Churches of the Day

Thursday, Fourth Week of Easter

Sharing the life, the dignity, and spirit of Jesus means also sharing his self-giving and service.

Saint of the Day; 30 April; St Pius V. pope
C/f A short life of this saint can be found below todays' Readings and Reflection.


FIRST READING

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles        13:13-25
God has raised up for Israel one of David's descendants, Jesus, as Saviour.

Paul and his friends went by sea from Paphos to Perga in Pamphylia where John left them to go back to Jerusalem. The others carried on from Perga till they reached Antioch in Pisidia. Here they went to synagogue on the sabbath and took their seats. After the lessons from the Law and the Prophets had been read, the presidents of the synagogue sent them a message: ' Brothers, if you would like to address some words of encouragement to the congregation, please do so.'

Paul stood up, held up a hand for silence and began to speak:
'Men of Israel, and fearers of God, listen!
The God of our nation Israel chose our ancestors, and made our people great when they were living as foreigners in Egypt; then by divine power he led them out, and for about forty years took care of them in the wilderness.

When he had destroyed seven nations in Canaan, he put them in possession of their land for about four hundred and fifty years.
After this he gave them judges, down to the prophet Samuel.
Then they demanded a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin. After forty years, he deposed him and made David their king, of whom he approved in these words,
"I have selected David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will carry out my whole purpose."

To keep his promise, God has raised up for Israel one of David's descendants, Jesus, as Saviour, whose coming was heralded by John when he proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the whole people of Israel. Before John ended his career he said,
"I am not the one you imagine me to be; that one is coming after me and I am not fit to undo his sandal."'

The Word of the Lord            Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm         Ps 88: 2-3. 21-22. 25. 27. R/v 2
Response                               I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.
Or                                           Alleluia!

1. I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord;
through all ages my mouth will proclaim your truth.
Of this I am sure, that your love lasts for ever,
hat your truth is firmly established as the heavens.   Response

2. I have found David my servant and with my holy oil anointed him.
My hand shall always be with him and my arm shall make him strong.                                                                                                                                                  Response

3. My truth and my love shall be with him; by my name his might shall be exalted.
He will say to me: 'You are my father, my God, the rock who saves me. '                                                                                                                                                Response

Gospel Acclamation       Apoc 1:5
Alleluia, alleluia!
You, O Christ, are the faithful witness, the First-born from the dead;
you have loved us and have washed away our sins with your blood.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL                 

The Lord be with you.                        And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John   13:16-20        Glory to you, O Lord
Whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.

After he had washed the feet of his disciples, Jesus said to them:
'I tell you most solemnly, no servant is greater than his master,
no messenger is greater than the man who sent him.
Now that you know this, happiness will be yours if you behave accordingly.
I am not speaking about all of you: I know the ones I have chosen; but what scripture says must be fulfilled:
'Someone who shares my table rebels against me.'

'I tell you this now, before it happens,
so that when it does happen you may believe that I am He.
I tell you most solemnly, whoever welcomes the one I send welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.'

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

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Gospel Reflection               Thursday,            Fourth Week of Easter            John 13:16-20

Most of the first Christians were Jews. Even after coming to faith in Jesus as the long awaited Messiah, they continued to frequent the synagogue. In today’s first reading, when Paul and his co-worker arrive in Antioch in modern central Turkey, they go to the synagogue on the Sabbath day. The liturgy of the Word was celebrated, with readings from the Law and the Prophets, and then the president of the synagogue, the presider, invited Paul and his companions to address some words of encouragement to the congregation, to preach the homily, which Paul proceeded to do. I like that phrase, ‘words of encouragement’. Every homily should contain words of encouragement.

The ministry of encouragement was very important in the early church. Paul often calls on the members of his own churches to encourage one another. It is a ministry we can all engage in within the church and it is as important a ministry now as it was in the early years of the church. The words of Jesus in the gospel reading follow immediately upon an extraordinary gesture of encouragement he performed for his disciples, washing their feet. Having performed this service of encouragement for them, he immediately calls on them to ‘behave accordingly’, and he promises them that if they do so ‘happiness will be yours’. Actions speak louder than words, and it is above all by the humble and loving service of one another that we encourage one another. Jesus assures us that in so far as we give expression in our lives to Jesus’ encouraging love we will find genuine happiness.

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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd. and used with the permission of the publishers.  http://dltbooks.com/
The Scripture Reflection is made available with our thanks from Reflections on the Weekday Readings : Your word is a lamp for my feet and light for my path by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications  c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/

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Saint of the Day; 30 April; St Pius V. pope

Summary: St Pius V , shepherd, student, priest, teacher, inquisitor, pope, (Antonio/Michaele Ghislieri OP) He cleaned up corruption in the papal court, and standardised the training of priests, the liturgy and canon law according to the reforms of the Council of Trent.

Patrick Duffy outlines his life.

Early Career
Born Antonio Ghislieri, of humble origins, near Alessandria in northern Italy, he worked as a shepherd before joining the Dominicans at the age of 14 and took the name Michael. A keen student, he was ordained in 1528 and for sixteen years taught philosophy and theology at Pavia University. He then joined the Inquisition, of which in 1558 he was made the head, meanwhile becoming a bishop and cardinal.

Reforming Pope
In the papal election of 1566 Charles Borromeo successfully lobbied for Ghislieri as a reforming pope. Pius V soon drastically reduced the papal court, stopped nepotism in the appointment of cardinals and imposed strict sexual morality. He also standardised the form of the Mass promulgating the 1570 edition of the Roman Missal which remained standard for 400 years until the reform of Vatican II. (Pope Benedict XVI has recently given permission for this form of the Mass to be used again as an extraordinary form of the Mass. This permission was made more restricted recently by Pope Francis)

Excommunicates Queen Elizabeth of England
By the papal bull, 'Regnans in Excelsis', dated April 27, 1570, Pius V declared Elizabeth I a heretic and released her subjects from their allegiance to her. The second part of this was a less-than-wise excessive claim of papal authority in secular matters. Its effect was to turn Catholics in England and Ireland from religious dissidents to enemies of the state and many had to pay with their lives.

"Holy League" against the Turks
Pope St Pius V persuaded Spain and Venice to join him in a "holy league" against the Ottoman Turks, who at that time controlled the Mediterranean. With Don John of Austria they defeated the Turks at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. He attributed the victory to Our Lady and this led to the cult of Our Lady of Victories and the
establishment of the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on 7th October.

Death and Memory
Pius was popular with the Romans who admired his inflexible integrity. He died in 1572 and in 1588 and his remains were laid in a magnificent tomb in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major. He was beatified in 1672 and canonised in 1712. 

The late Pope Francis (right) prays at the relics   St Pius V in the Basilica Church of St Mary Major, Rome.) 

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Memorable Wisdom Saying for Today

The world offers you comfort. But you were not made for comfort.
You were made for greatness

~ Pope Benedict  XVI~

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Saint of the Day: St Carthage

Summary: Carthage was a Kerry herdsman who became a monk and  set up a monastery, first in Kerry, then at Rahan in Co Offaly, and finally at Lismore in Co Waterford. In later centuries Lismore became the seat of a diocese. In 1363 the diocese was joined with Waterford. Carthage is still its patron saint.

Patrick Duffy tells his story.

Early Life in Kerry
Carthage was born in Kerry. One day as he was herding pigs in the fields, he saw a bishop and his clergy in procession, chanting psalms, and ran to tell his father he had never seen anything so beautiful. His father wanted him to become a warrior, but he eventually agreed to allow him become a monk in a neighbouring monastery under the guidance of St. Carthage the Elder. Carthage the Elder called him 'Mo-chuta' as an affectionate dimunitive and subsequently ordained him a priest.

Pursued by the Young Women
Mochuta founded a small monastery in Kerry. Since he was very handsome, 'maidens to the number of thirty were so enamoured of him that they could not conceal their feelings'. He built cells and a monastery especially for them, and persuaded them to devote themselves to God as virgins.

Visits to Other Monasteries
After some time he visited and stayed with other abbots and monasteries, Comhgall at Bangor and Colman Elo at Lynally in Offaly, on whose recommendation in 590 he founded his monastery at Rahan about two miles away.

Rahan
The monastery at Rahan had many monks and thrived for over 40 years. But the regime was so severe that Carthage would not provide his monks with oxen and a plough, forcing the monks to till the soil manually. There are stories of efforts by his monks to get rid of him, saying they felt unable to be his equal in virtue and austerity. Eventually the whole community was expelled by orders of Blathmac, the High King of Tara. The real reason may have been that the neighbouring communities envied him his success or possibly because he observed the Roman Easter date, whereas local monasteries followed the older Celtic reckoning.

Lismore
At Eastertide of the year 635, the saint and his whole community were forced out by soldiers. Journeying by Saighir, Roscrea, Cashel, and Ardfinnan (the narrative implies the approval of the patrons of these places), St Carthage finally came to the banks of the River Blackwater, where he obtained a place for his foundation from the king of the Déisí at Lismore in Co Waterford. Although he died within a short time on 14 May 637, Lismore became a famous abbey and later a cathedral, giving its name to the diocese that since 1363 has been joined with Waterford.

Influence


Carthage's chief legacy was that of an austere and blameless life. But by the end of the 7th century, Lismore Mochuda, besides having a thriving abbey, also had a scriptorium that produced three important manuscripts of works on scripture, asceticism and morals. A Life of St Mochuda survives, as does a considerable fragment of a Rule of St Carthage (more a series of Christian ascetical counsels than regulations for running a monastery).
Besides Lismore, Carthage is also remembered in the dedication of St Carthage's Church, Killina, Rahan in Co Offaly.

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Memorable Saying for Today

The most beautiful act of faith is one made
in darkness, in sacrifice, and with extreme effort

~ St Padre Pio ~

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Fifth Sunday of Easter

No one can come to the Father except through Christ. Working together in love,
all God’s people can build up the kingdom in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, our high priest.

FIRST READING

A reading from the Book of  Acts of the Apostles           6:1-7
They elected seven men full of the Holy Spirit

About this time, when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenists made a complaint against the Hebrews: in the daily distribution their own widows were being overlooked. So the Twelve called a full meeting of the disciples and addressed them,
'It would not be right for us to neglect the word of God so as to give out food. You, brothers, must select from among yourselves seven men of good reputation, filled with the Spirit and with wisdom; we will hand over this duty to them, and continue to devote ourselves to prayer and to the service of the word'.

The whole assembly approved of this proposal and elected Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus of Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

The word of the Lord continued to spread: the number of disciples in Jerusalem was greatly increased, and a large group of priests made their submission to the faith.

The Word of the Lord.               Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm            Ps 32: 1-2. 4-5, 18-19. R/v 22
Response                               May your love be upon us, O Lord,
as we place all our hope in you.
Or                                             Alleluia!

1. Ring out your joy to the Lord, O you just; for praise is fitting for loyal hearts.
    Give thanks to the Lord upon the harp, with a ten-stringed lute sing him songs.   Response

2. For the word of the Lord is faithful and all his works to be trusted.
    The Lord loves justice and right and fills the earth with his love.                               Response

3. The Lord looks on those who revere him, on those who hope in his love,
    to rescue their souls from death, to keep them alive in famine.                                   Response

SECOND READING  

A reading from the first letter of St Peter          2:4-9
You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood

He is the living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him; set yourselves close to him so that you too, the holy priesthood  that offers the spiritual sacrifices which Jesus Christ has made acceptable to God, may be living stones making a spiritual house. As scripture says: See how I lay in Zion a precious cornerstone that I have chosen and the man who rests his trust on it will not be disappointed. That means that for you who are believers, it is precious; but for unbelievers, the stone rejected by the builders has proved to be the keystone, a stone to stumble over, a rock to bring men down. They stumble over it because they do not believe in the word; it was the fate in store for them.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people set apart to sing the praises of God who called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

The Word of the Lord.          Thanks be to God.

Gospel Acclamation                 Jn 14: 6
Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus said: 'I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.
No one can come to the Father except through me.'
Alleluia!

GOSPEL

The Lord be with you              And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to John           14:1-12
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Jesus said to his disciples 'Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God still, and trust in me. There are many rooms in my Father's house; if there were not, I should have told you. I am going now to prepare a place for you, and after I have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you with me; so that where I am you may be too. You know the way to the place where I am going.'

Thomas said, 'Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?'
 Jesus said:'I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you know me, you know my 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 in 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.'

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



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.