Saturday in the 5th Week of Easter
Mass Readings
First Reading – Acts 16:1-10
Paul reached also Derbe and Lystra where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him, and Paul wanted him to come along with him. On account of the Jews of that region, Paul had him circumcised, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they traveled from city to city, they handed on to the people for observance the decisions reached by the Apostles and presbyters in Jerusalem. Day after day the churches grew stronger in faith and increased in number. They traveled through the Phrygian and Galatian territory because they had been prevented by the Holy Spirit from preaching the message in the province of Asia. When they came to Mysia, they tried to go on into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them, so they crossed through Mysia and came down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision. A Macedonian stood before him and implored him with these words, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, we sought passage to Macedonia at once, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the Good News to them.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 100:1b-2, 3, 5 (R. 2a)
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song. R.
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends. R.
The LORD is good:
his kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations. R.
Gospel – Jn 15:18-21
Jesus said to his disciples: “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to you, ‘No slave is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me.”
Featured Saints
Sts. John Houghton, Robert Lawrence, Augustine Webster and Richard Reynolds, priests and martyrs (†1535). Feast in England. The first men to die as martyrs during the reign of king Henry VIII for refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy. The first three were the first from the Carthusian Order and the fourth was a Brigidine monk.
In Canada: Optional memorial of Blessed Marie-Leonie Paradis, virgin (†1912) She founded the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family in Canada, to serve the clergy through the domestic care of rectories, seminaries and colleges.
St. Sylvanus of Gaza, bishop, and companions, martyrs (†circa 304). He was condemned to forced labour and finally beheaded in the mines of Phoenon, Palestine, with 39 other Christians, by order of Emperor Maximinus Daia.
St. Florian, martyr (†304). Roman soldier condemned for being Christian during the persecution of Diocletian; he was cast into the Enns River in Lorch, Germany, with a stone around his neck.
St. Antonina, martyr (†third/ fourth century). She was imprisoned for two years, tortured, and finally burned at the stake in Nicea for refusing to renounce the Faith.
Blessed Ladislaus of Gielnow, priest (†1505). Franciscan religious from Warsaw, he preached the Passion of Our Lord with extraordinary zeal, and composed hymns.
Blessed Jean-Martin Moÿe, priest (†1793). Priest from the Foreign Missions, founded the Institute of Sisters of Divine Providence in France, and went on mission to China. He died in exile in Germany during the French Revolution.
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