Mass Readings

Catholic Ireland

Liturgical Readings for : Monday, 29th May, 2023
Léachtaí Gaeilge
Next Sunday's Readings

The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church

General Theme: From he cross, Jesus entrusted Mary to his disciples as their mother and his disciples to her as her children.

FIRST READING

A reading from the Book of Genesis  3:9-15, 20
Theme: She was the mother of all those who live.

I heard the sound of you in the garden, he replied, I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.‘
‘Who told you you were naked?. The Lord asked. ‘Have you been eating of the tree I forbade you to eat.’
The man replied, ‘It was the woman you put with me: she gave me some fruit from the tree and I eat it.

‘Then the Lord said to the woman, ‘Why did you do that?
The woman replied, ‘The snake tempted me and I ate.’
Then the Lord God said to the snake,
‘Because you have done this,  accursed be you of all animals  wild and tame! On your belly you will go and on dust you will feed as long as you live.
I shall put enmity between you and the woman and your offspring and hers: it will bruise your head and you will strike it’s heal.’

The man named the woman ‘Eve‘ because ‘she was the mother of all those who live.’

The Word of the Lord             Thanks be to God

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Alternative first reading
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles 1:12-14
Theme: With one heart they all joined constantly in prayer including Mary.

So from the Mount of Olives, as it was called, they went back to Jerusalem, a short distance away, no more than a sabbath walk: and when they reached the city thy went to the upper room where they were staying: there with Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew. James, son of Alphaeus and Simon the zealot and Jude son of James.

With one heart all these joined constantly in prayer, together with some women, including Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

The Word of the Lord             Thanks be to God

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Responsorial Psalm:         87: 1-2, 3, 5, 6-7 Rv 3
Response                               God speaks of your glory, city of God                       

1. With its foundations on the holy mountains, The Lord loves his city,
   he prefers the gates of Sion to any dwelling place in Jacob             Response 
2. ‘I number Rahab and Babalon among those who acknowledge;
   look at Tyre, Philistia Ethiopia, so and so was born there.’             Response 
3. But of Zion it will be said,’Everyone was born there,’
   her guarantee is the Most High.                                                            Response 
4. Then Lord in his register of peoples will note against each, ‘Born there’,
   princes no less than native born: all make their home in you.       Response

GOSPEL

The Lord be with you.                          And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John     19:25-34          Glory to you, O Lord.
Theme: Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. Seeing his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her,
Jesus said to his mother, ‘Woman, this is your son.’
Then to the disciple he said, ‘This is your mother‘.
And from that moment the disciple made a place for her in his home. After this, Jesus knew that everything had now been completed, and to fulfil the scripture perfectly he said: ‘I am thirsty’.

A jar-full of vinegar stood there, so putting a sponge soaked in the vinegar on a hyssop stick they held it up to his mouth. After Jesus had taken the vinegar he said,
‘It is accomplished’; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit.

It was Preparation Day, and to prevent the bodies remaining on the cross during the sabbath – since that sabbath was a day of special solemnity – the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken away. Consequently the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with him and then of the other. When they came to Jesus, they found he was already dead.

The Gospel of the Lord.                Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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Gospel Reflection     29 May, Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church          John 19:25–34

Mary, the mother of Jesus, is the only character in the gospels around Jesus who is present at the birth and infancy of Jesus, during his public ministry, at the foot of the cross and with the disciples of Jesus after he rose from the dead. She is associated in the gospels with every moment of the story of Jesus. In the two readings for this feast, we find her at the foot of the cross and with the disciples in the aftermath of Easter Sunday just prior to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

In the gospel reading, Jesus declares that from now on his mother is to be the mother of the beloved disciple, and the beloved disciple is to be her son. This disciple is never given a name in this gospel. He stands in for us all, who are the Lord’s beloved disciples. We can each give him our own name. Jesus is giving his mother as the mother of us all. He is drawing us into his family; we become his brothers and sisters, calling God his Father, our Father, and Mary his mother, our mother. At the cross, Mary is proclaimed mother of disciples, mother of the church. In the first reading for this feast, we find Mary exercising this motherly role among the disciples. She is praying with them, as they wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit, whom the risen Lord promised to send. She doesn’t stand above them, but she is among them, as any mother would be among her children. She is among them, lending her prayer to theirs, as they all prepare for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Mary as mother is among us today, praying with us, praying for us, supporting us as we wait for the promised Holy Spirit. Mary is the Lord’s gift to us, one of the greatest gifts he could possibly give us. On this feast of Mary, mother of the church, we renew our appreciation of this gift of Mary, and we receive this gift of the Lord more fully into our lives.

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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 Reflections on the Weekday Readings 2022-2023: Your word is a lamp for my feet and light for my path by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications 2022, c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/

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