Saturday, June
28, 2014
Solemnity of
Sts. Peter & Paul, Apostles – Year A
5:00 pm Novena to Our Lady
5:30 pm Sunset Mass in English
First Reading
ACTS OF
APOSTLES 12:1-11
1 It
was about this time that King Herod started persecuting certain members of the
church.
2 He
had James the brother of John beheaded,
3 and
when he saw that this pleased the Jews he went on to arrest Peter as well.
4 As
it was during the days of Unleavened Bread that he had arrested him, he put him
in prison, assigning four sections of four soldiers each to guard him, meaning
to try him in public after the Passover.
5 All
the time Peter was under guard the church prayed to God for him unremittingly.
6 On
the night before Herod was to try him, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers,
fastened with two chains, while guards kept watch at the main entrance to the
prison.
7 Then
suddenly an angel of the Lord stood there, and the cell was filled with light.
He tapped Peter on the side and woke him. 'Get up!' he said, 'Hurry!' -- and
the chains fell from his hands.
8 The
angel then said, 'Put on your belt and sandals.' After he had done this, the
angel next said, 'Wrap your cloak round you and follow me.'
9 He
followed him out, but had no idea that what the angel did was all happening in
reality; he thought he was seeing a vision.
10 They
passed through the first guard post and then the second and reached the iron
gate leading to the city. This opened of its own accord; they went through it
and had walked the whole length of one street when suddenly the angel left him.
11 It
was only then that Peter came to himself. And he said, 'Now I know it is all
true. The Lord really did send his angel and save me from Herod and from all
that the Jewish people were expecting.'
“The Word of the Lord”
PSALMS 33:2-9
2 Give
thanks to Yahweh on the lyre, play for him on the ten-stringed lyre.
3 Sing
to him a new song, make sweet music
for your cry of victory.
4 The
word of Yahweh is straightforward, all he does springs from his constancy.
5 He
loves uprightness and justice; the faithful love of Yahweh fills the earth.
6 By
the word of Yahweh the heavens were made, by the breath of his mouth all their
array.
7 He
collects the waters of the sea like a dam, he stores away the abyss in his
treasure-house.
8 Let
the whole earth fear Yahweh, let all who dwell in the world revere him;
9 for,
the moment he spoke, it was so, no sooner had he commanded, than there it
stood!
Second Reading
2 TIMOTHY
4:6-8, 17-18
6 As
for me, my life is already being poured away as a libation, and the time has
come for me to depart.
7 I
have fought the good fight to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I
have kept the faith;
8 all
there is to come for me now is the crown of uprightness which the Lord, the
upright judge, will give to me on that Day; and not only to me but to all those
who have longed for his appearing.
17 But
the Lord stood by me and gave me power, so that through me the message might be
fully proclaimed for all the gentiles to hear; and so I was saved from the
lion's mouth.
18 The
Lord will rescue me from all evil attempts on me, and bring me safely to his
heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
“The Word of the Lord”
Gospel Reading
MATTHEW
16:13-19
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi
he put this question to his disciples, 'Who do people say the Son of man is?'
14 And
they said, 'Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one
of the prophets.'
15 'But
you,' he said, 'who do you say I am?'
16 Then
Simon Peter spoke up and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'
17 Jesus
replied, 'Simon son of Jonah, you are a blessed man! Because it was no human
agency that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.
18 So
I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my community. And
the gates of the underworld can never overpower it.
19 I
will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven: whatever you bind on earth
will be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.'
“The Gospel of the Lord”
