Mass Readings

Catholic Ireland

Liturgical Readings for : Friday, 3rd May, 2024
Léachtaí Gaeilge
Next Sunday's Readings

03 May: Ss Philip and James, Apostles

Phillip had his great revelation when Jesus told him that he and the Father are One.
James, was a cousin to Jesus, the faith leader in Jerusalem, led a life of penance and was martyred in 62AD.

FIRST READING

A reading from the first letter of St Paul to the Corinthians 15:1-8
The Lord appeared to James, and then to all the apostles.

Brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, the gospel that you received and in which you are firmly established; because the gospel will save you only if you keep believing exactly what I preached to you – believing anything else will not lead to anything.

Well then, in the first place, I taught you what I had been taught myself, namely that Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the scriptures; that he was buried; and that he was raised to life on the third day, in accordance with the scriptures; that he appeared first to Cephas and secondly to the Twelve.
Next he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died; then he appeared to James, and then to all the apostles; and last of all he appeared to me too; it was as though I was born when no one expected it.

The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God

Responsorial Psalm Ps 18
Response Their word goes forth through all the earth.
Or Alleluia!

1. The heavens proclaim the glory of God and the firmament shows forth the work of his hands.
Day unto day takes up the story and night unto night makes known the message. Response

2. No speech, no word, no voice is heard yet their span extends through all the earth.
their words to the utmost bounds of the world. Response

Gospel Acclamation Jn 14: 6.9.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says the Lord;
Philip, to have seen me is to have seen the Father.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL

The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John 14:6-14 Glory to you, O Lord
Have I been with you all this time, Philip and you still do not know me?

Jesus said to Thomas:
‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
If you know me, you know my Father too. From this moment you know him and have seen him.’

Philip said,
‘Lord, let us see the Father and then we shall be satisfied’.

‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip,’ said Jesus to him ‘and you still do not know me?
‘To have seen me is to have seen the, Father, so how can you say, “Let us see the Father”?

Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
The words I say to you I do not speak as from myself:
it is the Father, living in me, who is doing this work.
You must believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me;
believe it on the evidence of this work, if for no other reason.

‘I tell you most solemnly, whoever believes in me will perform the same works as I do myself, he will perform even greater works, because I am going to the Father.
Whatever you ask for in my name I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask for anything in my name, I will do it.’

The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection May 3 Feast of Saints Philip and James

There are several people by the name ‘James’ in the gospels. The James of today’s feast is the one referred to as the brother or cousin of Jesus. In today’s first reading, St Paul lists James as one of those to whom the risen Lord appeared, ‘then he appeared to James, and then to all the Apostles’. James would become a leading member of the church in Jerusalem. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul refers to him as one of the pillars of the church in Jerusalem. Paul and James did not see eye to eye on the contentious issue of the grounds for admitting pagans to the church, with James insisting that they needed to be circumcised and Paul adamant that their faith in Christ was sufficient grounds. Paul was on the right side of Christian history there. James was a man of deep faith, but he had much to learn.

According to the opening chapter of John’s gospel, Philip was from the town of Bethsaida, on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, and it was he who found Nathanael and called him to Jesus, with the invitation ‘Come and see’.
In today’s gospel reading, Philip says to Jesus, ‘Let us see the Father and then we shall be satisfied’. Philip had already come to Jesus and seen him. Yet, he did not yet realize that in seeing Jesus he was seeing the Father, which is why Jesus says to him, ‘To have seen me is to have seen the Father’. Philip had responded to the call of Jesus and had gone on to bring Nathanael to Jesus, yet, like James, he too had much to learn; he was still on a journey of discovery with regard to Jesus. Even though he saw Jesus with the eyes of faith, there were greater things he had yet to see, namely, that the Father was living in Jesus and working through Jesus and, so, to see Jesus was to see the Father. Like James and Philip, we are all on a journey of discovery with regard to Jesus. There are always ‘greater things’ in regard to Jesus we have yet to see. Through the Holy Spirit the Lord works in our lives to lead us to the complete truth.
All he asks is that we be open and responsive to his guiding, like Philip and James.

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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd. and used with the permission of the publishers. http://dltbooks.com/
The Scripture Reflection is made available with our thanks from his book Reflections on the Weekday Readings 2021/ 2024: The Word is near to you, on your lips and in your heart by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications 2022/23, c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/

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