28 May 2017
7th Sunday of Easter

Acts 1: 12-14|
Psalm 26: 1, 4, 7-8
1 Peter 4: 13-16
The Gospel of John  17: 1-11

 Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said:
‘Father, the hour has come: glorify your Son so that your Son may glorify you; and, through the power over all mankind that you have given him, let him give eternal life to all those you have entrusted to him. And eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

I have glorified you on earth and finished the work that you gave me to do. Now, Father, it is time for you to glorify me with that glory I had with you before ever the world was.

I have made your name known to the men you took from the world to give me. They were yours and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now at last they know that all you have given me comes indeed from you; for I have given them the teaching you gave to me, and they have truly accepted this, that I came from you, and have believed that it was you who sent me. I pray for them; I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me, because they belong to you: all I have is yours and all you have is mine, and in them I am glorified. I am not in the world any longer, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.’

Father, the Hour has come

He does not say that the day, or the time, but that the hour is come. An hour contains a portion of a day. What was this hour? He was now to be spit upon, scourged and crucified. But the Father glorifies the Son. The sun failed in his course, and with him all the other elements felt that death. The earth trembled under the weight of our Lord hanging on the Cross, and testified that it had not power to hold within it Him who was dying. The Centurion proclaimed, “Truly this was the Son of God.” The event answered the prediction. Our Lord had said, Glorify Your Son, testifying that He was not the Son in name only, but properly the Son. “Your Son,” He said. Many of us are sons of God; but not such is the Son. For He is the proper, true Son by nature, not by adoption, in truth, not in name, begotten not created. Therefore after His glorifying, to the manifestation of the truth there succeeded confession. The Centurion confesses Him to be the true Son of God, so none of His believers might doubt what one of His persecutors could not deny.
St. Hilary, Catena Aurea

Saints of the week
Wed 31 The Visitation, Feast
Thu 1 Saint Justin, Martyr
Fri 2 Saints Marcellinus and Peter, Martyrs 
Sat 3 Saints Charles Lwanga and his Companions, Martyrs 

Psalter Week III

Next Sunday’s Readings
Acts 2: 1-11
Psalm 103: 1, 24, 29-31, 34
1 Corinthians 12: 3-7, 12-13
John 20: 19-23

The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Mary left Nazareth and went over the mountains to Hebron, south of Jerusalem and St. Joseph probably accompanied Mary to wait upon her cousin Elizabeth, because her presence and much more the presence of the Divine Child in her womb, according to the will of God, was to be the source of very great graces to the Blessed John, Christ’s Forerunner.

The event is related in Luke 1:39-57. Feeling the presence of his Divine Saviour, John, upon the arrival of Mary, leaped in the womb of his mother; he was then cleansed from original sin and filled with the grace of God. Our Lady now for the first time exercised the office which belonged to the Mother of God made man, that He might by her mediation sanctify and glorify us.
Cf. The Visitation, Catholic Encyclopedia

 NEWS

CARITAS PAPHOS current needs:

• Nοn-perishable food to support approximately 40 households a week in the Paphos area.
• Computer whiz to manage crowdfunding appeals.
• Teachers for basic Greek.
• Transportation of students (lifts).

Donations and prayers welcome. Contact Wendy Burdon 99 040294.

Novena Prayer to the Holy Spirit
Almighty and eternal God, Who hast vouchsafed to regenerate us by water and the Holy Spirit, and hast given us forgiveness all sins, vouchsafe to send forth from heaven upon us your sevenfold Spirit, the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel and fortitude, the Spirit of Knowledge and Piety, and fill us with the Spirit of Holy Fear. Amen.

Archangel Michael Hospice: Volunteers needed in the areas of reception, nursing assistants and cafeteria. Contact Mona 99494140

Mass Times HERE