“Jesus said to His Disciples: ‘When the Advocate comes Whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify to Me. … you also testify, because you have been with Me from the beginning. …'”
Mass Readings 5.12.15 – FIRST READING: Acts 16:11-15 – PSALM 149:1B-2, 3-4, 5-6A AND 9B – GOSPEL: John 15:26B, 27A … FIND A MASS: MassTimes.org – FIND A MASS: TheCatholicDirectory.com
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Daily TV Mass Channel: Toronto
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALM 149:1B-2, 3-4, 5-6A AND 9B
The Lord takes delight in His People.
GOSPEL
Jesus explains to His Disciples that the Spirit of Truth, presumably the Holy Spirit, will proceed from God the Father, to testify to Christ. The Disciples, too, will testify to Christ, having been with Him from the beginning.
Jesus said to His Disciples:
‘When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father,
the Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father,
… will testify to Me.
… you also testify,
because you have been with Me from the beginning.
Note that Proclaiming the Gospel does not just include conveying ideas or God’s Law. It relates personal experience bearing witness to the facts of what the Disciples have encountered directly.
Jesus cautions the Disciples that they will be persecuted for the Faith, and that their persecutors will be so confused that they will think they are doing good when carrying out this evil.
‘I have told you this so that you may not fall away.
They will expel you from the synagogues;
… the hour is coming when everyone who kills you
will think he is offering worship to God.
They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me.
I have told you this so that when their hour comes
you may remember that I told you.”
FIRST READING
Paul and a companion, which the NABRV editors suggest might be Luke himself, go to a secluded place by a river thinking that they will pray. Instead, personal encounters with those there result in exchanges about the Faith that result in newly Baptized converts and an invitation to lodgings.
… we went outside the city gate along the river
where we thought there would be a place of prayer.
We sat and spoke with the women who had gathered …
… a woman named Lydia …
… a worshiper of God, listened,
… the Lord opened her heart to pay attention
to what Paul was saying.
After she and her household had been baptized,
she offered us an invitation,
‘If you consider me a believer in the Lord,
come and stay at my home,’ …
Note that God presents surprises and opportunities, and Paul and his companion are at the ready to respond to what God brings before them.
Their readiness to pursue prayer, and their openness to interact with those they encounter lead to conversion.
God also surprises them with opportunities to meet their earthly needs, of shelter and hospitality.
LINKS & RESOURCES
- Find a Mass: MassTimes.org
- Find a Mass: TheCatholicDirectory.com
- VIDEO: Sunday Mass – Basilica in Washington, D.C.
- VIDEO: Sunday Mass – Passionists (New York)
- VIDEO: Diocese of Sioux Falls, including Sunday Masses
- VIDEO: Sunday Mass – University of Notre Dame
- VIDEO: Daily Mass – Toronto
- VIDEO: Daily Mass – Boston/Catholic TV
