9 May 2026 (Saturday) | Saturday of the 5th week of Eastertide | Easter Weekday | Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter

9 May 2026 (Saturday)

Saturday of the 5th week of Eastertide.

Easter Weekday.
Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter.

First Reading: Acts 16: 1-10
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 100:1b-2, 3, 5 ℟. 2a or: ℟. Alleluia.
Gospel acclamation: Alleluia: Colossians 3: 1
Gospel: John 15: 18-21
Liturgical year 2026 (Cycle A/II)
Liturgical color: White or Gold.

The Word of the day is a daily podcast featuring the readings in the Vatican liturgical calendar accompanied by a commentary from one of the Popes of recent times.

Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:

First Reading : Acts 16:1‐10

(Reader) A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

From Cilicia Paul went to Derbe, and then on to Lystra. Here there was a disciple called Timothy, whose mother was a Jewess who had become a believer; but his father was a Greek. The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of Timothy, and Paul, who wanted to have him as a travelling companion, had him circumcised. This was on account of the Jews in the locality where everyone knew his father was a Greek.
  As they visited one town after another, they passed on the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, with instructions to respect them.
  So the churches grew strong in the faith, as well as growing daily in numbers.
  They travelled through Phrygia and the Galatian country, having been told by the Holy Spirit not to preach the word in Asia. When they reached the frontier of Mysia they thought to cross it into Bithynia, but as the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them, they went through Mysia and came down to Troas.
  One night Paul had a vision: a Macedonian appeared and appealed to him in these words, ‘Come across to Macedonia and help us.’ Once he had seen this vision we lost no time in arranging a passage to Macedonia, convinced that God had called us to bring them the Good News.

(Reader) The Word of the Lord.
(All) Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 100:1b-2, 3, 5 ℟. 2a or: ℟. Alleluia.

Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth.
  Serve the Lord with gladness.
  Come before him, singing for joy.
Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth.
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.
Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
Indeed, how good is the Lord,
  eternal his merciful love.
  He is faithful from age to age.
Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth.
or
Alleluia!

Gospel acclamation: Alleluia: Colossians 3: 1
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

(1. Since you have been raised up to be with Christ, you must look for the things that are above, where Christ is, sitting at God's right hand. 2. Let your thoughts be on things above, not on the things that are on the earth, 3. because you have died, and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. 4. But when Christ is revealed -- and he is your life-you, too, will be revealed with him in glory.)

Gospel : John 15:18‐21

(Reader) A reading from the holy Gospel according to John.
(All) Glory to you, O Lord.

Jesus said to his disciples:
‘If the world hates you,
remember that it hated me before you.
If you belonged to the world,
the world would love you as its own;
but because you do not belong to the world,
because my choice withdrew you from the world,
therefore the world hates you.
Remember the words I said to you: A servant is not greater than his master.
If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too;
if they kept my word, they will keep yours as well.
But it will be on my account that they will do all this,
because they do not know the one who sent me.’

(Reader) The Gospel of the Lord.
(All) Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

For our reflection today:

The words of the Popes.

Especially while He was bidding farewell to the Apostles, Jesus, spoke of the world many times (see Jn 15:18-21). And here He says: “If the world hates you, know that it hated me before you” (v. 18). He speaks clearly of the hatred that the world had with Jesus and will have with us. And in the prayer that He says at table with the disciples during the Last Supper, He asks the Father not to take His disciples out of the world, but to defend them from the spirit of the world (see 17:15). I think we can ask ourselves: What is the spirit of the world? What is this worldliness that is capable of hating, of destroying Jesus and His disciples, and more, of corrupting them and of corrupting the Church? Worldliness is a culture. It is a culture of the transitory, a culture of appearances, of maquillage, a culture of “today yes, tomorrow no; tomorrow yes and today no”. It has superficial values. A culture that does not know fidelity, because it always changes according to circumstances, everything is negotiable. This is the worldly culture, the culture of worldliness. And Jesus insists on defending us from this and He prays that the Father might defend us from this culture of worldliness. (Pope Francis, Homily Santa Marta, 16 May 2020)

MORNING MASS IN THE CHAPEL OF THEDOMUS SANCTAE MARTHAE
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS

"Christ died and rose for us: the only medicine against the worldly spirit"

Saturday, 16 May 2020

Introduction
Let us pray today for people who are burying the dead during the pandemic. To bury the dead is one of the works of mercy and, naturally, it is not something pleasant. Let us pray for them because they also risk their lives and risk being infected.

Homily

Especially while He was bidding farewell to the Apostles, Jesus, spoke of the world many times (see Jn 15:18-21). And here He says: “If the world hates you, know that it hated me before you” (v. 18). He speaks clearly of the hatred that the world had with Jesus and will have with us. And in the prayer that He says at table with the disciples during the Last Supper, He asks the Father not to take His disciples out of the world, but to defend them from the spirit of the world (see 17:15).

I think we can ask ourselves: What is the spirit of the world? What is this worldliness that is capable of hating, of destroying Jesus and His disciples, and more, of corrupting them and of corrupting the Church? What is this spirit of the world, what is this? It is good for us to think about it. It is a style of life, worldliness. But someone might think that worldliness is about partying, living life as a party…No, no.

Worldliness may be this, but fundamentally this is not so. Worldliness is a culture. It is a culture of the transitory, a culture of appearances, of maquillage, a culture of “today yes, tomorrow no; tomorrow yes and today no”. It has superficial values. A culture that does not know fidelity, because it always changes according to circumstances, everything is negotiable. This is the worldly culture, the culture of worldliness. And Jesus insists on defending us from this and He prays that the Father might defend us from this culture of worldliness. It is a “use it and throw it away” culture according to whatever suits you. It is a culture without faithfulness, it has no roots. But it is a way of life, even a way of life for many who say that they are Christians. They are Christians, but they are worldly.

In the parable of the seed that falls to the earth, Jesus says that the preoccupations of the world – that is, of worldliness – suffocate the Word of God, they do not allow it to grow (see Lk 8:14). And Paul to the Galatians says: “You were slaves of the world, of worldliness” (see Gal 4:3). It always, always hits me when I read the last pages of Henri de Lubac’s book Splendor of the Church, the last three pages, where he speaks specifically about a worldly spirituality. And he says it is the worst of evils that can befall the Church; and he is not exaggerating, because then he talks about some terrible evils. And this is the worst: worldly spirituality, because it is a way of interpreting life, it is a way of life, even a way of living Christianity. And to survive in the face of the preaching of the Gospel, the person hates, kills.

When we say that the martyrs are killed in hatred of the faith, yes, it is true for many, this hatred was over a theological problem; but this is not so for the majority. In the majority [of cases] it is worldliness that hates the faith and kills them, just as they did with Jesus.

It is curious: “But Father”, someone might say to me, “worldliness is a superficial way of life…” Let us not deceive ourselves! Nothing about worldliness is superficial! It has deep roots, deep roots. It is like a chameleon, it changes, it comes and goes according to circumstances, but the substance is the same: a style of life that enters everywhere, including in the Church. Worldliness, the worldly hermeneutic, maquillage, everything can be made up to appear a certain way.

The Apostle Paul went to Athens, and he remained struck at seeing many monuments to the gods in the Areopagus. And he thought about speaking about this: “You are very religious people, I see this… That altar to the ‘unknown god’ has attracted my attention. I know Him and I have come to tell you who He is”. And he began to preach the Gospel. But when he arrived at the cross and resurrection they were scandalized and they went away (see Acts 17:22-33). There is one thing that worldliness does not tolerate: the scandal of the Cross. It does not tolerate that. And the only medicine for worldliness is Christ who died and rose for us; scandal and foolishness (see 1 Cor 1:23).

The apostle John in his First Letter picks up the theme of the world because of this. He says: “This is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith (1 Jn 5:4). The only thing: faith in Jesus Christ, who died and rose. This does not mean being fanatics. This does not mean neglecting to enter into dialogue with all people, no, but with the conviction of faith, beginning with the scandal of the Cross, of the foolishness of Christ and of Christ’s victory. “This is our victory”, John says, “our faith.”

Let us ask the Holy Spirit in these last days, during the Novena to the Holy Spirit, in the last days of the Easter Season as well, for the grace of discerning what worldliness is, what the Gospel is, and that we not allow ourselves to be deceived, because the world hates us, the world hated Jesus and Jesus prayed so that the Father would defend us from the spirit of the world (see Jn 17:15).

Jonathan Fabian Ginunggil,
Pelayan Atasan Tertinggi / Most High Servant,
Yesus, Maria, Yusuf Pelayanan Kasih / Jesus, Mary, Joseph Ministry of Love 
(Blessed and Saints and the Nine Choirs of Angels)

My vocation is Blessed and Saints.

"I am the most humble of all the Saints in Heaven" Mary, Mother of God."

"I am the handmaid of the Lord, said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me."

Mother Mary is the most humble Saint in Heaven and she is also the Mother of God for us all
(Luke 1:38)