Bible Diary

Daily Reading

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Easter

LECTIONARY
281

FIRST READING

ACTS 12:24—13:5A

The word of God continued to spread and grow.

After Barnabas and Saul completed their relief mission,
they returned to Jerusalem,
taking with them John, who is called Mark.

Now there were in the Church at Antioch prophets and teachers:
Barnabas, Symeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene,
Manaen who was a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,
“Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul
for the work to which I have called them.”
Then, completing their fasting and prayer,
they laid hands on them and sent them off.

So they, sent forth by the Holy Spirit,
went down to Seleucia
and from there sailed to Cyprus.
When they arrived in Salamis,
they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues.

PSALM

PS 67:2-3, 5, 6 AND 8

Response: O God, let all the nations praise you!

May God have pity on us and bless us;
may he let his face shine upon us.
So may your way be known upon earth;
among all nations, your salvation.

May the nations be glad and exult
because you rule the peoples in equity;
the nations on the earth you guide.

May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you!
May God bless us,
and may all the ends of the earth fear him!

GOSPEL

JN 12:44-50

Jesus cried out and said,
“Whoever believes in me believes not only in me
but also in the one who sent me,
and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me.
I came into the world as light,
so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness.
And if anyone hears my words and does not observe them,
I do not condemn him,
for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world.
Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words
has something to judge him: the word that I spoke,
it will condemn him on the last day,
because I did not speak on my own,
but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and speak.
And I know that his commandment is eternal life.
So what I say, I say as the Father told me.”

Daily Reflection

Easter is a season of responding: we are called to not only celebrate the resurrection but also to put into action the Gospel message.

The first reading tells us that Paul and Barnabas have returned from a mission. There was a famine in Judea and the community had responded by sending food to those who were without. For them, belonging to the body of Christ was a lived action. Because they listened and responded to the Word of God, the Holy Spirit was able to work in and through the early Christians. In the Gospel, Jesus tells us that this is what we, too, must do.

Jesus is the light of truth that reveals the darkness of sin, ignorance, and unbelief, and we must stand firmly for this truth, or risk losing heaven.

When we profess ‘alternative facts’ instead of the absolute black and white of truth, we promote the structure of sin that enables injustice, oppression, profit from evil, violence, and death. Truth is an undeniable absolute. There are no shades of grey.

Do we profess Jesus through word and action?