Tuesday, May 10, 2011 (Easter Weekday)

READINGS OF THE DAY
First Reading: Acts 7:51 -- 8:1
51      "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.
52     Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered,
53     you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it."
54     Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth against him.
55     But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God;
56     and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God."
57     But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together upon him.
58     Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59     And as they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
60     And he knelt down and cried with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Psalms: Psalm 31:3-4, 6-8, 17, 21
3      Yea, thou art my rock and my fortress; for thy name's sake lead me and guide me,
4     take me out of the net which is hidden for me, for thou art my refuge.
6     Thou hatest those who pay regard to vain idols; but I trust in the LORD.
7     I will rejoice and be glad for thy steadfast love, because thou hast seen my affliction, thou hast taken heed of my adversities,
8     and hast not delivered me into the hand of the enemy; thou hast set my feet in a broad place.
17     Let me not be put to shame, O LORD, for I call on thee; let the wicked be put to shame, let them go dumbfounded to Sheol.
21     Blessed be the LORD, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was beset as in a besieged city.

Gospel: John 6:30-35
30      So they said to him, "Then what sign do you do, that we may see, and believe you? What work do you perform?
31     Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, `He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"
32     Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
33     For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world."
34     They said to him, "Lord, give us this bread always."
35     Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.   

REFLECTION FOR THE DAY
Whenever we suffer some affliction, we should regard it both as punishment and as a correction. Our holy Scriptures themselves do not promise us peace, security and rest. On the contrary, the Gospel makes no secret of the troubles and temptations that await us, but it also says that he who perseveres to the end will be saved. So we must not grumble, my brothers, and for as the Apostle says: some of them murmured and were destroyed by serpents. Is there any affliction now endured by mankind that was not endured by our fathers before us? What sufferings of ours even bear comparison with what we know of their sufferings? How then can you think that past ages were better than your own?

-- St. Augustine