Thursday of the Seventh week of Easter

Acts of the Apostles

22,30.23,6-11.

Wishing to determine the truth about why Paul was being accused by the Jews, the commander freed him and ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to convene. Then he brought Paul down and made him stand before them.
Paul was aware that some were Sadducees and some Pharisees, so he called out before the Sanhedrin, "My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees; (I) am on trial for hope in the resurrection of the dead."
When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the group became divided.
For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection or angels or spirits, while the Pharisees acknowledge all three.
A great uproar occurred, and some scribes belonging to the Pharisee party stood up and sharply argued, "We find nothing wrong with this man. Suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?"
The dispute was so serious that the commander, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, ordered his troops to go down and rescue him from their midst and take him into the compound.
The following night the Lord stood by him and said, "Take courage. For just as you have borne witness to my cause in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness in Rome."

Psalms

16(15),1-2a.5.7-8.9-10.11.

Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge;
I say to the LORD, "My Lord are you."
O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot.
I bless the LORD who counsels me;
even in the night my heart exhorts me.
I set the LORD ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
my body, too, abides in confidence
because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.
You will show me the path to life,
fullness of joys in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John

17,20-26.

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: "I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.
And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one,
I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me.
Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me.
I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them."

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St. Bede the Venerable(Priest & Doctor of the Church (673-735))

SAINT BEDE THE VENERABLE Priest & Doctor of the Church (673-735) Venerable Bede is a saint from the Anglo-Saxon Church and the first English historian. He was consecrated to God at the age of 7 and entrusted to the care of St. Benedict Biscop at Wearmouth. He became a monk in the sister-house of Jarrow; and there trained no less than six hundred scholars, whom his piety, learning and sweet disposition had gathered around him. To the toils of teaching and the exact observance of his rule, he added long hours of private prayer and the study of every branch of science and literature. He was familiar with Latin, Greek and Hebrew. In the treatise that he compiled for his scholars, still extant, he threw together all that the world had stored in history, chronology, physics, music, philosophy, poetry, arithmetic and medicine. In his Ecclesiastical History, he has left us the beautiful lives of Anglo-Saxon Saints and holy Fathers, while his commentaries on the Holy Scriptures are still in use by the Church. It was to the study of the Divine Word that he devoted the whole energy of his soul; and at times his compunction was so overpowering that his voice would break with weeping. Straining at the limits of human intellect, Bede toiled to translate scripture into his native tongue. During his later years, he suffered from constant illness, yet he worked and prayed up to his last hour. Venerable Bede was employed in translating the Gospel of St. John from Greek up to the hour of his death, which took place on Ascension Day, 735. "He spent that day joyfully," writes one of his scholars. In the evening, the boy attendeding him said, "Dear master, there is yet one sentence unwritten." He answered, "Write it quickly." Presently the youth said, "Now it is written." He replied, "Good! Thou hast said the truth-consummatum est. Take my head and face me toward the old praying-place, so I may call upon my Father." And so, on the floor of his cell, he sang, "Glory be to the Father, Son and Holy Ghost;" and just as he said "Holy Ghost," he breathed his last, and went to God in eternity.

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St. Gregory VII(Pope (c. 1013-1085))

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SAINT GREGORY VII Pope (c. 1013 - 1085) Gregory VII, by name Hildebrand, was born in Tuscany around 1013. Educated in Rome, he went to France and became a monk at Cluny. When he returned, he filled high trusts of the Holy See for many years. Three great evils then afflicted the Church: simony, concubinage and the custom of receiving investiture from lay hands. Against these three corruptions, Gregory never ceased to contend. As legate of Victor II, he condemned simony at a council in Lyons. When Gregory was elected Pope in 1073, he immediately ordered the clergy to reject secular influence on Church affairs. Rome was then in rebellion through the ambition of the Cenci. They laid hands on him at Christmas during the midnight Mass, wounded him and cast him into prison. The following day, he was rescued by the people. Next arose Gregory's conflict with Henry IV, Emperor of Germany. After Henry relapsed into simony and pretended to depose the Pope, Gregory excommunicated him. Henry's subjects then turned against him and he sought absolution from the Pope at Canossa.Unfortunately, Henry's insincerity and ambitiousness got the better of him. He set up an antipope and besieged Gregory in the castle of St. Angelo.The aged pontiff was obliged to flee. On May 25, 1085, around the 72nd year of his life and the twelfth of his pontificate, Gregory went to his eternal reward. The miracles proceeding from his intercession and proof of his heroic virtues saw him canonized in 1748.

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Bl. Mykola Tsehelskyi(Priest & Martyr (1896-1951))

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Blessed Mykola Tsehelskyi Greek-Catholic Priest and Martyr (1896-1951) Mykola Tsehelskyi was born on December 17, 1896, in the village of Strusiv, Ternopil District, Ukraine. In 1923, he completed his course in the theological faculty at Lviv University. On April 5, 1925, Metropolitan Andriy Sheptytsky ordained him to the priesthood. Fr. Mykola was a zealous priest who took care of the spirituality, education and welfare of his parishioners. He was the parish priest in the village of Soroko, where he built a new church. After World War II, the era of total repressions began. Fr. Mykola personally experienced intimidation, threats and beatings. On October 28, 1946, Fr. Mykola was arrested. On January 27, 1947, he was sentenced to ten years in prison. Although he had a wife, two sons and two daughters, he was deported to labor camps in Mordovia. He lived in extremely horrid conditions, in a camp that was notoriously strict and cruel. Fr. Mykola suffered from severe pain and died a martyr on May 25, 1951. Miracles from his intercession and proof of his heroic virtues show that he gained the beatific vision. He was beatified with twenty-four other Greek-Catholics by Pope John Paul II on June 27, 2001, at Lliv.

misalcatolico.com

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Category: Mass by Year / Catholic Missal 2023 / Catholic Missal of may 2023