Friday of the Fourth 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 13:26-333
When Paul came to Antioch in Pisidia, he said in the synagogue: “My brothers, children of the family of Abraham, and those others among you who are God-fearing, to us this word of salvation has been sent. The inhabitants of Jerusalem and their leaders failed to recognize him, and by condemning him they fulfilled the oracles of the prophets that are read sabbath after sabbath. For even though they found no grounds for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him put to death, and when they had accomplished all that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and placed him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. These are now his witnesses before the people. We ourselves are proclaiming this good news to you that what God promised our fathers he has brought to fulfillment for us, their children, by raising up Jesus, as it is written in the second psalm, You are my Son; this day I have begotten you.”
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 2:6-7, 8-9, 10-11ab (R. 7bc)
R. You are my Son; this day I have begotten you.
or:
R. Alleluia.
“I myself have set up my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.”
I will proclaim the decree of the LORD:
The LORD said to me, “You are my Son;
this day I have begotten you.” R.
“Ask of me and I will give you
the nations for an inheritance
and the ends of the earth for your possession.
You shall rule them with an iron rod;
you shall shatter them like an earthen dish.” R.
And now, O kings, give heed;
take warning, you rulers of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice before him;
with trembling rejoice. R.
Gospel – Jn 14:1-6
Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way.” Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
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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