Daily Mass Reflection & Daily Mass Readings
Daily Mass Reflection & Daily Mass Readings are vital for nurturing spiritual growth and maintaining a strong connection to one’s faith. These practices offer a dedicated time to meditate on the scriptures and the teachings of the homily, helping individuals internalize the lessons and apply them to their daily lives. Regular engagement with the readings fosters a deeper understanding of religious texts, while the reflection period allows for personal introspection and spiritual renewal. Together, they provide a foundation for a more meaningful and conscious practice of faith, promoting a sense of peace, guidance, and communal belonging.
23rd April – Thursday, Third Week of Easter
It is impossible to hear the reference to Gaza in today’s first reading without thinking of the human catastrophe that has been unfolding in the Gaza strip today. The reading describes an event that took place in the very early church on the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. An Ethiopian, an official at the court of the queen of Ethiopia, was on his way home having gone on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He seems to have been a pagan who was attracted to the Jewish faith. The reading suggests he was someone who had a searching spirit. He was seeking after the truth. He was sitting in his chariot, reading aloud a passage from the prophet Isaiah and struggling to understand what it meant. When Philip, a leader in the early church, approached him, the Ethiopian asked, ‘Tell me, is the prophet referring to himself or someone else?’ His question was the opening Philip needed to preach the gospel to him. Having heard the gospel, the Ethiopian then took the initiative to ask Philip to baptize him. In the gospel reading, Jesus says, ‘No one comes to me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me’. God tends to draw us to Jesus through others. On this occasion, God drew the Ethiopian to his Son through Philip. God is constantly drawing people to Jesus and he does so by working through those who already believe in Jesus. God wants to work through each one of us to draw others to his Son, our risen Lord. God needs us to witness to our faith in some way, if others are to come to the Lord. There are people among us searching for the one who says of himself in today’s gospel reading, ‘I am the bread of life’, the one who can satisfy our deepest spiritual hunger. They may be searching the Scriptures, like the Ethiopian. We can all be a Philip for those who are searching. If we are to play that vital role in someone’s life, we need to be constantly seeking the Lord for ourselves.
22nd April – Wednesday, Third Week of Easter
According to today’s first reading, the persecution of the church in Jerusalem, immediately following on from the killing of Stephen, had two very different consequences. Saul or Paul, who witnessed the death of Stephen, was encouraged to finally finish off this new and dangerous movement within Judaism and ‘worked for the total destruction of the church’. On the other hand, the believers who fled the persecution in Jerusalem took the opportunity to preach the gospel in places where it had never been preached before. Philip, in particular, proclaimed the gospel in a Samaritan town and met with a welcoming response. The church whose members were originally Jews was now receiving Samaritans. The traditional animosity between Jews and Samaritans was collapsing through a shared faith in Jesus, the risen Lord. In a time of great danger and loss for the early church, the Lord was working powerfully for the spread of the gospel. A time of loss for the church in Jerusalem was a time of growth elsewhere, in Samaria. We are being reminded that times of loss for the church can also be times of growth. When there is a loss in one place, there can be growth in another. Even in the place where there is loss, there can be growth. As you read on in the Acts of the Apostles, the church in Jerusalem continues to be significant. According to today’s gospel reading, the will of God the Father is that ‘whoever sees the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life’. God is always at work to bring his will, his purpose, to pass, which is that people come to believe in his Son. The Lord continues to work even in the most unpromising of circumstances. This gives us the confidence to continue proclaiming the gospel by our lives in season and out of season.
23rd April >> Mass Readings
Thursday, Third Week of Eastertide or Saint George, Martyr or Saint Adalbert of Prague, Bishop, Martyr.
Thursday, Third Week of Eastertide
(Liturgical Colour: White. Year: A(II))
First Reading Acts of the Apostles 8:26-40 Philip baptizes a eunuch.
The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, ‘Be ready to set out at noon along the road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza, the desert road.’ So he set off on his journey. Now it happened that an Ethiopian had been on pilgrimage to Jerusalem; he was a eunuch and an officer at the court of the kandake, or queen, of Ethiopia, and was in fact her chief treasurer. He was now on his way home; and as he sat in his chariot he was reading the prophet Isaiah. The Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go up and meet that chariot.’ When Philip ran up, he heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ ‘How can I’ he replied ‘unless I have someone to guide me?’ So he invited Philip to get in and sit by his side. Now the passage of scripture he was reading was this:
Like a sheep that is led to the slaughter-house, like a lamb that is dumb in front of its shearers, like these he never opens his mouth. He has been humiliated and has no one to defend him. Who will ever talk about his descendants, since his life on earth has been cut short!
The eunuch turned to Philip and said, ‘Tell me, is the prophet referring to himself or someone else?’ Starting, therefore, with this text of scripture Philip proceeded to explain the Good News of Jesus to him. Further along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, ‘Look, there is some water here; is there anything to stop me being baptised?’ He ordered the chariot to stop, then Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water and Philip baptised him. But after they had come up out of the water again Philip was taken away by the Spirit of the Lord, and the eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing. Philip found that he had reached Azotus and continued his journey proclaiming the Good News in every town as far as Caesarea.
The Word of the Lord
R/ Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 65(66):8-9,16-17,20
R/ Cry out with joy to God, all the earth. or R/ Alleluia!
O peoples, bless our God, let the voice of his praise resound, of the God who gave life to our souls and kept our feet from stumbling.
R/ Cry out with joy to God, all the earth. or R/ Alleluia!
Come and hear, all who fear God. I will tell what he did for my soul: to him I cried aloud, with high praise ready on my tongue.
R/ Cry out with joy to God, all the earth. or R/ Alleluia!
Blessed be God who did not reject my prayer nor withhold his love from me.
R/ Cry out with joy to God, all the earth. or R/ Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia! The Lord, who hung for us upon the tree, has risen from the tomb. Alleluia!
Or: John 6:51
Alleluia, alleluia! I am the living bread which has come down from heaven, says the Lord. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever. Alleluia!
Gospel John 6:44-51 I am the living bread which has come down from heaven.
Jesus said to the crowd:
‘No one can come to me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets: They will all be taught by God, and to hear the teaching of the Father, and learn from it, is to come to me. Not that anybody has seen the Father, except the one who comes from God: he has seen the Father. I tell you most solemnly, everybody who believes has eternal life.
‘I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the desert and they are dead; but this is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that a man may eat it and not die. I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world.’
The Gospel of the Lord
R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
22nd April >> Mass Readings
Wednesday, Third Week of Eastertide
(Liturgical Colour: White. Year: A(II))
First Reading Acts of the Apostles 8:1-8 They went from place to place, preaching the Good News.
That day a bitter persecution started against the church in Jerusalem, and everyone except the apostles fled to the country districts of Judaea and Samaria. There were some devout people, however, who buried Stephen and made great mourning for him. Saul then worked for the total destruction of the Church; he went from house to house arresting both men and women and sending them to prison. Those who had escaped went from place to place preaching the Good News. One of them was Philip who went to a Samaritan town and proclaimed the Christ to them. The people united in welcoming the message Philip preached, either because they had heard of the miracles he worked or because they saw them for themselves. There were, for example, unclean spirits that came shrieking out of many who were possessed, and several paralytics and cripples were cured. As a result there was great rejoicing in that town.
The Word of the Lord
R/ Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 65(66):1-7
R/ Cry out with joy to God, all the earth. or R/ Alleluia!
Cry out with joy to God all the earth, O sing to the glory of his name. O render him glorious praise. Say to God: ‘How tremendous your deeds!
R/ Cry out with joy to God, all the earth. or R/ Alleluia!
Because of the greatness of your strength your enemies cringe before you. Before you all the earth shall bow; shall sing to you, sing to your name!’
R/ Cry out with joy to God, all the earth. or R/ Alleluia!
Come and see the works of God, tremendous his deeds among men. He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the river dry-shod.
R/ Cry out with joy to God, all the earth. or R/ Alleluia!
Let our joy then be in him; he rules for ever by his might. His eyes keep watch over the nations: let rebels not rise against him.
R/ Cry out with joy to God, all the earth. or R/ Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation John 10:27
Alleluia, alleluia! The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice, says the Lord, I know them and they follow me. Alleluia!
Or: cf. John 6:40
Alleluia, alleluia! It is my Father’s will, says the Lord, that whoever believes in the Son shall have eternal life, and that I shall raise him up on the last day. Alleluia!
Gospel John 6:35-40 It is my Father’s will that whoever sees the Son should have eternal life.
Jesus said to the crowd:
‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry; he who believes in me will never thirst. But, as I have told you, you can see me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I shall not turn him away; because I have come from heaven, not to do my own will, but to do the will of the one who sent me. Now the will of him who sent me is that I should lose nothing of all that he has given to me, and that I should raise it up on the last day. Yes, it is my Father’s will that whoever sees the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and that I shall raise him up on the last day.’
The Gospel of the Lord
R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.