May 30, 2021 - Solemnity of the Blessed Trinity Year B

 

First Reading - Dt 4:32-34.39-40

    Moses said to the people: “Ask now of the days of old,

before your time, ever since God created man upon the

earth. Ask from one end of the sky to the other: Did anything

so great ever happen before? Was it ever heard of? Did a

people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst

of fi re, as you did, and live? Or did any god venture to go

and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation,

by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, with strong

hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors, all of

which the Lord, your God, did for you in Egypt before your

very eyes?     This is why you must now know, and fi x in your heart,

that the Lord is God in the heavens above and on earth

below, and that there is no other. You must keep his statutes

and commandments that I enjoin on you today, that you

and your children after you may prosper, and that you

may have long life on the land which the Lord, your God, is

giving you forever.”

Responsorial Psalm Ps 33

R –Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own!

*  Upright is the word of the Lord, and all His works are

    trustworthy. He loves justice and right; of the kindness of

    the Lord the earth is full. R.

*  By the word of the Lord the heavens were made; by the

    breath of His mouth all their host. For He spoke, and it was

    made; He commanded, and it stood forth. R.

*  See, the eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear Him,

    upon those who hope for His kindness, to deliver them from

    death and preserve them in times of famine. R.

*  Our soul waits for the Lord, who is our help and our

    shield. May Your kindness, O Lord, be upon us who have put

    our hope in You. R.

Second Reading - Rom 8:14-17

    Brothers and sisters:

    Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

    For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back

into fear, but you received a Spirit of adoption, through

whom we cry, “Abba, Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness

with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children,

then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if

only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with

him.

Gospel - Acclamation Rv 1:8

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Glory to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; to

God who is, who was, and who is to come.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Gospel - Mt 28:16-20

    The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to

which Jesus had ordered them. When they all saw him, they

worshiped, but they doubted.

    Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in

heaven and on earth has been given to me.

    Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing

them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of

the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded

you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of time.”

May 23, 2021 - Solemnity of Pentecost Year B

 

First Reading  - Acts 2:1-11

    When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, the disciples

were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from

the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the

entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to

them tongues as of fi re, which parted and came to rest on

each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit

and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled

them to proclaim.

    Now there were devout Jews from every nation under

heaven staying in Jerusalem. 

    At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd, but they

were confused because each one heard them speaking in

his own language. They were astounded, and in amazement

they asked, “Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans?

Then how does each of us hear them in his native

language? We are Parthians, Medes and Elamites, inhabitants

of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and

Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of

Libya near Cyrene, as well as travelers from Rome, both

Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, yet

we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts

of God.”

Responsorial - Psalm Ps 104

R –Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth!

*  Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord, my God, you are great

    indeed! How manifold are your works, O Lord! The earth is

    full of your creatures. R.

*  May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord

    be glad in his works! Pleasing to him be my theme; I will be

    glad in the Lord. R.

*  If you take away their breath, they perish and return

    to their dust. When you send forth your spirit, they are created,

    and you renew the face of the earth. R.

Second Reading - 1 Cor 12:3-7. 12-13

    Brothers and sisters:

    No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy

Spirit. There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the

same Spirit; there are differ ent forms of service but the

same Lord; there are different workings but the same God

who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual

the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.

    As a body is one, though it has many parts, and all the

parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ.

For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether

Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all

given to drink of one Spirit.

Sequence

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

And from your celestial home

Shed a ray of light divine!

Come, Father of the poor!

Come, source of all our store!

Come, within our bosoms shine!

You, of comforters the best;

You, the soul’s most welcome guest;

Sweet refreshment here below.

In our labor, rest most sweet;

Grateful coolness in the heat;

Solace in the midst of woe.

O most blessed Light divine,

Shine within these hearts of yours,

And our inmost being fill!

Where you are not, we have naught,

Nothing good in deed or thought,

Nothing free from taint of ill.

Heal our wounds, our strength renew;

On our dryness, pour your dew;

Wash the stains of guilt away.

Bend the stubborn heart and will;

Melt the frozen, warm the chill;

Guide the steps that go astray.

On the faithful, who adore

And confess you, evermore

In your sevenfold gift descend.

Give them virtue’s sure reward;

Give them your salvation, Lord; 

Give them joys that never end.

Amen! Alleluia!

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and

kindle in them the fi re of your love.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Gospel - Jn 20:19-23

    On the evening of that first day of the week, when the

doors were locked, where the disciples were for fear of the

Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them,

 had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. 

The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

    Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the

Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said

this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy

Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose

sins you retain are retained.”

May 16, 2021 - Solemnity of the Ascension Year (B)

 

First Reading - Acts 1:1-11

    In the first book, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus

did and taught until the day he was taken up, after giving

instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he

had chosen.

    He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after

he had suffered, appearing to them during forty days and

speaking about the kingdom of God. While meeting with

them, he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but

to wait for “the promise of the Father about which you have

heard me speak; for John baptized with water, but in a few

days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

    When they had gathered together they asked him,

“Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to

Israel?”

    He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times

or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit

comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,

throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of

the earth.” When he had said this, as they were looking on,

he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.

    While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going,

suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside

them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there

looking at the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from

you into heaven, will return in the same way as you have seen

him going into heaven. ”

Responsorial Psalm Ps 47

R –God mounts his throne to shouts of joy; a blare of

trumpets for the Lord!

*  All you peoples, clap your hands, shout to God with cries

    of gladness. For the Lord, the Most High, the Awesome, is the

    great king over all the earth. R.

*  God mounts his throne amid shouts of joy; the Lord,

    amid trumpet blasts. Sing praise to God, sing praise; sing

    praise to our king, sing praise. R.

*  For king of all the earth is God; sing hymns of praise.

    God reigns over the nations, God sits upon his holy throne. R.

Second Reading - Eph 1:17-23

    Brothers and sisters: 

    May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, 

give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation, resulting in

knowledge of him. May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened,

that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his

call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the

 greatness of his power for us who believe.

    This power working in us is the same as the great might,

which he worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and

seating him at his right hand in the heavens, far above every

principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name

that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come.

He put all things beneath his feet and gave him as head over

all things to the Church, which is his body, the fullness of the

one who fills all things in every way.

Gospel Acclamation

All – Alleluia! Alleluia!

Go and teach all nations, says the Lord. I am with

you always, until the end of the world.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Gospel - Mk 16:15-20

    Jesus said to his disciples:

“Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every

creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.

Whoever does not believe will be condemned.

    These signs will accompany those who believe: in

my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new

languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and

if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They

will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

    So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken

up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God.

    But they went forth and preached everywhere, while

the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word

through accompanying signs.

May 9, 2021 - 6th Sunday of Easter Year (B)

 

First Reading - Acts 10:25-26. 34-35.44-48

    When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and, falling at

his feet, paid him homage. Peter, however, raised him up,

saying, “Get up. I myself am also a human being.”

    Then Peter proceeded to speak and said, “In truth, I

see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation,

whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to

him.” 

    While Peter was still speaking these things, the Holy

Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the word. The circumcised

believers who had accompanied Peter were astounded

that the gift of the Holy Spirit should have been

poured out on the Gentiles also, for they could hear them

speaking in tongues and glorifying God.

    Then Peter responded, “Can anyone withhold the water

for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy

Spirit even as we have?” He ordered them to be baptized

in the name of Jesus Christ. 

Responsorial - Psalm Ps 98

R –The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power!

*  Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done wondrous

    deeds. His right hand has won victory for him, his holy arm. R.

* The Lord has made his salvation known: in the sight of

    the nations he has revealed his justice. He has remembered his

    kindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel. R.

*  All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our

    God. Sing joyfully to the Lord, all you lands; break into song,

    sing praise. R.

Second Reading - 1 Jn 4:7-10

    Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of

God. Everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows

God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God

is love. 

    In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent

his only Son into the world so that we might have life

through him.

    In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he

loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.

Gospel - Acclamation Jn 14:23

Alleluia! Alleluia!

“Whoever loves me will keep my word,” says the

Lord, “and my Father will love him and we will come

to him.”

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Gospel - Jn 15:9-17

    Jesus said to his disciples:

“As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my

love.

    If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my

love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and

remain in his love.

    I have told you this so that

my joy may be in you and your joy might be complete.

    This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.

No one has greater love than this: to lay down one’s life

for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command

you. 

    I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know

what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I

have told you everything I have heard from my Father.

    It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and

appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that

whatever you ask the Father in

my name, he may give you.

    This I command you: love one another.”

May 2, 2021 - Fifth Sunday of Easter (B)

 

First Reading:  Acts 9:26-31

    When Saul arrived in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples,
but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he
was a disciple. 

    Then Barnabas took charge of him and brought him
to the apostles, and he reported to them how he had seen the
Lord, and that he had spoken to him, and how in Damascus
he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus.
    Saul moved about freely with them in Jerusalem, and
spoke out boldly in the name of the Lord. He also spoke and
debated with the Hellenists, but they tried to kill him. And
when the brothers learned of this, they took him down to
Caesarea and sent him on his way to Tarsus.
    The Church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria
was at peace. It was being built up and walked in the fear of the
Lord, and with the consolation of the Holy Spirit it grew in
numbers.

Responsorial Psalm - Ps 22

R –I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people

* I will fulfill my vows before those who fear the Lord. The

lowly shall eat their fi ll. They who seek the Lord shall praise

him: “May your hearts live forever!” R.

* All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to

the Lord. All the families of the nations shall bow down before

him. R.

* To him alone shall bow down all who sleep in the earth.

Before him shall bend all who go down into the dust. R.

* And to him my soul shall live. My descendants shall

serve him. Let the coming generation be told of the Lord, that

they may proclaim to a people yet to be born the justice he has

shown. R.

Second Reading - 1 Jn 3:18-24

    Children, let us love not just in word or speech but in

deed and truth. Now this is how we shall know that we belong

to the truth and reassure our hearts before him in whatever

our hearts condemn, for God is greater than our hearts and

knows everything.

    Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence 

in God and receive from him whatever we ask, because

we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.

    And his commandment is this: we should believe in the

name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as

he commanded us. Those who keep his commandments remain

in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he

remains in us is from the Spirit he gave us.

Gospel Acclamation - Jn 15:4.5

Alleluia! Alleluia!

“Remain in me as I remain in you,” says the Lord.

“Whoever remains in me will bear much fruit.”

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Gospel - Jn 15:1-8

    Jesus said to his disciples:

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He

takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and

every one that does, he prunes so that it bears more fruit.

    You are already pruned because of the word that I

spoke to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a

branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the

vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me.

    I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in

me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you

can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be

thrown out like a branch and wither. People will gather them

and throw them into a fi re and they will be burned.

    If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask

for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is

my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become

my disciples.”

Fourth Sunday of Easter (Year B) April 25, 2021

 

First Reading - Acts 4:8-12

    Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said: “Leaders of the people and Elders: If we are being examined today about a good deed done to a cripple, namely, by what means he was saved, then all of you and all the people of Israel should know that it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene whom you 
crucified, and whom God raised from the dead. It is in his name that this man stands before you healed. 
    He is ‘the stone rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.’ There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.”

Responsorial Psalm - Ps 118 

R –The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone!

* Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes. R. 

* I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me and have been my savior. The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. By the Lord has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes. R. 

* Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; we bless you from the house of the Lord. I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me and have been my savior. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his kindness endures forever. R. 

Second Reading - 1 Jn 3:1-2

    Beloved: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called children of God. Yet so we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 

    Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

Gospel Acclamation - Jn 10:14 

All – Alleluia! Alleluia! 

 “I am the good shepherd,” says the Lord; “I know my sheep, and mine know me.” 

 Alleluia! Alleluia! 

Gospel - Jn 10:11-18

    Jesus said: “I am the Good Shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep. 

    I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one fl ock, one shepherd.     This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again. This command I have received from my Father.” 

Third Sunday of Easter (Year B) April 18, 2021

 

First Reading - Acts 3:13-15.17-19

    Peter said to the people: “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied in Pilate’s presence when he had decided to release him. 
    You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. The Author of Life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead. Of this we are witnesses.         
    Now I know, brothers, that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did; but God has thus brought to fulfillment what he had announced beforehand through the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer. 
    Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away.” 

Responsorial Psalm - Ps 4 

R –Lord, let your face shine on us!

* When I call, answer me, O my just God, you who relieve me when I am in distress; have pity on me, and hear my prayer! R. 

* Know that the Lord does wonders for his faithful one; the Lord will hear me when I call upon him. R. 

* O Lord, let the light of your countenance shine upon us! You put gladness into my heart. R. 

* As soon as I lie down, I fall peacefully asleep, for you alone, O Lord, bring security to my dwelling. R. 

Second Reading - 1 Jn 2:1-5

    My children, I am writing this to you so that you may not commit sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous One. He is expiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world. 

    The way we may be sure that we know him is to keep his commandments. Those who say, “I know him,” but do not keep his commandments are liars, and the truth is not in them. 

    But whoever keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him.

Gospel Acclamation - Lk 24:32 

All –Alleluia! Alleluia! 

Lord Jesus, open the Scriptures to us; make  speak to us. 

 Alleluia! Alleluia! 

Gospel - Lk 24:35-48

    The two disciples recounted what had taken place on the way, and how Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of bread. 

    While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.” And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of baked fish. He took it and ate it in front of them. 

    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 in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And he said to them, “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”