Saints Nereus and Achilleus were two Roman martyrs of the 5th century. They are commemorated together on 12 May.
Invitation
May I take this opportunity to draw your attention to
the daily reading of the Gospel?
This invitation aims to share with you the joy of the Gospel.
Everyone, without exception,
can experience that joy by opening their heart
to the healing power of God’s word.
Consideration
The jailer knows what is in store for him and wants to take his own life. At the sight of Paul and Silas, he suddenly realises that God’s hand may be at work here: the situation is so strange that it cannot be otherwise. Through the insight that Paul and Silas give him, his anxiety and fear disappear. He undergoes a complete transformation. He has come to know Jesus, is baptised and, as a result, is welcomed into the church community together with his family. It is his hopeless situation that has brought him to Jesus. At times when we are thrown off balance by events in our lives, we experience how He sustains us.
FIRST READING Acts 16, 22-34
Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you and your household will be saved.
From the Acts of the Apostles
In those days, the people of Philippi
gathered against Paul and Silas,
whereupon the magistrates ordered
that their clothes be torn from their bodies
and that they be flogged with rods.
After they had been severely flogged,
they were thrown into prison
and the jailer was ordered
to guard them closely.
On this strict command,
he put them in the innermost cell
and fastened their feet in the stocks.
Around midnight,
Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God,
whilst the prisoners listened to them.
Suddenly there was such a violent tremor
that the prison shook to its foundations.
At once all the doors flew open
and the chains of all the prisoners fell off.
The jailer was startled awake,
and when he saw that the prison doors were open,
he drew his sword
and was about to kill himself,
thinking that the prisoners had escaped.
But Paul cried out in a loud voice:
“Do not harm yourself,
we are all still here.”
The man then asked for a light,
rushed inside
and, trembling, fell at the feet of Paul and Silas.
He led them outside and said:
“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
They replied:
“Believe in the Lord Jesus,
and you and your household will be saved.”
Thereupon they proclaimed the word of the Lord
to him and all his household.
That very night he took them in,
and he washed their wounds.
Immediately afterwards he was baptised, together with all his household.
He brought them to his home,
and set a meal before them,
rejoicing because he and his whole family now believed in God.
INTERLUDIUM Ps . 138(137), 1-2a, 2bc-3, 7c-8
Your outstretched hand is always my salvation, Lord.
or:Alleluia.
I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart,
for you have listened to my prayer.
I sing before you and all the heavenly hosts,
and bow down, prostrate before your sanctuary.
I praise you for your goodness and your faithfulness,
for you have fulfilled your promise beyond measure.
Whenever I called upon you, you always answered me,
You have always given me new courage.
Your outstretched hand is ever my salvation:
The Lord brings to completion all that I undertake.
Your goodness, Lord, endures without end;
do not forget the work of your hands!
ALLELUIA
Alleluia.
Christ rose from the tomb
and became a Light for all
whom He redeemed with His blood.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL John 16, 5-11
Unless I go away, the Helper will not come to you.
From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
John
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples:
“Now I am going to the One who sent me,
and none of you asks me:
‘Where are you going?’
“Because I have told you this, your hearts are filled with sorrow.
Yet I tell you the truth:
it is good for you that I go;
for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you.
“Now that I am going, I will send Him to you.
“Once He comes,
He will convict the world of its sin, of its righteousness and of its judgement:
of its sin, because they do not believe in Me;
of what righteousness is,
because I am going to the Father, so that you will no longer see Me;
of what judgement is, because the ruler of this world has been judged.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclical of
Pope Francis
On Care for Our Common Home
113. Moreover, people no longer seem to believe in a happy future;
they no longer place blind faith in a better future,
given the current state of the world and our technical capabilities.
They are becoming aware that progress in science and technology is not the same as progress for humanity and history, and suspect that there are other paths to a happy future.
Nevertheless, they cannot imagine either that they would renounce the possibilities offered by technology.
Humanity has changed profoundly, and the accumulation of constant innovations
leads to a fleeting superficiality. It is difficult for us to regain the
depth in life. If architecture reflects the spirit of the times,
then megastructures and mass-produced houses express the spirit of globalised technology,
in which the constant novelty of products is combined with a
oppressive boredom. Let us not resign ourselves to this, and let us not
refrain from questioning the purposes and meaning of everything.
Otherwise, we will merely legitimise the status quo and find ourselves
in need of more surrogates to endure the emptiness.
To be continued
Every day at 1 am
The Bible text in this edition is taken fromThe New Bible Translation,
©Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap 2004/2007.
Reflections from Liturgical Suggestions for Weekdays and Sundays
Laudato Si Official English translation