Daily Readings

June 4, 2025

Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 20:28–38

In those days: Paul said to the elders of the Church of Ephesus, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities, and to those who were with me. In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 68:29–30, 33–35a, 35b and 36d

Response: You, kingdoms of the earth, sing to God.

Summon forth your might, O God; 

your might, O God, 

which you have shown for us. 

From your temple high in Jerusalem, 

kings will come to you 

bringing their tribute. 

Response: You, kingdoms of the earth, sing to God.

You kingdoms of the earth, sing to God, praise the Lord who rides on the heavens, 

the ancient heavens. 

Behold, he thunders his voice, his mighty voice. 

Come, acknowledge the power of God. 

Response: You, kingdoms of the earth, sing to God.

His glory is on Israel; his might is in the skies. 

Awesome is God in his holy place. 

He is God, the God of Israel. 

He himself gives strength and power 

to his people 

Response: You, kingdoms of the earth, sing to God.

Alleluia

See John 17:17b, 17a

Your word, O Lord, is truth; sanctify us in the truth.

Gospel

John 17:11b–19

At that time: [Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven and prayed, saying,] “Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth.

Reflection

Jesus asks his Father to keep the disciples united in his name, “that they may be one, even as we are one.” Disciples of Jesus do not belong to the world although they are in the world, experiencing its struggles and hardships. They are part of the world, make meaningful contributions through selfless service and by fighting against all that is evil. Yet, as Saint Paul writes, “our commonwealth is in heaven” (Phil 3: 20). Jesus prays that his disciples be sanctified, that is, to make them holy and pure, freed from sin. This is the ultimate state to which all of us have a calling. As Pope Francis says in Gaudete et Exsultate, “We are all called to be holy by living our lives with love and by bearing witness in everything we do, wherever we find ourselves.”

St Francis Caracciolo (Confessor) (1563 -1608)

Baptized Ascanio at his birth on 13 October 1563 in the Abruzzi, Italy, this scion of a noble family in Naples, fell victim in his youth to a terrible skin disease akin to leprosy. However, at 22, when he dedicated his life exclusively to God’s service, he found himself suddenly cured, went on to study theology at Naples, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1587.

In 1589, together with St John Augustine Adorno, he founded the Minor Clerks Regular, a religious Congregation (both contemplative and active) which prohibited its members from aspiring to ecclesiastical dignities, called for perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in rotation and for continuous mortification in addition to the three usual vows. At his profession, Ascanio took the name of Francis. He became the first superior of the Naples congregation, and towards the turn of the century made three trips to Spain to found houses in Madrid, Valladolid and in the famous university city of Alcala, where his Clerks were to teach science.

Francis Caracciolo was an indirect descendant of St Thomas Aquinas on his mother’s side, and like his illustrious ancestor, was known for his angelic purity. A friend of the poor, he practised great austerities, always travelled on foot, and begged for crusts for his sustenance. God granted him the gifts of prophecy and of reading hearts. As an author he is famed particularly for his “Seven Stations of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ”.

Francis died on 4 June 1608 and was canonized by Pope Pius VII on 24 May 1807.

Daily Readings

June 3, 2025

Memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs

Reading 1

Acts 20:17–27

In those days: From Miletus Paul sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. And when they came to him, he said to them: “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance towards God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.’’

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 68:10–11, 20–21 

Response: You kingdoms of the earth, sing to God.

You poured down, O God, a generous rain;

when your people languished,

you restored their inheritance.

It was there that your flock began to dwell.

In your goodness, O God,

you provided for the poor.

Response: You kingdoms of the earth, sing to God.

Day after day, may the Lord be blest.

He bears our burdens;

God is our saviour.

This God of ours is a God who saves.

The Lord our Lord provides

an escape from death.

Response: You kingdoms of the earth, sing to God.

Alleluia

John 14:16

I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you for ever.

Gospel

John 17:1–11a

At that time: Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.”

Reflection

In this section of Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer, he passionately prays for his disciples. Jesus knew that it was time for him to return to the Father. He would not want his beloved disciples to be abandoned and lost. He taught them the truths of the Father, he shared with them his love and life. He passed on to them the authority that he had received from his Father. He empowered them with the power of the Holy Spirit. He would love them till the end, even to the point of dying for them and sharing his body and blood with them. Now as he leaves them, he would not want them to be scattered and lost like sheep without a shepherd. Thus he prays to his Father to guard them and keep them together in his love. Jesus’ prayer is offered for each one of us because we belong to him and his Father. It shows how precious we are in his sight, how much he loves us and how he wishes that we be blessed with eternal life.

Sts Charles Lwanga, Joseph Mkasa and Companions (Ugandan Martyrs)  (-c.1886 - 1887)

The White Fathers started missionary work among the native tribes of the Upper Nile region in 1878, and the first baptisms took place on Easter Saturday the following year. Some of these men had been converted from Islam to Protestantism before becoming Catholics. With their stiff resistance to the immoral demands of the vicious King Mwanga began the persecution of the rapidly spreading Catholic faith in 1886. Joseph Mkasa, the chief of the royal pages, and Marumba, the headman of a district, were among the first to suffer martyrdom, closely followed by Mkasa’s successor Charles Lwanga.

It was Charles who enabled the rest to retain their individual purity and to cling unto their faith. The Church today venerates the 22 Negro boys and young men ranging in age from 13 to 30 years, for the courage, reminiscent of the early Christians, with which they endured the cruelest tortures. Thirteen of the Martyrs were burned, the rest met death through various other ordeals. Some of them were put to death on 3 June 1886.

These were the first African Negroes to be beatified (1920). Besides these, some 80 others were killed in this persecution. As St Augustine says: “The martyrs were bound, imprisoned, scourged, racked, burnt, rent, butchered — and they multiplied.”

The Ugandan martyrs were canonized by Pope Paul VI on 18 October 1964.

Reflection: “First, have great love for Jesus Christ. Second, be faithful to the Church. Third, be strong and courageous; be happy and joyful always. Because, remember this always, the Christian life is a most beautiful thing” (Pope Paul VI).

Daily Readings

June 2, 2025

Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 19:1–8

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptised?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptised with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. There were about twelve men in all. And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 68:2–3, 4–5ac, 6–7ab

Response: You kingdoms of the earth, sing to God.

Let God arise; let his foes be scattered.

Let those who hate him flee from his presence.

As smoke is driven away, so drive them away;

like wax that melts before the fire,

so the wicked shall perish

at the presence of God.

Response: You kingdoms of the earth, sing to God.

But the just shall rejoice at the presence of God;

they shall exult with glad rejoicing

O sing to God; make music to his name.

The Lord is his name;

exult at his presence.

Response: You kingdoms of the earth, sing to God.

Father of orphans, defender of widows:

such is God in his holy place.

God gives the desolate a home to dwell in;

he leads the prisoners forth 

into prosperity.

Response: You kingdoms of the earth, sing to God.

Alleluia

Colossians 3:1

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

Gospel

John 16:29–33

At that time: The disciples said to Jesus, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Reflection

Jesus speaks of a time when he would be left alone, being abandoned by his own closest disciples whom he had chosen, trained and befriended for three years. Yet Jesus is not overcome by fear and anxiety nor does he backtrack from fulfilling his mission. He has just one goal in life: to carry out the will of his Father for the salvation of the world, as he is convinced of the Father’s filial love for him. He is sure of this as he says, “Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.” Jesus’ conviction of the Father’s loving presence and his total dedication to his mission are inspiration and motivation for us to be courageous in the midst of misunderstanding, loneliness, persecution and rejection. His words, “Take heart, I have overcome the world,” should ring in our ears and motivate us to be his courageous disciples in today’s world of darkness and chaos.

Sts Marcellinus and Peter (Martyrs) (A.D. - 304)

St Marcellinus was a Priest during the reign of Diocletian in Rome and St Peter an exorcist, i.e., someone authorized by the Church to deal with cases of demonic possession. They were said to have been condemned and cast into prison for their faith. In prison the two strengthened the faith of those of their fellow-prisoners who were Christian, and succeeded in making new converts, too, among whom were the jailer Arthemius, his wife and their daughter.

When they were taken out for execution, Marcellinus and Peter were privately brought to a wood called the Silva Niagra and there beheaded. Their persecutors had already dug the graves before the execution so that the place of their burial would not be known to the other Christians. However, the secret was divulged by the executioner himself who later became a Christian. Two devout women, Lucilla and Firmina, rescued their relics and interred them honourably in the catacomb of Tiburtius on the Via Lavicana. Emperor Constantine had a basilica built over the crypt in which they were buried. He later buried his own mother, St Helena, there, too.

Pope Damasus I composed a poetic epitaph for Sts Marcellinus and Peter that was apparently founded on the report of their executioner. They are commemorated in the Canon of the Mass (Eucharistic Prayer I).

Reflection: “If we wish to save our soul, we must resolve to do violence to ourselves. ‘The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent bear it away’ (Mt 11:12). He who does not do violence to himself will not be saved” (St Alphonsus Liguori).

Daily Readings

June 1, 2025

Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

Reading I

Acts of the Apostles (1:1-11)

In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptised with water, but you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM (67)

Response: God goes up with shouts of joy. The Lord goes up with trumpet blast. Or Alleluia.

All peoples, clap your hands. Cry to God with shouts of joy! For the LORD, the Most High, is awesome, the great king over all the earth.

Response: God goes up with shouts of joy. The Lord goes up with trumpet blast. Or Alleluia.

God goes up with shouts of joy. The LORD goes up with trumpet blast. Sing praise for God; sing praise! Sing praise to our king; sing praise!

Response: God goes up with shouts of joy. The Lord goes up with trumpet blast. Or Alleluia.

God is king of all the earth. Sing praise with all your skill. God reigns over the nations. God sits upon his holy throne.

Response: God goes up with shouts of joy. The Lord goes up with trumpet blast. Or Alleluia.

READING 2

Ephesians (1:17-23)

Brethren, may the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power towards us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

ACCLAMATION

Alleluia. Alleluia.

Go and make disciples of all nations, says the Lord; I am with you always, to the end of the age. Alleluia. (Mt 28:19a, 20b)

GOSPEL

Luke (24:46-53)

At that time Jesus said to his disciples, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God. Cel: The Gospel of the Lord.

Reflection

The First Reading as well as the Gospel of Today deal with the Ascension of Jesus. Though coming from the same author, the accounts of the Ascension at the end of Luke’s Gospel and at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles have remarkable differences. According to the Gospel the Ascension took place on Easter Sunday itself but in Acts there is an interval of forty days during which the Lord Jesus appeared to his apostles.

The significant details of the Ascension given in Acts 1:1-11 are as follows. The risen Christ commands his disciples to stay in Jerusalem until they are baptized with the Holy Spirit. Ascension is the movement of the Eternal Son, in his assumed and glorified humanity, from earth to heaven in order to sit at the right hand of the Father. The Acts’ description of the Ascension focuses on the screening cloud, precisely as it does in the transfiguration account. The cloud is symbolic of the divine glory. The Ascension functions as the last appearance of the risen Christ, as he takes leave of his assembled followers.

Paul brings in another perspective to the Ascension. As Paul prays for the Ephesian Community, he intercedes that the Spirit of wisdom and revelation may be given to the Christians of Ephesus. Once they receive the Spirit they will be enlightened. The risen and glorified Jesus reigns over the whole universe as God has placed all things under his feet.

What does the celebration of the feast of Ascension require of us? It definitely requires of us a closer look at the way we live our Christian commitment. When Jesus began his journey to Jerusalem that would culminate in his gruesome death, he was absolutely certain that his death would give way to his resurrection. Do we live our lives in such a way that we are confident to face God?

(Source: The Sunday Liturgy)

St Justin, Martyr (c.100-166)

St Justin was born of pagan parents in Samaria (Syria). Equipped with a good education, he earnestly sought instruction from various pagan philosophers, but none could satisfy his ardent thirst for truth or tell him anything definite about God. He once drew a venerable old Christian into a lengthy philosophical discussion which led him to take up the study of the Prophets.

Having witnessed firsthand the trials and torments of Christian martyrs he was astonished at their fearlessness. And so it was that the living faith of the martyrs, combined with a study of the Scriptures, brought about his conversion.

Leading an austere and holy life he travelled about Asia Minor (Turkey), preaching the truth about Christ. To rebut the novel ideas of the heretic Marcion, who was then troubling the Church, Justin wrote a number of treatises which were highly prized by St Jerome, but which are now unfortunately lost. Only the two apologias (defence of Christianity), which he addressed to the Emperors Anotoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius, and his famous “Dialogue with the Jew Tryphon” are extant.

“The greatest blessing I can wish you, is that you might come to realize that wisdom is given to every man through this Way of Life, and that someday you too might come to believe as we do that Jesus is the Christ of God!” wrote Justin.

St Justin is the first great Christian apologist, and the Patron of Catholic philosophy.

Reflection: “There is nothing which we more earnestly desire than to endure torments for the sake of Our Lord Jesus Christ; for this is what will promote our happiness, and give us confidence at his bar, where all men must appear, and be judged” (St Justin).

Daily Readings

May 31, 2025, Saturday

Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Reading I

Zephaniah 3:14–18 (Or Romans 12:9–16b)

Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil. On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival, so that you will no longer suffer reproach.

Or

Romans 12:9–16b

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour.  Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord.  Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.  Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.  Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.  Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are.

Responsorial Psalm

Isaiah 12:2–3, 4bcde, 5–6  

Response: Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Behold, God is my salvation;

I will trust, and will not be afraid;

for the Lord God is my strength and my song,

and he has become my salvation.

With joy you will draw water

from the wells of salvation.

Response: Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Give thanks to the Lord,

call upon his name,

make known his deeds among the peoples,

proclaim that his name is exalted.

Response: Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Sing praises to the Lord,

for he has done gloriously;

let this be made known in all the earth.

Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,

for great in your midst

is the Holy One of Israel.

Response: Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Alleluia

See Luke 1:45

Blessed are you Virgin Mary, who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to you from the Lord.

Gospel

Luke 1:39–56

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring for ever.” And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.

Reflection

The Feast of the Visitation illustrates Mary’s heart filled with love for her neighbour, inspired by her unparalleled devotion to God. Just as to her cousin, she is the Visitor who always seeks to fill our lives with her maternal care, aid, and heavenly graces. As children, it is indeed our duty to create in us a welcoming atmosphere for Our Blessed Mother. In turn, Our Blessed Mother would expect us to be visitors who bring good news to the persons we meet. Mary, who brought physical, emotional, and spiritual consolation is our model in all corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Let us touch the lives of people around us with the love that is following the will of God, and not with arrogance, selfishness, and pride.

Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

This feast commemorates the visit of the Virgin Mary, pregnant with the child Jesus, to her cousin Elizabeth, pregnant with John the Baptizer. It was at the Annunciation that Mary was informed of old Elizabeth’s pregnancy (Lk 1:36), prompting her to go “with haste” (Lk 1:39) to be of help to her cousin, thereby commencing her involvement in the work of redemption. What followed is awe-inspiring! At the sound of Mary’s greeting, the child in Elizabeth’s womb is sanctified and cleansed of original sin (cf. Lk 1:44) as foretold by the Angel Gabriel to Zechariah (cf. Lk 1:15) and in a leaping instant begins his mission of bearing witness to the light. Indeed, as David danced for joy before the Ark of the Covenant of old, John, the last of the prophets of the Old Testament, leaps for joy before Mary, the Ark of the New Covenant that brings God’s presence into the world! Then, “ . . . . filled with the Holy Spirit”, Elizabeth boldly declared Mary the most “blessed” among women, the Mother of God (cf. Lk 1:41-42) — the first formal acknowledgement as it were of the “Theotokos”!

The feast of the Visitation was first heard of in 1263, when it was adopted by the Franciscans, its observance extended to the whole Church in 1389 by Pope Urban VI in supplication for the end of the Great Schism.

Reflection: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my Spirit rejoices in God my Saviour!” (Mary - Lk 1:46).

Daily Readings

May 30, 2025

Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 18:9–18

[When Paul was in Corinth,] the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many people in this city who are my people.” And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal, saying, “This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law.” But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint. But since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.” And he drove them from the tribunal. And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this. After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 47:2–3, 4–5, 6–7

Response: God is king of all the earth.

All peoples, clap your hands.

Cry to God with shouts of joy!

For the Lord, the Most High,is awesome,

the great king over all the earth.

Response: God is king of all the earth.

He humbles peoples under us

and nations under our feet.

Our heritage he chose for us,

the pride of Jacob whom he loves.

Response: God is king of all the earth.

God goes up with shouts of joy.

The Lord goes up with trumpet blast.

Sing praise for God; sing praise!

Sing praise to our king; sing praise!

Response: God is king of all the earth.

Alleluia

See Luke 24:46, 26

Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and enter into his glory.

Gospel

John 16:20–23a

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. In that day you will ask nothing of me.”

Reflection

Jesus assures his disciples that the Father will provide whatever they ask in his name. While the prayer of petition is not the sum and summit of prayer, it is its indispensable aspect that brings spiritual benefits. If we remember that we are children of God, we will make our prayer of petition with childlike simplicity. God, in His infinite goodness, gives us countless blessings, even without asking for them. There are some things that God will never grant us, or he would delay the reply and make us wait, no matter how earnestly we pray. According to Saint Augustine, God says no to our petition because we pray without trust, lacking humility and perseverance, or because we ask for bad things, things that are harmful to us.

St Joan of Arc, Virgin  Martyr (1412-1431)

The “Maid of Orleans” and liberator of France, Jean d’Arc was a native of Domremy in Lorraine. The youngest of five children of a poor peasant farmer named Jacques, she was from her 13th year conscious of supernatural “voices” directing her. Three years later these voices (Sts Michael, Margaret and Catherine) insistently urged her to lead the French King’s armies to victory over the English, just when their complete defeat seemed imminent — “It is God who commands it!”

In the ensuing winter, however, many military advantages were lost through procrastination and political jealousies, and when Joan was captured at Compiegne by the Burgandians, the urgrateful Charles abandoned her to her fate — she was sold by her captors to the English, who, in order to rid themselves of one who inspired their troops with superstitious terror, had her condemned for witchery by subservient prelates and judges. In 1431, just 19, she was burned alive at the stake at Rouen. A generation later, a re-trial of her case, at the request of her family, established Joan’s complete innocence.

Joan of Arc was canonized in 1920 and is the Patron of France.

Reflection: “Accept everything with willing heart. Do not mind your martyrdom; at the end you shall come to the Kingdom of Paradise” (Voices to St Joan of Arc).

Daily Readings

May 29, 2025

Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Reading I

Acts 18:1–8

In those days: Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titus Justus, a worshipper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptised.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 98:1, 2–3ab, 3cd–4

Response: The Lord has shown his deliverance to the nations.

O sing a new song to the Lord, 

for he has worked wonders. 

His right hand and his holy arm 

have brought salvation. 

Response: The Lord has shown his deliverance to the nations.

The Lord has made known his salvation, 

has shown his deliverance to the nations. 

He has remembered his merciful love 

and his truth for the house of Israel. 

Response: The Lord has shown his deliverance to the nations.

All the ends of the earth have seen 

the salvation of our God. 

Shout to the Lord, all the earth; 

break forth into joyous song, 

and sing out your praise. 

Response: The Lord has shown his deliverance to the nations.

Alleluia

See John 14:18

I will not leave you as orphans, says the Lord; I will come to you, and your hearts will rejoice.

Gospel

John 16:16–20

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.”

Reflection

The frequent references to sadness and suffering express the environment of the communities at the end of the first century in Asia Minor for whom John wrote his Gospel. They lived in a difficult situation of persecution and oppression, which caused sadness. In this situation, the Apostle brings the salvific event of the death and resurrection of Christ. Christ endured the suffering and attained the glory, and has prophesied both the suffering and glory of his followers. So, the persecution of Christians, and any suffering in the name of faith should be lived in the light of the experience of the death and resurrection of Jesus. A person bears suffering and persecution when he/she knows that suffering is the way and the condition to attain perfect joy. 

St Cyril, Martyr (-251)

True to his mother’s training, Cyril when a still a child, would repeat the name of Christ at all times and confessed that the utterance of this name moved him strangely.

His father, a heathen and an idolator, hated Christianity and would beat and revile him for the faith he professed. Young Cyril bore all with Christian joy and when he was driven away by his father from the shelter of his roof he said he had lost little and would receive a great recompense instead.

It being a time of general persecution, the governor of Caesarea, learning about Cyril, had the child brought before him. The persecutors initially tried tempting him in various ways to apostatize and, later, even led him to the place of execution and showed him the horrible instruments of torture. But no threats could make him show the slightest sign of fear. The Governor pitying perhaps his tender years, offered him freedom and besought him to return to his home and inheritance. But the blessed youth replied: “I left home gladly, for I have a greater and a better reward which is waiting for me!”

Cyril was then taken to the fires as if for execution but was brought out once again to be re-examined. Still, he remained filled with his unwavering heavenly desire and protested against the cruel delay of his executioners. Blandishments and added threats were of no avail in moving the little confessor, and the judge suffered him at last to win the eternal crown he craved for!

Reflection: “Suffer little children to come to me, and forbid them not; for of such is the Kingdom of God” (Luke 18:16).

Daily Readings

May 28, 2025

Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 17:15, 22–18:1

In those days: Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed. So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed long and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way towards him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” So Paul went out from their midst. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them. After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 148:1–2, 11–12, 13, 14 

Response: Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Praise the Lord from the heavens;

praise him in the heights.

Praise him, all his angels;

praise him, all his hosts.

Response: Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Kings of the earth and all peoples,

princes and all judges of the earth,

young men and maidens as well,

the old and the young together.

Response: Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Let them praise the name of the Lord,

for his name alone is exalted,

his splendour above heaven and earth.

Response: Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

He exalts the strength of his people.

He is the praise of all his faithful,

the praise of the children of Israel,

of the people to whom he is close.

Response: Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Alleluia

John 14:16

I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you for ever.

Gospel

John 16:12–15

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

Reflection

The Gospel presents an essential link between the working of the Holy Spirit and our grasping the truth more profoundly. The Truth is Jesus himself and the Word of God contains the truth which is a lamp to our feet and a light on our path. According to Dei Verbum, “the Church taught by the Holy Spirit, moves toward a deeper understanding of the Sacred Scriptures so that she may increasingly feed her sons with the divine words” (DV §23). Pope Benedict XVI was categorical in stating the impossibility of an authentic understanding of Christian revelation apart from the activity of the Holy Spirit (VD §15). Disposing ourselves to the inspiration of the Spirit is necessary for us to know the Truth and to live Him.

St Germanus

Germanus (c. 496 – 28 May 576) was the bishop of Paris and is venerated as a saint in both the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. According to an early biography, he was known as Germain d'Autun, rendered in modern times as the "Father of the Poor".

Germanus was born near Autun in what is now France, under Burgundian control 20 years after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, to noble Gallo-Roman parents. Germain studied at Avallon in Burgundy and at Luzy under the guidance of his cousin Scallion, who was a priest.

At the age of 35, he was ordained by Agrippinus of Autun and became abbot of the nearby Abbey of St. Symphorian. He was known for his hardworking and austere nature; however, it was his generous alms-giving which caused his monks to fear that one day he would give away all the wealth of the abbey, resulting in their rebellion against him. While in Paris in 555, Sibelius, the bishop of Paris, died, and King Childebert had him consecrated as the bishop of Paris.

Under Germain's influence, Childebert is said to have led a reformed life. In his new role, the bishop continued to practice the virtues and austerities of his monastic life, working to diminish the suffering caused by the incessant wars. He attended the Third and Fourth Councils of Paris (557, 573) and also the Second Council of Tours (566). He persuaded the king to stamp out the pagan practices existing in Gaul and to forbid the excess that accompanied the celebration of most Christian festivals. Germanus died in 576 AD.

Daily Readings

May 27, 2025

Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 16:22–34

In those days: The crowd of Philippians joined in attacking Paul and Silas, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their wounds; and he was baptised at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house, and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 138:1–2a, 2bcd–3, 7c–8

Response: With your right hand you save me, O Lord.

I thank you, Lord, with all my heart; 

you have heard the words of my mouth. 

In the presence of the angels I praise you. 

I bow down toward your holy temple.

Response: With your right hand you save me, O Lord.

I give thanks to your name 

for your merciful love and your faithfulness. 

You have exalted your name over all. 

On the day I called, you answered me; 

you increased the strength of my soul. 

Response: With your right hand you save me, O Lord.

With your right hand you save me; 

the Lord will accomplish this for me. 

O Lord, your merciful love is eternal; 

discard not the work of your hands. 

Response: With your right hand you save me, O Lord. 

Alleluia

See John 16:7, 13

I will send the Helper of truth to you, says the Lord; he will guide you into all the truth.

Gospel 

John 16:5–11

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “Now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”

Reflection 

The Gospel passage focuses on three aspects of the workings of the Holy Spirit. First, the Holy Spirit is in the business of pricking our consciences whenever we sin, and he encourages us to repent. Our repentance is responding to the merciful promptings of the Holy Spirit. Second, the Holy Spirit convinces us that to be made righteous by God the Father, we have to believe in Jesus, whose precious blood cleanses us of our sins. Thirdly, the Holy Spirit, in exposing to us what sin is and by convincing us about righteousness, makes clear to us that there will be judgment. A life attuned to the Spirit would be conscious of the dangers of sin, of the salvific acts that won for us, and the certainty of judgment. 

St Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop, Confessor (-605)

A Roman by birth, Augustine and 40 other Benedictine monks were deputed by Gregory the Great in 596 to evangelize England. Disturbed by rumours of the brutality of the locals, the band attempted to return mid-way. However, admonished by the Pope, himself a Benedictine, they persisted. Landing in the spring of 597, with interpreters from France, they were received hospitably by King Ethelbert of Kent and invited to live at Canterbury. Entering in solemn procession, bearing an image of Our Lord and a Cross, and chanting an ancient litany, they immediately established their Benedictine routine together with the preaching mission. The King, who had married the Frankish Princess Bertha, a Catholic, was deeply impressed by Augustine’s spiritual message and personal sanctity, and asked for baptism at Pentecost. More than 10,000 of his subjects were baptized the day following Christmas.

The following autumn, Augustine was consecrated bishop by St Virgilius, Archbishop of Arles, and was made Archbishop of Canterbury with jurisdiction over all the southern British dioceses which were being established. He failed, however, in enlisting the support of the Celtic Bishops of Wales in the evangelization of the Anglo-Saxon conquerors and getting them to conform to Roman practice in the matter of the Easter date. 

About seven years after his arrival in England, St Augustine passed to his reward in 605, leaving behind a rich legacy of no less than 12 new dioceses.

Reflection: “I will not live an instant that I do not live in love. Whoever loves does all things without suffering, or, suffering, loves his suffering” (St Augustine).

Daily Readings

May 26, 2025

Memorial of Saint Philip Neri, Priest

Reading 1

Acts 16:11–15

Setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshipper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptised, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 149:1–2, 3–4, 5–6a and 9b

Response: The Lord takes delight in his people.

Sing a new song to the Lord,

his praise in the assembly of the faithful.

Let Israel rejoice in its Maker;

let Sion’s children exult in their king.

Response: The Lord takes delight in his people.

Let them praise his name with dancing,

and make music with timbrel and harp.

For the Lord takes delight in his people;

he crowns the poor with salvation.

Response: The Lord takes delight in his people.

Let the faithful exult in glory,

and rejoice as they take their rest.

Let the praise of God be in their mouths.

This is an honour for all his faithful.

Alleluia

John 15:26b, 27a

The Spirit of truth will bear witness about me, says the Lord; you also will bear witness.

Gospel

John 15:26–16:4a

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning. I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.”

Reflection

The message of Pope Francis for the 2021 Diocesan World Youth Day was to courageously bear witness to Jesus Christ, in the footsteps of Saint Paul. The Pope has defined Christianity on several occasions not as a school of ideas or a collection of beautiful temples, but as a living people who follow Jesus and bear witness to him. This witness sometimes ends up giving one’s life as is evident in the lives of martyrs. A Christian who does not take the dimension of martyrdom seriously does not understand the road that Jesus has indicated. It is through the gift of the Spirit that we can face the trials that come in our lives. The Spirit gives us the strength to face martyrdom as we bear witness to our faith.

St Philip Neri, Confessor (c.1515-1595)

Giving up his commercial activities at the age of 26, Philip Neri went to Rome to seek his own sanctification and that of his fellowmen. He led a disciplined life of prayer and penance and studied philosophy and theology; he frequently visited the Seven Churches—a 12-mile pilgrimage which he would perform on foot after sundown, often spending entire nights in the catacomb of St Sebastian. In 1548 he founded a confraternity to care for poor pilgrims and started the monthly adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

Ordained priest in 1551, he went on to become an outstanding confessor and counsellor, combining as he did popularity with deep piety against the background of a corrupt Rome and a disinterested clergy. He would celebrate Mass with loving delight and devote his afternoons to engaging young men and boys in talks, games or visits to the Seven Churches, bringing home to the minds of people spiritual truths in the most unusual but efficacious ways. From 1564, several of his followers became priests and settled down with him at the Church of San Giovanni de Fiorentini, praying and eating in common, celebrating the Eucharist and preaching regularly. This sowed the seed of what was to become known as the “Oratory”, whose distinctive feature was the regular afternoon session of informal talks held in a little room above the Church concerning spiritual matters.

An outstanding mystic of the Counter-Reformation, Philip passed away on the Feast of Corpus Christi, 1595 and was canonized in 1622.

Reflection: “We must take care of little faults, for he who once begins to go backward, and to make light of such defects, brings a sort of grossness over his conscience, and then goes wrong altogether” (St Philip Neri).

Daily Readings

May 25, 2025

Sixth Sunday of Easter

FIRST READING

Acts of the Apostles (15:1-2, 22-29)

In those days some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barnabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM (67)

Response: Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! Or Alleluia.

O God, be gracious and bless us and let your face shed its light upon us. So will your ways be known upon earth and all nations learn your salvation.

Response: Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! Or Alleluia.

Let the nations be glad and shout for joy, with uprightness you rule the peoples; you guide the nations on earth.

Response: Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! Or Alleluia.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. May God still give us his blessing that all the ends of the earth may revere him.  

Response: Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! Or Alleluia.

SECOND READING

Book of Revelation (21:10–14, 22–23)

The angel carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed – on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

ACCLAMATION

Alleluia, alleluia!

Jesus said, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him.” Alleluia! (Jn 14:23)

GOSPEL

John (14:23-29)

At that time Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.

Reflection

When Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch after the First Missionary Journey, they encountered a problem regarding the admission of the Gentiles into the Christian fold. The problem was created by some Jewish Christians who while coming to Antioch spread the news that the observance of the Mosaic Law was necessary for salvation. When neither Paul nor the community of Antioch was able to solve the problem by themselves, the community decided to forward the problem to the apostles in Jerusalem. The meeting of the apostles and delegates in Jerusalem about 50 A.D. is the famous Jerusalem Council. When the meeting was held, the apostolic and presbyteral college of Jerusalem officially recognized the evangelization of Gentiles, which has been initiated by Peter and carried out on a wide scale by Paul and Barnabas. The decision of the Council was that new coverts did not need to go through the ritual of circumcision to become Christians. The only demands were some dietary restrictions.

The Book of Revelation from which the Second Reading is taken, closes with a majestic view of the New Jerusalem, the heavenly Church of the future, the veritable kingdom of God. The heavenly Jerusalem that John sees as coming down from heaven is a glorious entity. The radiance of the New Jerusalem is like that of a precious stone. The twelve gates of the wall have names of twelve tribes of Israel inscribed on them.

In the gospel of today, Jesus tells that those who love him and live their life according to his teachings will experience the presence of the Father in them. Jesus qualifies the Holy Spirit as the Counsellor who will teach and help us to remember the things taught by Jesus. The disciple who loves Jesus will keep his Words. There was one of the disciples who kept the commandments to an exceptional degree and loved Jesus. This was the disciple whom Jesus loved. Jesus promises peace to the disciples and urges them not to be troubled by his departure. Jesus’ death is not the end; it is the beginning of a process of his going back to the Father who sent him.

Source: The Sunday Liturgy

St Bede the Venerable, Confessor, Doctor of the Church (673 -735)

A native of Northumberland (England), Bede was educated from his 7th year on at the dual Benedictine monastery of Sts Peter and Paul at Wearmouth-Jarrow under its founder, St Benedict Biscop. In his own words, “From that time I spent my whole life in that Monastery, devoting all my efforts to the study of the scriptures, and amid the observance of the monastic discipline and the daily charge of singing in the church it has ever been my delight to study or teach or write.”

His piety, learning, and gentle character drew to him hundreds of scholars to whom he imparted all the patristic riches of the former centuries as well as the treasures of science then available. He wrote more than 40 books on history, chronology, physics, music, philosophy, poetry and medicine. Undoubtedly the most learned man of his age. His general world history and his Ecclesiastical History of the English People have earned for him the title of “Father of English history”.

Greatly noted for his holiness, Bede was at times so overcome with devotion that he would shed tears and, when not studying or teaching, spend long hours in prayer, coming to be called “Venerable” during his life-time itself. In his last years he was constantly ill, yet he worked and prayed right up to the end.

Declared a Saint and Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1899, his relics are entombed in the Galilee chapel of Durham Cathedral.

Reflection: “He alone loves the Creator perfectly who manifests a pure love for his neighbour” (St Bede the Venerable).

Daily Readings

May 24, 2025

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 16:1–10

In those days: Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily. And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 100:1–2, 3, 5

Response: Cry out with joy to the Lord all the earth.

Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth.

Serve the Lord with gladness.

Come before him, singing for joy.

Response: Cry out with joy to the Lord all the earth.

Know that he, the Lord, is God.

He made us; we belong to him.

We are his people,

the sheep of his flock.

Response: Cry out with joy to the Lord all the earth.

Indeed, how good is the Lord,

eternal his merciful love.

He is faithful from age to age.

Response: Cry out with joy to the Lord all the earth.

Alleluia

Colossians 3:1

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

Gospel

John 15:18–21

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.”

Reflection

The world hates Jesus because his presence demands some type of response involving belief or unbelief in him. This hatred of the world is directed towards the disciples of Jesus because when we try to follow and imitate him, we resemble him and are transformed into Christ in Holy Communion. This transformation and representation of Christ is painful for those who have “exchanged the truth of God for a lie” (Rom  1:25). When we experience hatred in the world, we are in the good company of Christ along with all the prophets and saints. As Christians, we are challenged not to conform ourselves to the world (Rom 12:2), but are called to change the culture of this world and bring about Christ’s Kingdom here and now.

Our Lady Help of Christians

I promise,” St Bridget once heard our Lord say to his Immaculate Mother, Mary, “‘to hear graciously all who ask a favour of me in your name, even if they are sinners — provided that they have the will to amend their ways.” It was at the foot of the cross, that Mary was officially, formally commissioned by the Lord himself to take care of all the redeemed— “Woman, behold thy son” (Jn 19:26).

Pope Pius VII was imprisoned by Napoleon in 1808, but after the battle of Leipzig the 74-year-old Pontiff was once more set free, and in 1814 he returned to Rome in triumph. After Napoleon’s “Hundred Days” had been brought to an end in 1815 by the allied victory at Waterloo, Pius VII instituted today’s feast for the Papal States in thanksgiving to God and the Blessed Virgin, and to commemorate the anniversary of his return from Napoleonic captivity.

The devotion to Mary under the title “Help of Christians” was actually fostered and propularized by Don Bosco who himself had a very deep devotion to Mary Help of Christians. He even erected a Basilica in her honour under that title in Turin in 1868 and later, in 1872, went on to found the Salesian Sisters under her patronage, viz. the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians).

Reflection:“May the Blessed Virgin help us to be faithful to the teachings of the Church and obtain for us the grace of perseverance in serving God on this earth, so as to join her one day in the kingdom of heavenly glory” (St John Bosco).

Daily Readings

May 23, 2025

Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 15:22–31

In those days: It seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.” So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 57:8–9, 10–12

Response: I will praise you, Lord, among the peoples.

My heart is ready, O God;

my heart is ready.

I will sing, I will sing your praise.

Awake, my soul! Awake, lyre and harp!

I will awake the dawn.

Response: I will praise you, Lord, among the peoples.

I will praise you, Lord,

among the peoples,

among the nations sing Psalms to you,

for your mercy reaches to the heavens,

and your truth to the skies.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;

may your glory shine on all the earth!

Response: I will praise you, Lord, among the peoples.

Alleluia

John 15:15b

I have called you friends, says the Lord, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

Gospel

John 15:12–17

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”

Reflection

Often we live with the illusion that we can choose whatever we want.  Advertising and marketing are based on freedom of choice. But there are many areas of our life in which we do not have any choice or over which we have no control, and that includes our birth, parents, talents, strengths and weaknesses, temperaments, inclinations, etc. So, in many things related to our life, we do not choose but it seems that they choose us. God has chosen us in our current state of what we are and how we are. If so, then the fundamental question before us is why did God choose me? Why have I been given this blessing, this burden, this responsibility? Yet another realization we need to treasure is that God has chosen us because He truly believes in us.

St John Baptist De Rossi (Confessor) (1698 -1764)

This Roman Priest, coming from an impoverished family and educated with aid from benefactors, was attracted especially to the apostolate among the herdsmen, labourers and teamsters of the Roman Campagna and would preach to them in the early morning or late evening when they congregated in the Campo Vaccino. The remainder of the day he spent visiting the sick poor in the hospital of St Galla, and near it in 1731 he established a refuge for the unfortunates who wandered the streets by night.

Due to occasional epileptic spells, resulting from excessive mortifications while a student of philosophy and theology with the Dominicans—he was ordained by special dispensation on        8 March 1721—he never dared to hear confessions himself; however, while convalescing in Civita Castellana in 1738, the local bishop insisted on his taking up that pastoral ministry too, and in this he proved himself so effective that he was given the unusual faculty of hearing confessions in any church in Rome. Thenceforth he spent many hours a day hearing confessions particularly of prisoners, the poor and illiterate in the hospitals or in their homes.

Born on 22 February 1698 at Voltaggio (Geneva), Italy, John Baptist de Rossi passed away in Rome on 23 May 1764 and was buried at the altar of the Blessed Virgin in the Church of Trinita de Pelleghrini. Beatified by Pope Pius IX in 1860, he was canonized by Pope Leo XIII on 8 December 1881.

Reflection: “To deserve Paradise, we must work without intermission” (St John Baptist de Rossi).

Daily Readings

May 22, 2025

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 15:7–21

In those days: After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to the apostles and the elders, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, ‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.’ Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 96:1–2a, 2b–3, 10

Response: Tell among all the peoples the wonders of the Lord.

O sing a new song to the Lord;

sing to the Lord, all the earth.

O sing to the Lord; bless his name.

Response: Tell among all the peoples the wonders of the Lord.

Proclaim his salvation day by day.

Tell among the nations his glory,

and his wonders among

all the peoples.

Response: Tell among all the peoples the wonders of the Lord.

Say to the nations, “The Lord is king.”

The world he made firm in its place;

he will judge the peoples in fairness.

Response: Tell among all the peoples the wonders of the Lord.

R. Alleluia.

John 10:27

My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; and I know them and they follow me.

Gospel

John 15:9–11

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

Reflection

Jesus invites us into a relationship of love that exists between the Father and Jesus himself. To remain in this love is to keep His commandments. Jesus kept the commandment or the will of the Father, by carrying the cross to the place of his crucifixion and drinking of the chalice of suffering. So too, when we obey the commandments of the Lord, more concretely the commandment to love one another, we remain in his love and enter into the loving relationship of the Father and the Son. Believers are those who produce much fruit by obedience. In return, they remain in the love of the Father. In short, believers in Christ will experience the Father’s blessing and enjoy the gift of joy because of their faithful obedience.

St Rita of Cascia, Widow (1381-1457)

Margherita (Rita), at 18, desired to become an Augustinian nun but meekly married in deference to her parents’ wishes. Deriding Rita’s piety her quarrelsome husband, Paul, inflicted tremendous suffering on her by his drunken rages. Her fervent prayers, severe penances and loving visits to the poor and the sick so touched God’s heart that He granted her husband the grace of a complete conversion. When a few years later he was found stabbed to death on a mountain path, Rita’s grief in that sad hour was intensified by an anxiety over the fate of his soul even as she strove to forgive the murderer from her heart. Not so, however, her two sons who, on growing to boyhood, caused her grave concern by their wayward lives, determined to avenge their father’s death. In response to Rita’s plea, God took them to Himself within a year, rather than permit them to commit such a sin.

Now 30, Rita’s original desire to enter the convent resurfaced but she was refused on account of convent rules permitting the entry only of virgins until God indicated His express wishes by a miracle: during the Assumption Vigil, arrived her three patron saints, Augustine, John the Baptist and Nicholas of Tolentino who, conducting her to Cascia, placed her at the foot of the Blessed Sacrament in the convent chapel where the nuns found her at Matins. The untouched locks on the convent doors convinced them to accept the truthfulness of her simple explanation.

Canonized in 1900, the innumerable favours obtained through her intercession in desperate cases since her death in 1457 have procured for her the title of the “Saint of the Impossible”.

Reflection: “Being poor, and caring little for our physical needs, rather, having no regards for ourselves, helps immensely in restraining our sensuality” (St Rita of Cascia).

Daily Readings

May 21, 2025

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 15:1–6

In those days: Some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.” The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 122:1–2, 3–4ab, 4cd–5

Response: Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

I rejoiced when they said to me,

“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”

And now our feet are standing

within your gates, O Jerusalem.

Response: Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

Jerusalem is built as a city

bonded as one together.

It is there that the tribes go up,

the tribes of the Lord.

Response: Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

For Israel’s witness it is

to praise the name of the Lord.

There were set the thrones for judgment,

the thrones of the house of David.

Response: Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

Alleluia

John 15:4a, 5b

Abide in me, and I in you, says the Lord; whoever abides in me bears much fruit.

Gospel

John 15:1–8

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.”

Reflection

The Gospel invites us to abide in Christ, allowing him to reside in our lives. Just as the vine is nourishment for the branches and the fruits it produces, Jesus is our source of nourishment. Thus, the call is to cultivate our relationship with him by spending time in his presence. When we abide in Christ, we remain stable and steady. When we keep our eyes fixed on him, our eyes are removed from the problems that concern us. Jesus can cause all things for good. This involves everything he does to make us fruitful; pruning and removing sinful desires, attitudes, and actions that prevent us from being fruitful in the life that God created us to have.

Saint Cristóbal Magallanes Jara (Priest, Martyr) (1869 – 1927)

Saint Cristóbal Magallanes Jara, also known as Christopher Magallanes was killed without trial on the way to say Mass during the Cristero War after the trumped up charge of inciting rebellion.

He was born in Totatiche, Jalisco, Mexico on July 30, 1869. He worked as a shepherd in his youth and enrolled in the Conciliar Seminary of San José in Guadalajara at the age of 19

Cristóbal was ordained at the age of 30 at Santa Teresa in Guadalajara in 1899 and served as chaplain of the School of Arts and Works of the Holy Spirit in Guadalajara. He was then designated as the parish priest for his home town of Totatiche, where he helped found schools and carpentry shops and assisted in planning for hydrological works, including the dam of La Candelaria. He took special interest in the evangelization of the local indigenous Huichol people and was instrumental in the foundation of the mission in the indigenous town of Azqueltán.

Magallanes wrote and preached against armed rebellion, but was falsely accused of promoting the Cristero Rebellion in the area. Arrested on May 21, 1927, while en route to celebrate Mass at a farm, he gave away his few remaining possessions to his executioners, gave them absolution, and without a trial, he was killed four days later with Agustín Caloca in Colotlán, Jalisco. His last words to his executioners were "I die innocent, and ask God that my blood may serve to unite my Mexican brethren."

Daily Readings

May 20, 2025

Tuesday of Fifth Week of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 14:19–28

In those days: Jews came [to Lystra] from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. Then they passed through Pisidia, and came to Pamphylia. And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia, and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. And they remained no little time with the disciples.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 145:10–13ab, 21

Response: Your friends make known, O Lord, the glory of your reign.

All your works shall thank you, O Lord,

and all your faithful ones bless you.

They shall speak of the glory of your reign,

and declare your mighty deeds.

Response: Your friends make known, O Lord, the glory of your reign.

They shall make known your might

to the children of men,

and the glorious splendour of your reign.

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;

your rule endures for all generations.

Response: Your friends make known, O Lord, the glory of your reign.

Let my mouth speak the praise of the Lord;

let all flesh bless his holy name

forever, for ages unending.

Response: Your friends make known, O Lord, the glory of your reign.

Alleluia

See Luke 24:46, 26

Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and enter into his glory.

Gospel

John 14:27–31a

At that time; Jesus said to his disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.”

Reflection

The peace that the world gives is dependent on circumstances. It is simply the absence of problems, disturbances, or inconveniences. The peace that Jesus gives is different from that. He has promised peace despite the situations of life. However, the path to receiving this peace comes from giving every situation to God in prayer. This peace does not mean that the situation will resolve or dissipate. Yet regardless of what happens, when we give it to God in prayer, then we will experience His peace and the need to be troubled or afraid departs. It will come from resting in the loving arms of our Saviour knowing that he is in control and that he will carry us through any situation of life.

St Bernardine of Siena Confessor (1380 -1444)

Orphaned early in life Bernardine was brought up by a maternal aunt in self-discipline in an atmosphere that fostered an ardent love for God in him. At 17 he joined the ascetical “Confraternity of Our Lady” which was attached to the famed hospital of Siena for the relief of the sick and the poor. When the plague broke out in the city during the Jubilee year 1400, he, with 12 young friends, voluntarily ran the overcrowded and understaffed hospital for four months, bringing hope and succour as much by his singular cheerfulness and sympathy as by his charitable ministrations. Two years later he distributed his inheritance among the poor and joined the strict Franciscan Observantines.

People, by the thousands, flocked to attend his early Mass in an open square, after which he would preach penance and propagate devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus. A series of 45 sermons, embracing every topic from the dignity of man, Christian moral education, sanctification of the family and desirability of peace to the proper ethics to be observed in business and government, held on consecutive days and sometimes lasting three or four hours, and each taken down verbatim by a regular listener, has come down to us together with his amusing anecdotes and jokes, all timeless in charm and freshness.

When Bernardine was Vicar General of the Observants, they were said to have grown during his lifetime from 130 friars to 4,000. The numerous miracles that followed his death led to his canonization in 1450.

Reflection: “In all your actions see in the first place the Kingdom of God and his glory; persevere in brotherly charity, and practise first all that you desire to teach others” (St Bernardine of Siena).

Daily Readings

May 19, 2025

Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 14:5–18

In those days: When an attempt was made [at Iconium] by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat Paul and Barnabas and to stone them, they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, and there they continued to preach the gospel. Now at Lystra there was a man sitting, who could not use his feet; he was crippled from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he sprang up and began walking. And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out, ‘‘Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” Even with these words they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 115:1–2, 3–4, 15–16

Response: Not to us, O Lord, but to your name give the glory.

Not to us, O Lord, not to us,

but to your name give the glory,

for your merciful love and fidelity.

Why should the nations say:

“Where is their God?”

Response: Not to us, O Lord, but to your name give the glory.

But our God is in the heavens;

he does whatever he wills.

Their idols are silver and gold,

the work of human hands.

Response: Not to us, O Lord, but to your name give the glory.

May you be blest by the Lord,

the maker of heaven and earth.

The heavens, the heavens belong to the Lord,

but to the children of men,

he has given the earth.

Response: Not to us, O Lord, but to your name give the glory.

Alleluia

John 14:26

The Holy Spirit will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

Gospel

John 14:21–26

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world? Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

Reflection

The Gospel reminds us that loving Jesus gives rise to the keeping of the commandments. True love for God is expressed not in sentimental language or claims of mystical experiences but in moral obedience. The truth of God does not exist to promote merely right notions about God but to promote an experiential relationship with God expressed in love for and obedience to His word. Jesus would affirm that his food is to do the will of the One who sent him. As followers of Jesus who came to do the will of God, we too are called to love and do God’s will. If we love God, we will keep His commands, and that obedience will in turn evidence our true love for God.

St Peter Celestine V, Pope, Confessor (1215 -1296)

Peter Di Morone had spent most of his life as a Benedictine hermit in the wild mountains of southern Italy when, in 1294, to his great surprise, he was one day visited by an immense crowd of monks and lay people led by three Cardinals who announced that he had been unanimously elected Pope. Tearfully obeying the summons to leave his beloved solitude, he entered the city of Acquila riding on a donkey, with Kings Charles II of Naples holding the bridle on one side and Charles Martel of Hungary on the other.

To the politically ambitious rulers the election of the 79-year-old hermit as Pope Celestine V was a windfall. He let himself be persuaded to reside at Naples, to create 13 new Cardinals and, refusing no one, proceeded to grant benefices to all and sundry, sometimes in his innocence even to several rival claimants simultaneously. In no time the affairs of the Curia were in utter disarray.

After a 5-month reign, Peter issued an edict declaring the Pope’s right to resign and then on 13 December freely resigned “because of my lowliness, my desire for a more perfect life, my advanced age and infirmities, and my ignorance and inexperience in world affairs”. He fled back to the mountains he so loved, but was captured after several months by order of his successor, Boniface VIII, and kept closely confined in a castle near Anagni for fear that his enemies might make use of the simple old man for their own political ends. He died in 1296 and was canonized in 1313.

Reflection: “To speak heart to heart with God, you must love to be with him alone” (St Peter Celestine).

Daily Readings

May 18, 2025

Fifth Sunday of Easter

Reading I

Acts of the Apostles (14:21-27)

In those days Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia, and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm (145)

Response: I will bless your name for ever, my King and my God. Or Alleluia.

The LORD is kind and full of compassion, slow to anger, abounding in mercy. How good is the LORD to all, compassionate to all his creatures.

Response: I will bless your name for ever, my King and my God. Or Alleluia.

All your works shall thank you, O LORD, and all your faithful ones bless you. They shall speak of the glory of your reign, and declare your mighty deeds.

Response: I will bless your name for ever, my King and my God. Or Alleluia.

To make known your might to the children of men, and the glorious splendour of your reign. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; your rule endures for all generations.

Response: I will bless your name for ever, my King and my God. Or Alleluia.

Reading-2

Revelation (21:1-5)

I, John, saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

Alleluia

John 13:34

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

A new commandment I give to you, says the Lord, that you love one another: just as I have loved you.

Gospel

John (13:31-35)

When Judas had gone out, from the upper room, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

Reflection

It is well known that Paul carried out three missionary journeys during the course of his mission. The First Reading of today speaks about the first missionary Journey. The first mission (46-49 AD) begins with Barnabas and Paul being singled out and commissioned by the Church in Antioch under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The two of them start out with John Mark, cousin of Barnabas. As the group reaches Perga in Pamphylia on the southern coast of central Asia Minor John Mark deserts them and returns to Jerusalem. Paul and Barnabas go forward and reach Pisidian Antioch. Having met with opposition in the synagogues, Paul addresses himself to the Gentiles among whom the Gospel is well received. After evangelizing the area and encountering opposition from Jews in various towns, they sail back to Antioch. Paul has a successful First Missionary journey.

One of the things that Paul does in his missionary work is to revisit the places where he has announced the Gospel. By revisiting the cities, the missionaries are able to encourage the young believers to continue in their faith and not fall back into Judaism or paganism, and to give them realistic warnings, based on experience, that the way to the kingdom of God is not an easy one. Those who set out on this road can expect to be persecuted, but they stand under the protection of the Lord into whose care they are committed by the Church. Paul makes sure that some kind of leadership is established in order to consolidate the groups for the future. The leaders thus appointed are described as elders. Further, a “door of faith” has been opened for them. The “door of faith” is the manner in which God has made it possible for the Gentiles to enter the Kingdom of God. In the Second Reading John speaks about the New Jerusalem. The former creation has passed away and all evil has been destroyed. In other words, creation has been renewed. To present a New Jerusalem is to proclaim the election of a new people and the sealing of a new covenant. In this passage John combines the traditional images of “city” and “bride”, slipping abruptly from one to the other. More significantly, he utters the promise that God will dwell among his people.

In the Gospel of today, Jesus speaks about the glorification that is awaiting him. With the departure of Judas, Jesus realizes that his passion is about to begin, through which the Son of Man will be glorified. As he continues to instruct his disciples, he deals with various topics. The first is his glorification. After the very first miracle he performed at the marriage feast of Cana, the evangelist tells the readers that Jesus has revealed his “glory.” Again and again, we have read that Jesus does not seek his own glory, but seeks the glory of the Father. Many of those who meet Jesus do not see his true identity because they only look for glory in human terms. Now Jesus explains that he has been glorified and God has been glorified in him because he has only sought the glory of God, not his own glory. But he adds that God will glorify him immediately. This will be a new dimension of Jesus’ glory. His death will not be an abasement but another dimension of his glorification. Jesus also tells the disciples that he is giving them a “new commandment”: that they love one another just as he has loved them. And that love will be the means by which they are recognized as his disciples. There is a glory awaiting us as well and the demand is that we should love our brothers and sisters. If we are ready to do it, then God will dwell among us and he will wipe away the tears from our eyes, says St John.

(Source: The Sunday Liturgy)

St John I (A.D. -526)

Born in Tuscany (Italy), St John I joined the Roman clergy while still a young man. Soon he was appointed archdeacon and, after the death of Pope St Hormisden in 523, was chosen Pope. Italy had been, for some 30 years, ruled by Theodoric the Ostrogoth who though an Arian by birth and by conviction, treated his Catholic subjects with toleration and even with favour during the greater part of his reign. In time, however, his policy changed, partly as the result of what he regarded as treasonable correspondence between leading members of the Roman Senate and Constantinople, partly in consequence of severe measures against Arians enacted by the Emperor Justin I. Appealed to by his co-religionists in the East, Theodoric decided to send an emissary to negotiate with the Emperor.

John was sent, and his arrival in Constantinople was greeted with enthusiasm, and on Easter day he pontificated in the cathedral. Theodoric’s suspicions had however been growing. During the absence of the Pope he had ordered the execution of the great philosopher, Boethins (St Severinus) on a charge of high treason and he seems to have misunderstood the friendly relations between the Pope and the Emperor as part of a conspiracy against him. Thus, no sooner did he reach Ravenna, Theodoric’s capital, than Pope John was cast into prison where, not many days later, he died of maltreatment.

To Pope St John I goes the credit for the adoption of the Paschal Cycle of the Alexandrian Church in Catholic Liturgy.

Daily Readings

May 17, 2025

Saturday of the Fourth Week of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 13:44–52

The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 98:1, 2–3ab, 3cd–4 

Response: All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

O sing a new song to the Lord,

for he has worked wonders.

His right hand and his holy arm

have brought salvation.

Response: All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God

The Lord has made known his salvation,

has shown his deliverance to the nations.

He has remembered his merciful love

and his truth for the house of Israel.

Response: All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God

All the ends of the earth have seen

the salvation of our God.

Shout to the Lord, all the earth;

break forth into joyous song,

and sing out your praise.

Response: All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God

Alleluia

John 8:31b-32

If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, says the Lord.

Gospel

John 14:7–14

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it.”

Reflection

The Gospel of today presents a question by Philip that has its basis in his doubt about the identity of Jesus. We are all characterised by our doubts about God. We doubt God and His promises during hard times, His existence in view of everything that is going on in the world, and at times everything about God. Our questions and eventual answers would never deeply satisfy us as they lead to more such questions. Here we need to focus on the answer given by Jesus to Philip. He reminds Philip of his presence with them all these years. For us also, all doubts related to God would have satisfying answers when we realise God’s presence with us “all these years, i.e., the many instances of God’s presence in our concrete life situations.

St Paschal Baylon, Confessor (1540-1592)

A peasant Spanish lad, St Paschal was so named after the Spanish term for Pentecost, viz., “Pasch of the Holy Spirit”. Even as a child he showed a glowing devotion to the Holy Eucharist. He worked as a shepherd until his 22nd year, when he entered a Franciscan monastery of the strict Alcantarine Reform as a lay brother and served mostly in the capacity of door-keeper at various friaries in Spain.

Paschal’s unfailing courtesy and tender charity towards the poor and afflicted was proverbial. He would be lost in prayer for hours before the Blessed Sacrament, sometimes in ecstasy, and from this divine source of wisdom would receive instruction in the most profound truths of religion. Although he had never received more than a most rudimentary education, his spiritual insight and sanctity were evident. He was on terms of intimate friendship with contemporary Saints, and his counsel was sought by people in every walk of life.

Journeying on foot through Huguenot France in 1570, he so triumphantly defended the Catholic doctrine of the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist against the blasphemous assertions of a Calvinist minister that he was all but lynched by a mob.

St Paschal died on 17 May 1592. Canonized by Pope Alexander VIII in 1690, he was declared patron of all Eucharistic congresses and confraternities in 1897.

Reflection: “All of us must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent me, for there is little time left before the night falls and all work comes to an end. But while I am still here in the world, I give it my light” (John 9:4-5).

Daily Readings

May 16, 2025

Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 13:26–33

In those days: [When Paul came to Antioch of Pisidia, he said in the synagogue,] “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognise him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid 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, who are now his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 2:6–7, 8–9, 10–11a

Response: You are my son. It is I who have begotten you this day.

It is I who have appointed my king

on Sion, my holy mountain.

I will announce the decree of the Lord:

The Lord said to me, “You are my Son.

It is I who have begotten you this day.”

Response: You are my son. It is I who have begotten you this day.

Ask of me and I will give you

the nations as your inheritance,

and the ends of the earth

as your possession.

With a rod of iron you will rule them;

Like a potter’s jar you will shatter them.

Response: You are my son. It is I who have begotten you this day.

So now, O kings, understand;

take warning, rulers of the earth.

Serve the Lord with fear;

exult with trembling,

pay him your homage.

Response: You are my son. It is I who have begotten you this day.

Alleluia

John 14:6

I am the way, and the truth, and the life, says the Lord; no one comes to the Father except through me.

Gospel

John 14:1–6

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, 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.”

Reflection

In the Gospel, Jesus assures his troubled disciples that the journey he is about to make is one that they too will make one day. The whole purpose of his mission was and is to bring God to us and to bring us to God. The description of his Father’s house with many rooms suggests that it is not a confined space for a selected few, but for many, just as Jesus himself did not come for the few, for the elect, but for all. But heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people, a place prepared by Jesus through his Paschal Mysteries for everyone who believes. This truth reveals the treasure we possess: We have a true Friend while we live and a true home when we die.

St Simon Stock, Confessor (c.1165 -1265)

This native of Kent, England (born at Ayelsford), received his nickname, “Simon of the Stock” from the legend that at the age of 12 he started living as a hermit in the hollow of a great oak tree and continued to do so for 63 years! He was known as an itinerant preacher, until he joined the Carmelite Order in 1240 soon after its introduction into England, driven out of Jerusalem by the Moslems.

In 1247 he was elected 6th General of the Order at whose spread he laboured with much zeal and success despite his advanced age. Houses were opened for the training of young Carmelites in the great University cities of the time, viz., Cambridge, Oxford, Paris and Bologna; the rule of the Order was also modified so as to make the former hermits into mendicant friars. An ancient Carmelite tradition relates that Our Lady appeared to St Simon on 16 July 1251, and presented him with the Brown Scapular to which she attached the well-known privilege, i.e., “This shall be the privilege for you and for all Carmelites, that anyone dying in this habit, shall be saved.” Thus to him is ascribed the spread of the scapular devotion.

Simon Stock died on 16 May 1265 at Bordeaux. Though never formally canonized, his relics have long been venerated as those of a saint in the Cathedral at Bordeaux and in the Carmelite Monastery at Aylesford, England.

Reflection: “From the first till the last, every grace has passed and will pass through Mary. Just as she prayed to the Holy Spirit to come upon the apostles, she will do for all till the end of the world” (Blessed James Alberione).

Daily Readings

May 15, 2025

Thursday of the Fourth Week of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 13:13–25

Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem, but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.” So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: “Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. All this took about four hundred fifty years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Saviour, Jesus, as he promised. Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 89:2–3, 21–22, 25 and 27

Response: I will sing forever of your mercies, O Lord.

I will sing forever of your mercies, O Lord;

through all ages

my mouth will proclaim your fidelity.

I have declared your mercy

is established forever;

your fidelity stands firm as the heavens.

Response: I will sing forever of your mercies, O Lord.

I have found my servant David,

and with my holy oil anointed him.

My hand shall always be with him,

and my arm shall make him strong.

Response: I will sing forever of your mercies, O Lord.

My mercy and my faithfulness

shall be with him;

by my name his might shall be exalted.

He will call out to me, ‘You are my father,

my God, the rock of my salvation.’

Response: I will sing forever of your mercies, O Lord

Alleluia

See Revelation 1:5ab

Jesus Christ, you are the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, you have loved us and freed us from our sins by your blood.

Gospel

John 13:16–20

[When Jesus had washed the feet of his disciples, he said to them,] “Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”

Reflection

The Gospel is in the context of the symbolic gesture of the washing of the feet which calls us to accept Jesus as a Messiah Servant, who gives Himself for others, and to reject the idea of a glorious king. The disciples could not easily accept this identity of Jesus, as they did not want to be servants. Being at service is the essence of Christianity synthesized in the virtue of charity. Being a servant is not easy, as it entails humility. If we have the love for souls as our motivation to serve, every opportunity to live as servants becomes a blessing to live like the Master who came to serve and not be served and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Saint Isidore, the Farmer

St. Isidore was born at Madrid, Spain, in the latter half of the 12th century. For the greater part of his life he was employed as a laborer on a farm outside the city. Many marvelous happenings accompanied his lifelong work in the fields and continued long after his holy death. He was favored with celestial visions and, it is said, the angels sometimes helped him in his work in the fields. St. Isidore was canonized in 1622.

He is the patron of farmers.

Daily Readings

May 14, 2025

Feast of Saint Matthias, Apostle

Reading I

Acts 1:15–17, 20–26

In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about one hundred twenty), and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” “For it is written in the Book of Psalms, ‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’; and ‘Let another take his office.’ So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us – one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 113:1b–2, 3–4, 5–6, 7–8

Response: The Lord set them with the princes of his people.

Praise, O servants of the Lord,

praise the name of the Lord!

May the name of the Lord be blest

both now and forevermore!

Response: The Lord set them with the princes of his people.

From the rising of the sun to its setting,

praised be the name of the Lord!

High above all nations is the Lord,

above the heavens his glory.

Response: The Lord set them with the princes of his people.

Who is like the Lord, our God,

who dwells on high, who lowers himself

to look down upon heaven and earth?

Response: The Lord set them with the princes of his people.

From the dust he lifts up the lowly,

from the ash heap he raises the poor,

to set them in the company of princes,

yes, with the princes of his people.

Response: The Lord set them with the princes of his people.

Alleluia

See John 15:16

I chose you from the world that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, says the Lord.

Gospel

John 15:9–17

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandment and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”

Reflection

The hallmark of Christianity is love which is born out of the love of God and the condition to be part of it is to love in return. The significant salvific event of God sending His Son and the Son sacrificing his life for us is the greatest love story of all time. During his ministry, Jesus put the needs and interests of his followers and others before his own. As a climax, he showed that greater love when he willingly gave “his life as a ransom in exchange for many” (Mt 20:28; 22:39). We see how the first-century Christians, including Saint Matthias, whose feast we celebrate today, took Jesus’ words to heart, and they were willing to die for Christ and one another. 

St Matthias, Apostle and Martyr (1st century)

St Matthias had been one of our Lord’s disciples from the time of his Baptism in the Jordan, and, after the Ascension of Our Lord, he was chosen by lot to fill the place left vacant among the 12 Apostles through the betrayal and suicide of Judas Iscariot. That is all we know with certainty about this saint from the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles (1:23-26): “And they (apostles) appointed two, Joseph, called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And praying, they said: You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which of these two you have chosen, to take the place of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas has by transgression fallen, that he might go to his own place. And they gave them lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles”.

According to one tradition, he preached Christianity in Judaea (modern Israel) and Ethiopia where he was crucified, but others hold that he was beheaded at Jerusalem.

St Matthias is patron of tailors, carpenters and reformed alcoholics, and is invoked against smallpox.

Reflection: “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.... I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ, a thing by far the better” (St Paul — Phil 1:21-23).

Daily Readings

May 13, 2025

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter

Reading I

Acts 11:19–26

In those days: Those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 87:1–3, 4–5, 6–7

Reponse: O praise the Lord, all you nations.

Founded by him on the holy mountain, 

the Lord loves the gates of Sion, 

more than all the dwellings of Jacob. 

Of you are told glorious things, 

you, O city of God! 

Reponse: O praise the Lord, all you nations.

“Rahab and Babylon I will count 

among those who know me; 

of Tyre, Philistia, Ethiopia, it is told, 

‘There was this one born.’ 

But of Sion it shall be said, 

‘Each one was born in her.’” 

He, the Most High, established it.

Reponse: O praise the Lord, all you nations.

In his register of peoples the Lord writes, 

“Here was this one born.” 

The singers cry out in chorus, 

“In you, all find their home.”

Reponse: O praise the Lord, all you nations.

Alleluia, alleluia.

My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord, and I know them, and they follow me.

Gospel

John 10:22–30

At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

Reflection 

Although Jesus, through words and deeds, had revealed his identity as the Messiah, the people of the time did not believe it. Jesus gives reason for their unbelief, i.e., they are not among his sheep. Then he would give three characteristics of the sheep belonging to him: 1) his sheep hear his voice; 2) he knows them by name; and 3) his sheep follow him. These remain even today the characteristics of those who belong to Jesus, and as such are the criteria to evaluate our discipleship. Firstly, we need to hear his voice and strive to put it into practice. Secondly, the disciples of Jesus are known to him intimately, which involves a deep mutual relationship. Finally, Jesus would demand that his disciples follow him which involves self-denial and taking up the cross. 

Our Lady of Fatima

On 13 May 1917, in that third year of the First World War which was to cost eight million lives, important events were taking place simultaneously — in Russia, communistic, atheistic Bolshevism was being organized under the leadership of Lenin and Trotsky who had just arrived in St Petersburg; in the neighbourhood of the little Portuguese town of Fatima, the Mother of God herself deigned to appear in the first of six apparitions to three children, to make through them one final appeal to our materialistic, war-torn world.

“In a spirit of sacrifice to our Lord, are you willing to accept everything he may send you as reparation for the sins by which his majesty is offended, as a means for converting all sinners, and as atonement for the blasphemies offered to the Immaculate Heart of Mary?” A simple “yes” being their reply, she urged: “Then pray the Rosary often and devoutly, for the peace of the world!” “Recite the Rosary daily, and after the Gloria Patri of each decade add: O my Jesus, forgive us our sins! Save us from the fires of hell! Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who most need thy mercy!”

And on 13 October, she declared: “I am the Lady of the Holy Rosary! I have come to ask all humankind to do penance and to ask pardon for its sins! Do not add to the countless outrages by which our Lord is already so offended, especially by sins of impurity.”

Reflection: “I have never yet found a man who was not converted,

if previously I had time to pray the Rosary” (St Clement).

Daily Readings

May 12, 2025

Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 11:1–18

In those days: The apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” But Peter began and explained it to them in order: “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’ This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven. And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptised with water, but you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.’ If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

Responsorial Psalm 

Psalm 42:2–3; 43:3, 4  

Response: My soul is thirsting for you, the living God.

Like the deer that yearns for running streams, 

so my soul is yearning for you, my God. 

My soul is thirsting for God, the living God; 

when can I enter and appear before the face of God? 

Response: My soul is thirsting for you, the living God.

O send forth your light and your truth; 

they will guide me on. 

They will bring me to your holy mountain, 

to the place where you dwell. 

Response: My soul is thirsting for you, the living God.

And I will come to the altar of God, 

to God, my joy and gladness. 

To you will I give thanks on the harp, 

O God, my God. 

Response: My soul is thirsting for you, the living God.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;

I know my sheep, and mine know me.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

John 10:1–10

At that time: Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Reflection 

Jesus draws a metaphor from the imagery of a sheep pen, an enclosure usually made of stone walls. Historians have found evidence that the shepherds would lie across the front of the pen and would act as a guard. They were effectively a door or gate for the sheep pen. This was not only to prevent predators from entering but also to prevent sheep from leaving. Jesus invites us to acknowledge him as our door. We enter and exit through him alone. There are many possible doors before us to enter and thus end in perdition. When we enter through him, i.e., live according to his Gospel values, we enter into salvation, and he will not let any enemy enter into our lives. 

Sts Nereus, Achilleus and Domitilla Martyrs / St Pancras Martyr

1. Sts Nereus, Achilleus and Domitilla Martyrs (1st Century)

The veneration of Sts Nereus, Achilleus and Domitilla is very ancient, going back to the 4th century. It was on the occasion of their festival, which was observed with some solemnity in Rome 200 years later, that Pope St Gregory the Great delivered his 28th homily— “These saints, before whom we are assembled, despised the world and trampled it underfoot when it offered them riches and pleasures”. The church in which he spoke was built over their tomb in the cemetery of Domitilla, on the Via Ardeatina.

Nereus and Achilleus were members of the Praetorian Guard, the elite corps of soldiers entrusted with guarding the very person of the Roman emperor. According to an inscription found in the tomb over their remains in 1874 — in the family vault in the cemetery of St Domitilla, in the underground church built by Pope St Siricius in 390 — they were ordered by Emperor Domitian to slay his niece Flavia Domitilla on account of her allegiance to the Christian Faith. But moved by her example they became Christians themselves and refused to carry out the order. They were thus banished to Ponza and later, under the reign of the Emperor Trajan, to the island of Terrecina. Here they were martyred — Nereus and Achilleus were beheaded and Domitilla, whose banishment St Jerome describes as one, long, martyrdom, was burnt alive. 

2. St Pancras Martyr (A.D. -304)

In the persecution under Diocletian this 14 year-old saint, inspired by the example and words of his uncle, Denys, who was in bonds for the faith, offered himself voluntarily as a martyr. Supposed to have been a Syrian or Phrygian orphan who was brought up by Denys, together with whom he was converted to Christianity, he defended boldly before the Emperor the cause of the Christians.

He was beheaded by the sword on the Via Aurelia in Rome and his body was buried in the cemetery of Calepodius which afterwards took his name. And about the year 508 Pope Symmachius built a basilica over his tomb near the Potra de San Pauerazion.

In the 7th century, Pope St Vitalian sent some relics of St Pancras to England and within a short period of time, the young saint became very popular. The first church erected in Canterbury by St Augustine was dedicated to him. There is also a railway station in London named after him. It was under his invocation that St Gregory the Great had previously built a monastery for Benedictines.

Reflection: “I have fought the good fight, I have f

inished the race, I have kept the faith” ( St Paul - 2 Tim 4:7).

Daily Readings

May 11, 2025

Fourth Sunday of Easter

Reading 1

Acts of the Apostles (13:14, 43-52)

In those days Paul and Barnabas went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God. The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Responsorial Psalm (100)

Response: We are his people, the sheep of his flock. Or Alleluia.

Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing for joy.

Response: We are his people, the sheep of his flock. Or Alleluia.

Know that he, the Lord, is God, He made us, we belong to him, we are his people, the sheep of his flock.

Response: We are his people, the sheep of his flock. Or Alleluia.

Indeed, how good is the Lord, eternal his merciful love. He is faithful from age to age.

Response: We are his people, the sheep of his flock. Or Alleluia.

Reading 2

Book of Revelation (7:9, 14-17)

I, John, looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. And one of the elders said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

ACCLAMATION

Alleluia. Alleluia.

I am the good shepherd, says the Lord; I know my own and my own know me. Alleluia. (Jn 10:14).

GOSPEL

John (10:27-30)

At that time Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

Reflection

When Antioch of Syria emerged as the second Centre of Christianity, Barnabas went to Tarsus and persuaded Paul to join him and to help in the missions (Acts 11:25-26). Eventually Church in Antioch felt confident to send out missionaries, and assisted by the Spirit they chose Paul and Barnabas. Their journey took them to the synagogue of Pisidian Antioch. Paul made a powerful speech there and it was well received by the Jews assembled over there. The trouble started a week later when Paul and Barnabas returned to address the community. This time the Jews out of jealousy contradicted everything said by Paul. In this context they also made the first announcement that they were turning to the Gentiles because the Jews had rejected the message. Gentiles became happy because they also became sharers in God’s salvation.

In the Second Reading, St John describes the salvation of the righteous in a very dramatic manner. Their number is innumerable and they come from all nations. The great tribulation of which the author speaks is the crisis of the end-time which involves persecution for the faithful. The robes the redeemed wear symbolize the inner or spiritual state of the person. The transformation of a person from soiled (sinful) to clean (holy) is closely related to the death of Jesus understood as a sacrifice. The fundamental allusion here seems to be repentance, conversion, and baptism taken together as a transformation of the person. The reference to tribulation implies that perseverance in that process of transformation is also crucial for those who would share in the victory of God and the Lamb.

The sheep listening to the voice of the Good Shepherd and following him is the theme of the gospel of today. A believer who hears Jesus has eternal life and who follows him is never lost. A person who believes in Jesus cannot be snatched away from him. They are not lost and no one will take them from Jesus. They have been given by the Father and no one is able to take anything away from the Father. The life which the believer receives from Jesus is a gift from the Father.

No power is greater than God, and thus the believer’s union with God is also assured. God the Father is greater than all other powers. As Israel celebrated God’s presence at the feast of the Dedication, Jesus tells “the Jews” that there is another way God is present to them. They can be sure they are in the Father’s hand if they believe in Jesus. Jesus insists that faith in his word ties the believer not only to him but also to God, the Father of Jesus. On this fourth Sunday of Easter let us commit ourselves to Jesus our Good Shepherd who will never fail us.

Source: The Sunday Liturgy

St Ignatius of Laconi, Confessor (1701-1781)

St Ignatius of Laconi was born on 10 December 1701 in Sardinia (Italy). The 2nd of the 7 children of Mattia and Anna Maria Peis, he was baptized Francis Ignatius Vincent. He grew up to be an illiterate and delicate boy of frail health, for whom the hard labour on his father’s land was a severe strain. When he was about 17, he fell seriously ill, and promised to offer his life to St Francis of Assisi, should he recover.

He did recover, but his father was in no hurry to let him go — “Today or tomorrow, this year or next, it’s all the same. There’s no need to keep your promise at once,” he would say. However, an alarming experience with a runaway horse stiffened Vincent’s resolve. His father’s expostulations notwithstanding, Vincent made his way to St Benedict’s friary near Cagliari, where, on 10 November 1721, he was accepted as a Capuchin lay brother.

There were the usual trials of the novice. When it was time for his Profession, Ignatius’ case seemed doubtful, but he redoubled his efforts to carry out to perfection all he was called upon to do. And so at the end of 1722 Ignatius was allowed to take his vows. The life of a lay brother being by and large uneventful, for the next 20 years little is known about Ignatius, except that he made steady progress in the love of God and men.

In 1741 he was sent out to beg for alms, an occupation he continued for the remaining 40 years of his life. Simultaneously, he somehow made time to visit the sick and to teach the ignorant, an activity that left him with hardly any time for prayer during the day. Ignatius would thus pray late into the night, sleeping barely an hour or two, with a log for a pillow. His health, however, stood him in good stead right up to his 80th year. In 1781, however, he was confined to bed and breathed his last on 11 May that year.

Daily Readings

May 10, 2025

Saturday of the Third Week of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 9:31–42

In those days: The church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralysed. And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose. And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity. In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Please come to us without delay.” So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them. But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 116:12–13, 14–15, 16–17

Response: How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?

How can I repay the Lord

for all his goodness to me?

The cup of salvation I will raise;

I will call on the name of the Lord.

Response: How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?

My vows to the Lord I will fulfill before all his people.

How precious in the eyes of the Lord

is the death of his faithful.

Response: How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?

Your servant, Lord, your servant am I,

the son of your handmaid;

you have loosened my bonds.

A thanksgiving sacrifice I make;

I will call on the name of the Lord.

Response: How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life, you have the words of eternal life.

Gospel

John 6:60–69

At that time: When many of the disciples of Jesus heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offence at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

Reflection

According to Pope Francis, the Eucharist is God’s response to the deepest hunger of the human heart, for in it Christ nourishes, consoles and sustains us on our journey. We are called to imbibe the faith, love and confidence  Peter demonstrated in his reply. When the disciples travelling to Emmaus recognize Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist, they return to Jerusalem and become his missionaries. In the Eucharist, we encounter the one who gave everything for us, who sacrificed himself to give us life, and who loved us to the end. Our faith in the Eucharist and our participation in it is to transform us into his true disciples ready to walk the path of the Master who came to serve and not to be served.

Saint Damien of Molokai, Priest (1840 – 1889)

I have brought you one who will be a father to you, and who loves you so much that for your welfare and for the sake of your immortal souls he does not hesitate to become one of you, to live and die with you.” It was with these words that, in May 1873, Bishop Louis Maigret, introduced the enthusiastic young missionary, Fr Damien de Veuster, a fellow-member of the Sacred Heart Congregation, to the lepers at Molokai—words that were to prove prophetic, for Damien’s arrival on the island at the age of 33 changed forever the world’s view of the dreaded disease, giving it as it did a new, human dimension, hitherto unheard of.

So horrified was Damien at what he saw that he single-handedly went about caring for the lepers as nurse, surgeon, counsellor, comforter, builder — he built new houses, a new church, a new school and an orphanage — coffin-maker and grave-digger all rolled in one. A sagging morale was revived and further boosted when he succeeded in getting the Franciscan Sisters of Syracuse, led by Mother Marianne Kope, to help staff the fast expanding colony. He was also instrumental in obtaining long-pending government support.

Ironically, the very disease Damien tried to fight in others, found him easy prey by the year 1885; news of his illness brought him messages of genuine concern and grief by the thousand, from royalty and commoner alike. Damien, however, delighted in sharing so closely in the illness of his fellowmen for the sake of God’s love. Indeed, in spite of his own predicament, he gave of himself unceasingly, working tirelessly right up to the last, even begging frantically, determined to ensure all benefits possible for the victims of leprosy at Molokai. And the results were there for all to see! It was eventually on 15 April 1889 that Damien, “like a child, with a smile on his face”, breathed his last, aged barely 49. By then, he had come to be hailed as the “Hero of Molokai”.

Christened Joseph at his birth on 3 January 1840 in Tremeloo, Belgium, Damien was ordained Priest in May 1864 in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu and worked for 8 years as a missionary in Hawaii before volunteering to go to Molokai. His work at Molokai did not go unnoticed in the civil world of his time. In September 1881, the acting Queen of Hawaii, Princess Liliuokalani visited the settlement with a view to delivering a public address there. So overwhelmed was she with the suffering she encountered that she wept bitterly instead of speaking. Her Majesty later invested Damien with the Order of Knight Commander of the Royal Order of Kalakua.

The mortal remains of this great angel of mercy were initially laid to rest beside the church in Molokai, near his favourite pendanus tree. In 1936, the Belgian government succeeded in having them moved out of their island grave to his homeland where his own brethren could honour him suitably. It is edifying to note that the King of Belgium Leopold III himself led his people in doing the honours. A portion of the remains was, however, returned to his Hawaiian brethren as a goodwill gesture, after he was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 4 June 1995 and was canonized on October 11, 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI

Reflection: “To love others as oneself means: to wish that others have the good the Lord has given us, that they may have the good we already enjoy with regard to time and eternity...... We have to wish for their human and temporal good: that they be healthy and be healed of their diseases” (Blessed James Alberione).

Daily Readings

May 10, 2025

Saturday of the Third Week of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 9:31–42

In those days: The church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralysed. And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose. And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity. In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Please come to us without delay.” So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them. But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 116:12–13, 14–15, 16–17

Response: How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?

How can I repay the Lord

for all his goodness to me?

The cup of salvation I will raise;

I will call on the name of the Lord.

Response: How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?

My vows to the Lord I will fulfill before all his people.

How precious in the eyes of the Lord

is the death of his faithful.

Response: How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?

Your servant, Lord, your servant am I,

the son of your handmaid;

you have loosened my bonds.

A thanksgiving sacrifice I make;

I will call on the name of the Lord.

Response: How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life, you have the words of eternal life.

Gospel

John 6:60–69

At that time: When many of the disciples of Jesus heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offence at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

Reflection

According to Pope Francis, the Eucharist is God’s response to the deepest hunger of the human heart, for in it Christ nourishes, consoles and sustains us on our journey. We are called to imbibe the faith, love and confidence  Peter demonstrated in his reply. When the disciples travelling to Emmaus recognize Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist, they return to Jerusalem and become his missionaries. In the Eucharist, we encounter the one who gave everything for us, who sacrificed himself to give us life, and who loved us to the end. Our faith in the Eucharist and our participation in it is to transform us into his true disciples ready to walk the path of the Master who came to serve and not to be served.

Saint Damien of Molokai, Priest (1840 – 1889)

I have brought you one who will be a father to you, and who loves you so much that for your welfare and for the sake of your immortal souls he does not hesitate to become one of you, to live and die with you.” It was with these words that, in May 1873, Bishop Louis Maigret, introduced the enthusiastic young missionary, Fr Damien de Veuster, a fellow-member of the Sacred Heart Congregation, to the lepers at Molokai—words that were to prove prophetic, for Damien’s arrival on the island at the age of 33 changed forever the world’s view of the dreaded disease, giving it as it did a new, human dimension, hitherto unheard of.

So horrified was Damien at what he saw that he single-handedly went about caring for the lepers as nurse, surgeon, counsellor, comforter, builder — he built new houses, a new church, a new school and an orphanage — coffin-maker and grave-digger all rolled in one. A sagging morale was revived and further boosted when he succeeded in getting the Franciscan Sisters of Syracuse, led by Mother Marianne Kope, to help staff the fast expanding colony. He was also instrumental in obtaining long-pending government support.

Ironically, the very disease Damien tried to fight in others, found him easy prey by the year 1885; news of his illness brought him messages of genuine concern and grief by the thousand, from royalty and commoner alike. Damien, however, delighted in sharing so closely in the illness of his fellowmen for the sake of God’s love. Indeed, in spite of his own predicament, he gave of himself unceasingly, working tirelessly right up to the last, even begging frantically, determined to ensure all benefits possible for the victims of leprosy at Molokai. And the results were there for all to see! It was eventually on 15 April 1889 that Damien, “like a child, with a smile on his face”, breathed his last, aged barely 49. By then, he had come to be hailed as the “Hero of Molokai”.

Christened Joseph at his birth on 3 January 1840 in Tremeloo, Belgium, Damien was ordained Priest in May 1864 in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu and worked for 8 years as a missionary in Hawaii before volunteering to go to Molokai. His work at Molokai did not go unnoticed in the civil world of his time. In September 1881, the acting Queen of Hawaii, Princess Liliuokalani visited the settlement with a view to delivering a public address there. So overwhelmed was she with the suffering she encountered that she wept bitterly instead of speaking. Her Majesty later invested Damien with the Order of Knight Commander of the Royal Order of Kalakua.

The mortal remains of this great angel of mercy were initially laid to rest beside the church in Molokai, near his favourite pendanus tree. In 1936, the Belgian government succeeded in having them moved out of their island grave to his homeland where his own brethren could honour him suitably. It is edifying to note that the King of Belgium Leopold III himself led his people in doing the honours. A portion of the remains was, however, returned to his Hawaiian brethren as a goodwill gesture, after he was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 4 June 1995 and was canonized on October 11, 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI

Reflection: “To love others as oneself means: to wish that others have the good the Lord has given us, that they may have the good we already enjoy with regard to time and eternity...... We have to wish for their human and temporal good: that they be healthy and be healed of their diseases” (Blessed James Alberione).

Daily Readings

May 9, 2025

Friday of the Third Week of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 9:1–20

In those days: Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” The men who were travelling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

Responsorial Psalm 

Psalm 117:1, 2 

Response: Go into all the world, and proclaim the Gospel.

O praise the Lord, all you nations;

acclaim him, all you peoples! 

Response: Go into all the world, and proclaim the Gospel.

For his merciful love has prevailed over us; 

and the Lord’s faithfulness endures forever. 

Response: Go into all the world, and proclaim the Gospel.

Alleluia

John 6:56

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him, says the Lord.

Gospel

John 6:52–59

At that time: The Jews disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live for ever.” Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.

Reflection 

Sometimes we interpret the Eucharist as merely symbolic and thus disconnect ourselves from truth. In the Gospel, Jesus does not mince words to state that in the Eucharist we truly, concretely partake of his body and blood. As we partake of him in his flesh, his hidden life within us sows the seed of immortality in us. Just as a spark of fire is placed in straw to preserve the fire, so Christ’s body and blood, received into our bodies, preserves us for eternal life. This Heavenly Bread has indeed the power to drive out death and also our weaknesses, and thus preserves us from temptations and cures us of our sinfulness. Is this the faith we bring to our reception of Christ’s body and blood? 

St Peter Nolasco, Confessor (c.1182-1256)

Of noble birth in southern France near Toulouse, St Peter Nolasco, who was canonized in 1628 by Pope Urban VIII, was from his youth known for his sincere piety and his great charity towards the poor and the unfortunate. He took part, for some time, in the crusade against the Albigenses before migrating to Spain, where he was appointed tutor to the young King, James of Aragon and formed an intimate friendship with St Raymond of Penyafort, then a canon at Barcelona in Spain. In 1218, Our Lady directed him in a vision to found a new religious order specifically for the redemption of the Christian captives, many of whom, on account of the brutality experienced at the hands of the cruel Moors, were giving up their faith in despair.

The first monks of the new Order which had the active backing of the King and of St Raymond, were some noblemen who belonged to a charitable confraternity in Barcelona. They now came to be known as the Mercedarians, or members of the Order of Our Lady of Mercy, membership in which was of three kinds: Knight, Priest and Lay Brother; their vows included, besides the three regular ones, a fourth one, viz., to go into infidel territory and if need be to become a hostage in Moorish hands in order to ransom the faithful. For many this ended in martyrdom.

Peter, who remained a layman, was “Commander-General” until his resignation in 1249. His mission as “Ransomer” took him repeatedly into Moorish territory (including Africa), in order to arrange for the ransom of Christian prisoners, whereby, when he died in 1256, a total of 2,718 slaves had been liberated. His work was carried on later at such a pace that by 1632 the number had swelled to 490,736!

Reflection: “Behold eternal treasures which never fail!” (St Peter Nolasco)

Daily Readings

May 9, 2025

Friday of the Third Week of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 9:1–20

In those days: Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” The men who were travelling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

Responsorial Psalm 

Psalm 117:1, 2 

Response: Go into all the world, and proclaim the Gospel.

O praise the Lord, all you nations;

acclaim him, all you peoples! 

Response: Go into all the world, and proclaim the Gospel.

For his merciful love has prevailed over us; 

and the Lord’s faithfulness endures forever. 

Response: Go into all the world, and proclaim the Gospel.

Alleluia

John 6:56

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him, says the Lord.

Gospel

John 6:52–59

At that time: The Jews disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live for ever.” Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.

Reflection 

Sometimes we interpret the Eucharist as merely symbolic and thus disconnect ourselves from truth. In the Gospel, Jesus does not mince words to state that in the Eucharist we truly, concretely partake of his body and blood. As we partake of him in his flesh, his hidden life within us sows the seed of immortality in us. Just as a spark of fire is placed in straw to preserve the fire, so Christ’s body and blood, received into our bodies, preserves us for eternal life. This Heavenly Bread has indeed the power to drive out death and also our weaknesses, and thus preserves us from temptations and cures us of our sinfulness. Is this the faith we bring to our reception of Christ’s body and blood? 

St Peter Nolasco, Confessor (c.1182-1256)

Of noble birth in southern France near Toulouse, St Peter Nolasco, who was canonized in 1628 by Pope Urban VIII, was from his youth known for his sincere piety and his great charity towards the poor and the unfortunate. He took part, for some time, in the crusade against the Albigenses before migrating to Spain, where he was appointed tutor to the young King, James of Aragon and formed an intimate friendship with St Raymond of Penyafort, then a canon at Barcelona in Spain. In 1218, Our Lady directed him in a vision to found a new religious order specifically for the redemption of the Christian captives, many of whom, on account of the brutality experienced at the hands of the cruel Moors, were giving up their faith in despair.

The first monks of the new Order which had the active backing of the King and of St Raymond, were some noblemen who belonged to a charitable confraternity in Barcelona. They now came to be known as the Mercedarians, or members of the Order of Our Lady of Mercy, membership in which was of three kinds: Knight, Priest and Lay Brother; their vows included, besides the three regular ones, a fourth one, viz., to go into infidel territory and if need be to become a hostage in Moorish hands in order to ransom the faithful. For many this ended in martyrdom.

Peter, who remained a layman, was “Commander-General” until his resignation in 1249. His mission as “Ransomer” took him repeatedly into Moorish territory (including Africa), in order to arrange for the ransom of Christian prisoners, whereby, when he died in 1256, a total of 2,718 slaves had been liberated. His work was carried on later at such a pace that by 1632 the number had swelled to 490,736!

Reflection: “Behold eternal treasures which never fail!” (St Peter Nolasco)

Daily Readings

May 8, 2025

Thursday of the Third Week of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 8:26–40

In those days: An angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go towards the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptised?” And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptised him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through, he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 66:8–9, 16–17, 20

Response: Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.

O peoples, bless our God;

let the voice of his praise resound,

of the God who gave life to our souls

and kept our feet from stumbling.

Response: Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.

Come and hear, all who fear God;

I will tell what he did for my soul.

To him I cried aloud,

with exaltation ready on my tongue.

Response: Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.

Blest be God, who did not

reject my prayer,

nor withhold from me

his merciful love.

Response: Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.

Alleluia

John 6:51

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever.

Gospel

John 6:44–51

At that time: Jesus said to the crowds, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me – not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. if anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Reflection

God has eternal life in Himself and eternity is one of His perfections. He calls us to share this eternal life and leads us to it through the Holy Eucharist. Pope Saint John Paul II says: “Through the food of the Eucharist, Christ’s eternal life penetrates and flows within human life.” It is the culmination of spiritual life and the goal of all the sacraments. We could securely say that it is the most important reality on planet Earth and as such everything else pales in comparison to its supreme value. It makes sense to say that with our First Holy Communion, we have entered a superior level of existence as by it we are assured of eternal life.

St Magdalene of Canossa, Virgin (1774-1835)

St Magdalene of Canossa, foundress of the Canossian family of the Sons and Daughters of Charity, was born at Verona, Italy, on 2 March 1774. Her father, a wealthy marquis, having died when she was barely five and her mother, Marchesa Teresa Szluha, having remarried soon after, the young girl was brought up by an uncle and given a good education.

In 1799 Magdalene started her work for poor girls and, the following year, began to provide some of them with accommodation. In 1803, she opened her first school and wanted to live there but returned home in deference to her family’s wishes. In 1808 she founded her religious congregation for the educational and health care apostolate. At the time of her death on 10 April 1835, there were five houses of Canossian Sisters. Today the congregation has almost 4,000 members in 395 houses in many countries.

Magdalene was beatified by Pope Pius XII on 7 December 1941 and the miracle required for her canonization was officially recognized on 11 December 1987. As the Holy Father, John Paul II, by whom she was canonized on 2 October 1988, said, she was one who knew how to lose her life for Christ....., one who was, so to say, devoured by charity: charity towards God even to the heights of mystical experience and charity towards neighbour carried to the farthest extremes of self-gift to others. She understood well that true piety which touches the heart of God consists in “breaking unjust fetters, undoing the thongs of the yoke, letting the oppressed go free, sharing bread with the hungry and sheltering the oppressed poor.” Indeed, it was her passionate love for Christ Crucified teaching her to love her fellowmen!

The heartbeat of Magdalene’s apostolic choice vibrates through the institution she founded and which she wished to be dedicated and consecrated to charity. She lived during the Napoleonic times of revolutions, invasions and restorations which left a trail of evil behind them. She wished to provide for all these, the hallmark of her personal charisma being her ability to distinguish “Christian Charity” from philanthropy.

The cultural changes of today have brought in their own wake crops of evils — drugs, alcoholism, the aloneness of the old, abortion, violence, euthanasia, acute disregard for the weak and the neglected, and a general disrespect for human life. St Magdalene meets these challenges today through her Sons and Daughters of Charity. With her as their model of “being all things to all men”, the Canossians run schools for all age groups as well as special schools for the blind, the handicapped and slow-learners, for those of the silent world, training centres for nurses and obstetricians, and day care schools. All these flourish and through them all the Canossians “make God known so that he may be loved”. In villages they work for the social uplift through informal education, “grihinis” and “mahila mandals”, dispensaries, mother-child projects, preventive health care and leper clinics. They also dedicate themselves generously in parishes and Sunday Schools (“Oratory”) to serving the poor, the youth, the marginalized, realizing today the objectives that St Magdalene had long foreseen for them.

The two characteristic dimensions of the foundation, vision and work of St Magdalene are Charity and Universality – “charity” which, says Magdalene, has as its object the working out of one’s sanctification imitating Jesus Crucified; and “universality” in as much as charity is exercised towards each person without excluding anyone either rich or poor.

Reflection: “Put your trust solely in God, so that even if you were to lose everything you would find all in Him!” (St Magdalene of Canossa)

Daily Readings

May 07,2025

Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter

Reading I

Acts 8:1b–8

There arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralysed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that city.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 66:1–3a, 4–5, 6–7a

Response: Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.

Cry out with joy to God, all the earth; 

O sing to the glory of his name. 

O render him glorious praise. 

Say to God, “How awesome your deeds! 

Response: Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.

Before you all the earth shall bow down, 

shall sing to you, sing to your name!” 

Come and see the works of God: 

awesome his deeds 

among the children of men. 

Response: Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.

He turned the sea into dry land; 

they passed through the river on foot. 

Let our joy, then, be in him;

he rules forever by his might. 

Response: Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.

Alleluia

John 6:40

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Everyone who believes in the Son shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day, says the Lord.

Gospel

John 6:35–40

At that time: Jesus said to the crowds, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Reflection

In his Bread of Life discourse, Jesus presents partaking of the Eucharist as the only way to eternal life. The secret to eternal life is to believe in Jesus present in the Eucharist and to receive him worthily. This Eucharistic Lord is present with us, as he promised, on so many altars all over the world although he is so often offended and profaned by human beings. Just as Jesus fed the people in the desert so that they may not collapse on their way home, so too he wants to feed us with his body and blood so that we may travel securely toward heaven. The challenge before us is to believe in this powerful real presence and to be constantly and worthily in communion with him. 

St John of Beverley, Bishop, Confessor (-721)

A native of Yorkshire (England) St John was in his early years educated at Canterbury under the care of Archbishop St Theodore and Abbot St Adrian. Later he joined the Benedictines at Whitby, under the authority of St Hilda. In 687 he was consecrated Bishop of Hexham and in 705 made Archbishop of York. This he governed for 15 years, then resigned and consecrated St Wilfrid the Younger to succeed him. Sensing his death to be near, he retired to Beverley monastery which he had founded and richly endowed, and died there on 7 May 721.

The cultivation of kindness being at the very heart of holiness and thus the surest sign of closeness to Christ, John went out of his way to be kind to all, generously providing for the poor and the unfortunate. A gifted preacher, he was particularly famed for the careful attention he paid to the training of the younger clergy. Not surprisingly then, one of his most notable pupils was the Venerable Saint Bede whom he ordained a Priest in 702.

St John’s shrine at Beverley was a great pilgrimage centre in medieval times.

Reflection: “You will become a Saint by complying exactly with your daily duties” (St Joseph Rosello).

Daily Readings

May 06,2025

Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter

Reading I

Acts 7:51–8:1a

In those days: Stephen said to the people and the elders and the scribes, “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments  at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. And Saul approved of his execution.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 31:3bc–4, 6 and 7b–8a, 17 and 21ab

Response: Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit (or: Alleluia).

Be a rock of refuge for me,

a mighty stronghold to save me.

For you are my rock, my stronghold!

Lead me, guide me, 

for the sake of your name. 

Response: Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit (or: Alleluia).

Into your hands I commend my spirit.

You will redeem me, O Lord, O faithful God.

As for me, I trust in the Lord.

Let me be glad and rejoice in your mercy. 

Response: Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit (or: Alleluia)

Let your face shine on your servant.

Save me in your merciful love.

You hide them in the shelter 

of your presence,

secure from human scheming. 

Response: Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit (or: Alleluia).

Alleluia

John 6:35ab

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

I am the bread of life, says the Lord; whoever comes to me shall not hunger.

Gospel

John 6:30–35

At that time: The people said to Jesus, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

Reflection

We have the Bread of Life discourse in Chapter 6 of Saint John’s Gospel. To the Jews who were familiar with the Manna of the desert, Jesus presented himself as the Bread of Life. The Manna satiated the physical hunger of the people in the desert, whereas the Eucharistic Bread would satisfy all the physical and spiritual desires of the believer. The call is to believe in the great power of this sacrament, in which we have the physical presence of the Lord. Saint Faustina Kowalska writes: “If angels could be jealous of men, they would be so for one reason: Holy Communion”. Padre Pio says that a even thousand years of human glory would not equal an hour spent in communion with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. 

St Dominic Savio, Confessor (1842 -1857)

One of St John Bosco’s first pupils was Dominic Savio who was born at Murialdo, in Northern Italy, on 2 April 1842, of Charles Savio and his wife Bridgid.

The holy life of young Dominic was nurtured both at home and in the parish church. A very peaceful Christian domestic environment helped prepare his soul to receive great light and graces from God. Don Bosco, on the other hand, helped enkindle in the child’s heart a deep love for God and a deep devotion to the Virgin Mary. Dominic went to church every morning at five, served at Mass, and then spent his time in devotion and prayer. Come rain or shine, freezing winter or sweltering summer, the boy was regular at his church duties.

From Don Bosco, who was to become his biographer in later years, St Dominic Savio learned how the joy of serving and making the Lord loved by others can become a powerful means of apostolate. So spiritually advanced was the lad, exhibiting many gifts, including that of prophecy, that it was one of his visions which, in 1850, influenced Pope Pius IX to restore the Catholic hierarchy to England. St Pius X said of him: “A teenager such as Dominic, who bravely struggled to preserve undefiled his baptismal innocence to the very last, is indeed a saint!” At 15, he had become a giant of the spirit. Pope Pius XI added: “He was, indeed, the perfection of Christian life – a life drawing its strength from three main sources, namely purity, piety, zeal!”

On 9 March 1857, the youngster, who longed to be a saint, burst into ecstatic exclamation: “Oh, what a beautiful sight I see!” before passing to his reward. He was beatified on 5 March 1950.

Pope Pius XII, on the occasion of the solemn canonization on 12 June 1954, stated: “Truly, it gives us great joy to raise this boy of just 15, Dominic Savio, to the honours of the Altar and to set him before the youth of our day as a shining example for their imitation, especially in these troubled times when such powerful and sinister forces are doing incalculable harm in a relentless effort to uproot all virtues from the hearts of the young... Among the heroes there appears the image of Dominic Savio, the delicate adolescent, weak of body, but with a soul determined upon a pure oblation of itself to the exacting love of Christ.” The four resolutions the saintly youngster made on Easter Sunday 8 April 1849, the day he received his First Holy Communion at the age of seven, stand out as an important legacy for youth for all time – 1) I will frequent the Sacrament of Reconciliation and receive Holy Communion as often as my confessor permits; 2) I will keep feast days holy; 3) My friends shall be Jesus and Mary; 4) Death rather than sin.

Reflection: “I am not capable of doing big things, but I want to do everything, even the smallest things, for the greater glory of God” (St Dominic Savio).

Daily Readings

May 5, 2025

Monday of the Third Week of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 6:8–15

In those days: Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the Council, and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” And gazing at him, all who sat in the Council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 119:23–24, 26–27, 29–30

Response: Blessed are those who walk in the law of the Lord.

Though princes sit plotting against me, 

your servant ponders your statutes. 

See, your decrees are my delight; 

your statutes are my counsellors. 

Response: Blessed are those who walk in the law of the Lord.

I declared my ways and you answered me; 

teach me your statutes. 

Make me grasp the way of your precepts, 

and I will ponder your wonders. 

Response: Blessed are those who walk in the law of the Lord.

Keep me from the way of falsehood; 

grant me mercy by your law. 

I have chosen the way of faithfulness; 

your decrees I have upheld. 

Response: Blessed are those who walk in the law of the Lord.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Gospel

John 6:22–29

[After five thousand men had eaten their fill, the disciples of Jesus saw him walking on the sea]. On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the lake saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the lake, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

Reflection 

Jesus asks the crowd not to search for food that perishes but for the food of eternal life. The exhortation is to set their minds on the greater good. Saint Paul would repeat this idea in his exhortation to seek the things that are above (Col 3:1). We have the choice between preoccupying barely our earthly life and perishable body and having our goals set on God and His kingdom. Think of the parable of the rich man whom Jesus would call a ‘fool’ for, he stored up goods for his future on earth, gamely forgetting to set right his life for the eternal good, whereas Zacchaeus was wise as he brought salvation to himself and his household through the conversion experience. Am I wise or foolish in the eyes of God?  

St Angelo, Martyr (A.D.-1220)

Very little is reliably known about St Angelo. His parents were Jews who were later converted to Christianity by a vision of Our Lady who diff announced to them that the long-awaited Messiah had already come and had redeemed his people. She also promised them two sons, and that they both would grow up as flourishing Olive trees on the heights of the Carmel — one as a patriarch and the other as a glorious martyr.

Early on, the twins displayed great mental and spiritual gifts. At the age of 18, when they entered the Carmelite Order, they had already mastered Greek, Latin and Hebrew. After Angelo had spent five years on Mount Carmel as a hermit, Jesus appeared to him and bade him go to Sicily (Italy), where he would have the grace to offer the sacrifice of his life.

Obedient to the call of the Lord, he promptly left Mt Carmel for Sicily. On his way and after his arrival in Sicily he succeeded in converting many by his teaching and miracles. At Palermo (Italy), about 200 Jews sought baptism as the result of his eloquence. Similar success was met with in Leocata, but there he aroused the fury of Berengarius whose wickedness and cruelty he had denounced.

One day as he was preaching to a crowd, he was stabbed by a band of ruffians who attacked him under Berengarius’ influence. Mortally wounded, Angelo fell on his knees. Praying for his people, more especially for his murderers, he gave up his spirit.

Reflection: “The Christian life is the continuation and completion of the life of Christ in us. We should be so many Christs on earth; continuing his works, labouring and suffering in a who

lly divine manner in the spirit of Jesus” (St John Eudes).

Daily Readings

May 4, 2025

Third Sunday of Easter

FIRST READING

Acts of the Apostles (5:27-32, 40-41)

In those days the high priest questioned the apostles, saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Saviour, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” And they charged the apostles not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonour for the name.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11-12, 13

Response: I will extol you, Lord, for you have raised me up. Or Alleluia.

I will extol you, LORD, for you have raised me up, and have not let my enemies rejoice over me.

Response: I will extol you, Lord, for you have raised me up. Or Alleluia.

O LORD, you have lifted up my soul from the grave, restored me to life from those who sink into the pit.

Response: I will extol you, Lord, for you have raised me up. Or Alleluia.

Sing psalms to the LORD, you faithful ones; give thanks to his holy name. His anger lasts a moment; his favour all through life. At night come tears, but dawn brings joy.

Response: I will extol you, Lord, for you have raised me up. Or Alleluia.

Hear, O LORD, and have mercy on me; be my helper, O LORD. You have changed my mourning into dancing, O LORD my God, I will thank you forever.

Response: I will extol you, Lord, for you have raised me up. Or Alleluia.

SECOND READING

Book of Revelation (5:11-14)

I, John, looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!” And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honour and glory and might for ever and ever!” And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshipped.

ACCLAMATION

Alleluia. Alleluia.

Christ has risen, who created all things and has had mercy on the human race.

Alleluia.

GOSPEL

John (21:1-19)

All: Glory to you, O Lord. At that time Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off. When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, one hundred fifty-three of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

REFLECTION

By getting Pilot to pronounce the death sentence on Jesus the Jewish authorities had hoped that they had closed the Jesus’ chapter. But their hope was short lived. They failed in their assessment of Jesus. They miserably failed to acknowledge that the one whom they killed was the Son of God, the Messiah they had been expecting since long. They could kill him but could not stop him from rising from the dead. As a result, they cannot stop the apostles from preaching in the name of Jesus. They now try to intimidate the apostles by telling them not to preach the name of Jesus, but Peter says that they will now obey God rather than the Jewish opponents.

John in his vision sees around the throne living creatures, elders and thousands of angels. He then hears every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea praising God who is seated on the throne and the Lamb who is Jesus himself. The whole of creation joins in praise of the Lamb. The Almighty God has his plan and purpose for his world. In his dealing with the human world, he will not proceed without the co-operation of His people. Jesus alone controls the destiny of all peoples.

The gospel of today presents yet another appearance of the risen Jesus. The appearance takes place by the Sea of Tiberias from where Jesus called his first disciples. Having lost their Master Peter thinks it best to return to his old profession of fishing. Those present with him also agree to join Peter but they catch no fish that night. But even though they worked throughout the night, they did not catch any fish. After dawn, the disciples see Jesus standing on the shore and he tells them to cast their nets off the right side of the boat. They do so and catch so many fish that they are not able to pull them into the boat. Since they are only about one hundred yards from shore, the other disciples stay with the boat and tow the catch of fish to shore. They have breakfast with the newly caught fish. The ensuing conversation between Jesus and Peter makes it clear that the mission of the apostles is to look after the people who will accept Jesus as their Lord. The passage clearly shows that the beloved disciple continues to have greater insight into Jesus than Peter or the other disciples. It is significant that it is to Peter and not to the beloved disciple that Jesus entrusted the administration of the community. It is in lieu with the Church tradition that Church administration and care of the people should go into the hands of people who are capable and ready for that role.

Source: The Sunday Liturgy

Daily Readings

May 3, 2025, Saturday

Feast of Saints Philip and James, Apostles

Reading 1

1 Corinthians 15:1–8

I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 19:2–3, 4–5 

Response: Their sound goes forth through all the earth.

The heavens declare the glory of God, 

and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands. 

Day unto day conveys the message, 

and night unto night imparts the knowledge. 

Response: Their sound goes forth through all the earth.

No speech, no word, whose voice goes unheeded; 

their sound goes forth through all the earth,

their message to the utmost bounds of the world. 

Response: Their sound goes forth through all the earth.

Alleluia

I am the way, and the truth, and the life, says the Lord; Philip, whoever has seen me has seen the Father.

Gospel

John 14:6–14

At that time: Jesus said to Thomas, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it.”

Reflection

The Word of God brings the assurance of God’s continued presence with us. The last words of Jesus on earth were in reality the assurance of his presence (Mt 28:20). This ever-present God wishes that we strive to know Him and thus love Him. Jesus was surprised at the demand of the disciples to show them the Father as they had not yet known his identity. His invitation to the first disciples was to come and see him (Jn  1:39) and he would ask, who do you say that I am (Mt 16:15)? For Paul, the determined purpose was to know Jesus (Phil 3,10).  We cannot but help agree with J.I. Packer that once we become aware that our main business on earth is to know God, most of life’s problems will fall into place.  

Sts. Philip and James, Apostle and Martyr

1. St Philip (Apostle and Martyr) (- c.62)

St Philip was a native of Bethsaida on the shores of Lake Genesareth in Galilee. He was one of the first of the Apostles and was instrumental in the call of Nathanael. As soon as he discovered the Messiah, desirous to make his friend Nathanael a sharer in his happiness, Philip went to him and said: “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth”. In wonderment, Nathanael asked: “Can any good come out of Nazareth?” Philip answered: “Come and see” (Jn 1:45). He accompanied Philip and went on to become the first ever to proclaim Jesus “Son of God . . . . , the King of Israel!” (Jn 1:49)

Theodoret and Eusebius assure us that after the Descent of the Holy Spirit, Philip went to preach the Gospel in Asia Minor, accompanied by his virgin daughters. He probably suffered martyrdom by crucifixion at Hierapolis in Phrygia.

2. St James the Less (Apostle and Martyr) (- c.62)

St James the Less was a brother of St Jude Thaddaeus and is generally thought to have been a cousin of our Lord — his mother, Mary of Clopas was a sister of the Blessed Virgin. A most lovable, devout and ascetic man, James “the Just” as he was also known, became the first Bishop of Jerusalem and was conspicuous for his charity, his reverent attachment to the Temple and to ancient Jewish customs, as well as his calm resignation under the persecution by Herod.

James is noted for the “Epistle” he wrote (c.47 A.D.), in all probability addressed to Churches in Syria, whose members found themselves discriminated against and oppressed because of their new-found faith.

St James the Less, so known as to distinguish him from the other apostle named James, the son of Zebedee, is known to have suffered martyrdom by being cast down from the parapet of the Temple, and killed with a fuller’s club. He is the patron of druggists, fullers and hatters.

Reflection: “Take your part in suffering, as a loyal soldier of Christ Jesus” (St Paul – 2 Timothy 2:3).

Daily Readings

May 2, 2025, Friday

Memorial of Saint Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Reading 1

Acts 5:34–42

In those days: A Pharisee in the Council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honour by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice, and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonour for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 27:1, 4, 13–14 

Response: There is one thing I ask of the Lord, to live in the house of the Lord.

The Lord is my light and my salvation;

whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life;

whom should I dread?

Response: There is one thing I ask of the Lord, to live in the house of the Lord.

There is one thing I ask of the Lord,

only this do I seek:

to live in the house of the Lord

all the days of my life,

to gaze on the beauty of the Lord,

to inquire at his temple.

Response: There is one thing I ask of the Lord, to live in the house of the Lord.

I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness

in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord; be strong;

be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!

Response: There is one thing I ask of the Lord, to live in the house of the Lord.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Gospel

John 6:1–15

At that time: Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

Reflection

Each day in life brings its problems and challenges. There remains the choice to unduly worry about them or to look for solutions. A believer seeks solutions, discerning the will of God and in cooperation with fellow beings. In the event of the multiplication of loaves, Jesus would accept the available loaves, give thanks to God, and hand them over to the disciples. When we fix our concerns on God, God fixes our concerns.  Our focus ought to be on God and not on problems; we need to listen to God and not concentrate on our insecurities; and we need to learn to rely on God rather than on our strength alone. Am I tied down by the problems of life or do I seek solutions to them together with my God and my brothers and sisters?

St Athanasius (Bishop, Confessor and Father and Doctor of the Church (c.295-373)

A native of Alexandria (Egypt), St Athanasius was probably the son of prominent Christians. He received a brilliant education in this city, a great commercial centre and most important emporium for ideas. Even as a young man he was conspicuous for his wisdom and acumen, as well as for his deep piety. When still only a Deacon, he was chosen by Bishop Alexander, the Patriarch of Alexandria, as his secretary and theological adviser, and in 325 taken to the great Council of Nicaea (Turkey) in Bithynia (Asia Minor), which condemned Arius as a heretic and reaffirmed Christ’s divinity. There he became a sincere and courageous mouthpiece for his aged Archbishop, who had remained crippled from the tortures endured on the rack during the Galerian persecution. When the latter died in 328, Athanasius, although only 33, was unanimously elected successor.

During his 46-year reign, the Arian faction came to gain such high political influence through its intrigues at the imperial court that the saintly Patriarch had to spend a total of 17 years in banishment, being exiled from Alexandria on five occasions. Undaunted, he remained through it all the ardent and fearless “champion of Christ’s divinity”. Far from seeking revenge, he tried rather to win his enemies through kindness, and always retained his spontaneous sense of humour, which could also, on occasion, be penetratingly sharp.

“Athanasius against the world!” well sums up the position of this religious genius, the Father of Orthodoxy and scientific theology. Throughout 50 critical years in Christian history he was the chief defender of the integrity of the Catholic creed. Although he longed for martyrdom, his last years were peaceful, and he died at the age of 78.

The most famous of his many writings are On the Incarnation, which he composed in his early twenties while still a Deacon, and the History of the Arians written during his third exile among the Egyptian desert monks. His Life of St Anthony made an enormous appeal to men everywhere to lead the ascetical life.

Reflection: “Justice does not consist merely in not doing anything evil; for not to do good is also evil. The law may be transgressed in either way” (St Athanasius).

Daily Readings

May 1, 2025

Thursday of the Second Week of Easter

Reading 1

Genesis 1:26–2:3 (Or Col 3:14-15.17.23-24)

God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

OR

Col 3:14-15.17.23-24

And over all these put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. May the peace of Christ overflow in your hearts, for to this end you were called to be one body. And be thankful. And whatever you do or say, do it in the name of Jesus the Lord, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Whatever you do, do it whole heartedly, working for the Lord, and not for human masters, for you know well that the Lord will reward you with the inheritance. You are servants, but your Lord is Christ.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 90:2, 3–4, 12–13, 14 and 16

Response: Give success to the work of our hands, O Lord.

Before the mountains were born, 

or the earth or the world were brought forth, 

you are God, from age to age.

Response: Give success to the work of our hands, O Lord.

You turn man back to dust, 

and say, “Return, O children of men.” 

To your eyes a thousand years 

are like yesterday, come and gone, 

or like a watch in the night. 

Response: Give success to the work of our hands, O Lord.

Then teach us to number our days, 

that we may gain wisdom of heart. 

Turn back, O Lord! How long? 

Show pity to your servants. 

Response: Give success to the work of our hands, O Lord.

At dawn, fill us with your merciful love; 

we shall exult and rejoice all our days. 

Let your deed be seen by your servants, 

and your glorious power by their children. 

Response: Give success to the work of our hands, O Lord.

Alleluia

Day after day, may the Lord be blest. He bears our burdens; God is our Saviour.

Gospel

Matthew 13:54–58

At that time: Coming to his home town Jesus taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offence at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honour except in his home town and in his own household.” And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.

Reflectio

Faith is undoubtedly the criterion to witness and receive wonderful divine interventions. It is this theological virtue that Jesus demanded and the lack of it was met with serious reprimands from him. The people of Nazareth, with their over-familiarity with Jesus, lacked this faith and thus raised objections to his ministry. Faith remains the criterion to experience the miracles of Jesus today. It is believing in things when common sense tells us not to. As stated by Martin Luther King, Jr, faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase. Today we think of Saint Joseph, the Worker, a man who built his life on faith. Am I a person of faith or is my faith dwindling in my un-reflected routine religious practices? 

Saint Joseph the Worker (492)

On 1 May 1955, during a public audience granted to the Catholic Association of Italian Workers, whose members had gathered that day in Saint Peter’s Square to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their society and to pledge anew their loyalty to the Social Programme of the Church, Pope Pius XII instituted the liturgical feast of Saint Joseph the Worker and assigned it to the 1st day of May, giving concrete expression to the special relationship between Saint Joseph and the working class. The Pope assured his audience and the “working people of the entire world”: “You have at your side a Shepherd, a defender and a Father.” As Saint Bernard of Clairvaux says, “Imagine his worth from his very name, which means, ‘increase’!”

Pope Pius XII further said, “Our intention in doing so is to bring all men to recognize the dignity of labour. It is our hope, that this dignity may supply the motive for the formation of a social order and a body of law founded on the equitable distribution of rights and duties..... We are certain that you are indeed pleased, for the humble working man of Nazareth not only personifies before God and the Church the dignity of those who work with their hands, but he is also the constant guardian of yourselves and your families.”

Holy Mother Church directs Christian workers to look up to St Joseph their Patron as model and example of Christian workmanship. Work per se was never meant to be a punishment; rather, it formed the plan of God. And, so, whether we make a chair or build a Cathedral, we are called upon to bear fruit with our hands, our hearts and minds for the ultimate purpose, viz., the building up of the Body of Christ.

Reflection: “Whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Daily Readings

April 30, 2025

Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 5:17–26

In those days: The high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the Council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 34:2–3, 4–5, 6–7, 8–9 

Response: The lowly one called, and the Lord heard him.

I will bless the Lord at all times;

praise of him is always in my mouth.

In the Lord my soul shall make its boast

The humble shall hear and be glad.

Response: The lowly one called, and the Lord heard him.

Glorify the Lord with me;

together let us praise his name.

I sought the Lord, and he answered me;

from all my terrors he set me free.

Response: The lowly one called, and the Lord heard him.

Look toward him and be radiant;

let your faces not be abashed.

This lowly one called; the Lord heard,

and rescued him from all his distress.

Response: The lowly one called, and the Lord heard him.

The angel of the Lord is encamped

around those who fear him, to rescue them.

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Blessed the man who seeks refuge in him.

Response: The lowly one called, and the Lord heard him.

Alleluia

John 3:16

God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Gospel

John 3:16–21

“God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Reflection

Today’s gospel passage encapsulates the core message of the Gospel. “God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son…” (Jn 3:16). It speaks of God’s boundless love and the gift of eternal life through faith in Christ. It is a choice between light and darkness. We are challenged to embrace God’s love, respond to His offer of salvation, and walk in the truth, allowing our lives to bear witness to His transformative grace. Those who believe in Christ come into the light. They have their deeds exposed in the presence of God. Unbelief, on the other hand, results in remaining in spiritual darkness and separation from God. It’s a state of spiritual alienation where individuals are estranged from the source of life and love.

Saint Pius V - Pope, Confessor (1504-1572)

Born in Piedmont (Italy) of an impoverished family of Bolognese nobility, Antonio Ghislieri entered the Dominicans at 14. Ordained to the priesthood at 24, he devoted himself to the teaching of philosophy and theology for 16 years. A man of solid piety, austerity and self-discipline, he passed long nights in prayer.

Made Bishop of Sutri in 1556, Ghislieri succeeded Pius IV as Pius V in 1566. The Papal court underwent reform, with Cardinals being urged to curb their luxurious lifestyle and Bishops required to found seminaries and to reside in their Sees; Church music and liturgical worship underwent reform. To the Mass were added the Domine non sum dignus (“Lord, I am not worthy”), the Confiteor (“I confess”), and the blessing, all and sundry coming to feel the Pope’s influence in carrying out the decisions of the great Council of Trent that had concluded in 1563.

Politically, Pius V worked ceaselessly to bring about a union of the Christian Princes of Europe against the threatening Turks. The faithful were urged to do special penances for this intention. Finally, the Turkish attack on Cyprus brought the forces of Venice, Genoa, Spain and the Holy See together under Don Juan of Austria who, as commander-in­-chief, leaving behind all soldiers of known evil lives, won the great naval victory of Lepanto in 1571, in memory of which was instituted the feast of Our Lady of Victory—later changed to the feast of the Holy Rosary—and entered the invocation, “Help of Christians” in the Litany of Loreto.

Pius V, whose mortal remains were moved from Saint Peter’s to Saint Mary Major’s in 1588 by Sixtus V, was canonized in 1712.

Reflection: “He who is bad to himself, whom will he be good to?” (Sirach 14:5)

Daily Readings

April 29, 2025

Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Reading 1

Acts 4:32–37

The full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 93:1abc, 1d–2, 5

Response: The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed.

The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed.

The Lord has robed himself with might;

he has girded himself with power.

Response: The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed.

The world you made firm, not to be moved;

your throne has stood firm from of old.

From all eternity, O Lord, you are.

Response: The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed.

Truly your decrees are to be trusted.

Holiness is fitting to your house,

O Lord, until the end of time.

Response: The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed.

Alleluia

John 3:14-15

The Son of Man must be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Gospel

John 3:7b–15

At that time: Jesus said to Nicodemus, ‘You must be born anew.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Reflection

The essence of Jesus’ advice to Nicodemus is that the Holy Spirit’s role in spiritual rebirth is transformative. When someone is “born again” or “born from above,” it involves a radical and profound change at the core of his/her being. This change is not something that can be manufactured or manipulated by human effort; it is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. It involves conviction of sin, repentance, and a new life in Christ. It is through our faith in the Son of Man who was lifted on the cross that we are offered eternal life and salvation. We need to examine our faith, recognising that belief in Jesus Christ as our Saviour is the pathway to eternal life.

Saint Catherine of Siena - Virgin and Doctor of the Church (1347-1380)

Catherine, the youngest of the 25 children of the Benincasa family of wool dyers in Siena, Tuscany (Italy), when still young, was favoured with celestial visions and began to practise severe austerities. At 16 she became a Dominican tertiary, lived for three years like an anchoress in her own home, and heroically undertook the care of advanced cases of leprosy and cancer which no one else would touch and, though meeting with nothing but abuse, succeeded in bringing about the sufferers’ conversion.

Subsisting for long periods solely on the reception of the Eucharist and praying incessantly for sinners who refused to pray for themselves. At 28, she received the sacred stigmata, but in response to her pleadings to God, these remained outwardly invisible while she was alive. The most famous of her writings is her Dialogue in which the Father converses with her on the spiritual life.

Catherine was instrumental in having Pope Gregory XI lift the interdict over Florence and finally return from Avignon to Rome in 1377. At the request of Gregory’s successor Urban VI she spent the last six years of her life in Rome, offering the sacrifice of her life for the unity and renewal of the Church. She was barely 33 when she died three long months after having had a seizure.

Proclaimed saint in 1461 and Doctor of the Church in 1970, she is the Patron Saint of Italy, and is invoked against fire, pestilence and headaches.

Reflection: “Never consider your past sins except in the light of infinite mercy, so that the memory of them may not discourage you, but may lead you to place your confidence in the infinite value of the Saviour’s merits” (Saint Catherine of Siena).

Daily Readings

April 28, 2025

Monday of the Second Week of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 4:23–31

In those days: When Peter and John were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’ – for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 2:1–3, 4–6, 7–9

Response: Blessed are all who trust in you, O Lord.

Why do the nations conspire,

and the peoples plot in vain?

They arise, the kings of the earth;

princes plot against the Lord

and his Anointed.

“Let us burst asunder their fetters.

Let us cast off from us their chains.”

Response: Blessed are all who trust in you, O Lord.

He who sits in the heavens laughs;

the Lord derides and mocks them.

Then he will speak in his anger,

his rage will strike them with terror.

“It is I who have appointed my king

on Sion, my holy mountain.”

Response: Blessed are all who trust in you, O Lord.

I will announce the decree of the Lord:

The Lord said to me, “You are my Son.

It is I who have begotten you this day.

Ask of me and I will give you

the nations as your inheritance,

and the ends of the earth as your possession.

With a rod of iron you will rule them;

like a potter’s jar you will shatter them.”

Response: Blessed are all who trust in you, O Lord.

Alleluia

Colossians 3:1

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Gospel

John 3:1–8

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Reflection

Being “born again” represents a radical transformation of the heart and soul. It is a spiritual awakening or renewal that goes beyond mere external religious practices. Nicodemus, a respected Pharisee and teacher of Israel was seeking Jesus under the cover of night, but Jesus makes it clear that external religious piety is insufficient for entering the kingdom of God. True transformation takes place at the core of one’s being. Today we are challenged to consider the nature of our faith and the depth of our spiritual transformation. Faith in Christ leads to a new birth and entry into God’s kingdom.  We need to be sincere seekers of God, open to the work of the Holy Spirit, and be willing to surrender our lives to Jesus, the source of new life.

(1) Saint Peter Chanel - Martyr (1803-1841)

Born in France (12 July), Peter was a shepherd boy whose first encounter with his Parish Priest, Abbé Trompier, led to his education in the latter’s Latin school. As a student and as a seminarian, Peter so won the esteem of teachers and students alike that a certain bishop once commented: “He has a heart of gold with the simple faith of a child and leads the life of an angel.”

Peter is famed for the religious revival he achieved within three years of his appointment in the ill-reputed parish of Crozet. In 1831, Peter became a Marist missionary. In 1836, Pope Gregory XVI canonically approved this fledgling congregation and entrusted to its care the island of Futuna, New Hebrides. Well received by the people, Peter’s work drew the ire of the chieftain whose own son sought to be baptized and Peter was clubbed to death (28 April), and his body chopped to pieces. Nevertheless, the whole island became Christian within two years.

Beatified in 1889, Peter was canonized in 1954.

Reflection: “In such a difficult mission (evangelizing) we simply have to be holy men” (Saint Peter Chanel).

(2) Saint Louis-Marie Grignon de Montfort - Priest (1673-1716)

Louis was born in Brittany, France (31 January). Ordained in 1700, he was assigned to Nantes as a rural preacher and then to a hospital for the poor in Poitiers, which he zealously upgraded. He founded the Daughters of Wisdom for women, to care especially for needy children, and the Missionaries of the Company of Mary for priests and brothers, to continue his retreat ministry and to spread Marian devotion.

An avid preacher of missions to the poor, Louis was denounced by his enemies and banned from Poitiers by his bishop. He, however, returned from Rome with papal approval and, named Missionary Apostolic for France by Clement XI, spent the rest of his life evangelizing western France.

Louis promoted Marian devotion as the best means of attaining union with Christ. His book, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, continues to be in use to this day.

Louis, who died young and suddenly (28 April), was canonized in 1947.

Reflection: “It was you, Virgin Mary, who gave us this body and blood, which raises our status so high that it is beyond the reach of the angels. May you be blessed throughout the world! For giving us such a great gift” (Saint Louis-Marie de Montfort).

Daily Readings

April 26, 2025

Saturday in the Octave of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 4:13–21

In those days: When the rulers and elders and scribes saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognised that they had been with Jesus. But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. But when they had commanded them to leave the Council, they conferred with one another, saying, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 118:1 & 14–15ab,15c–21

Response: I will thank you, Lord, for you have answered me.

Give praise to the Lord, for he is good;

his mercy endures forever.

The Lord is my strength and my song;

he was my saviour.

There are shouts of joy and salvation

in the tents of the just.

Response: I will thank you, Lord, for you have answered me.

The Lord’s right hand has done

mighty deeds;

his right hand is exalted.

The Lord’s right hand has done

mighty deeds;

I shall not die, I shall live

and recount the deeds of the Lord.

The Lord punished me,

punished me severely,

but did not hand me over to death.

Response: I will thank you, Lord, for you have answered me.

Open to me the gates of justice:

I will enter and thank the Lord.

This is the Lord’s own gate,

where the just may enter.

I will thank you, for you have answered,

and you are my saviour.

Response: I will thank you, Lord, for you have answered me.

Alleluia

Psalm 118:24

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad

Gospel

Mark 16:9–15

When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. After these things he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them. Afterwards he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

Reflection

The disciples’ initial response of unbelief in today’s gospel passage underscores the dramatic transformation they underwent. Their encounters with the risen Christ turned them from fearful and sceptical individuals into bold and unwavering witnesses of the Gospel. Today’s gospel passage contains themes of post-resurrection appearances, doubt and belief, the Great Commission, signs and confirmation, baptism, the universality of the Gospel, and the role of witnesses. It encourages believers to embrace their mission to proclaim the Good News and emphasizes the importance of faith, testimony, and obedience in following Jesus’ commands. This transformation demonstrates the power of the resurrection to change lives and embolden believers to share their faith.

Saint Anacletus - Pope, Martyr (-c 88)

It is now generally conceded that the name Anacletus (or Anencletus), which is given in all the ancient lists of Popes from the second to the fourth century was probably abbreviated to Cletus. It was later erroneously believed that Cletus and Anacletus were two distinct figures, and they were therefore commemorated on 26 April and 13 July respectively.

Anacletus succeeded Saint Linus to the papal throne about the year 76 and reigned for twelve years. The 6th century Liber Pontificalis states that he had a small chapel or “Memoria” erected over the resting place of the Prince of the Apostles atop Vatican Hill and another one over the tomb of Saint Paul on the property of the matron Lucina on the Ostian Way. Aside from this, little is known of the reign of this second successor of Saint Peter.

Anacletus was believed to have been martyred under the cruel Emperor Domitian, the “Nero-come-to-life-again”.

Reflection: “You ought to make every effort to free yourselves even from venial sin and to do what is most perfect” (Saint Teresa of Avila)

Daily Readings

April 25, 2025

Friday in the Octave of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 4:1–12

In those days: As Peter and John were speaking to the people, [after the lame man was healed] the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. And when they had set them in the midst, they enquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead – by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 118:1–2 and 4, 22–24, 25–27a

Response: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone (Or Alleluia).

Give praise to the Lord, for he is good;

his mercy endures forever.

Let the house of Israel say,

“His mercy endures forever.”

Let those who fear the Lord say,

“His mercy endures forever.”

Response: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone (Or Alleluia).

The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone.

By the Lord has this been done,

a marvel in our eyes.

This is the day the Lord has made;

let us rejoice in it and be glad. 

Response: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone (Or Alleluia).

O Lord, grant salvation;

O Lord, grant success.

Blest is he who comes

in the name of the Lord.

We bless you from the house of the Lord;

the Lord is God, and has given us light.

Response: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone (Or Alleluia).

Alleluia

Psalm 118:24

 This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad.

Gospel

John 21:1–14

At that time: Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off. When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, one hundred fifty-three of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Reflection

In today’s gospel passage, several disciples, including Peter, decide to go fishing. They fish all night but catch nothing. In the morning, Jesus appears on the shore, though the disciples do not immediately recognise him. Jesus instructs them to cast their net on the right side of the boat, and suddenly they catch a large number of fish. This miraculous catch prompts John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, to recognise that it is the Lord. Upon realising this, Peter, ever impulsive, puts on his outer garment and jumps into the sea to swim to Jesus. The other disciples follow in the boat, dragging the net full of fish. When they reach the shore, they find that Jesus has already prepared breakfast for them - fish and bread. How often do we encounter the presence of Christ in our lives without recognising him? This speaks of the need for heightened spiritual awareness and discernment. The disciples were engaged in a routine activity (fishing) when Jesus appeared. Similarly, Christ may be present in the ordinary aspects of our lives, and a deeper awareness is required to recognise Him.

Saint Mark - Evangelist (-c 68)

Mark was the son of Mary, a prominent member of the Christian community in Jerusalem and an old friend of Saint Peter, in whose house the brethren were accustomed to assemble. We first hear of Mark when Paul and Barnabas take him along to Antioch in 46 AD and then on the first apostolic journey to Cyprus. Here Mark separated himself from Paul and Barnabas and returned to Jerusalem on account of certain disagreements. But it was not long before Mark and Paul resolved their differences whereby, around 60 AD, the two were together in Rome, preparing to return to the Churches of Asia Minor.

Mark seems to have gone to Egypt from Aquileia and there founded the See of Alexandria. In 61 Paul wrote to Timothy at Ephesus, asking him to bring Mark with him to Rome, and it was while Mark was in the Eternal City that he wrote his vivid Gospel account which is a faithful record of the oral teaching of Saint Peter. Ancient tradition claims that this second Gospel was, at the request of the Roman Christians, originally written in Greek.

Mark also probably evangelized the region of Aquileia at the northern extremity of the Adriatic whence the inhabitants fled some 400 years later at Attila’s approach and founded the famous lagoon city of Venice. Mark is considered a great Patron Saint of the city, his body having been stolen from Alexandria, Egypt, by Venetian soldiers in 815 and placed under the high altar of the magnificent basilica named after him in Venice.

Reflection: “If any man wishes to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all” (Mark 9:33).

Daily Readings

April 24, 2025

Thursday in the Octave of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 3:11–26

In those days: While the lame man clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s. And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And his name – by faith in his name – has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 8:2ab and 5, 6–7a, 7b–9

Response: O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name through all the earth! (Or: Alleluia)

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic

is your name through all the earth!

what is man that you should keep him in mind,

the son of man that you care for him?

Response: O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name through all the earth! (Or: Alleluia)

Yet you have made him little lower than the angels;

with glory and honour you crowned him,

gave him power over the works of your hands.

Response: O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name through all the earth! (Or: Alleluia)

You put all things under his feet,

All of them, sheep and oxen,

yes, even the cattle of the fields,

birds of the air, and fish of the sea

that make their way through the waters.

Response: O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name through all the earth! (Or: Alleluia)

Alleluia

Psalm 118:24

 This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad.

Gospel

Luke 24:35–48

At that time: The two disciples told what had happened on the road to Emmaus, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marvelling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them. Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.

Reflection

The disciples, when initially confronted with Jesus, are filled with doubt and fear. They think they are seeing a ghost. Jesus responds by asking them to examine His hands and feet, where the wounds from the crucifixion were. This direct encounter with the scars of His crucifixion serves as undeniable proof of His identity. It reassures the disciples and dispels their doubts and fears and fills them with courage to be witnesses in the days to come. Today’s Gospel passage reinforces the reality of the resurrection, emphasises the importance of Scripture, commissioning believers to be witnesses, and highlights the transformative power of forgiveness and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. It challenges us to embrace our role as witnesses of the risen Christ and to participate in the mission of proclaiming the Good News to all nations.

Saint Fidelis - Martyr (1576-1622)

A native of the town of Sigmaringen in south-western Germany, where his father was mayor, Mark Roy practised law for six years and, famed for his scrupulous honesty and life of mortification, made himself a name as the “advocate of the poor”. Corruption in the law courts however caused him at 34 to abandon his profession in favour of the priesthood; then, selling all his possessions for the benefit of the poor, he joined the Capuchins at Freiburg in 1612, taking the name of Fidelis.

Fidelis’ burning zeal, coupled with his oratorical and writing skills, was directed especially towards the conversion of those who had fallen prey to Calvinism and Zwinglianism. As a result of his manner of reforming a Benedictine monastery at Pfäefers in 1621, and his missionary work among the Zwinglians in the Swiss Canton, Pope Gregory XV, in 1622, made him head of the Grisons missions.

He travelled in absolute poverty, depending solely on Providence for his daily needs. Armed with his Crucifix, Bible, Breviary and the Capuchin rule, he evangelized freely, oblivious to the threats and insults from the Protestants, at times focusing his attention on the city magistrates in lengthy conferences lasting into the night, the conversion and public recantation of the most influential citizen resulting in numerous other conversions, further alarming the Protestant ministers who roused public ire by imputing political motives to his mission. Thus, in 1622, he was dragged from the pulpit by an angry mob and, on his refusal to apostatize, was slain. Fidelis was canonized in 1746.

Reflection: “The Catholic religion is the faith of all ages” (Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen).

Daily Readings

April 23, 2025

Wednesday in the Octave of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 3:1–10

In those days: Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 105:1–2, 3–4, 6–7, 8–9

Response: Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice. (Or: Alleluia)

Give thanks to the Lord; proclaim his name.

Make known his deeds among the peoples.

O sing to him, sing his praise;

tell all his wonderful works!

Response: Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice. (Or: Alleluia)

Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice.

Turn to the Lord and his strength;

constantly seek his face. 

Response: Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice. (Or: Alleluia)

O children of Abraham, his servant,

O descendants of the Jacob he chose,

he, the Lord, is our God;

his judgments are in all the earth. 

Response: Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice. (Or: Alleluia)

He remembers his covenant forever:

the promise he ordained for a thousand generations,

the covenant he made with Abraham,

the oath he swore to Isaac.

Response: Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice. (Or: Alleluia)

Alleluia

Psalm 118:24

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad.

Gospel

Luke 24:13–35

That very day [the first day of the week,] two of the disciples of Jesus were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognising him. And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is towards evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognised him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Reflection

Jesus gently rebukes the Emmaus disciples for their spiritual blindness and “foolishness” in not believing the prophets’ words about the Messiah’s suffering and glory. Their ignorance of the Scriptures demonstrates how a lack of knowledge or understanding can contribute to spiritual blindness. Without a foundation in God’s Word, we may fail to recognise His hand at work in our lives. Thus, we reflect today on the themes of spiritual blindness, revelation, and the transformative power of recognizing the resurrected Christ.  On our journey of faith, Jesus is often present with us, even when we may not initially recognise Him. Through Scripture, the breaking of bread, and moments of revelation, He opens our eyes to His presence and His redemptive work in our lives.

Saint Adalbert of Prague - Bishop, martyr (956-997)

Christened Vojtech at birth in the princely Slavnik family of Libice in East Bohemia, Adalbert was trained in theology at Magdeburg under its first Archbishop, Saint Adalbert, whose name he eventually took at his “confirmation”.

The first Czech occupant of the See of Prague, Adalbert was a man of vibrant energy and zeal and, much given to austerity, strove to reform the clergy, suppress abuses of various kinds and eliminate pagan practices, as also to spread Christianity throughout Bohemia and neighbouring Hungary. However, distressed by the superficial attitude evident towards the Faith, Adalbert left Prague in 982 for Rome, where he became a Benedictine monk.

Persuaded by the Pope he returned to Prague in 992; but disillusioned with the lack of change in the situation, he left Prague again in 995 only to learn of the brutal massacre of the Slavnik family and its supporters that followed. Now refused permission to return to his See, he obtained Papal release from his episcopal obligations and dedicated himself entirely to missionary activity, becoming a close friend and trusted adviser of the Roman Emperor, Otto III, on matters concerning the progressive Christianization of the Slavs.

True to the meaning of his baptismal name, Adalbert was to truly prove “a consolation to the army” of Jesus Christ. Invited by the Polish king, Boleslas I the Great, he set about organizing missionary work among the heathen Prussians on the Baltic coast where he was martyred in 997. His body, ransomed by Boleslas, was buried at Gniezno in Poland and later transferred to Prague in 1039.

Reflection: “Fortitude is a moral and supernatural virtue which makes a person generous and fearless in the pursuit of holiness, in spite of difficulties, fear, force and even death” (Blessed James Alberione).

Daily Readings

April 22, 2025

Tuesday in the Octave of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 2:36–41

[On the day of Pentecost,] Peter said to the Jews, “Let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptised, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 33:4–5, 18–19, 20 and 22

Response: His merciful love fills the earth. (Or: Alleluia)

The word of the Lord is faithful, 

and all his works to be trusted. 

The Lord loves justice and right, 

and his merciful love fills the earth.

Response: His merciful love fills the earth. (Or: Alleluia)

Yes, the Lord’s eyes are on those who fear him, 

who hope in his merciful love, 

to rescue their souls from death, 

to keep them alive in famine. 

Response: His merciful love fills the earth. (Or: Alleluia)

Our soul is waiting for the Lord. 

He is our help and our shield. 

May your merciful love be upon us, 

as we hope in you, O Lord. 

Response: His merciful love fills the earth. (Or: Alleluia)

Alleluia

Psalm 118:24

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad.

Gospel

John 20:11–18

At that time: Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and that he had said these things to her.

Reflection 

When Mary Magdalene initially encounters Jesus at the tomb, she doesn’t recognize him. However, when Jesus calls her by name, her recognition is immediate. This moment underscores the deeply personal nature of Jesus’ relationship with His followers. He knows each of them intimately and calls them by name. This recognition speaks of the idea that faith is not a generic, one-size-fits-all experience but a deeply personal and individualized connection with Christ. Today’s gospel passage offers a powerful reflection on the human experience of grief, the recognition of the risen Christ through a personal encounter, and the transformational impact of encountering the Living Lord. It reminds us of the personal and intimate nature of our faith in Jesus and the call to share our testimonies with others, spreading the message of hope, joy, and transformation that comes through Him.

Saint Soter - Pope, Martyr (-175)

Saint Soter was a native of Fondi near Gaeta in Italy. It was upon the death of Saint Anicetus in 166, that Soter was raised to the Papacy thus becoming the 12th in the succession of Popes. One of the rising heretical sects which this Pope had to combat during his 9-year reign was that of Montanus, a Phrygian, who taught that certain sins could never be forgiven and claimed that he was God’s messenger for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit. To Saint Soter is also attributed a precept that all the faithful, excepting only such as were guilty of a notable crime, should receive Holy Communion on Maundy Thursday.

A letter which the Pope sent to the persecuted Church at Corinth has unfortunately been lost, but an extant fragment of the reverent reply of Saint Dionysius, the Bishop of Corinth, is interesting for its reference to “the abundance which the Pope has sent to the saints, and the consolation which he has offered with words of comfort to the brethren who came to him, as a loving father would to his children.” “Today, the Lord’s day, we have read your letter and we will always wish to re-read it and to be admonished, the same as by the earlier letter which was sent to us by Clement.”

Saint Soter is believed to have suffered martyrdom in 175 under Marcus Aurelius.

Reflection: “Unless your justice abound more than that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:20).

Daily Readings

April 21, 2025

Monday in the Octave of Easter

Reading 1

Acts of the Apostles 2:14, 22–33

[On the day of Pentecost,] Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know – this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 16:1–2a and 5, 7–8, 9–10, 11

Response: Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. (Or: Alleluia)

Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord.

O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup;

you yourself who secure my lot.

Response: Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. (Or: Alleluia)

I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel,

who even at night directs my heart.

I keep the Lord before me always;

with him at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

Response: Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. (Or: Alleluia)

And so, my heart rejoices, my soul is glad;

even my flesh shall rest in hope.

For you will not abandon my soul to hell,

nor let your holy one see corruption.

Response: Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. (Or: Alleluia)

You will show me the path of life,

the fullness of joy in your presence,

at your right hand, bliss forever.

Response: Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. (Or: Alleluia)

Sequence  (optional)

Victimae paschali laudes

Christians, to the Paschal Victim
            Offer your thankful praises!
A Lamb the sheep redeems;
            Christ, who only is sinless,
            Reconciles sinners to the Father.
Death and life have contended in that combat stupendous:
            The Prince of life, who died, reigns immortal.
Speak, Mary, declaring
            What you saw, wayfaring.
“The tomb of Christ, who is living,
            The glory of Jesus’ resurrection;
bright angels attesting,
            The shroud and napkin resting.
Yes, Christ my hope is arisen;
            to Galilee he goes before you.”
Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining.
            Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning!
            Amen. Alleluia.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad.

Gospel

Matthew 28:8–15

At that time: The women departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

Reflection

Today, we celebrate the joy of the resurrection and bear witness to the transformative power of the risen Lord in our lives and the world. In today’s gospel passage, the women who witnessed the angel at the tomb and later encountered the risen Jesus provided testimony that confirmed the reality of His resurrection. Their firsthand accounts served as credible and powerful evidence. The women were eyewitnesses to the angel’s message and their encounter with the risen Jesus. Their testimony was based on what they had personally seen and experienced, making it a compelling and reliable account. Today’s gospel passage offers a rich context for reflection on the resurrection of Jesus. It highlights the emotional impact of encountering the risen Christ, the power of truth, the importance of testimony, and the challenges of opposition and rejection.

Saint Anselm - Bishop, Confessor, Doctor of the Church (1033-1109)

Born in Aosta in the Italian Alps, Saint Anselm came from the noble Lombard family. After the death of his mother, Ermenberga, a pious Burgundian woman, he fled home on account of his father’s violence and harshness. In 1060 he took the Benedictine habit at Bec (Normandy), where his illustrious countryman Blessed Lanfranc had started his famous school. Outstanding for his learning, he was within a span of three years made Prior and, after another 15 years, Abbot.

In 1093 he was made Archbishop of Canterbury, in the hope that he would tackle the encroachments of King William the Red. Reconciliation was effected in 1107, when the king relinquished his claim to investing Bishops and Abbots.

Gentle and self-effacing by nature, Anselm was unyielding on matters of principle. A man of fearless zeal, he strongly denounced the slave trade and staunchly defended the Filioque (“and from the Son”), a doctrine that indicated matter-of-factly that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father and the Son.

His thinking as evident in his philosophical and theological works, the Monologium and the Proslogium, with the ontological argument for the existence of God as also Cur Deus Homo (Why God Became Man), a dialogue with a non-Christian have had such a deep and abiding influence upon the Church’s philosophy and theology as to earn him the titles of “Father of Scholasticism” and “Doctor of the Universal Church”. Anselm died at Canterbury in 1109.

Reflection: “O Lord, our God, grant us the grace to desire you with our whole heart, that in desiring you we may seek and find you; that finding you we may love you, and loving you we may despise the sins from which you have redeemed us” (Saint Anselm).

Daily Readings

April 16, 2025

Wednesday of Holy Week

Reading 1

Isaiah 50:4–9a

The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backwards. I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God helps me; who will declare me guilty?

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 69:8–10, 21–22, 31 and 33–34

Response: In your great mercy, answer me, O Lord, for a time of your favour.

It is for you that I suffer taunts,

that shame has covered my face.

To my own kin I have become an outcast,

a stranger to the children of my mother.

Zeal for your house consumes me,

and taunts against you fall on me.

Response: In your great mercy, answer me, O Lord, for a time of your favour.

Taunts have broken my heart;

here I am in anguish.

I looked for solace, but there was none;

for consolers – not one could I find.

For food they gave me gall;

in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Response: In your great mercy, answer me, O Lord, for a time of your favour.

Then I will praise God’s name with a song;

I will glorify him with thanksgiving:

The poor when they see it will be glad,

and God-seeking hearts will revive;

for the Lord listens to the needy,

and does not spurn his own in their chains.

Response: In your great mercy, answer me, O Lord, for a time of your favour.

Verse Before the Gospel

Hail to you, our King; you alone are compassionate with our faults.

Gospel

Matthew 26:14–25

At that time: One of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him. Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where would you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, my time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’” And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover. When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve. And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.”

Reflection

Today’s gospel passage invites us to reflect on the themes of betrayal, temptation, loyalty, and the sovereignty of God. Judas was a member of Jesus’ inner circle. His decision to betray Jesus is a stark reminder that betrayal and unfaithfulness can come from unexpected sources, even from those who are closest to us. We are challenged today to examine our loyalty and commitment to Christ and consider the potential for betrayal in each of us. We need to examine our own choices, seeking faithfulness and integrity in our relationship with Christ and with others. In the end, we are reminded of the profound grace and forgiveness that Christ offers, even in the face of betrayal.

Saint Marie Bernarde Soubirous - Virgin (1844-1879)

The eldest of 9 children of Francoise [a miller] and Louise Soubirous, Sister Marie-Bernarde Soubirous, popularly known as Bernadette, was born at Nevers in Lourdes, at the foothills of the French Pyrenees.

In 1858, Bernadette, together with her sister Marie and a friend named Jeanne, were out  looking for firewood for the family hearth when, in a grotto of Massabielle along the river Gave, she beheld a vision of Our Lady which she described to her companions thus: “A Lady of unspeakable beauty, dressed in white, drawn in at the waist by a blue sash. She had a white veil on her head and falling down her back.... Her feet were bare and there was a rose on each of them. On her right arm, a rosary of white beads... whose chain was golden, all shining like the two roses on her feet.”

Mary, who appeared to and conversed with Bernadette on 17 other occasions, said: “I promise to make you happy, if not in this world, at least in the next” (18 February); “Penance! Penance! Penance!” (24 February); “Go and tell the Priests that a chapel must be built here” (27 February); “I am the Immaculate Conception” (25 March).

Bernadette endured much opposition from family, civil authorities and clergy alike, all of whom refused to believe her. The Bishop of Tarbes appointed a Commission of ecclesiastical and medical experts to inquire into the reality and nature of the apparitions and miracles that had occurred at Lourdes. Before the reports of the commission were even approved by the Bishop three years later, the fame of Lourdes had spread worldwide, its position as a place of pilgrimage firmly established!

In 1866, Bernadette commenced her novitiate at the motherhouse of the Sisters of Nevers, and in 1878, the year she made her perpetual vows, she renewed before the representatives of the Bishops of Tarbes and Nevers the depositions she had made 20 years before, regarding the grotto apparitions. Bernadette died of Asthma and TB in 1879 with a smile on her face at her impending encounter with her “Lady in White” and was canonized in 1933.

Reflection: “You must learn to love suffering. Our Lord gives his crown of thorns to his friends. Seek nothing better.” “I am happier in my bed with my crucifix, than a queen on her throne” (Saint Marie-Bernarde Soubirous).

Daily Readings

April 15, 2025

Tuesday of Holy Week

Reading 1

Isaiah 49:1–6

Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” But I said, “I have laboured in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense with my God.” And now the Lord says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him – for I am honoured in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength – he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Psalm

Psalm 71:1–2, 3–4a, 5–6ab, 15ab and 17

Response: My mouth will tell of your salvation, Lord.

In you, O Lord, I take refuge; 

let me never be put to shame. 

In your justice, rescue me, free me; 

incline your ear to me and save me. 

Response: My mouth will tell of your salvation, Lord.

Be my rock, my constant refuge, 

a mighty stronghold to save me, 

for you are my rock, my stronghold. 

My God, free me from the hand 

of the wicked. 

Response: My mouth will tell of your salvation, Lord.

It is you, O Lord, who are my hope, 

my trust, O Lord, from my youth. 

On you I have leaned from my birth; 

from my mother’s womb, 

you have been my help. 

Response: My mouth will tell of your salvation, Lord.

My mouth will tell of your justice,

and all the day long of your salvation, 

O God, you have taught me from my youth, 

and I proclaim your wonders still. 

Response: My mouth will tell of your salvation, Lord.

Verse Before the Gospel

Hail to you, our King, obedient to the Father; you were led to your crucifixion like a gentle lamb to the slaughter. 

Gospel

John 13:21–33, 36–38

At that time: [Jesus, reclining with his disciples,] was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus’ side, so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the money bag, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast”, or that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night. When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterwards.” Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the cock will not crow till you have denied me three times.

Reflection 

Today’s gospel passage invites us to reflect on themes of love, betrayal, discipleship, and trust. It calls us to emulate Christ’s sacrificial love in our interactions with others and to recognize that our love for one another is a powerful testimony of our faith in Him. It also emphasizes love as a defining mark of discipleship. It calls all Christians to love one another in a manner that reflects Christ’s sacrificial and selfless love. This love is not merely an internal feeling but is manifested through actions and service to others. Our love serves as a powerful testimony to the world of our identity as followers of Jesus.

Saint Benedict Joseph Labre - Confessor (1748-1783)

The eldest of 15 children of a well-to-do peasant of Amettes, near Boulogne in France, Benedict studied for some years with an uncle who was the Vicar of Erin until he realized that he lacked a priestly vocation and felt called to the cloister. However, he was successively turned away by the Carthusians, the Trappists and the Cistercians, by which time he was 22. 

With a pilgrimage to Rome began his unique life as “the holy tramp”—13 years of continuous pilgrimage to the great shrines of; maintaining a strict fast and abstinence, he begged along the way, sharing the little he received by way of food and alms with the poor and the needy. His baggage comprised only his New Testament, Breviary, “The Imitation of Christ” and some books of prayer. Wrapped in prayer and peace, he remained perennially cheerful. 

Seven years of pilgrimages later, after becoming a Franciscan tertiary, he stayed on in Rome but, having no cell or fixed abode, he took his modicum of sleep amidst the ruins of the Colosseum where, in the dead of night, he would implore God’s mercy with outstretched arms before the Stations of the Cross. He frequented churches that held the 40 Hours’ devotion and spent hours in ecstasy, thus becoming known as the “beggar of perpetual adoration”. 

When he died during Holy Week 1783, aged 35, such crowds poured into Santa Maria dei Monti where he “lay in state” that the Easter Mass could not be sung and the military was called in to maintain order. The hundred-and-thirty-six miraculous cures attributed to his intercession within the first three months lead to his canonization in 1883.

Reflection: “God is so good and merciful, that to obtain heaven it is sufficient to ask it of him from our hearts” (Saint Benedict Joseph Labre).

Daily Readings

April 14, 2025

Monday of Holy Week

Reading 1

Isaiah 42:1–7

Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law. Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it: “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 27:1, 2, 3, 13–14

Response: The Lord is my light and my salvation.

The Lord is my light and my salvation;

whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life;

whom should I dread?