Tuesday, 6th Week of Easter

(24th May: World Day of Prayer for the Church in China 
- Our Lady , Help of Christians Shrine of  Sheshan)

FIRST READING

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles            16:22-34
Theme: Become a believer in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, and your household too.

The crowd of Philippians joined in and showed their hostility to Paul and Silas, so the magistrates had them stripped and ordered them to be flogged. They were given many lashes and then thrown into prison, and the gaoler was told to keep a close watch on them. So, following his instructions, he threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. 

Late that night Paul and Silas were praying and singing God's praises, while the other prisoners listened. Suddenly there was an earthquake that shook the prison to its foundations. All the doors flew open and the chains fell from all the prisoners. When the gaoler woke and saw the doors wide open he drew his sword and was about to commit suicide, presuming that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted at the top of his voice,
'Don't do yourself any harm; we are all here.'

The gaoler called for lights, then rushed in, threw himself trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas, and escorted them out, saying,
'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?'
They told him,
Become a believer in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, and your household too.'
Then they preached the word of the Lord to him and to all his family. Late as it was, he took them to wash their wounds, and was baptised then and there with all his household. Afterwards he took them home and gave them a meal, and the whole family celebrated their conversion to belief in God.

The Word of the Lord.          Thanks be to God


Responsorial Psalm        Ps 137
Response                             You stretch out your hand and save me, 0 Lord.
Or                                          Alleluia!

1. I thank you, Lord, with all my heart,
you have heard the words of my mouth.
Before the angels I will bless you.
I will adore before your holy temple.             Response

2. I thank you for your faithfulness and love
which excel all we ever knew of you.
On the day I called, you answered;
you increased the strength of my soul.          Response

3. You stretch out your hand and save me,
your hand will do all things for me.
Your love, O Lord, is eternal,
discard not the work of your hands.              Response

Gospel Acclamation  
Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ has risen and shone upon us whom he redeemed with his blood.
Alleluia!

or                                     Jn 16: 5-11
Alleluia, alleluia!
I will send you the Spirit of truth, says the Lord; he will lead you to the complete truth.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL

The Lord be with you.                         And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John      16:5-11           Glory to you, O Lord
Theme: Unless I go, the Advocate will not come to you;  but if I do go, I will send him to you.

Jesus said to his disciples:

'Now I am going to the one who sent me.
Not one of you has asked, "Where are you going?"
Yet you are sad at heart because I have told you this.
Still, I must tell you the truth: it is for your own good that I am going
because unless I go, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I do go, I will send him to you.

And when he comes, he will show the world how wrong it was, about sin,
and about who was in the right,
and about judgement:
about sin: proved by their refusal to believe in me;
about who was in the right: proved by my going to the Father
and your seeing me no more; about judgement: proved by the prince of this world being already condemned.'

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



Gospel Reflection           Tuesday,              Sixth Week of Easter            John 16:5-11 

In critical situations, we can be very conscious of what we are losing. We sense the loss of a great deal that means so much to us. As a result, we can find ourselves ‘sad at heart’ in the words of today’s gospel reading. There Jesus is speaking in a critical moment for himself and his disciples. It is the evening of the Last Supper, and the disciples are ‘sad at heart’ because they sense that they are losing Jesus. He is going from them and will not return. However, whereas Jesus does not deny the reality of their loss, he tries to show them that something worthwhile is coming out of this loss that wouldn’t otherwise happen. He says to them, ‘It is for your own good that I am going because unless I go, the Advocate will not come to you’.

Jesus’ departure to his heavenly Father will make possible the sending of the Holy Spirit ,who will make Jesus present in a new and more wonderful way, not just to these disciples, but to disciples of every generation. Moreover, Jesus says, when the Advocate comes, he will go on the offensive against the opponents of Jesus and his disciples, proving these opponents wrong in their assessment of Jesus and his followers as sinners, and of themselves as being in the right, and, also, in their assessment that Jesus was being judged or condemned by God on the cross. In other words, when the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, comes, he will be a wonderful resource to the disciples, to the church. Yet, because the Advocate is the Spirit of the risen Lord, he cannot come unless Jesus returns to his Father through his death and resurrection. Jesus is assuring his disciples that great good will come out of the tragedy that is unfolding. Even in the midst of tragedy, we can be confident that the risen Lord is working to bring some good out of our affliction.

In today’s first reading, the affliction of Paul’s imprisonment led to the baptism of the jailer and his family. The Lord can work powerfully in situations where we feel powerless and helpless, if we give him the space to do so.

Reflection on  todays  day of prayer  for the Church in China

In a letter written to the faithful of the Catholic Church in China in May 2007, Pope Benedict XVI expressed the hope that 24 May would become a day of prayer for the Church in China. He chose this day because it is the memorial of Our Lady Help of Christians, who is venerated with great devotion at the Marian shrine of Sheshan in Shanghai. The statue of Our Lady Help of Christians at the shrine is very striking. Our Lady holds the child Jesus high above her head; the child’s hands are extended straight out to left and right, symbolising his death on the cross and the overcoming of his death with his resurrection. These outstretched arms are also a symbol of love for all humanity. As we approach the memorial of Our Lady Help of Christians, we pray for the Church in China and for all persecuted Christians throughout the world, and we also ask the Lord to make us more courageous in bearing witness to him in our own time and place.

The prayer reads:

Virgin Most Holy, Mother of the incarnate Word and our Mother, venerated in the Shrine of Sheshan under the title "Help of Christians", the entire Church in China looks to you with devout affection. Our Lady of Sheshan, sustain all those in China, who, amid their daily trials, continue to believe, to hope, to love. May they never be afraid to speak of Jesus to the world and of the world to Jesus. In the statue overlooking the Shrine you lift your Son on high, offering him to the world with open arms in a gesture of love. Help Catholics always to be credible witnesses to this love, ever clinging to the rock of Peter on which the Church is built. Mother of China and all Asia, pray for us, now and for ever. Amen. - Pope Benedict XVI

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The scripture readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and used with the permission of the publishers.  http://dltbooks.com/
The Gospel reflection is available with our thanks from Reflections on the Weekday Readings 2021-2022:  My Words Will Not Pass Away: by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications  cc/f www.messenger.ie/bookstore

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FIRST READING               

A reading from the Acts  1:1-11
Theme: He was lifted up while they looked on.


In my earlier work, Theophilus, I dealt with everything Jesus had done and I taught from the beginning until the day he gave his instructions to the apostles he had chosen through the Holy Spirit, and was taken up to heaven. He had shown himself alive to them after his Passion by many demonstrations: for forty days he had continued to appear to them and tell them about the kingdom of God. When he had been at table with them, he had told them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for what the Father had promised.
'It is' he had said 'what you have heard me speak about: John baptised with water but you, not many days from now, will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.'

Now having met together, they asked him,
'Lord, has the time come? Are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?'
He replied,
'It is not for you to know times or dates that the Father has decided by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judaea and Samaria, and indeed to the ends of the earth'.

As he said this he was lifted up while they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight. They were still staring into the sky when suddenly two men in white were standing near them and they said,
'Why are you men from Galilee standing here looking into the sky? Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven, this same Jesus will come back in the same way as you have seen him go there.'

The Word of the Lord                  Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm              Ps 46
Response                                  God goes up with shouts of joy;
the Lord goes up with trumpet blast.
or                                                 Alleluia!
1. All peoples, clap your hands,
cry to God with shouts of joy!
For the Lord, the Most High, we must fear,
great king over all the earth.           Response

2. God goes up with shouts of joy;
the Lord goes up with trumpet blast.
Sing praise for God, sing praise,
sing praise to our king, sing praise. Response

3. God is king of all the earth.
Sing praise with all your skill.
God is king over the nations;
God reigns on his holy throne.         Response
SECOND READING       

A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Ephesians  1 17-23
Theme: He made him sit at his right hand, in heaven.


May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him.

May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, what rich glories he has promised the saints will inherit and how infinitely great is the power that he has exercised for us believers. This you can tell from the strength of his power at work in Christ, when he used it to raise him from the dead and to make him sit at his right hand, in heaven, far above every Sovereignty, Authority, Power, or Domination, or any other name that can be named not only in this age but also in the age to come. He has put all things under his feet and made him, as the ruler of everything, the head of the Church; which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creation.

The word of the Lord              Thanks be to God.

Gospel Acclamation            Mt 28: 19
Allelluia, alleluia!
Go, make disciples of all the nations; I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL

The Lord be with you.                        And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke  24:46-53              Glory to you, O Lord
Theme: As he blessed them, he was carried up to heaven.


Jesus said to his disciples:
'You see how it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that, in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this.

'And now I am sending down to you what the Father has promised. Stay in the city then, until you are clothed with the power from on high.'

Then he took them out as far as the outskirts of Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. Now as he blessed them, he withdrew from them and was carried up to heaven. They worshipped him and then went back to  Jerusalem full of joy; and they were continually in the Temple praising God.

The Gospel of the Lord          Glory to you, O Lord



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.