Thursday of the Second Week of Easter
Optional memorial of St. Joseph the Worker. Pope Pius XII instituted this commemoration in 1955, in order to provide a model and protector of laborers, and to highlight the Christian value of work.
Mass Readings
First Reading – Acts 5:27-33
When the court officers had brought the Apostles in and made them stand before the Sanhedrin, the high priest questioned them, “We gave you strict orders did we not, to stop teaching in that name. Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and want to bring this man’s blood upon us.” But Peter and the Apostles said in reply, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our ancestors raised Jesus, though you had him killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior to grant Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins. We are witnesses of these things, as is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.” When they heard this, they became infuriated and wanted to put them to death.
Responsorial Psalm – 34:2 and 9, 17-18, 19-20 (R.7a)
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Taste and see how good the LORD is;
blessed the man who takes refuge in him. R.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them. R.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
Many are the troubles of the just man,
but out of them all the LORD delivers him. R.
Gospel – Jn 3:31-36
The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things. But the one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy. For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God. He does not ration his gift of the Spirit. The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.
Featured Saints
St. Amator, bishop (†418). Acclaimed Bishop of Auxerre, France, he dedicated himself to rooting out pagan superstitions and encouraging veneration of the holy martyrs.
St. Peregrine Laziosi, priest (†1345). After a rebellious adolescence, he entered the Servites, in Siena, and founded a monastery of the Order in Forli, his birthplace.
St. Augustine Schoeffler, priest and martyr (†1851). Priest of the Foreign Missions Society, beheaded in Vietnam.
St. Jeremiah, prophet. He foretold the destruction of the Holy City and the deportation of the Jewish people. He endured many tribulations, for which the Church considers him a figure of the suffering Christ.
St. Richard Pampuri, religious (†1928). Italian doctor who worked with heroic Christian charity during the First World War. He joined the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God.
St. Sigismund of Burgundy, king (†524). A convert from the Arian heresy, he sought to repair the faults committed against the Faith with good works. He built the Abbey of Saint-Maurice-enValais, Switzerland.
Blessed Clement Sheptytsky, priest and martyr (†1951). Archimandrite from the Monastery of Univ of Studite monks; deported by the Soviet regime, he died in prison in Vladimir, Russia.
Blessed Mafalda, virgin (†1257). Daughter of King Sancho I of Portugal, she took the habit in the Abbey of Arouca, where she introduced the cistercian reform.
In Canada: Optional Memorial of St. Pius V. A Dominican religious, bishop and cardinal, he held offices of high responsibility in the Church. Elected Pope, he dedicated himself with energy to the propagation of the Faith and to divine worship. He brought together the Holy League, whose squadron was victorious in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. (Celebrated April 30 in the General Calendar.)
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