Saturday, May 7 2016 Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Reading 1 Acts 18:23-28

After staying in Antioch some time,
Paul left and traveled in orderly sequence
through the Galatian country and Phrygia,
bringing strength to all the disciples.

A Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria,
an eloquent speaker, arrived in Ephesus.
He was an authority on the Scriptures.
He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord and,
with ardent spirit, spoke and taught accurately about Jesus,
although he knew only the baptism of John.
He began to speak boldly in the synagogue;
but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him,
they took him aside
and explained to him the Way of God more accurately.
And when he wanted to cross to Achaia,
the brothers encouraged him
and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him.
After his arrival he gave great assistance
to those who had come to believe through grace.
He vigorously refuted the Jews in public,
establishing from the Scriptures that the Christ is Jesus.

Responsorial Psalm PS 47:2-3, 8-9, 10

R. (8a) God is king of all the earth.
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 is king of all the earth.
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 is king of all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The princes of the peoples are gathered together
with the people of the God of Abraham.
For God’s are the guardians of the earth;
he is supreme. 
R. God is king of all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Alleluia Jn 16:28

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I came from the Father and have come into the world;
now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Jn 16:23b-28

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.
Until now you have not asked anything in my name;
ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

“I have told you this in figures of speech.
The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures
but I will tell you clearly about the Father.
On that day you will ask in my name,
and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you.
For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me
and have come to believe that I came from God.
I came from the Father and have come into the world.
Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

REFLECTION

THE MOST OBSCURE ARE THE MOST POWERFUL

"When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home and explained to him God's new way in greater detail." –Acts 18:26

Priscilla and Aquila were kicked out of Rome because they were Jews (Acts 18:2). They were victims of religious persecution and became refugees. Priscilla and Aquila were tentmakers (Acts 18:3), and they had a Christian community based at their home (Rm 16:5). This husband and wife were nobodies by the world's standards. They were just two obscure people, oppressed by Rome's political machine and ignored by the world.

However, in God's eyes and therefore in reality, Priscilla and Aquila were among the most important people in history. They helped Paul recover from his failed mission to Athens (see Acts 17:32–18:3). They took home with them the great teacher Apollos and led him to faith in Jesus and life in the Spirit (see Acts 18:25-28). Paul said of Priscilla and Aquila that they "even risked their lives for the sake of mine. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them" (Rm 16:4).

Priscilla and Aquila lived their marriage and their life in the Holy Spirit. Wherever they went, they bore great fruit in whatever they did. The Lord continues to choose "the world's lowborn and despised, those who count for nothing" (1 Cor 1:28) to bear great fruit and renew the face of the earth in the power of the Holy Spirit (Ps 104:30). On this second day of the Pentecost Novena, surrender your life to the Holy Spirit.

PRAYER:	Father, make my life like a grain of wheat which falls to the earth, dies, and bears much fruit (Jn 12:24).
PROMISE:	"I give you My assurance, whatever you ask the Father, He will give you in My name." –Jn 16:23
PRAISE:	James and Maria fled the persecution of their anti-Christian homeland to raise their children in the Faith.

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The Lord be with you...