Churches of the Day

Saturday of the Second Week of Easter

The Church continues to grow as the apostles re-order the church ministries
to cope with different needs while the Spirit  brings peace.

Saint of the Day: 18 April ; St Laserian  of Leighlin, bishop
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      6:1-7
They elected seven men filled with the 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
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

Gospel Acclamation          Rom 6:9
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Christ, having been raised from the dead, will never die again.
' Death has no power over him any more'.
Alleluia

Or
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Christ has risen: he who created all things, and has granted his mercy to men.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL             

The Lord be with you.                       And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John    6:16-21             Glory to you, O Lord
They saw Jesus walking on the lake.

In the evening the disciples went down to the shore of the lake and got into a boat to make for Capernaum on the other side of the lake. It was getting dark by now and Jesus had still not rejoined them. The wind was strong, and the sea was getting rough. They had rowed three or four miles when they saw Jesus walking on the lake and coming towards the boat. This frightened them, but he said, 'It is I. Do not be afraid.'
They were for taking him into the boat, but in no time it reached the shore at the place they were making for.

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

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Gospel Reflection             Saturday              Second Week of Easter               John 6:16-21

According to the verse before our gospel reading (Jn 6:15), Jesus had withdrawn to the mountain by himself, in response to the crowd wanting to make him king. The suggestion is that Jesus needed to be in communion with God in prayer. Jesus’ prayer did not remove him from the struggles of his disciples. It was while he was at prayer that he became aware of the disciples in the boat on the Sea of Galilee struggling with a strong wind and a rough sea. He immediately came to them, speaking a reassuring word, ‘It is I. Do not be afraid’. The literal translation would be ‘I am. Do not be afraid’.

In this fourth gospel, the words ‘I am’ on the lips of Jesus suggest the name of God revealed to Moses at the burning bush. Jesus comes to his disciples as God in human form. Once the disciples show a willingness to take Jesus into the boat with them, they reach the shore. The prayer of Jesus created a space for him to be present to his disciples in a very troubling moment. The first reading puts before us a troubling moment in the life of the church, conflict between Greek speaking and Aramaic speaking Jewish Christian widows over the distribution of food. This conflict in the church required the Twelve to clarify for themselves and for the other members of the church what their priorities were to be, ‘We will continue to devote ourselves to prayer and to the service of the word’. The clarity with which the apostles could identify their priorities amid competing claims on their time is admirable. They understood, as Jesus did, that prayerful attentiveness to God’s word would allow their lives to be shaped by God’s purpose and would best serve the life of the believing community. Today’s readings remind us that prayerful attentiveness to God’s word needs to be at the heart of the church’s life, and of our own lives as individual disciples.

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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and used with the permission of the publishers.  http://dltbooks.com/


The Scripture Reflection is made available with our thanks from his book Reflections on the Weekday Readings : The Word is near to you, on your lips and in your heart by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications , c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/

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Saint of the Day: 18 April ; St Laserian  of Leighlin, bishop

(<The image left ) shows a carving on a pulpit in the Cathedral of the Assumption, Carlow: it shows St Laserian addressing the Synod of Leighlin in 630 AD where he defended the Roman method of calculating Easter. He is the patron saint of Leighlin diocese.

Patrick Duffy tries to sort out what is known about him.

Associated with Old Leighlin in Co Carlow
There are at least four saints of this name, Laserian :
one is associated with Devenish Island in Co Fermanagh;
another is associated with Inishmurray, Co Sligo;
another was the third abbot of Iona.
T0day's saint  is associated with Old Leighlin in Co Carlow and is the patron saint of Leighlin diocese.

A Disciple of St Munnu
Laserian was the son of Cairel de Blitha and Gemma, a Scottish princess and may have spent his early years in Scotland. He was also said to have been a disciple of St Munnu (Fintan of Taghmon? See 21st October).

Roman Education
He is said then to have spent fourteen years in Rome and studied under St Gregory the Great, who ordained him and sent him back to Ireland (?). At any rate he was a strong proponent of the Roman method of calculating Easter. When he came back to Ireland, he took over an already established monastery from St Gobban at Leighlin (Leth-glen, half-glen, a fold in the hills), Co Carlow Leighlin then became a strong centre of support of the Roman method of calculation.

Contest of Miracles with St Munnu
However, his former teacher Munnu at the Council of Maigh Ailbe on the borders of Kildare and Carlow challenged Laserian to a contest of miracles. He suggested they would throw the books containing the old and new calculations of Easter in the fire to see which burned. Laserian declined this as unfair, saying: "If you Fintan told Slieve Margy over there to move to Magh Ailbe, and Magh Ailbe over to where Slieve Margy is, God would do it for you." It took some decades for the Roman way of computing Easter was finally accepted and approved at the Synod of Whitby (664).

Association with Maighnean of Kilmainham
Another story about Laserian is told in the Life of Maighnean of Kilmainham. Maighnean found Laserian lying crossways in a hovel suffering from thirty diseases.
"My sinfulness goes like a flame through my body, for I want to have my purgatory in this life and find eternal life in the next. For the grain of wheat must be threshed and beaten before it is sown in the earth. So it is with me before I am laid in the grave. I want my body threshed with infirmities."
In the end Laserian asked Maighnean to preside at his funeral.

St Laserian's Cathedral in Old Leighlin
The present Cathedral in Old Leighlin was begun by Bishop Donatus of Leighlin (1152-81) and completed by the end of the 13th century. One of the oldest items in the Cathedral is an 11th century font. The cathedral was taken over by the Anglican Communion (Church of Ireland) at the time of the Reformation. A new Roman Catholic Cathedral (Cathedral of the Assumption) designed by Thomas Cobden was completed in Carlow town in 1833.

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Memorable Biblical quote  for Today

Let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace
to help in our time of need.

~ Hebrews 4:16 ~

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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.