Mass Readings for May 8, 2006

First Reading

Acts 11:1-18

The Apostles and the brothers who were in Judeaheard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalemthe circumcised believers confronted him, saying,"You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them."Peter began and explained it to them step by step, saying,"I was at prayer in the city of Joppawhen in a trance I had a vision,something resembling a large sheet coming down,lowered from the sky by its four corners, and it came to me. Looking intently into it,I observed and saw the four-legged animals of the earth,the wild beasts, the reptiles, and the birds of the sky. I also heard a voice say to me, ‘Get up, Peter. Slaughter and eat.’ But I said, ‘Certainly not, sir,because nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth."But a second time a voice from heaven answered,‘What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.’ This happened three times,and then everything was drawn up again into the sky.Just then three men appeared at the house where we were,who had been sent to me from Caesarea. The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating. These six brothers also went with me,and we entered the man’s house. He related to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, saying,‘Send someone to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter,who will speak words to you by which you and all your household will be saved.’ As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon themas it had upon us at the beginning,and I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said,‘John baptized with waterbut you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’If then God gave them the same gift he gave to uswhen we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,who was I to be able to hinder God?"When they heard this,they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying,"God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too."

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 42:2-3, 43:3,4

R. Alleluia.

As the hind longs for the running waters,so my soul longs for you, O God.Athirst is my soul for God, the living God.When shall I go and behold the face of God?

R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.

Gospel

John 10:1-10

Jesus said:"Amen, amen, I say to you,whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gatebut climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice,as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.When he has driven out all his own,he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him,because they recognize his voice.But they will not follow a stranger;they will run away from him,because they do not recognize the voice of strangers."Although Jesus used this figure of speech,they did not realize what he was trying to tell them.So Jesus said again, "Amen, amen, I say to you,I am the gate for the sheep.All who came before me are thieves and robbers,but the sheep did not listen to them.I am the gate.Whoever enters through me will be saved,and will come in and go out and find pasture.A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy;I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly."

Mass Readings for Sunday May 7, 2006

First Reading

Acts 4:8-12

Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said:"Leaders of the people and elders:If we are being examined todayabout a good deed done to a cripple,namely, by what means he was saved,then all of you and all the people of Israel should knowthat it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazoreanwhom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead;in his name this man stands before you healed.He is the stone rejected by you, the builders,which has become the cornerstone.There is no salvation through anyone else,nor is there any other name under heavengiven to the human race by which we are to be saved."

Responsorial Psalm

R. Alleluia.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,for his mercy endures forever.It is better to take refuge in the LORDthan to trust in man.It is better to take refuge in the LORDthan to trust in princes.

R. The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.

Second Reading

1 John 3:1-2

Beloved:See what love the Father has bestowed on usthat we may be called the children of God.Yet so we are.The reason the world does not know usis that it did not know him.Beloved, we are God’s children now;what we shall be has not yet been revealed.We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him,for we shall see him as he is.

Gospel

John 10:11-18

Jesus said:"I am the good shepherd.A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.A hired man, who is not a shepherdand whose sheep are not his own,sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away,and the wolf catches and scatters them.This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.I am the good shepherd,and I know mine and mine know me,just as the Father knows me and I know the Father;and I will lay down my life for the sheep.I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice,and there will be one flock, one shepherd.This is why the Father loves me,because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.This command I have received from my Father."

Mass Readings for Saturday May 6, 2006

Reading 1

Acts 9:31-42

The Church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samariawas at peace. She was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord,and with the consolation of the Holy Spirit she grew in numbers.

As Peter was passing through every region,he went down to the holy ones living in Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas,who had been confined to bed for eight years, for he was paralyzed. Peter said to him,"Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed."He got up at once. And all the inhabitants of Lydda and Sharon saw him,and they turned to the Lord.

Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha(which translated is Dorcas). She was completely occupied with good deeds and almsgiving. Now during those days she fell sick and died,so after washing her, they laid her out in a room upstairs. Since Lydda was near Joppa,the disciples, hearing that Peter was there,sent two men to him with the request,"Please come to us without delay."So Peter got up and went with them. When he arrived, they took him to the room upstairswhere all the widows came to him weepingand showing him the tunics and cloaksthat Dorcas had made while she was with them. Peter sent them all out and knelt down and prayed. Then he turned to her body and said, "Tabitha, rise up."She opened her eyes, saw Peter, and sat up. He gave her his hand and raised her up,and when he had called the holy ones and the widows,he presented her alive. This became known all over Joppa,and many came to believe in the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 116:12,14-15,16-17

R. Alleluia.

How shall I make a return to the LORDfor all the good he has done for me?The cup of salvation I will take up,and I will call upon the name of the LORD.

Gospel

John 6:60-69

Many of the disciples of Jesus who were listening said,"This saying is hard; who can accept it?"Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this,he said to them, "Does this shock you?What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?It is the Spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail.The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.But there are some of you who do not believe."Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believeand the one who would betray him.And he said, "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to meunless it is granted him by my Father."

As a result of this,many of his disciples returned to their former way of lifeand no longer walked with him.Jesus then said to the Twelve, "Do you also want to leave?"Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go?You have the words of eternal life.We have come to believeand are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."