HH. Nereus and Achilleus are two Roman Catholic martyrs
of the 5th century. They are commemorated together on May 12.
H. Pancratius underwent martyrdom ca 303 under emperor Diocletian
Invitation
May I hereby draw your attention to
the daily reading of the Gospel?
This invitation wishes to share with you the joy of the Gospel.
Everyone, no one excepted,
can experience that joy by opening their hearts
to the healing power of God’s word.
Available every day
Consideration
Peter gives to the congregation in Jerusalem the official account of a gentile’s first admission into the church. Typical of Luke is the description that Peter goes of his own accord to Joppa – which was a Jewish city. To Caesarea, the gentile city, he is ‘called’: there, for Luke, God is at work. Throughout the book of Acts, it will always be clear that Luke attaches great importance to the working of God’s Spirit, who guides the Church and its ministers.
FIRST READING Acts 11:1-18
God has granted conversion to life to the Gentiles too.
From the Acts of the Apostles
In those days the apostles and the brethren in Judea heard
that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God.
When Peter then came to Jerusalem
the believers from the circumcision reproached him :
‘Thou hast entered the house of uncircumcision
and thou hast eaten with them.’
Now Peter began to give them a regular account :
‘I was
-so he said –
in the city of Joppa praying
when, in a spirit rapture, I saw a vision :
An object, in the form of a large sheet ,
which was lowered from heaven at the four points,
I looked at it with tense attention
and saw four-footed animals,
wild beasts, crawling animals and birds.
‘Moreover, I heard a voice saying to me :
Come on Peter, slaughter and eat.
‘But I said :
That by no means, Lord,
for never did anything unholy or unclean enter my mouth.
‘But the voice from heaven made itself heard a second time
And gave me in answer :
Do not consider as unholy
What God has declared clean.
‘This happened three times
and then everything was lifted up to heaven again.
‘Immediately after that
three men joined me at the house where we were staying ;
they had been sent to me from Caesarea.
‘The Spirit commanded me
without a second thought to go with them.
‘These six brothers also went with me
and we entered that man’s house.
‘He told us
how he had seen an angel standing in his house saying :
Send someone to Joppe
To get Simon, nicknamed Peter.
‘Who will tell you
in what way thou and all thy house may find salvation.
‘Just then I had begun to speak
when the Holy Spirit came down on them,
in the beginning also on us.
‘Then I thought back to the word of the Lord,
how He had said :
John baptised with water
but ye shall be baptised with the Holy Spirit.
‘Now if God gave them the same gift as to us
who already believed in the Lord Jesus Christ ,
how then would I have been able to stop God?’
When they had heard that
they were reassured
and they glorified God with the words :
‘So God has also given to the Gentiles
conversion to life.’
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 42(41), 2-3 ; Ps. 43(42), 3, 4
My soul thirsts for God, the God who lives.
As a deer seeks the brooks,
so my spirit seeks Thee, my God.
My soul thirsts for God, the God who lives,
Will I ever reach Him and see His Face ?
Send me Your light, Your support to guide me,
To lead me to your mountain and into your tent.
Then I will go to your altar, God who gives joy,
and praise You by the zither, God, my God.
ALLELUIA John 10, 14
Alleluia.
I am the good shepherd, says the Lord.
I know mine and mine know Me.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Jn 10, 1-10
I am the door of the sheep.
From the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John
At that time Jesus said:
‘Verily, verily, I say unto you:
Whoever does not pass through the door
but by another way enters the sheepfold ,
he is a thief and a robber.
But he who enters by the door
is the shepherd of the sheep.
Him the doorkeeper opens.
The sheep listen to his voice;
calls the sheep by their names and leads them out.
And when he has brought out all his sheep
he goes out before them,
while they follow him because they know his voice.
A stranger, however, they will not follow;
on the contrary, they will flee from him
because they do not know the voice of strangers.’
This parable Jesus told them,
but they did not understand what He wanted to tell them.
Another time Jesus said to them:
‘Verily, verily, I say to you:
I am the door of the sheep.
All who have come before Me are thieves and robbers ,
but the sheep have not listened to them.
I am the door.
If anyone enters through Me
he will be saved;
he will enter and go out and find pasture.
the thief comes only to steal, slaughter and destroy.
I have come that they may possess life ,
and abundantly so.’
_______________________________________________
Fratelli tutti
Encyclical of
Pope Fraciscus
On brotherhood and social friendship
275. It must be recognised that ‘among the main causes of the
crisis of the modern world are a numbed human conscience and an
alienation from religious values, as well as the predominance
of individualism and of materialist philosophies that deify man
deified and put worldly and material values in the place
of the highest and transcendent principles’. It is not acceptable that
in public debate only the powerful and the scientists have a
voice. There must be room for reflection that comes from a
religious background, containing centuries of experience and wisdom.
‘Classical religious texts can offer a meaning destined
for all times and possess a motivating power’, but in fact
‘they are despised on the grounds of the limited vision of forms of rationalism’.
To be continued
Every day at 1 am
The Bible text in this issue is taken from The New Bible Translation,
©Dutch Bible Society 2004/2007.
Considerations from Liturgical suggestions for weekdays and Sundays
Fratelli tutti Official English translation
_________________________________________________________________