiction and suggestions that are put forward for good-natured discussion.’

ANY POPE HAS BEEN ENTRUSTED WITH A GREAT BURDEN

‘As Catholics, we should always have a love and respect for the person of the Holy Father who has been entrusted with a great burden of pastoral care. We must pray for him, asking the Lord to assist him in his ministry. Pope Francis has certainly generated goodwill in the media and we may rejoice in that, praying always that God will, in His providence, use the gifts and personal qualities of the Pope for the good of the Church in her mission to the world.”
– This article was published in “The Catholic Herald” issue December 13 2013. For subscriptions please visit http://www.catholicherald.co.uk (external link).

 

13th AUGUST, GOSPEL READING (MATTHEW 18:1-5, 10, 12-14)

SEE THAT YOU NEVER DESPISE ANY OF THESE LITTLE ONES.

The disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” So he called a little child to him and set the child in front of them. Then he said, “I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

“Anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.

“See that you never despise any of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven are continually in the presence of my Father in heaven.

“Tell me. Suppose a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays; will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go in search of the stray? I tell you solemnly, if he finds it, it gives him more joy than do the ninety-nine that did not stray at all. Similarly, it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.”

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

 

24th JULY, GOSPEL READING (MATTHEW 13:1-9)

IT PRODUCED CROP A HUNDREDFOLD.

Jesus left the house and sat by the lakeside, but such crowds gathered round him that he got into a boat and sat there. The people all stood on the beach, and he told them many things in parables.

He said, “Imagine a sower going out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on patches of rock where they found little soil and sprang up straight away, because there was no depth of earth; but as soon as the sun came up they were scorched and, not having any roots, they withered away. Others fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Others fell on rich soil and produced their crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Listen, anyone who has ears!”

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

 

19th JULY, GOSPEL READING (MATTHEW 12:1-8)

THE SON OF MAN IS MASTER OF THE SABBATH.

Jesus took a walk one sabbath day through the cornfields. His disciples were hungry and began to pick ears of corn and eat them. The Pharisees noticed it and said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing something that is forbidden on the sabbath.” But he said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his followers were hungry – how he went into the house of God and how they ate the loaves of offering which neither he nor his followers were allowed to eat, but which were for the priests alone?

Or again, have you not read in the Law that on the sabbath day the Temple priests break the sabbath without being blamed for it? Now here, I tell you, is something greater than the Temple. And if you had understood the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the blameless. For the Son of Man is master of the sabbath.”

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

 

16th JULY, GOSPEL READING (MATTHEW 11:20-24)

IT WILL NOT GO AS HARD ON JUDGEMENT DAY WITH TYRE AND SIDON AND WITH THE LAND OF SODOM AS WITH YOU.

Jesus began to reproach the towns in which most of his miracles had been worked, because they refused to repent.

“Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. And still, I tell you that it will not go as hard on Judgement day with Tyre and Sidon as with you. And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be exalted as high as heaven? You shall be thrown down to hell. For if the miracles done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been standing yet. And still, I tell you that it will not go as hard with the land of Sodom on Judgement day as with you.”

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

 

15th JULY, GOSPEL READING (MATTHEW 10:34 – 11:1)

IT IS NOT PEACE I HAVE COME TO BRING, BUT A SWORD.

Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth: it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies will be those of his own household.

“Anyone who prefers father or mother to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who prefers son or daughter to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me. Anyone who finds his life will losw it; anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.

“Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me; and those who welcome me welcome the one who sent me.

“Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will have a prophet’s reward; and anyone who welcomes a holy man because he is a holy man will have a holy man’s reward.

“If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, then I tell you solemnly, he will most certainly not lose his reward.”

When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples he moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns.

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

 

13th JULY, GOSPEL READING (MATTHEW 10:24-33)

DO NOT BE AFRAID OF THOSE WHO KILL THE BODY.

Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: “The disciple is not superior to his teacher, nor the slave to his master. It is enough for the disciple that he should grow to be like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, what will they not say of his household?

“Do not be afraid of them therefore. For everything that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the daylight; what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the housetops.

“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell. Can you not buy two sparrows for a penny? And yet not one falls to the ground without your Father knowing. Why, every hair on your head has been counted. So there is no need to be afraid; you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows.

“So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of men, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven. But the one who disowns me in the presence of men, I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven.”

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