Monday of the Fourth week of Easter

Acts of the Apostles

The Apostles and the brothers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God.
So when Peter went up to Jerusalem the circumcised believers confronted him,
saying, "You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them."
Peter began and explained it to them step by step, saying,
"I was at prayer in the city of Joppa when in a trance I had a vision, something resembling a large sheet coming down, lowered from the sky by its four corners, and it came to me.
Looking intently into it, I observed and saw the four-legged animals of the earth, the wild beasts, the reptiles, and the birds of the sky.
I also heard a voice say to me, 'Get up, Peter. Slaughter and eat.'
But I said, 'Certainly not, sir, because nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.'
But a second time a voice from heaven answered, 'What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.'
This happened three times, and then everything was drawn up again into the sky.
Just then three men appeared at the house where we were, who had been sent to me from Caesarea.
The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man's house.
He related to us how he had seen (the) angel standing in his house, saying, 'Send someone to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter,
who will speak words to you by which you and all your household will be saved.'
As I began to speak, the holy Spirit fell upon them as it had upon us at the beginning,
and I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, 'John baptized with water but you will be baptized with the holy Spirit.'
If then God gave them the same gift he gave to us when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to hinder God?"
When they heard this, they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying, "God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too."

Psalms

As the hind longs for the running waters,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
Athirst is my soul for God, the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
Send forth your light and your fidelity;
they shall lead me on
And bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling place.
Then will I go in to the altar of God,
the God of my gladness and joy;
Then will I give you thanks upon the harp,
O God, my God!

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John

Jesus said: "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.
But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice.
But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers."
Although Jesus used this figure of speech, they did not realize what he was trying to tell them.
So Jesus said again, "Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep.
All who came (before me) are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.
A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly."

St. Soter(Pope and martyr (+ 175))

SAINT SOTER Pope & Martyr (+ 175) St. Soter was consecrated pope upon the death of St. Anicetus in 166. By the sweetness of his discourses, Pope Soter comforted all persons with the tenderness of a father. He also assisted the indigent with liberal alms, especially those who suffered for the faith. According to the custom of his predecessors, Pope Soter liberally extended his charities to remote churches. In thanksgiving, St. Dionysius of Corinth writes that Pope Soter's letter was read during Sunday assemblies, together with the letter of Pope St. Clement I. Pope Soter steadfastly opposed the heresy of Montanus. He governed the Church until he was martyred in 175. He is included in the list of the Church's first thirty-one popes, all of whom are martyrs.

St. Leonides(Martyr (+ 202))

SAINT LEONIDES Martyr (+ 202) The Emperor Severus, in the year 202, during the tenth year of his reign, raised a bloody persecution. The whole empire was filled with martyrs, but especially in Egypt. One renowned martyr, whose triumph ennobled and edified the city of Alexandria, was Leonides, the father of the great Origen. Leonides was a Christian philosopher learned in both the profane and sacred sciences. He had seven sons and raised them with abundant care. The eldest son, Origen, took after his father with a love for learning and piety. Leonides loved his children with paternal affection, seeing each as a temple of the Holy Spirit. When the persecution raged in Alexandria under Lætus, the governor of Egypt, Leonides was cast into prison. Origen was 17 and zealous for the Gospel. He was spared martyrdom in accordance with God's wisdom. Cautioned and impelled by his mother toward temperance and daring rather than compulsion and recklessness, Origen chose to support his family and his mother. He then wrote to his father in very moving terms, strongly exhorting him to look upon the crown that was offered. Leonides was beheaded for the faith in 202. His estates and goods were confiscated and his widow was left with seven children. Divine Providence was both her comfort and support; and the Lord worked great signs through her family and children. Origen's works inspired Christian science and formed Christian thought and doctrine for centuries.

St. Teodore of Sykeon()

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Category: Mass by Year / Catholic Missal 2024 / Catholic Missal of april 2024