April 6th : Gospel 'Let the one among you who has not sinned be the first to throw a stone' A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St.John 8: 1-11

 April 6th :  Gospel 

'Let the one among you who has not sinned be the first to throw a stone'

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St.John 8: 1-11 

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At daybreak he appeared in the Temple again; and as all the people came to him, he sat down and began to teach them.

  The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman along who had been caught committing adultery; and making her stand there in full view of everybody, they said to Jesus, ‘Master, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery, and Moses has ordered us in the Law to condemn women like this to death by stoning. What have you to say?’ They asked him this as a test, looking for something to use against him. But Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger. As they persisted with their question, he looked up and said, ‘If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Then he bent down and wrote on the ground again. When they heard this they went away one by one, beginning with the eldest, until Jesus was left alone with the woman, who remained standing there. He looked up and said, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one, sir’ she replied. ‘Neither do I condemn you,’ said Jesus ‘go away, and do not sin any more.’

The Word of the Lord.

April 6th : Second Reading I look on everything as so much rubbish if only I can have Christ A Reading from the Letter of St.Paul to the Philippians 3: 8-14

 April 6th :  Second Reading

I look on everything as so much rubbish if only I can have Christ

A Reading from the Letter of St.Paul to the Philippians 3: 8-14 

I believe nothing can happen that will outweigh the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For him I have accepted the loss of everything, and I look on everything as so much rubbish if only I can have Christ and be given a place in him. I am no longer trying for perfection by my own efforts, the perfection that comes from the Law, but I want only the perfection that comes through faith in Christ, and is from God and based on faith. All I want is to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and to share his sufferings by reproducing the pattern of his death. That is the way I can hope to take my place in the resurrection of the dead. Not that I have become perfect yet: I have not yet won, but I am still running, trying to capture the prize for which Christ Jesus captured me. I can assure you my brothers, I am far from thinking that I have already won. All I can say is that I forget the past and I strain ahead for what is still to come; I am racing for the finish, for the prize to which God calls us upwards to receive in Christ Jesus.

The Word of the Lord.

Gospel Acclamation Joel2:12-13

Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!

Now, now – it is the Lord who speaks –

come back to me with all your heart,

for I am all tenderness and compassion.

Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!

April 6th : Responsorial Psalm Psalm 125(126)

 April 6th :  Responsorial Psalm 

Psalm 125(126) 

What marvels the Lord worked for us! Indeed we were glad.

When the Lord delivered Zion from bondage,

  it seemed like a dream.

Then was our mouth filled with laughter,

  on our lips there were songs.

What marvels the Lord worked for us! Indeed we were glad.

The heathens themselves said: ‘What marvels

  the Lord worked for them!’

What marvels the Lord worked for us!

  Indeed we were glad.

What marvels the Lord worked for us! Indeed we were glad.

Deliver us, O Lord, from our bondage

  as streams in dry land.

Those who are sowing in tears

  will sing when they reap.

What marvels the Lord worked for us! Indeed we were glad.

They go out, they go out, full of tears,

  carrying seed for the sowing:

they come back, they come back, full of song,

  carrying their sheaves.

What marvels the Lord worked for us! Indeed we were glad.

April 6th : First Reading See, I am doing a new deed, and I will give my chosen people drink A Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah 43: 16-21

 April 6th :  First Reading 

See, I am doing a new deed, and I will give my chosen people drink

A Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah 43: 16-21 

Thus says the Lord,

who made a way through the sea,

a path in the great waters;

who put chariots and horse in the field

and a powerful army

which lay there never to rise again,

snuffed out, put out like a wick:

No need to recall the past,

no need to think about what was done before.

See, I am doing a new deed,

even now it comes to light; can you not see it?

Yes, I am making a road in the wilderness,

paths in the wilds.

The wild beasts will honour me,

jackals and ostriches,

because I am putting water in the wilderness

(rivers in the wild)

to give my chosen people drink.

The people I have formed for myself

will sing my praises.

The Word of the Lord.

April 5th : Gospel The Law does not allow us to pass judgement on a man without hearing him A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St.John 7:40-52

 April 5th :  Gospel  

The Law does not allow us to pass judgement on a man without hearing him

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St.John 7:40-52

Several people who had been listening to Jesus said, ‘Surely he must be the prophet’, and some said, ‘He is the Christ’, but others said, ‘Would the Christ be from Galilee? Does not scripture say that the Christ must be descended from David and come from the town of Bethlehem?’ So the people could not agree about him. Some would have liked to arrest him, but no one actually laid hands on him.

  The police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees who said to them, ‘Why haven’t you brought him?’ The police replied, ‘There has never been anybody who has spoken like him.’ ‘So’ the Pharisees answered ‘you have been led astray as well? Have any of the authorities believed in him? Any of the Pharisees? This rabble knows nothing about the Law – they are damned.’ One of them, Nicodemus – the same man who had come to Jesus earlier – said to them, ‘But surely the Law does not allow us to pass judgement on a man without giving him a hearing and discovering what he is about?’ To this they answered, ‘Are you a Galilean too? Go into the matter, and see for yourself: prophets do not come out of Galilee.’

The Word of the Lord.

April 5th : Responsorial Psalm Psalm 7:2-3,9-12

 April 5th :  Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 7:2-3,9-12 

Lord God, I take refuge in you.

Lord God, I take refuge in you.

  From my pursuer save me and rescue me,

lest he tear me to pieces like a lion

  and drag me off with no one to rescue me.

Lord God, I take refuge in you.

Give judgement for me, Lord; I am just

  and innocent of heart.

Put an end to the evil of the wicked!

Make the just stand firm,

  you who test mind and heart,

  O just God!

Lord God, I take refuge in you.

God is the shield that protects me,

  who saves the upright of heart.

God is a just judge

  slow to anger;

  but he threatens the wicked every day.

Lord God, I take refuge in you.

Gospel Acclamation Ezk33:11

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!

I take pleasure, not in the death of a wicked man

– it is the Lord who speaks –

but in the turning back of a wicked man

who changes his ways to win life.

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!

April 5th : First reading 'Let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name may be quickly forgotten' A reading from the book of the Prophet Jeremiah 11: 18-20

 April 5th :  First reading 

'Let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name may be quickly forgotten'

A reading from the book of the Prophet Jeremiah 11: 18-20

The Lord revealed it to me; I was warned. O Lord, that was when you opened my eyes to their scheming. I for my part was like a trustful lamb being led to the slaughter-house, not knowing the schemes they were plotting against me, ‘Let us destroy the tree in its strength, let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name may be quickly forgotten!’

But you, the Lord of Hosts, who pronounce a just sentence,

who probe the loins and heart,

let me see the vengeance you will take on them,

for I have committed my cause to you.

The Word of the Lord.