Tuesday in the sixth week of Easter

The Lord is truly risen

May I draw your attention to

the daily gospel reading

This invitation wants to share with you the joy of the gospel.

of the gospel. Everyone, without exception

can experience this joy by opening his or her heart

to the healing power of the Word of God.

Available every day

After the pleasant experiences in Philippi, there now follow the severe trials Paul endured there with his companions, to which he will later refer in letters. There is something very curious in Acts. Catechesis obviously precedes baptism (cf. the Ethiopian, Cornelius, Lydia, the jailer), but this catechesis often seems rather short. It is then limited to the central message (kerygma): believing in Jesus (the Risen One) who saves us. In later centuries, catechumens have to go through a long preparation to be baptised during the Easter Vigil.

In those days the people of Philippi ran

against Paul and Silas,

so the magistrates gave orders

to tear off their clothes

and beat them with rods.

After beating them a lot

they put them in prison

and ordered the guard

to keep a strict eye on them.

At this express command

the jailer put them in the inner dungeon and locked their feet in the block

And locked their feet in the block.

By midnight

Paul and Silas were in prayer, singing praises to God

while the prisoners listened to them.

Suddenly there was such a violent shock

that the prison shook to its foundations.

Immediately all the doors were thrown open

and the shackles of all the prisoners were loosened.

The jailer was startled awake,

and when he saw that the prison doors were open

he drew his sword

and wanted to kill himself,

because he thought the prisoners had escaped.

But Paul cried out in a loud voice:

“Don’t hurt yourself,

we are all still here.

The man now asked for light,

stormed inside

and fell trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas.

He led them out and said:

“Gentlemen, what must I do to be saved?”

They replied:

“Believe in the Lord Jesus,

and you and your house will be saved.”

Then they proclaimed the word of the Lord

to him and to everyone in his house.

Still in that hour of the night, he took them and washed their wounds

And washed their wounds.

Immediately afterwards, he and all his companions were baptised.

He took them to his dwelling

and served them a meal,

He rejoiced that he and all his family now believed in God.

Always your outstretched hand is my salvation, O Lord.

Alleluia.

You, O Lord, I want to praise with all my heart

For You have answered my prayers.

I sing to You and to all the heavenly powers

and I bow down, bowed down before Your sanctuary.

I praise You for Your goodness and Your faithfulness,

for You have fulfilled Your promise in maturity.

Whenever I have called on You, You have answered me,

You have always given me new courage.

Always Your outstretched hand is my salvation:

The Lord completes for me everything I undertake.

Your goodness, O Lord, knows no end;

Do not forget the work of Your hands.

Alleluia.

Christ rose from the grave

and became Light to all

whom he redeemed with his blood

Alleluia.

Unless I go, the Comforter will not come to you.

From the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John

At that moment, Jesus said to his disciples:

“Now I am going to him who sent me ,

and none of you ask me:

Where are you going?”

For now that I have told you this, your hearts are full of sorrow.

But I tell you the truth:

It is good for you that I am going;

For if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you.

Now that I am going away, I will send him to you.

Once he has come

Will he give the world convincing proof

Of what is sin, righteousness and judgement:

Of what sin is, because they do not believe in Me;

Of what is righteousness,

Because I go to the Father, that you may see Me no more;

Of what is judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.”
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APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION LAUDATE DEUM

FROM THE HOLY FATHER

TO ALL PEOPLE

OF GOOD WILL

31. This situation has to do not only with physics or biology, but also with the economy and the way we conceive it. The mentality of maximum gain at minimal cost, disguised in terms of reasonableness, progress and illusory promises, makes impossible any sincere concern for our common home and any real preoccupation about assisting the poor and the needy discarded by our society. In recent years, we can note that, astounded and excited by the promises of anu number of false prophets, the poor themselves at times fall prey to the illusion of a world that is not being built for them.

To be continued

The Bible text in this issue is from the New Translation of the Bible,

The Bible text in this issue is from the New Bible Translation, ©Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap 2004/2007.

Reflections on liturgical suggestions for the week and on Sundays

Laudato Si Official English translation