Thursday in the 7th Week of Easter
Mass Readings
First Reading – Acts 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. 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.”
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 16:1-2a and 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11 (R.1)
R. 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.
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.
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.
You will show me the path to life,
fullness of joys in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever. R.
Gospel – Jn 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, 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. 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, 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, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 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.”
Featured Saints
St. Simon Stock, priest (†1265). After living as a hermit in England, he entered the Carmelite Order, of which he served as Prior General. Especially known as the apostle of devotion to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel from whom he received the scapular of his Order in an apparition. Memorial in Great Britain.
St. Brendan the Navigator, abade († circa 577 ). Founder of the large abbey at Clonfert, Ireland, an important centre of learning; he laboured with zeal to spread the monastic life several other areas of Ireland. St. Brendan is most celebrated for the several sea voyages he made as a missionary.
St. Ubaldo, bishop (†1160). Reformed community life of the canons of the cathedral, in Gubbio (Italy).
St. Possidius, bishop (†440). As Bishop of Calama, in the Roman province of Numidia, in A, he vigorously fought against the donatist heresy. He was the biographer, friend and disciple of St. Augustine, and was present at his death.
St. Andrew Bobola, priest and martyr (†1657). Polish Jesuit killed by a band of Cossacks in Pinsk (present-day Belarus) after suffering unspeakable torture.
Blessed Michael Wozniak, priest and martyr (†1942). Deported by the Nazis from his native Poland to Dachau concentration camp in Germany, where he endured cruel torment before dying.
Blessed Vidal Vladimir Bajrak, priest and martyr (†1946). Ukrainian priest from the Order of St. Josaphat, he died in prison, condemned for having denounced the religious persecutions of the Soviet regime.
Image gallery
