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Wednesday, May 15, 2013

May 16, 2013



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Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter 
Lectionary: 300


Reading 1ACTS 22:30; 23:6-11

Wishing to determine the truth
about why Paul was being accused by the Jews,
the commander freed him
and ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to convene.
Then he brought Paul down and made him stand before them.

St. Paul,  a free born Roman citizen, was about to be scourged by the Romans at the urging of the Jews in Jerusalem, when he informed that Romans of his citizenry.  At that point, the Roman soldiers released him and convened the whole Sanhedrin in order to get to the bottom of the matter.

Paul was aware that some were Sadducees and some Pharisees,
so he called out before the Sanhedrin,
“My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees;
I am on trial for hope in the resurrection of the dead.”
When he said this,
a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and Sadducees,
and the group became divided.
For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection
or angels or spirits,
while the Pharisees acknowledge all three.
A great uproar occurred,
and some scribes belonging to the Pharisee party
stood up and sharply argued,
“We find nothing wrong with this man.
Suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”
The dispute was so serious that the commander,
afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them,
ordered his troops to go down and rescue Paul from their midst
and take him into the compound.
The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage.
For just as you have borne witness to my cause in Jerusalem,
so you must also bear witness in Rome.”

St. Paul, knowing that the Sanhedrin was divided between Pharisees and Saduccees, played the Pharisee card and informed them that he was a Pharisee being set on trial for the resurrection of the dead.  The Saduccees rejected the idea of the resurrection and so, that started a dispute so heated that the Romans were forced to take St. Paul away to prison in order to protect him from the mob. 
Then the Lord appeared to St. Paul and said, "Don't worry, you will be preaching the Gospel in Rome." 

Responsorial PsalmPS 16:1-2A AND 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11

R. (1) Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge;
I say to the LORD, “My Lord are you.”
O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot.
R. Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I bless the LORD who counsels me;
even in the night my heart exhorts me.
I set the LORD ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
R. Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
my body, too, abides in confidence;
Because you will not abandon my soul to the nether world,
nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.
R. Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.
or:
R. Alleluia.
You will show me the path to life,
fullness of joys in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.
R. Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.
or:
R. Alleluia.
When times look bleak and things look hard, it is then that God is closest to us.  We must keep this in mind and always act in complete confidence, knowing that everything that happens has been ordained by God for the good of those who love Him.

GospelJN 17:20-26

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying:
“I pray not only for these,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word,

That's us.  Jesus prayed for us.  Because we are they who believe in Him through the witness of the Apostles and all who have passed down their message in Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture.

so that they may all be one,
as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
that they also may be in us,
that the world may believe that you sent me.
Therefore, we should love one another and do our best to help each other, because God wants us to be united in mind and deed.
And I have given them the glory you gave me,
so that they may be one, as we are one,
I in them and you in me,
that they may be brought to perfection as one,
that the world may know that you sent me,
If we are united and work together, the world will know that God, the Father sent the Son to save us from our sins, because we will tell them so.  We will carry on the message together.
and that you loved them even as you loved me.
Father, they are your gift to me.
I wish that where I am they also may be with me,
Christ prayed that we may be with Him, in Heaven.  But also, that we may of one mind and one accord here on earth.
that they may see my glory that you gave me,
because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
And that we might recognize that He is God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity.
Righteous Father, the world also does not know you,
but I know you, and they know that you sent me.
I made known to them your name and I will make it known,
that the love with which you loved me
may be in them and I in them.”
The world does not know God.  But we who love Jesus also love the Father and the Holy Spirit.  We know them and love them and long to be united with them for eternity.

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