Friday in the 6th Week of Easter
Mass Readings
First Reading – Acts 18:9-18
One night while Paul was in Corinth, the Lord said to him in a vision, “Do not be afraid. Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you. No one will attack and harm you, for I have many people in this city.” He settled there for a year and a half and taught the word of God among them. But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews rose up together against Paul and brought him to the tribunal, saying, “This man is inducing people to worship God contrary to the law.” When Paul was about to reply, Gallio spoke to the Jews, “If it were a matter of some crime or malicious fraud, I should with reason hear the complaint of you Jews; but since it is a question of arguments over doctrine and titles and your own law, see to it yourselves. I do not wish to be a judge of such matters.” And he drove them away from the tribunal. They all seized Sosthenes, the synagogue official, and beat him in full view of the tribunal. But none of this was of concern to Gallio. Paul remained for quite some time, and after saying farewell to the brothers he sailed for Syria, together with Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had shaved his head because he had taken a vow.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 47:2-3, 4-5, 6-7 (R. 8a)
R.God is king of all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
All you peoples, clap your hands,
shout to God with cries of gladness,
For the LORD, the Most High, the awesome,
is the great king over all the earth. R.
He brings people under us;
nations under our feet.
He chooses for us our inheritance,
the glory of Jacob, whom He loves. R.
God mounts His throne amid shouts of joy;
the LORD, amid trumpet blasts.
Sing praise to God, sing praise;
sing praise to our king, sing praise. R.
Gospel – Jn 16:20-23
Jesus said to His disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy. When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. On that day you will not question Me about anything. Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.”
Featured Saints
St. Urban I, Pope (†230). Faithfully governed the Church for eight years, after the martyrdom of St. Callixtus.
St. Crispin of Viterbo, religious (†1750). Capuchin lay brother who taught peasants the Catholic Faith while visiting villages asking for alms.
St. Dunstan of Canterbury, bishop (†988). Benedictine abbot elected Bishop of Worcester and later Archbishop of Canterbury. He rekindled the flame of monastic life in Great Britain.
St. Ives, priest (†1303). He dedicated his life to the practice of the virtue of justice, as a lawyer and later as a priest and ecclesiastical judge. He died at fifty years of age in a castle close to Treguier, in French Brittany.
St.Teophilus of Corte, priest (†1740). A great propagator of the “Sacred Retreats” in the Franciscan Order, evangelizing throughout Corsica and Italy. An ardent devotee of the Lord’s Passion and to the Virgin Mary.
Blessed Mary Bernard Bütler, virgin (†1924). Religious from the Monastery of Mary, Help of Christians in Altstätten, Switzerland, she departed with six companions for Ecuador, where she founded the Congregation of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Mary, Help of Christians.
Blessed Agostino Novello, priest (†1310). Religious from the Order of the Hermits of St. Augustine, appointed papal confessor and apostolic penitentiary. After being elected Superior General, he organized the Augustinian provinces and sought to establish greater observance of the rule.
Blessed Juan of Cetina, priest, and Pedro of Dueñas, religious, martyrs (†1397). Both from the Franciscan Order, they undertook a mission to evangelize the Muslims of Granada (Spain), where they were killed by the sultan himself.
Blessed John Baptist Loir, priest and martyr (†1794). Capuchin priest who died while imprisoned during the French Revolution for refusing to take the oath of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.
Blessed Raphael Louis Rafiringa, religious (†1919). Christian Brother and convert from paganism; he maintained the presence and vitality of the Church in Madagascar when all priests had been expelled.
Blessed Umiliana de’ Cerchi, widow (†1246). After the death of her husband, she became a Franciscan tertiary, leading an exemplary life of prayer, penance and charity.
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