Daily Readings

From Miletus Paul had the presbytersof the Church at Ephesus summoned. When they came to him, he addressed them,"You know how I lived among youthe whole time from the day I first came to the province of Asia.I served the Lord with all humilityand with the tears and trials that came to mebecause of the plots of the Jews,and I did not at all shrink from telling youwhat was for your benefit,or from teaching you in public or in your homes.I earnestly bore witness for both Jews and Greeksto repentance before God and to faith in our Lord Jesus.But now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem.What will happen to me there I do not know,except that in one city after anotherthe Holy Spirit has been warning methat imprisonment and hardships await me.Yet I consider life of no importance to me,if only I may finish my courseand the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus,to bear witness to the Gospel of God's grace."But now I know that none of youto whom I preached the kingdom during my travelswill ever see my face again.And so I solemnly declare to you this daythat I am not responsible for the blood of any of you,for I did not shrink from proclaiming to you the entire plan of God." 

R. (33a) Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.or:R. Alleluia.A bountiful rain you showered down, O God, upon your inheritance;you restored the land when it languished;Your flock settled in it;in your goodness, O God, you provided it for the needy.R. Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.or:R. Alleluia.Blessed day by day be the Lord,who bears our burdens; God, who is our salvation.God is a saving God for us;the LORD, my Lord, controls the passageways of death. R. Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.or:R. Alleluia. 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.I will ask the Fatherand he will give you another Advocateto be with you always.R. Alleluia, alleluia. 

Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said,"Father, the hour has come.Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you,just as you gave him authority over all people,so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him.Now this is eternal life,that they should know you, the only true God,and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.I glorified you on earthby accomplishing the work that you gave me to do.Now glorify me, Father, with you,with the glory that I had with you before the world began."I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world.They belonged to you, and you gave them to me,and they have kept your word.Now they know that everything you gave me is from you,because the words you gave to me I have given to them,and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you,and they have believed that you sent me.I pray for them.I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me,because they are yours, and everything of mine is yoursand everything of yours is mine,and I have been glorified in them.And now I will no longer be in the world,but they are in the world, while I am coming to you." 

While Apollos was in Corinth,Paul traveled through the interior of the countryand down to Ephesus where he found some disciples. He said to them,“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?”They answered him,“We have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”He said, “How were you baptized?”They replied, “With the baptism of John.”Paul then said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance,telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him,that is, in Jesus.”When they heard this,they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.And when Paul laid his hands on them,the Holy Spirit came upon them,and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.Altogether there were about twelve men.He entered the synagogue, and for three months debated boldlywith persuasive arguments about the Kingdom of God. 

R. (33a) Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.or:R. Alleluia.God arises; his enemies are scattered,and those who hate him flee before him.As smoke is driven away, so are they driven;as wax melts before the fire. R. Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.or:R. Alleluia.But the just rejoice and exult before God;they are glad and rejoice.Sing to God, chant praise to his name;whose name is the LORD. R. Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.or:R. Alleluia.The father of orphans and the defender of widowsis God in his holy dwelling.God gives a home to the forsaken;he leads forth prisoners to prosperity.R. Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.or:R. Alleluia. 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.If then you were raised with Christ,seek what is above,where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.R. Alleluia, alleluia. 

The disciples said to Jesus,“Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech.Now we realize that you know everythingand that you do not need to have anyone question you.Because of this we believe that you came from God.”Jesus answered them, “Do you believe now?Behold, the hour is coming and has arrivedwhen each of you will be scattered to his own homeand you will leave me alone.But I am not alone, because the Father is with me.I have told you this so that you might have peace in me.In the world you will have trouble,but take courage, I have conquered the world.” 

In the first book, Theophilus,I dealt with all that Jesus did and taughtuntil the day he was taken up,after giving instructions through the Holy Spiritto the apostles whom he had chosen.He presented himself alive to themby many proofs after he had suffered,appearing to them during forty daysand speaking about the kingdom of God.While meeting with them,he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem,but to wait for “the promise of the Fatherabout which you have heard me speak;for John baptized with water,but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

When they had gathered together they asked him,“Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasonsthat the Father has established by his own authority.But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,throughout Judea and Samaria,and to the ends of the earth.”When he had said this, as they were looking on,he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going,suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.They said, “Men of Galilee,why are you standing there looking at the sky?This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heavenwill return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”

R. (6) God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.or:R. Alleluia.All you peoples, clap your hands,shout to God with cries of gladness,For the LORD, the Most High, the awesome,is the great king over all the earth.R. God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.or:R. Alleluia.God mounts his throne amid shouts of joy;the LORD, amid trumpet blasts.Sing praise to God, sing praise;sing praise to our king, sing praise.R. God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.or:R. Alleluia.For king of all the earth is God;sing hymns of praise.God reigns over the nations,God sits upon his holy throne.R. God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.or:R. Alleluia.

Brothers and sisters:May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelationresulting in knowledge of him.May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened,that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call,what are the riches of gloryin his inheritance among the holy ones,and what is the surpassing greatness of his powerfor us who believe,in accord with the exercise of his great might,which he worked in Christ,raising him from the deadand seating him at his right hand in the heavens,far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion,and every name that is namednot only in this age but also in the one to come.And he put all things beneath his feetand gave him as head over all things to the church,which is his body,the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.Go and teach all nations, says the Lord;I am with you always, until the end of the world.R. Alleluia, alleluia.

The eleven disciples went to Galilee,to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.Then Jesus approached and said to them,“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father,and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”