Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Mark 9 : 38-40
At that time, John said to Jesus, “Master, we saw someone who drove out demons by calling upon Your Name, and we tried to forbid him because he does not belong to our group.”
Jesus answered, “Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My Name can soon after speak evil of Me. For whoever is not against us is for us.”
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Psalm 48 : 2-3, 6-7, 8-10, 11
Hear this, all you peoples! Listen, all you inhabitants of the world, high and low together, rich and poor alike!
Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers ring me round – those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches?
For no ransom avails for one’s life, there is no price one can give to God for it. For redeeming one’s life demands too high a price, and all is lost forever. Who can remain forever alive and never see the grave?
For we see that the wise die, and pass away like the fool and the stupid leaving to others their fortune and wealth.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
James 4 : 13-17
Listen now, you who speak like this, “Today or tomorrow we will go off to this city and spend a year there; we will do business and make money.” You have no idea what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? No more than a mist which appears for a moment and then disappears.
Instead of this, you should say, “God willing, we will live and do this or that.” But no! You boast of your plans : this brazen pride is wicked. Anyone who knows what is good and does not do it, sins.
Liturgical Colour : White
John 17 : 11b-19
At that time, Jesus prayed to God His Father, “Holy Father, keep those You have given Me in Your Name, so that they may be one, as We also are. When I was with them, I kept them safe in Your Name; and not one was lost, except the one who was already lost, and in this the Scripture was fulfilled. And now I come to You; in the world I speak these things, so that those whom You gave Me, might have joy – all My joy within themselves.”
“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to remove them from the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”
“Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. I have sent them into the world as You sent Me into the world; and for their sake, I go to the sacrifice by which I am consecrated, so that they too may be consecrated in truth.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Acts 18 : 9-18
One night, in a vision, the Lord said to Paul, “Do not be afraid, but continue speaking and do not be silent, for many people in this city are Mine. I am with you, so no one will harm you.” So Paul stayed a year and a half in that place, teaching the word of God among them.
When Gallio was governor of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the court. And they accused him, “This man tries to persuade us to worship God in ways that are against the Law.”
Paul was about to speak in his own defence when Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of misdeed or vicious crime, I would have to consider your complaint.” But since this is a quarrel about teachings and divine names that are proper to your own law, see to it yourselves : I refuse to judge such matters.” And he sent them out of the court.
Then the people seized Sosthenes, a leading man of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal; but Gallio paid no attention to it. Paul stayed on with the disciples in Corinth for many days; he then left them and sailed off with Priscilla and Aquila for Syria. And as he was no longer under a vow he had taken, he shaved his head before sailing from Cenchreae.
Liturgical Colour : White
John 15 : 26 – John 16 : 4a
At that time, Jesus spoke to His disciples at the Last Supper, “From the Father, I will send you the Spirit of truth. When this Helper has come from the Father, He will be My Witness, and you, too, will be My witnesses, for you have been with Me from the beginning.”
“I tell you all this to keep you from stumbling and falling away. They will put you out of the synagogue. Still more, the hour is coming, when anyone who kills you will claim to be serving God; they will do this, because they have not known the Father or Me. I tell you all these things now so that, when the time comes, you may remember that I told you.”
Liturgical Colour : White
John 15 : 18-21
At that time, Jesus spoke to His disciples at the Last Supper, “If the world hates you, remember that the world hated Me before you. This would not be so if you belonged to the world, because the world loves its own. But you are not of the world, since I have chosen you from the world; because of this the world hates you.”
“Remember what I told you : the servant is not greater than his master; if they persecuted Me, they will persecute you, too. If they kept My word, they will keep yours as well. All this they will do to you for the sake of My Name, because they do not know the One Who sent Me.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Acts 7 : 51 – Acts 8 : 1a
Stephen spoke to the High Priest and the Council, “But you are a stubborn people, you hardened your hearts and closed your ears. You have always resisted the Holy Spirit just as your fathers did. Was there a prophet whom your ancestors did not persecute? They killed those who announced the coming of the Just One Whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the Law through the Angels but did not fulfil it.”
When they heard this reproach, they were enraged and they gnashed their teeth against Stephen. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, fixed his eyes on heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus at God’s right hand, so he declared : “I see the heavens open and the Son of Man at the right hand of God.”
But they shouted and covered their ears with their hands and rushed together upon him. They brought him out of the city and stoned him, and the witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they were stoning him, Stephen prayed saying : “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and said in a loud voice : “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he died.
Saul was there, approving his murder. This was the beginning of a great persecution against the Church in Jerusalem.
Liturgical Colour : Red
Acts 6 : 8-15
Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. Some persons then came forward, who belonged to the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia and Asia. They argued with Stephen but they could not match the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. As they were unable to face the truth, they bribed some men to say, “We heard him speak against Moses and against God.”
So they stirred up the people, the elders and the teachers of the Law; they took him by surprise, seized him and brought him before the Council. Then they produced false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against our Holy Place and the Law. We even heard him say that Jesus the Nazarean will destroy our Holy Place and change the customs which Moses handed down to us.”
And all who sat in the Council fixed their eyes on him, and his face appeared to them like the face of an Angel.
Liturgical Colour : White
Acts 5 : 27b-32, 40b-41
The High Priest questioned the Apostles, “We gave you strict orders not to preach such a Saviour; but you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend charging us with the killing of this Man.”
To this Peter and the Apostles replied, “Better for us to obey God rather than any human authority! The God of our ancestors raised Jesus Whom you killed by hanging Him on a wooden post. God set Him at His right hand as Leader and Saviour, to grant repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses to all these things, as well as the Holy Spirit Whom God has given to those who obey Him.”
The Council ordered them not to speak again of Jesus Saviour. Then they set them free. The Apostles went out from the Council rejoicing that they were considered worthy to suffer disgrace for the sake of the Name.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 