Daily Readings

The crowd in Philippi joined in the attack on Paul and Silas,and the magistrates had them strippedand ordered them to be beaten with rods.After inflicting many blows on them,they threw them into prisonand instructed the jailer to guard them securely.When he received these instructions, he put them in the innermost celland secured their feet to a stake.About midnight, while Paul and Silas were prayingand singing hymns to God as the prisoners listened,there was suddenly such a severe earthquakethat the foundations of the jail shook;all the doors flew open, and the chains of all were pulled loose. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open,he drew his sword and was about to kill himself,thinking that the prisoners had escaped.But Paul shouted out in a loud voice,"Do no harm to yourself; we are all here."He asked for a light and rushed in and,trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas.Then he brought them out and said,"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesusand you and your household will be saved."So they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house.He took them in at that hour of the night and bathed their wounds;then he and all his family were baptized at once.He brought them up into his house and provided a mealand with his household rejoiced at having come to faith in God. 

R. (7c) Your right hand saves me, O Lord.or:R. Alleluia.I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,for you have heard the words of my mouth;in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;I will worship at your holy temple,and give thanks to your name.R. Your right hand saves me, O Lord.or:R. Alleluia.Because of your kindness and your truth,you have made great above all thingsyour name and your promise.When I called, you answered me;you built up strength within me.R. Your right hand saves me, O Lord.or:R. Alleluia.Your right hand saves me.The LORD will complete what he has done for me;your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;forsake not the work of your hands.R. Your right hand saves me, O Lord.or:R. Alleluia. 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.I will send to you the Spirit of truth, says the Lord;he will guide you to all truth.R. Alleluia, alleluia. 

Jesus said to his disciples:"Now I am going to the one who sent me,and not one of you asks me, 'Where are you going?'But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts.But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go.For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you.But if I go, I will send him to you.And when he comes he will convict the worldin regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation:sin, because they do not believe in me; righteousness, because I am going to the Fatherand you will no longer see me;condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned." 

We set sail from Troas, making a straight run for Samothrace,and on the next day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi,a leading city in that district of Macedonia and a Roman colony.We spent some time in that city.On the sabbath we went outside the city gate along the riverwhere we thought there would be a place of prayer.We sat and spoke with the women who had gathered there.One of them, a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth,from the city of Thyatira, a worshiper of God, listened,and the Lord opened her heart to pay attentionto what Paul was saying.After she and her household had been baptized,she offered us an invitation,"If you consider me a believer in the Lord,come and stay at my home," and she prevailed on us. 

R. (see 4a) The Lord takes delight in his people.or:R. Alleluia.Sing to the LORD a new songof praise in the assembly of the faithful.Let Israel be glad in their maker,let the children of Zion rejoice in their king.R. The Lord takes delight in his people.or:R. Alleluia.Let them praise his name in the festive dance,let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.For the LORD loves his people,and he adorns the lowly with victory.R. The Lord takes delight in his people.or:R. Alleluia.Let the faithful exult in glory;let them sing for joy upon their couches.Let the high praises of God be in their throats.This is the glory of all his faithful. Alleluia.R. The Lord takes delight in his people.or:R. Alleluia. 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.The Spirit of truth will testify to me, says the Lord,and you also will testify.R. Alleluia, alleluia. 

Jesus said to his disciples: "When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father,the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father,he will testify to me.And you also testify,because you have been with me from the beginning."I have told you this so that you may not fall away.They will expel you from the synagogues;in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills youwill think he is offering worship to God.They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me.I have told you this so that when their hour comesyou may remember that I told you." 

Philip went down to the city of Samariaand proclaimed the Christ to them.With one accord, the crowds paid attention to what was said by Philipwhen they heard it and saw the signs he was doing.For unclean spirits, crying out in a loud voice,came out of many possessed people,and many paralyzed or crippled people were cured.There was great joy in that city.

Now when the apostles in Jerusalemheard that Samaria had accepted the word of God,they sent them Peter and John,who went down and prayed for them,that they might receive the Holy Spirit,for it had not yet fallen upon any of them;they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.Then they laid hands on themand they received the Holy Spirit.

R. (1) Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.or:R. Alleluia.Shout joyfully to God, all the earth,sing praise to the glory of his name;proclaim his glorious praise.Say to God, “How tremendous are your deeds!”R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.or:R. Alleluia.“Let all on earth worship and sing praise to you,sing praise to your name!”Come and see the works of God,his tremendous deeds among the children of Adam.R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.or:R. Alleluia.He has changed the sea into dry land;through the river they passed on foot;therefore let us rejoice in him.He rules by his might forever.R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.or:R. Alleluia.Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declarewhat he has done for me.Blessed be God who refused me notmy prayer or his kindness!R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.or:R. Alleluia.

Beloved:Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts.Always be ready to give an explanationto anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope,but do it with gentleness and reverence,keeping your conscience clear,so that, when you are maligned,those who defame your good conduct in Christmay themselves be put to shame.For it is better to suffer for doing good,if that be the will of God, than for doing evil.

For Christ also suffered for sins once,the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous,that he might lead you to God.Put to death in the flesh,he was brought to life in the Spirit.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.Whoever loves me will keep my word, says the Lord,and my Father will love him and we will come to him.R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Jesus said to his disciples:“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.And I will ask the Father,and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always,the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept,because it neither sees nor knows him.But you know him, because he remains with you,and will be in you.I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.In a little while the world will no longer see me,but you will see me, because I live and you will live.On that day you will realize that I am in my Fatherand you are in me and I in you.Whoever has my commandments and observes themis the one who loves me.And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father,and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”