DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION

MAY 21, 2025

WEDNESDAY OF THE FIFTH WEEK OF EASTER

(OPTIONAL MEMORIAL OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER MAGALLANES, PRIEST, AND COMPANIONS, MARTYRS)

FIRST READING

ACTS 15:1-6 OR (REVELATION 7:9-17)

1 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." 2 And when 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. 3 So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoeni'cia and Sama'ria, reporting the conversion of the Gentiles, and they gave great joy to all the brethren. 4 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. 5 But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up, and said, "It is necessary to circumcise them, and to charge them to keep the law of Moses." 6 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.

The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM

PSALMS 121(122):1-5 OR (PSALMS 34:2-9)

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

I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the LORD!”
Our feet have been standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem!

R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Or
R. Alleluia.

Jerusalem, built as a city
which is bound firmly together,
to which the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD.

R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Or
R. Alleluia.

As was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
There thrones for judgment were set,
the thrones of the house of David.

GOSPEL

Abide in me, and I in you

JOHN 15:1-8 OR (JOHN 12:24-26)

1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser. 2 Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. 4 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. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.

The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION

DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS

Cleansed by Jesus' word, by Basil the Great, 329-379 A.D.

"So the world life enslaved by carnal passions - can no more receive the grace of the Spirit than a weak eye can look at the light of a sunbeam. First the Lord cleansed his disciples' lives through his teaching, and then he gave them the ability to both see and contemplate the Spirit. He says, 'You are already made clean by the word I have spoken to you' (John 15:3). Therefore 'the world cannot receive him, because it neither sees him nor knows him... You know him, for he dwells with you' (John 14:17). Isaiah says, 'He who settled the earth and the things in it; and gives breath to the people on it, and Spirit to them that tread on it' (Isaiah 42:5). From this we can learn that those who trample earthly things and rise above them become worthy to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

(excerpt from ON THE HOLY SPIRIT 22.53)
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Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.