Churches of the Day

Monday of the Second Week of Easter

Jesus is our light of faith who led the pharisee Nicodemus to trust him as his spiritual guide

Saint of the Day: 11 March;   St Martin I , pope and martyr
C/f A short life of be this saint can found below todays' Readings and Reflection.

FIRST READING

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles              4:23-31
 As they prayed, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to proclaim the word of God boldly.

As soon as Peter and John were released they went to the community and told them everything the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard it they lifted up their voice to God all together.
'Master,' they prayed 'It is you who made heaven and earth and sea, and everything in them; you it is who said through the Holy Spirit and speaking through our ancestor David, your servant:
'Why this arrogance among the nations, these futile plots among the peoples?
Kings on earth setting out to war, princes making an alliance, against the Lord and against his Anointed.'

'This is what has come true: in this very city Herod and Pontius Pilate made an alliance with the pagan nations and the peoples of Israel, against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed, but only to bring about the very thing that you in your strength and your wisdom had predetermined should happen.
And now, Lord, take note of their threats and help your servants to proclaim your message with all boldness, by stretching out your hand to heal and to work miracles and marvels through the name of your holy servant Jesus.' 
As they prayed, the house where they were assembled rocked; They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to proclaim the word of God boldly. 

The Word of the Lord.               Thanks be to God

Responsorial Psalm            Ps 2:2:1-9. R/v.13
Response                                  Blessed are they who put their trust in God.
Or                                              Alleluia!

1. Why this tumult among nations, among peoples this useless murmuring?
They arise, the kings of the earth, princes plot against the Lord and his Anointed.
'Come, let us break their fetters, come, let us cast off their yoke.'                              Response

2. He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord is laughing them to scorn.
Then he will speak in his anger, his rage will strike them with terror.
'It is I who have set up my king on Zion, my holy mountain.'                                     Response

3. I will announce the decree of the Lord:
The Lord said to me: 'You are my Son. It is I who have begotten you this day.
Ask and I shall bequeath you the nations, put the ends of the earth in your possession.
With a rod of iron you will break them, shatter them like a potter's jar.'                 Response

Gospel Acclamation              Col 3:1
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ,
you must look for the things that are in heaven where Christ is,
sitting at God's right hand.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL


The Lord be with you.              And with your spirit
A reading from the Gospel according to John       3:1-8        Glory to you, O Lord
 Unless a man is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 

There was one of the Pharisees called Nicodemus, a leading Jew, who came to Jesus by night and said,
'Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who comes from God; for no one could perform the signs that you do unless God were with him'.
Jesus answered:   'I tell you most solemnly, unless a man is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God'.
Nicodemus said, 'How can a grown man be born? Can he go back into his mother's womb and be born again?'
Jesus replied:
'I tell you most solemnly, unless a man is born through water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God: what is born of the flesh is flesh; what is born  of the Spirit is spirit.
Do not be surprised when I say: You must be born from above. The wind blows wherever it pleases; you hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. That is how it is with all who are born of the Spirit.'

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



Gospel Reflection                  Monday          Second Week of Easter            John       3:1-8  

Today’s first reading follows on from the rulers, elders and scribes ordering Peter and John in a threatening manner not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. The response of Peter and John was to go the community of believers and in their presence to pray, asking God for help to proclaim the gospel ‘with all boldness’.

As they prayed, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and in the strength of that Spirit they proclaimed the word of God courageously. We need the same courage or boldness to proclaim the gospel of the Lord today. The source of our courage is the same Holy Spirit who is given to us within the community of faith, when we join with other believers in prayerful petition. The religious leaders may have wanted to put a lid on what was happening but they discovered that, in the words of Jesus to Nicodemus in today's gospel reading, the Spirit, like the wind, blows where it pleases. The Spirit is always at work furthering the work of the Lord in the world. No earthly power can hold back the Spirit.

Our calling is to open our hearts ever more fully to the powerful presence of the Spirit, whom the Lord continues to pour out on all who know their need of the Spirit. In the gospel reading, Jesus calls on Nicodemus to allow himself to be born of water and the Spirit, to surrender to the movement of the Spirit. Nicodemus was a ‘teacher of Israel’ and he related to Jesus as a fellow teacher, ‘we know that you are a teacher who comes from God’. In reality, Jesus was not just Nicodemus’ fellow teacher. As John the Baptist had earlier said, he is the one on whom the Spirit descended and remained and who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. Like Nicodemus, we all need to keep opening our lives more fully to the Spirit whom the risen Lord is always offering us, so that we can boldly proclaim by our lives the good news of his life, death and resurrection.

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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: 11 March;   St Martin I , pope and martyr

  St Martin was the last pope to be considered a martyr, having been condemned for treason by the Emperor Constans II (642-668) and taken to Constantinople. Saved from execution only by the intercession of the Patriarch of Constantinople, he died in exile in the Chersonesus (in  Crimea which up to recently was part of Ukraine.

Patrick Duffy tells his story.

The Decline of Rome and the Rise of Constantinople
From the time Constantine (312-327) moved the centre of imperial rule to the East, Rome and Italy began to decline in prestige. Italy became almost a Greek colony administered from Constantinople. Milan under Theodosius (378-392) and Ravenna under the Ostrogoth leader (493-526) and Emperor Justinian (525-565) surpassed Rome as the leading cities on the peninsula.

The Papacy Struggling
The papacy itself was struggling. The interference of the emperor to sort out matters of doctrine, as Constantine did with Arianism at Nicea, was not always an unmixed blessing. Many of those elected as popes, such as Gregory the Great (and Martin), had served an apprenticeship as apocrisiary (that is, a liaison person or papal nuncio) at the imperial court in Constantinople. And after the re-conquest of Italy in the time of Emperor Justinian, each pope had to seek confirmation of their election, often involving a difficult journey to Constantinople before they could be consecrated.

Monothelitism
At this time in order to reconcile Monophysites (those who believed that Jesus has only one divine nature and no human nature) with the defined doctrine of Chalcedon (Jesus has two natures, human and divine, united in one person), a new movement called monothelitism (Jesus has only one divine will) came into favour in the East and was backed by the patriarchs and the emperor. From Rome Martin's predecessor, the Greek Pope Theodore (642-649), had excommunicated two patriarchs for their support of this doctrine and was preparing a synod in the Lateran in Rome to condemn it when he died.

Martin's Election and the Lateran Synod 649
Martin was elected to succeed Theodore in 649. He had previously been the apocrisiary at the imperial court so he was well aware of the issues at stake. He courageously declined to seek the imperial confirmation and was consecrated without it two days after his election. He then went ahead with the synod which was attended by 105 Western bishops and a number of Easterners, mainly monks present in Rome, refugees from the monothelite persecution. Martin took steps to publicise the Acta of the synod throughout the West and to secure the agreement of important absentees, like the Archbishop of Milan. These were sent with a Greek translation to the Emperor Constans II (642-668).

Constans takes actions 
Constans had sent Olympius as exarch (governor of a province at a distance from the capital) to Italy to intervene in the discussion of the two wills at the synod. Failing that, he was to assassinate the pope. Unsuccessful in both, he went off to Sicily where he led a revolt against the empire and died.

Martin Deposed and Taken Captive
Constans then sent Theodore Calliopas as exarch with orders to bring Martin to Constantinople. Calliopas arrived in Rome on the 15th June, 653. He entered the Lateran Basilica two days later, informed the clergy that Martin had been deposed as an unworthy intruder, that he must be brought to Constantinople and another pope was to be chosen in his place. Martin, wishing to avoid bloodshed, forbade resistance and accepted to be brought before the emperor. With only a few attendants, and suffering from dysentry, he was brought first to the island of Naxos, where he was kept for a year. Eugenius I was elected pope in his place to please the emperor but was shouted down by the Roman congregation when he tried to have the monothelite position accepted.

Comdemnation, exile and death in Ukraine
Eventually when Martin was brought to Constantinople, he was charged with treason and condemned unheard. Brought before a large crowd, the emperor requested them to pass anathemas on him, but only a few responded. The Patriarch of Constantinople interceded to save his life, so instead of being put to death, he was exiled to the Chersonesus (the Crimea, in those days, Ukraine). From there he wrote of the famine and neglect be suffered. He blamed the Romans for forgetting him, while he had prayed steadily for their faith to be preserved. He died in exile on 13th April 655, the last pope to be venerated as a martyr.

Relics and Letters
Martin's relics are said to have been transferred to Rome, where they are kept in the Church of San Martino ai Monti. Of his letters seventeen are extant in PL 87:119.

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"Violence is the last resort of the incompetent.”

~ Isaac Asimov ~

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2 Saints for this Day: 1. St Louis Marie de Montfort and 2. St Peter Chanel, priest and martyr

Summary 1 St Louis Marie de Montfort saw himself as a "slave" of Jesus Christ. He became a vagabond preacher, walking around France and was often banned by the episcopal authorities from preaching in their diocese.
Here Fr John Murray PP tells his story.
Montfort, a Breton village
Louis Marie Grignion was born in the hamlet of Montfort, a Breton village about thirteen miles east of Rennes, on 31 January 1673. Later, as an itinerant preacher, he preferred to drop his surname and be called simply Louis Marie de Montfort, or le Pére de Montfort, the Father from Montfort. The second of eighteen children, Louis was one of the few who survived to adulthood. He was born into a family of deep Catholic faith, in an area of France renowned for its dynamic Christian life.

Jesuit Education
At the age of eleven, Louis Marie set out for Rennes, the capital of Brittany, to enrol in the Jesuit College of Thomas à Becket. The young student from Montfort was considered by his teachers to be intelligent, religious, artistic in nature and somewhat shy. It was under the guidance of the Jesuits that Louis's priestly vocation matured. The decision to enter the priesthood was made, so he tells us, at the Shrine of Our Lady in the Carmelite Church in Rennes. After eight years at the Jesuit College, Louis Marie decided to pursue his theological studies at Saint Sulpice in Paris. At the age of nineteen, a new chapter opened in his life. The young man bade farewell to family and friends at the bridge of Cess on the outskirts of Rennes.

Studies in Paris
Having left all, he crossed the Cesson bridge to a new life of total dependence upon Divine Providence. So convinced was he that God was truly his loving Father that he gave his money, baggage and clothes to the first beggars he met. Begging for food and shelter along the way, he walked to Paris, arriving in the rags of a mendicant.

For the first two years, Montfort attended classes at the Sorbonne. The following six years of theological study, however, were spent under the tutelage of the Sulpicians themselves. Like the Jesuits, they found the student from Montfort to be a talented man of deep faith, intensely studious and strongly devoted to Our Lady. He was notable for the practical love he showed for the poor, for his desire to serve the outcasts of Paris society, and for a determination to live the gospel by identifying with the most neglected.

A man of the Bible
All his life, but especially as a seminarian, Montfort was an avid reader, and thoroughly enjoyed his task as librarian at Saint Sulpice. Above all else, he was a man of the Bible. The Sacred Scriptures were his constant companion, and his sermons and writings - five major works in all - abound with biblical texts. Louis yearned to proclaim the Good News of God's love to the outcasts, to assure them of the love of Jesus and of the maternal care of Mary.

First Mass
At the Lady Chapel in the parish church of Saint Sulpice, Father Louis Marie Grignion celebrated his first Mass on 5 June 1700. From the age of eleven, he had completed sixteen years of formal study to reach this goal. Yet Montfort's priestly ministry itself would last only a further sixteen years.

Unsettled
After a few years of preaching parish renewals and ministering to the destitute at the poor-house at Poitiers, Louis Mary was far from settled. He found it extremely difficult to discover how to implement his belief that God was calling him to serve the poor and to identify with them.

Meeting the Pope
His solution was simple. This unknown young priest from western France would seek the advice of the Pope. And so he set out on foot from Poitiers, begging for food and shelter along the arduous and dangerous routes to the Holy City.

In June 1706, Montfort met with Pope Clement XI (Giovanni Fancesco Albani 1700-21), pouring out his heart to the Vicar of Christ. Strangely, the Holy Father clearly saw in this young priest extraordinary gifts of God. He turned down Louis Marie's offer to proclaim the gospel in the wilds of Canada or in the Far East. Rather, the Pope named him Apostolic Missionary, telling him to return to his native land and renew the Church there.

He spent the rest of his life conducting approximately two hundred missions and retreats throughout the villages and towns of western France, proclaiming the gospel of God's love with Spirit-filled power.

Mixed Reaction
  De Montfort's bold, charismatic proclamation of God's love was heard in churches, barracks, poor-houses, and even in houses of prostitution. His preaching was a source of admiration for many, of resentment and, sadly, anger for others.

His life-style as a poor, vagabond preacher, with a knapsack strung across his shoulder to carry his Bible, breviary and notebooks, was not considered dignified for a cleric. Several times the episcopal authorities forbade him to preach in one diocese or another. Always obedient, Montfort would move on.

Identified with the poor
With utter disdain for human respect, this saintly man identified with the poor, and found his greatest joy in opening for them the Word of God and offering them whatever material help he could locate. Typical of his actions was the event recorded in Dinan - probably one of many similar acts on his part - when the missionary tenderly embraced a dying, leprous beggar lying in the street, and carried him to a nearby religious house, crying out to the doorkeeper: 'Open up to Jesus Christ!'

To the majority of the people, Father Louis Marie was simply the Good Father from Montfort. At times he was named the Father with the Big Rosary, for he ordinarily had a large rosary attached to the cord-like belt of his cassock.

Attracting Thousands
His preaching, flowing from his own experience of God's love and Mary's maternal care, attracted thousands back to the faith. In a Jansenistic age which harshly stressed the distance between God and his people, he recommended even daily communion, a tender devotion to the Mother of God, and a total surrender to Jesus in Mary.

Undeterred
Because of the style and contents of his preaching, this Elijah-like prophet was regarded by quite a few as no more than a strange misfit. He was poisoned on one occasion and, although it did not prove fatal, it caused his health to deteriorate even more rapidly. Other attempts were made on his life, yet Montfort was not deterred.

'Slaves of Jesus Christ'
His writings call for a loving, formal acceptance of who we truly are: the slaves of Jesus Christ. The term 'slave' always had, for Montfort, the evangelical connotation that we belong to the Lord, that we are loved by him, and that we are redeemed by the Incarnation and total offering of the Incarnate Wisdom for us.

This article first appeared in The Messenger (May 2006), a publication of the Irish Jesuits.

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Memorable Sayings for Today

The more a soul is consecrated to Mary,
the more it will be consecrated to Jesus Christ.

~ St Aloysius Church notice ~

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Saint for this Day:  2. St Peter Chanel, priest and martyr 

St Peter Chanel, the first Marist missionary priest martyred in Oceania. He spent four years working on the Island of Futuna near Tonga. The Chanel College, a second level college in Coolock village, Co Dublin, Ireland is called after him.

Patrick Duffy tells his story.

Youth
Pierre Louis Marie Chanel was born on July 12, 1803 in the area of Belley in the Rhône-Alpes region of France. After training at minor and major seminaries he was ordained in 1827 and spent a brief time as an assistant priest at Ambérieu, where he met Claude Bret who was to become his friend and also one of the first Marist Missionaries.

Early Ministry
From an early age he had been thinking about going on the foreign missions and his intention was strengthened by letters that arrived at Ambérieu from a former curate, then a missionary in India. Pierre applied to the bishop of Belley to go to the missions, but was appointed instead for the next three years as parish priest of Crozet, where his zeal and care for the sick won the hearts of the locals. During this time he heard of a group of diocesan priests who were hopeful of starting a religious order to be dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Marist
In 1831, Pierre joined the forming Society of Mary (Marists), who worked both on local and foreign missions. He was appointed first as spiritual director at the Seminary of Belley, where he stayed for five years. In 1833 he accompanied Fr Jean-Claude Colin to Rome to seek papal approval of the growing Society.

Missionary to Oceania
In 1836 the Marists were formally approved by Pope Gregory XVI and were asked to send missionaries to the territory of the South West Pacific. Chanel, professed a Marist on 24th September 1836, was made the superior of a band of Marist missionaries that set out on 24th December from Le Havre. They were accompanied by Bishop Jean Baptiste Pompallier who was to become the first Bishop of New Zealand. Pompallier had been appointed by Gregory XVI to care for the Vicariate Apostolic of Western Oceania. Pompallier based himself in New Zealand from 1838 and became the first Bishop of Auckland, New Zealand in 1848.

Journey
Their first port of call was the Canary Islands. Crossing over to South America, his friend Fr Claude Bret died at sea from a flu virus. By June they reached Valparaiso (where the French Picpus Fathers who had care of the Vicariate of Eastern Oceania had their base). By September they had reached Gambier, then Tahiti, where the group transferred to another ship and set sail for Tonga before first dropping two missionaries at Uvea (also named Wallis), the mainseat of the mission. Pierre Chanel went to neighbouring Futuna Island, accompanied by a French laybrother Marie-Nizier Delorme. They arrived on 8 November 1837 with an English Protestant layman named Thomas Boag who had been resident on the island and had joined them at Tonga seeking passage to Futuna.

Martyrdom
The group was initially well received by the island's king, Niuliki. Once the missionaries learned the local language and began preaching directly to the people, the king grew uneasy, suspecting that Christianity would take away his prerogatives as high priest and king. When his own son, Meitala, sought to be baptized, the king sent a favoured warrior, his son-in-law, Musumusu, to "do whatever was necessary" to resolve the problem. Musumusu initially went to Meitala and the two fought. Musumusu, injured in the fracas, went to Chanel feigning need of medical attention. While Chanel tended him, a group of others ransacked his house. Musumusu took an axe and clubbed Chanel on the head. Peter Chanel died that day, April 28, 1841.

Remains returned to New Zealand and France
News of his death took months to reach the outside world and almost a year before Marists in France learned of it. Bishop Pompallier, upon hearing of the death about six months later, arranged for a French naval corvette L’Allier, commanded by the Comte du Bouzet, to accompany the Mission schooner Sancta Maria and sail on 19 November for Wallis and Futuna Islands, taking with him Fr. Philippe Viard. The two vessels arrived at Uvea (Wallis) on 30 December 1841. They were able to locate and identify his remains, which were brought first to New Zealand in 1842  and eventually in 1850 to the Mother House of the Society of Mary in Lyon.

Veneration and canonisation
Eventually most on the island, including the chief Musumusu converted to Catholicism. Chanel was declared a martyr and beatified in 1889. He was canonised in 1954 by Pope Pius XII. His feast day in the Catholic Church is 28th April. The relics were returned to Futuna in 1977.

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Memorable Saying for Today

The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church

~ Tertullian ~

The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins.

~ Soren Kierkegaard ~

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Third Sunday of Easter, Year A

Jesus, after walking and sharing his reflections is fully recognised in his breaking and sharing the bread and wine of the Eucharist as a celebration of his Risen Lordship.

FIRST READING

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles            2:14, 22-33
It was impossible for him to be held in its power of Hades.

On the day of Pentecost Peter stood up with the Eleven and addressed them in a loud voice:
'Men of Judaea, and all you who live in Jerusalem, make no mistake about this, but listen carefully to what I say. Men of Israel, listen to what I am going to say: Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God by the miracles and portents and signs that God worked through him when he was among you, as you all know. This man, who was put into your power by the deliberate intention and foreknowledge of God, you took and had crucified by men outside the Law. You killed him, but God raised him to life, freeing him from the pangs of Hades; for it was impossible for him to be held in its power since, as David says of him:
"I saw the Lord before me always,
for with him at my right hand nothing can shake me.
So my heart was glad and my tongue cried out with joy;
my body, too, will rest in the hope that you will not abandon my soul to Hades
nor allow your holy one to experience corruption.
You have made known the way of life to me, you will fill me with gladness through your presence."

'Brothers, no one can deny that the patriarch David himself is dead and buried: his tomb is still with us. But since he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn him an oath to make one of his descendants succeed him on the throne, 'what he foresaw and spoke about was the resurrection of the Christ: he is the one who was not abandoned to Hades, and whose body did not experience corruption. God raised this man Jesus to life, and all of us are witnesses to that. Now raised to the heights by God's right hand, he has received from the Father the Holy Spirit, who was promised, and what you see and hear is the outpouring of that Spirit.'

The Word of the Lord            Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm          Ps 15:1-211. 5. 7-11. R/v 11 
Response                              Show us, Lord, the path of life.
or Alleluia!

1. Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you.  I say to the Lord: 'You are my God.
 O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup; it is you yourself who are my prize.'      Response

2. I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel, who even at night directs my heart.
    I keep the Lord ever in my sight:since he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm.       Response

3. And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad;  even my body shall rest in safety.
    For you will not leave my soul among the dead, nor let your beloved know decay.     Response

4. You will show me the path of life, the fullness of joy in your presence,
    at your right hand happiness for ever.                                                                                   Response


SECOND READING        

A reading from the first letter of St Peter            1:17-21
Your ransom was paid in the precious blood of a lamb without spot or stain, namely Christ.

If you are acknowledging as your Father one who has no favourites and judges everyone according to what he has done, you must be scrupulously careful as long as you are living away from your home.

Remember, the ransom that was paid to free you from the useless way of life your ancestors handed down was not paid in anything corruptible, neither in silver nor gold, but in the precious blood of a lamb without spot or stain, namely Christ; who, though known since before the world was made, has been revealed only in our time, the end of the ages, for your sake.

Through him you now have faith in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory for that very reason - so that you would have faith and hope in God.

The Word of the Lord                  Thanks be to God.

Gospel Acclamation                Lk 24:32
Alleluia, alleluia!
Lord Jesus, explain the scriptures to us.
Make our hearts burn within us as you talk to us.
Alleluia!


GOSPEL

The Lord be with you.              And with your spirit
A reading from the Gospel according to Luke 24:13-35         Glory to you O Lord
They recognised him at the breaking of bread.

Two of the disciples of Jesus were on their way to a village called Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking together about all that had happened. Now as they talked this over, Jesus himself came up and walked by their side; but something prevented them from recognising him. He said to them, 'What matters are you discussing as you walk along?' They stopped short, their faces downcast.

Then one of them, called Cleopas, answered him,
'You must be the only person staying in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have been happening there these last few days'.
'What things?' he asked.
'All about Jesus of Nazareth' they answered 'who proved he was a great prophet by the things he said and did in the sight of God and of the whole people; and how our chief priests and our leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and had him crucified. Our own hope had been that he would be the one to set Israel free. And this is not all: two whole days have gone by since it all happened; and some women from our group have astounded us: they went to the tomb in the early morning, and when they did not find the body, they came back to tell us they had seen a vision of angels who declared he was alive. Some of our friends went to the tomb and found everything exactly as the women had reported, but of him they saw nothing.'

Then he said to them, 'You foolish men! So slow to believe the full message of the prophets! Was it not ordained that the Christ should suffer and so enter  into his glory?'
Then, starting with Moses and going through all the prophets, he explained to them the passages throughout the scriptures that were about himself.

When they drew near to the village to which they were going, he made as if to go on; but they pressed him to stay with them. 'It is nearly evening' they said 'and the day is almost over.' So he went in to stay with them.
  Now while he was with them at table, he took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognised him; but he had vanished from their sight.
Then they said to each other, 'Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?'
They set out that instant and returned to Jerusalem.

There they found the Eleven assembled together with their companions, who said to them, 'Yes, it is true. The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.'
Then they told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised him at the breaking of bread.

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

For homily resources for this Sunday's Gospel click here:  https://www.catholicireland.net/sunday-homily/



Taken from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, published and copyright 1966, by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House Inc, and used by permission of the publishers.