Wednesday in the 5th Week of Easter
Mass Readings
First Reading – Acts 15:1-6
Some who had come down from Judea were instructing the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice, you cannot be saved.” Because there arose no little dissension and debate by Paul and Barnabas with them, it was decided that Paul, Barnabas, and some of the others should go up to Jerusalem to the Apostles and presbyters about this question. They were sent on their journey by the Church, and passed through Phoenicia and Samaria telling of the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brethren. When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the Church, as well as by the Apostles and the presbyters, and they reported what God had done with them. But some from the party of the Pharisees who had become believers stood up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and direct them to observe the Mosaic Law.” The Apostles and the presbyters met together to see about this matter.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 122:1-2, 3-4ab, 4cd-5 (R. see 1)
R.Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I rejoiced because they said to me,
“We will go up to the house of the LORD.”
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem. R.
Jerusalem, built as a city
with compact unity.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD. R.
According to the decree for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
In it are set up judgment seats,
seats for the house of David. R.
Gospel – Jn 15:1-8
Jesus said to His disciples: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does He prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. Remain in Me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in Me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without Me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in Me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become My disciples.”
Featured Saints
St. Peter Nolasco, priest (†1245). Aided by St. Raymond de Peñafort and King James I of Aragon, he founded the Mercedarian Order in Spain, for the ransom of Christians from the Moors.
St. François de Laval, bishop (†1708). Memorial in Canada. Born to the illustrious Montmorency family, he renounced his rights as heir to embrace the clerical vocation. As the first Bishop of Quebec, for 50 years he worked with missionary zeal to strengthen and build up the Church in his vast diocese.
St. Venerius, bishop (†409). Disciple and sucessor of St. Ambrose of Milan. He supported St. John Chrysostom in exile.
St. Lucius of Cyrene. He is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles among the “prophets and doctors” (13:1) of the church at Antioch.
St. Benedicta, virgin (†sixth century). Roman nun; St. Gregory the Great relates that after insistently beseeching God, she died one month after the death of a beloved friend, St. Galla.
Blesseds Henry Kaczorowski and Casimir Gostynski, priests and martyrs (†1942). For their dedication and fervour in carrying out apostolic works in Poland, they were designated domestic prelates of the Pope. They died in the gas chamber of Dachau concentration camp in Germany.
Blessed Bartholomew Pucci Franceschi, priest (†1330). Feeling called to the religious life, he obtained the consent of his wife and children to enter the Franciscan monastery of Montepulciano, Italy.
Blessed Mary Catherine Troiani, virgin (†1887). Italian Franciscan religious, foundress of the Missionary Franciscan Sisters in Cairo, Egypt.
Blessed Anna Rosa Gattorno, religious (†1900). As a widow she founded the Congregation of the Daughters of St. Anne, Mother of Mary Immaculate, in Piacenza, Italy.
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