I rejoiced because they said to me, “We will go up to the house of the LORD.”
And now we have set foot within your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem, built as a city with compact unity.
To it the tribes go up,
To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD.
In it are set up judgment seats, seats for the house of David.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
Some who had come down from Judea were instructing the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice, you cannot be saved.”
Because there arose no little dissension and debate by Paul and Barnabas with them, it was decided that Paul, Barnabas, and some of the others should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and presbyters about this question.
They were sent on their journey by the church, and passed through Phoenicia and Samaria telling of the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers.
When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, as well as by the apostles and the presbyters, and they reported what God had done with them.
But some from the party of the Pharisees who had become believers stood up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and direct them to observe the Mosaic law.”
The apostles and the presbyters met together to see about this matter.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
Peace is the simplicity of the Spirit, its serenity, the tranquility of the soul, the bond of love. Peace is order, harmony in all our being; It is a continuous joy which is born from the testimony of a good conscience; It is the holy joy of a heart in which God reigns. Peace is the path of perfection, or rather in peace is perfection. And the demon, who knows all this very well, makes all his efforts to make us lose our peace. We will never take a step towards the virtue of evangelical simplicity if we do not strive to live in a holy and unalterable peace. Sweet is the yoke of Jesus, slight its weight, which is why do not allow the enemy to insert themselves into our heart to tear away this peace. The enemy of our salvation knows too well that the peace of the heart is a secure sign of divine assistance, and that is why he does not let any opportunity to make us lose it. So let’s always be alert to this. Jesus will help us. Let us turn our thought to heaven, our true homeland, of which this world is only a poor image, and let’s strive with divine aid to keep, in all sad or joyful events, this serenity and this calm that befits real disciples of the Nazarene.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
Jesus said to his disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I.
And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe.
I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me,
but the world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded me.”
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD, and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom and speak of your might. Making known to men your might and the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages,
and your dominion endures through all generations. May my mouth speak the praise of the LORD, and may all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
In those days, some Jews from Antioch and Iconium arrived and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.
But when the disciples gathered around him, he got up and entered the city. On the following day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.
After they had proclaimed the good news to that city and made a considerable number of disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.
They strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”
They appointed presbyters for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord in whom they had put their faith.
Then they traveled through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia.
After proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia.
From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now accomplished.
And when they arrived, they called the church together and reported what God had done with them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
Then they spent no little time with the disciples.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
Jesus said to his disciples: “Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”
Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him, “Master, (then) what happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.
Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.
I have told you this while I am with you.
The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name–he will teach you everything and remind you of all that (I) told you.”
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name give glory, because of your mercy, because of your truth.
Why should the pagans say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in heaven; whatever he wills, he does.
Their idols are silver and gold, the handiwork of men. May you be blessed by the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
Heaven is the heaven of the LORD, but the earth he has given to the children of men.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
There was an attempt in Iconium by both the Gentiles and the Jews, together with their leaders, to attack and stone Paul and Barnabas.
they realized it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding countryside,
where they continued to proclaim the good news.
At Lystra there was a crippled man, lame from birth, who had never walked.
He listened to Paul speaking, who looked intently at him, saw that he had the faith to be healed,
and called out in a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet.” He jumped up and began to walk about.
When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they cried out in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in human form.”
They called Barnabas “Zeus” and Paul “Hermes,” because he was the chief speaker.
And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, for he together with the people intended to offer sacrifice.
The apostles Barnabas and Paul tore their garments when they heard this and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, “Men, why are you doing this? We are of the same nature as you, human beings. We proclaim to you good news that you should turn from these idols to the living God, ‘who made heaven and earth and sea and all that is in them.’
In past generations he allowed all Gentiles to go their own ways;
yet, in bestowing his goodness, he did not leave himself without witness, for he gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, and filled you with nourishment and gladness for your hearts.”
Even with these words, they scarcely restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
Jesus Himself has willed to confirm by a comparison our faith in His sanctifying influence: “I am the vine,” He said “You are the branches” (Jn 15:5). The branches have life, but they do not themselves provide the sap which nourishes them. They are constantly drawing their vitality from the sap which comes from the parent stem. So it is for the members of Christ: their good actions, their practice of the virtues, their spiritual progress, their sanctity, belong to them certainly; but it is the sap of grace coming from Christ which produces these wonders in them. “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me;” (Jn 15;4) In Jesus everything radiates life: His words, His actions, the different phases of His life. All the mysteries of His life on earth, those of His childhood, as well as those of His death, possess an ever efficacious power of sanctification. In Him the past is not effaced: “Christ dieth no more: death shall no more have dominion over Him.” (Rm 6:9) He never ceases to pour into our souls His supernatural life. But too often our inattention or lack of faith paralyzes the effects of His action in our souls. For us to live is to possess sanctifying grace; to make our thoughts, our affections, and all our activity emmanate from Christ.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
