30 May 2025 (Friday)
Easter Weekday.
Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:
First Reading: Acts 18: 9-18
And the Lord said to Paul in the night, by a vision: Do not fear, but speak; and hold not thy peace. Because I am with thee: and no man shall set upon thee, to hurt thee; for I have much people in this city. And he stayed there a year and six months, teaching among them the word of God. But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat, Saying: This man persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law. And when Paul was beginning to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews: If it were some matter of injustice, or an heinous deed, O Jews, I should with reason bear with you. But if they be questions of word and names, and of your law, look you to it: I will not be judge of such things. And he drove them from the judgment seat. And all laying hold on Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, beat him before the judgment seat; and Gallio cared for none of those things. But Paul, when he had stayed yet many days, taking his leave of the brethren, sailed thence into Syria (and with him Priscilla and Aquila), having shorn his head in Cenchrae: for he had a vow.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 47: 2-3, 4-5, 6-7
O clap your hands, all ye nations: shout unto God with the voice of Joy. For the Lord is high, terrible: a great king over all the earth.
He hath subdued the people under us; and the nations under our feet. He hath chosen for us his inheritance the beauty of Jacob which he hath loved.
God is ascended with jubilee, and the Lord with the sound of trumpet. Sing praises to our God, sing ye: sing praises to our king, sing ye.
Gospel: John 16: 20-23
Amen, amen I say to you, that you shall lament and weep, but the world shall rejoice; and you shall be made sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in labour, hath sorrow, because her hour is come; but when she hath brought forth the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. So also you now indeed have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice; and your joy no man shall take from you. And in that day you shall not ask me any thing. Amen, amen I say to you: if you ask the Father any thing in my name, he will give it you.
For our reflection today:
I should like to invite all of us to renew our firm confidence in the Lord, to entrust ourselves like children in God’s arms, certain that those arms always hold us, enabling us to press forward each day, even when the going is rough. I want everyone to feel loved by that God who gave his Son for us and who has shown us his infinite love. I want everyone to feel the joy of being a Christian. In one beautiful morning prayer, it says: "I adore you, my God, and I love you with all my heart. I thank you for having created me and made me a Christian". Yes, we are happy for the gift of faith; it is our most precious possession, which no one can take from us! Let us thank the Lord for this daily, in prayer and by a consistent Christian life. God loves us, but he also expects us to love him! (Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, 27 February 2013)
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