Daily Readings for Saturday, May 18, 2013

Reading 1, Acts 28:16-20, 30-31

¹⁶ On our arrival in Rome Paul was allowed to stay in lodgings of his own with the soldier who guarded him.

¹⁷ After three days he called together the leading Jews. When they had assembled, he said to them, ‘Brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans.

¹⁸ They examined me and would have set me free, since they found me guilty of nothing involving the death penalty;

¹⁹ but the Jews lodged an objection, and I was forced to appeal to Caesar, though not because I had any accusation to make against my own nation.

²⁰ That is why I have urged you to see me and have a discussion with me, for it is on account of the hope of Israel that I wear this chain.’

³⁰ He spent the whole of the two years in his own rented lodging. He welcomed all who came to visit him,

³¹ proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ with complete fearlessness and without any hindrance from anyone.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 11:4, 5, 7

⁴ Yahweh in his holy temple! Yahweh, his throne is in heaven; his eyes watch over the world, his gaze scrutinises the children of Adam.

⁵ Yahweh examines the upright and the wicked, the lover of violence he detests.

⁷ For Yahweh is upright and loves uprightness, the honest will ever see his face.

Gospel, John 21:20-25

²⁰ Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them — the one who had leant back close to his chest at the supper and had said to him, ‘Lord, who is it that will betray you?’

²¹ Seeing him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘What about him, Lord?’

²² Jesus answered, ‘If I want him to stay behind till I come, what does it matter to you? You are to follow me.’

²³ The rumour then went out among the brothers that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus had not said to Peter, ‘He will not die,’ but, ‘If I want him to stay behind till I come.’

²⁴ This disciple is the one who vouches for these things and has written them down, and we know that his testimony is true.

²⁵ There was much else that Jesus did; if it were written down in detail, I do not suppose the world itself would hold all the books that would be written.

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The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) is a Catholic translation of the Bible published in 1985. The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) has become the most widely used Roman Catholic Bible outside of the United States. It has the imprimatur of Cardinal George Basil Hume.

Like its predecessor, the Jerusalem Bible, the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) version is translated “directly from the Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic.” The 1973 French translation, the Bible de Jerusalem, is followed only “where the text admits to more than one interpretation.” Introductions and notes, with some modifications, are taken from the Bible de Jerusalem.

Source: The Very Reverend Dom (Joseph) Henry Wansbrough, OSB, MA (Oxon), STL (Fribourg), LSS (Rome), a monk of Ampleforth Abbey and a biblical scholar. He was General Editor of the New Jerusalem Bible. “New Jerusalem Bible, Regular Edition”, pg. v.

Ten Commandments | Books of the Bible | Buy a Bible

May 19th, 2013

Reading 1, Acts 2:1-11:
When Pentecost day came round, they had all met together, when suddenly there came from heaven a … Psalm, Psalms 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34:
Bless Yahweh, my soul, Yahweh, my God, how great you are! Clothed in majesty and splendour, Gospel, John 20:19-23:
In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room … Reading 2, First Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13:
Because of that, I want to make it quite clear to you that no one who says ‘A curse on Jesus’ can … Read More

Old Testament »

New Testament »

Daily Readings for Sunday, May 19, 2013

Reading 1, Acts 2:1-11

¹ When Pentecost day came round, they had all met together,

² when suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of a violent wind which filled the entire house in which they were sitting;

³ and there appeared to them tongues as of fire; these separated and came to rest on the head of each of them.

⁴ They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak different languages as the Spirit gave them power to express themselves.

⁵ Now there were devout men living in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven,

⁶ and at this sound they all assembled, and each one was bewildered to hear these men speaking his own language.

⁷ They were amazed and astonished. ‘Surely,’ they said, ‘all these men speaking are Galileans?

⁸ How does it happen that each of us hears them in his own native language?

⁹ Parthians, Medes and Elamites; people from Mesopotamia, Judaea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,

¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya round Cyrene; residents of Rome-

¹¹ Jews and proselytes alike — Cretans and Arabs, we hear them preaching in our own language about the marvels of God.’

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34

¹ Bless Yahweh, my soul, Yahweh, my God, how great you are! Clothed in majesty and splendour,

²⁴ How countless are your works, Yahweh, all of them made so wisely! The earth is full of your creatures.

²⁹ Turn away your face and they panic; take back their breath and they die and revert to dust.

³⁰ Send out your breath and life begins; you renew the face of the earth.

³¹ Glory to Yahweh for ever! May Yahweh find joy in his creatures!

³⁴ May my musings be pleasing to him, for Yahweh gives me joy.

Gospel, John 20:19-23

¹⁹ In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you,’

²⁰ and, after saying this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy at seeing the Lord,

²¹ and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. ‘As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.’

²² After saying this he breathed on them and said: Receive the Holy Spirit.

²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyone’s sins, they are retained.

Reading 2, First Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13

³ Because of that, I want to make it quite clear to you that no one who says ‘A curse on Jesus’ can be speaking in the Spirit of God, and nobody is able to say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit.

⁴ There are many different gifts, but it is always the same Spirit;

⁵ there are many different ways of serving, but it is always the same Lord.

⁶ There are many different forms of activity, but in everybody it is the same God who is at work in them all.

⁷ The particular manifestation of the Spirit granted to each one is to be used for the general good.

¹² For as with the human body which is a unity although it has many parts — all the parts of the body, though many, still making up one single body — so it is with Christ.

¹³ We were baptised into one body in a single Spirit, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as free men, and we were all given the same Spirit to drink.

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The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) is a Catholic translation of the Bible published in 1985. The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) has become the most widely used Roman Catholic Bible outside of the United States. It has the imprimatur of Cardinal George Basil Hume.

Like its predecessor, the Jerusalem Bible, the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) version is translated “directly from the Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic.” The 1973 French translation, the Bible de Jerusalem, is followed only “where the text admits to more than one interpretation.” Introductions and notes, with some modifications, are taken from the Bible de Jerusalem.

Source: The Very Reverend Dom (Joseph) Henry Wansbrough, OSB, MA (Oxon), STL (Fribourg), LSS (Rome), a monk of Ampleforth Abbey and a biblical scholar. He was General Editor of the New Jerusalem Bible. “New Jerusalem Bible, Regular Edition”, pg. v.

Ten Commandments | Books of the Bible | Buy a Bible

May 19th, 2013

Reading 1, Acts 2:1-11:
When Pentecost day came round, they had all met together, when suddenly there came from heaven a … Psalm, Psalms 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34:
Bless Yahweh, my soul, Yahweh, my God, how great you are! Clothed in majesty and splendour, Gospel, John 20:19-23:
In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room … Reading 2, First Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13:
Because of that, I want to make it quite clear to you that no one who says ‘A curse on Jesus’ can … Read More

Old Testament »

New Testament »

Daily Readings for Friday, May 17, 2013

Reading 1, Acts 25:13-21

¹³ Some days later King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesarea and paid their respects to Festus.

¹⁴ Their visit lasted several days, and Festus put Paul’s case before the king, saying, ‘There is a man here whom Felix left behind in custody,

¹⁵ and while I was in Jerusalem the chief priests and elders of the Jews laid information against him, demanding his condemnation.

¹⁶ But I told them that Romans are not in the habit of surrendering any man, until the accused confronts his accusers and is given an opportunity to defend himself against the charge.

¹⁷ So they came here with me, and I wasted no time but took my seat on the tribunal the very next day and had the man brought in.

¹⁸ When confronted with him, his accusers did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected;

¹⁹ but they had some argument or other with him about their own religion and about a dead man called Jesus whom Paul alleged to be alive.

²⁰ Not feeling qualified to deal with questions of this sort, I asked him if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem to be tried there on this issue.

²¹ But Paul put in an appeal for his case to be reserved for the judgement of the emperor, so I ordered him to be remanded until I could send him to Caesar.’

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 103:1-2, 11-12, 19-20

¹ [Of David] Bless Yahweh, my soul, from the depths of my being, his holy name;

² bless Yahweh, my soul, never forget all his acts of kindness.

¹¹ As the height of heaven above earth, so strong is his faithful love for those who fear him.

¹² As the distance of east from west, so far from us does he put our faults.

¹⁹ Yahweh has fixed his throne in heaven, his sovereign power rules over all.

²⁰ Bless Yahweh, all his angels, mighty warriors who fulfil his commands, attentive to the sound of his words.

Gospel, John 21:15-19

¹⁵ When they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do?’ He answered, ‘Yes, Lord, you know I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’

¹⁶ A second time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ He replied, ‘Yes, Lord, you know I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Look after my sheep.’

¹⁷ Then he said to him a third time, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was hurt that he asked him a third time, ‘Do you love me?’ and said, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.

¹⁸ In all truth I tell you, when you were young you put on your own belt and walked where you liked; but when you grow old you will stretch out your hands, and somebody else will put a belt round you and take you where you would rather not go.’

¹⁹ In these words he indicated the kind of death by which Peter would give glory to God. After this he said, ‘Follow me.’

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The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) is a Catholic translation of the Bible published in 1985. The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) has become the most widely used Roman Catholic Bible outside of the United States. It has the imprimatur of Cardinal George Basil Hume.

Like its predecessor, the Jerusalem Bible, the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) version is translated “directly from the Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic.” The 1973 French translation, the Bible de Jerusalem, is followed only “where the text admits to more than one interpretation.” Introductions and notes, with some modifications, are taken from the Bible de Jerusalem.

Source: The Very Reverend Dom (Joseph) Henry Wansbrough, OSB, MA (Oxon), STL (Fribourg), LSS (Rome), a monk of Ampleforth Abbey and a biblical scholar. He was General Editor of the New Jerusalem Bible. “New Jerusalem Bible, Regular Edition”, pg. v.

Ten Commandments | Books of the Bible | Buy a Bible

May 17th, 2013

Reading 1, Acts 25:13-21:
Some days later King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesarea and paid their respects to Festus. … Psalm, Psalms 103:1-2, 11-12, 19-20:
[Of David] Bless Yahweh, my soul, from the depths of my being, his holy name; bless Yahweh, my … Gospel, John 21:15-19:
When they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these … Read More

Old Testament »

New Testament »

Daily Readings for Thursday, May 16, 2013

Reading 1, Acts 22:30; 23:6-11

³⁰ The next day, since he wanted to know for sure what charge the Jews were bringing, he freed Paul and gave orders for a meeting of the chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin; then he brought Paul down and set him in front of them.

⁶ Now Paul was well aware that one party was made up of Sadducees and the other of Pharisees, so he called out in the Sanhedrin, ‘Brothers, I am a Pharisee and the son of Pharisees. It is for our hope in the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.’

⁷ As soon as he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was split between the two parties.

⁸ For the Sadducees say there is neither resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, while the Pharisees accept all three.

⁹ The shouting grew louder, and some of the scribes from the Pharisees’ party stood up and protested strongly, ‘We find nothing wrong with this man. Suppose a spirit has spoken to him, or an angel?’

¹⁰ Feeling was running high, and the tribune, afraid that they would tear Paul to pieces, ordered his troops to go down and haul him out and bring him into the fortress.

¹¹ Next night, the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘Courage! You have borne witness for me in Jerusalem, now you must do the same in Rome.’

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11

¹ [In a quiet voice Of David] Protect me, O God, in you is my refuge.

² To Yahweh I say, ‘You are my Lord, my happiness is in none

⁵ My birthright, my cup is Yahweh; you, you alone, hold my lot secure.

⁷ I bless Yahweh who is my counsellor, even at night my heart instructs me.

⁸ I keep Yahweh before me always, for with him at my right hand, nothing can shake me.

⁹ So my heart rejoices, my soul delights, my body too will rest secure,

¹⁰ for you will not abandon me to Sheol, you cannot allow your faithful servant to see the abyss.

¹¹ You will teach me the path of life, unbounded joy in your presence, at your right hand delight for ever.

Gospel, John 17:20-26

²⁰ I pray not only for these but also for those who through their teaching will come to believe in me.

²¹ May they all be one, just as, Father, you are in me and I am in you, so that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me.

²² I have given them the glory you gave to me, that they may be one as we are one.

²³ With me in them and you in me, may they be so perfected in unity that the world will recognise that it was you who sent me and that you have loved them as you have loved me.

²⁴ Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they may always see my glory which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

²⁵ Father, Upright One, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these have known that you have sent me.

²⁶ I have made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and so that I may be in them.

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The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) is a Catholic translation of the Bible published in 1985. The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) has become the most widely used Roman Catholic Bible outside of the United States. It has the imprimatur of Cardinal George Basil Hume.

Like its predecessor, the Jerusalem Bible, the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) version is translated “directly from the Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic.” The 1973 French translation, the Bible de Jerusalem, is followed only “where the text admits to more than one interpretation.” Introductions and notes, with some modifications, are taken from the Bible de Jerusalem.

Source: The Very Reverend Dom (Joseph) Henry Wansbrough, OSB, MA (Oxon), STL (Fribourg), LSS (Rome), a monk of Ampleforth Abbey and a biblical scholar. He was General Editor of the New Jerusalem Bible. “New Jerusalem Bible, Regular Edition”, pg. v.

Ten Commandments | Books of the Bible | Buy a Bible

May 16th, 2013

Reading 1, Acts 22:30; 23:6-11:
The next day, since he wanted to know for sure what charge the Jews were bringing, he freed Paul … Psalm, Psalms 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11:
[In a quiet voice Of David] Protect me, O God, in you is my refuge. To Yahweh I say, ‘You are my … Gospel, John 17:20-26:
I pray not only for these but also for those who through their teaching will come to believe in … Read More

Old Testament »

New Testament »

Religious leaders give witness to the outreach of Greenwich Bible Study

For a wider grasp of the impact of Debbie Reynolds’ Greenwich Bible Study across town, Greenwich Citizen spoke with representatives of various religious establishments, starting with The Rev. Dr. Jim Lemler of Christ Church Greenwich where Reynolds was a member and started her first Greenwich Bible Study Group.

“Any given week we have eight bible study groups going on our premises,” said Lemler. He traces their emergence to “the seeds sowed” by Debbie Reynolds and her Christ Church parishioners, along with her friend Betty Chickering from Stanwich Congregational Church.

“Debbie’s contribution is of deep commitment and real zest around where she saw the power of scripture and understanding,” said Lemler.

“On Friday mornings we have a men’s prayer group, “Men on Fire, ” with speakers where women are invited.”

Lemler also cited the growth of interfaith Bible study with the neighboring Temple Sholom synagogue. “We engage with them in the study of scripture.”

Rabbi Mitchell Hurvitz of Temple Sholom explained, “Rev. Lemler and I co-founded our Sholom Center for Interfaith Learning and Fellowship to help facilitate and coordinate the programmatic growth in interfaith study.”

Hurvitz was aware of the Greenwich Bible Study groups. “I have heard only good reports,” he said, “that they are spiritually nourishing and open to all.”

At the temple, he said, “We have a weekly study group on Tuesdays at noon, “Lunch and Learn,” which I started 19 years ago with three students and that now regularly draws 35 people. Most of our groups study the Torah — the first five books of the Bible. We don’t study the Bible without rabbinical commentary. On Saturday, we have an hour of Torah study before the service starts at 9.”

At Stanwich Congregational Church, where Debbie is now a member, there are more than a dozen Bible study groups, says Associate Pastor Joan Osgood, “We have one probably every day of the week.” Osgood’s time at Stanwich stretches back 24 years to the early years of Greenwich Bible Study.

Since those earlier days, Osgood says, “Bible study groups have increased here a great deal. Most of the daytime groups are women, “but we have several men’s groups,”she says. “People meet for breakfast before they get on the train. One man holds one in his office in NYC.

“These Bible study groups widen or broaden our awareness of God’s working in our lives and how He has been working in our lives for thousands of years, ” the pastor says.

From the first, she says, Greenwich Bible Study had “an ecumenical appeal.” “It seems to draw people in from many different communities in Greenwich,” she says. “Its first speakers were clergy people (including our Rev. Neely Towe), but as the groups increased, there were lay people with the gift of teaching. Debbie herself has been an inspired and efficient Bible study teacher.”

“Debbie has the enthusiasm for Bible study. She had the contacts. She wanted others to share what she was excited about. She’s a very charismatic person.”

Osgood says, “Greenwich Bible Study became so popular that it spread out to other churches. Women would go back to their churches and say `Why don’t we have these Bible study groups?’ Catholic mothers were coming to Debbie’s Bible study group. The younger ones wanted to start a Bible study group out of the Catholic church. Neely Towe and Debbie helped them get started with their inspiration.”

Julie Ricciardi of Cos Cob is one of those whose Catholic mother goes to Debbie’s Bible study group. “Everyone knew Debbie in my house,” she says.

“I was going to Debbie’s Greenwich Bible Study luncheons,” she says. “That connected me to Debbie and the women she gathered around her. It was very nurturing. I was being fed spiritually.”

But not having a Bible study group to attend at her church — St. Mary — she says, “started to weigh on my heart.” “Debbie encouraged me to start a Catholic Bible study group.” Why the Catholic Church has not traditionally offered Bible study, Ricciardi could not answer. She believed, “We haven’t had a female Catholic voice.”

Ricciardi soon got a green light from her church to take her “discontent and do something good with it.” She was introduced to a writer of Catholic Bible studies and formed a group, which she called, “Walking With Purpose.”

“I really took what GBS (Greenwich Bible Study) has done,” she says. “Our mission is to enable women to know Christ through scripture. We set the table that the Holy Spirit comes to. We offer good books, good speakers.”

“We have one group on Tuesday mornings and another on Thursday nights at St. Mary throughout the school year — with 155 women.” Members of her groups come from as far as Croton-on-Hudson in Westchester County. “Nationally there are now 40 “Walking with Purpose” groups,” she says, serving 2,500 women.

“This fall we will have our three-part inspirational speaker luncheon series in October,” says Ricciardi, “It’s something I took over from Debbie five years ago. It’s ecumenical as well. It connects women with Christ.”

“I had courage to do all this because of Debbie,” she says. “Debbie has a gift of encouragement. She is really an instrument of God’s grace.”

Daily Readings for Thursday, April 25, 2013

Reading 1, First Peter 5:5-14

⁵ In the same way, younger people, be subject to the elders. Humility towards one another must be the garment you all wear constantly, because God opposes the proud but accords his favour to the humble.

⁶ Bow down, then, before the power of God now, so that he may raise you up in due time;

⁷ unload all your burden on to him, since he is concerned about you.

⁸ Keep sober and alert, because your enemy the devil is on the prowl like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

⁹ Stand up to him, strong in faith and in the knowledge that it is the same kind of suffering that the community of your brothers throughout the world is undergoing.

¹⁰ You will have to suffer only for a little while: the God of all grace who called you to eternal glory in Christ will restore you, he will confirm, strengthen and support you.

¹¹ His power lasts for ever and ever. Amen.

¹² I write these few words to you through Silvanus, who is a trustworthy brother, to encourage you and attest that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it!

¹³ Your sister in Babylon, who is with you among the chosen, sends you greetings; so does my son, Mark.

¹⁴ Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to you all who are in Christ.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 89:2-3, 6-7, 16-17

² for you have said: love is built to last for ever, you have fixed your constancy firm in the heavens.

³ ‘I have made a covenant with my Chosen One, sworn an oath to my servant David:

⁶ Who in the skies can compare with Yahweh? Who among the sons of god can rival him?

⁷ God, awesome in the assembly of holy ones, great and dreaded among all who surround him,

¹⁶ In your name they rejoice all day long, by your saving justice they are raised up.

¹⁷ You are the flower of their strength, by your favour our strength is triumphant;

Gospel, Mark 16:15-20

¹⁵ And he said to them, ‘Go out to the whole world; proclaim the gospel to all creation.

¹⁶ Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.

¹⁷ These are the signs that will be associated with believers: in my name they will cast out devils; they will have the gift of tongues;

¹⁸ they will pick up snakes in their hands and be unharmed should they drink deadly poison; they will lay their hands on the sick, who will recover.’

¹⁹ And so the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven; there at the right hand of God he took his place,

²⁰ while they, going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it.

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The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) is a Catholic translation of the Bible published in 1985. The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) has become the most widely used Roman Catholic Bible outside of the United States. It has the imprimatur of Cardinal George Basil Hume.

Like its predecessor, the Jerusalem Bible, the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) version is translated “directly from the Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic.” The 1973 French translation, the Bible de Jerusalem, is followed only “where the text admits to more than one interpretation.” Introductions and notes, with some modifications, are taken from the Bible de Jerusalem.

Source: The Very Reverend Dom (Joseph) Henry Wansbrough, OSB, MA (Oxon), STL (Fribourg), LSS (Rome), a monk of Ampleforth Abbey and a biblical scholar. He was General Editor of the New Jerusalem Bible. “New Jerusalem Bible, Regular Edition”, pg. v.

Ten Commandments | Books of the Bible | Buy a Bible

May 12th, 2013

Reading 1, Acts 7:55-60:
But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus … Psalm, Psalms 97:1-2, 6-7, 9:
Yahweh is king! Let earth rejoice, the many isles be glad! Cloud, black cloud enfolds him, saving … Gospel, John 17:20-26:
I pray not only for these but also for those who through their teaching will come to believe in … Reading 2, Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20:
Look, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me, to repay everyone as their deeds deserve. I am … Read More

Old Testament »

New Testament »

Daily Readings for Sunday, May 12, 2013

Reading 1, Acts 7:55-60

⁵⁵ But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God’s right hand.

⁵⁶ ‘Look! I can see heaven thrown open,’ he said, ‘and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.’

⁵⁷ All the members of the council shouted out and stopped their ears with their hands; then they made a concerted rush at him,

⁵⁸ thrust him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses put down their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul.

⁵⁹ As they were stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’

⁶⁰ Then he knelt down and said aloud, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ And with these words he fell asleep.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 97:1-2, 6-7, 9

¹ Yahweh is king! Let earth rejoice, the many isles be glad!

² Cloud, black cloud enfolds him, saving justice and judgement the foundations of his throne.

⁶ The heavens proclaim his saving justice, all nations see his glory.

⁷ Shame on all who serve images, who pride themselves on their idols; bow down to him, all you gods!

⁹ For you are Yahweh, Most High over all the earth, far transcending all gods.

Gospel, John 17:20-26

²⁰ I pray not only for these but also for those who through their teaching will come to believe in me.

²¹ May they all be one, just as, Father, you are in me and I am in you, so that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me.

²² I have given them the glory you gave to me, that they may be one as we are one.

²³ With me in them and you in me, may they be so perfected in unity that the world will recognise that it was you who sent me and that you have loved them as you have loved me.

²⁴ Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they may always see my glory which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

²⁵ Father, Upright One, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these have known that you have sent me.

²⁶ I have made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and so that I may be in them.

Reading 2, Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20

¹² Look, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me, to repay everyone as their deeds deserve.

¹³ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

¹⁴ Blessed are those who will have washed their robes clean, so that they will have the right to feed on the tree of life and can come through the gates into the city.

¹⁶ I, Jesus, have sent my angel to attest these things to you for the sake of the churches. I am the sprig from the root of David and the bright star of the morning.

¹⁷ The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come!’ Let everyone who listens answer, ‘Come!’ Then let all who are thirsty come: all who want it may have the water of life, and have it free.

²⁰ The one who attests these things says: I am indeed coming soon. Amen; come, Lord Jesus.

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The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) is a Catholic translation of the Bible published in 1985. The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) has become the most widely used Roman Catholic Bible outside of the United States. It has the imprimatur of Cardinal George Basil Hume.

Like its predecessor, the Jerusalem Bible, the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) version is translated “directly from the Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic.” The 1973 French translation, the Bible de Jerusalem, is followed only “where the text admits to more than one interpretation.” Introductions and notes, with some modifications, are taken from the Bible de Jerusalem.

Source: The Very Reverend Dom (Joseph) Henry Wansbrough, OSB, MA (Oxon), STL (Fribourg), LSS (Rome), a monk of Ampleforth Abbey and a biblical scholar. He was General Editor of the New Jerusalem Bible. “New Jerusalem Bible, Regular Edition”, pg. v.

Ten Commandments | Books of the Bible | Buy a Bible

May 11th, 2013

Reading 1, Acts 18:23-28:
where he spent a short time before continuing his journey through the Galatian country and then … Psalm, Psalms 47:2-3, 8-9, 10:
For Yahweh, the Most High, is glorious, the great king over all the earth. He brings peoples under … Gospel, John 16:23-28:
When that day comes, you will not ask me any questions. In all truth I tell you, anything you ask … Read More

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Branch Rickey’s Catholic Bible

They intended it as a gift, but these 60 years later it’s a time capsule. More than half the players on the roster of the Pittsburgh Pirates got together in the spring of 1953 and gave a Catholic Bible to their boss, general manager Branch Rickey, now known to history as the man who in the 1940s signed Jackie Robinson to a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers and integrated major-league baseball. Rickey was a devout Methodist, and so the gift from his players is curious — a token, apparently, of the sectarian differences between themselves and him. What were they thinking?

To judge from the faux-leather cover and the title page, the Bible is neither rare nor noteworthy: The Holy Trinity Edition (a modified Douay-Challoner-Rheims version), edited by the Reverend John P. O’Connell (1951), had a good run in the United States in the middle of the last century. The copy in question lay hidden in a donation bin at the Sacramento Public Library when, in January of this year, a book repairer noticed the dedication to Rickey, did some quick research, and realized she was holding an item of historical significance.

“Presented to Branch Rickey,” the dedication page reads. “May this good Book be a continued inspiration to one who has ever cherished the word of God. With sincere humility we respectfully dedicate this Holy Catholic Bible.” It’s dated May 7, 1953.

In the lower right-hand corner is the note “see page 1,” a reference to the 30 signatures of “the Catholic players of the Pirates” — actually, 27 players plus two coaches and the first-year field manager, Fred Haney — neatly placed in two columns under the heading “Pirates 1953.” Back then, the maximum size of a major-league roster was 40 men for the first 31 days of the season and then 25 men until September. When they signed their names together on May 7, those 27 players must have known that soon, by May 15, some of them would be cut from the roster, teammates no longer.

“There is a place for mysteries,” Rickey’s grandson, Branch Barrett Rickey, tells me when I ask him what he knows about the gift’s context. Rickey III, as he’s more commonly known, is in his 16th year as president of the triple-A Pacific Coast League. He worked in the front offices of the Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds before serving as president of the American Association, the longstanding minor league (established 1902) that was disbanded after the 1997 season; his father, Branch Rickey Jr., was an executive with the Dodgers and Pirates.

For stretches of his youth, Rickey III had “daily interface with the materials in his [grandfather’s] library,” but he doesn’t recall ever coming across the Catholic Bible. With a swipe of Occam’s razor he offers that, for the players, it was “more likely a gift of convenience than a gift of persuasion or narrowness.” It was “something of value to themselves.” To illustrate his conjecture about the genesis of the gift, he sketches a scene where a ballplayer points to a Bible and says to his teammates, “We’re not going to use this. Let’s pass this along to Mr. Rickey.”

It may have begun as an idea casually tossed off, but it must have taken quite a bit of forethought to carry it out. Someone had to decide what to write in the dedication. Someone had to determine which players were Catholic and then arrange for all of them to sign the book. Rickey III relents — he admits that he finds some theories about the exact motives for giving his grandfather a Catholic Bible to be “tantalizing.”

Daily Readings for Saturday, May 11, 2013

Reading 1, Acts 18:23-28

²³ where he spent a short time before continuing his journey through the Galatian country and then through Phrygia, encouraging all the followers.

²⁴ An Alexandrian Jew named Apollos now arrived in Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, with a sound knowledge of the scriptures, and yet,

²⁵ though he had been given instruction in the Way of the Lord and preached with great spiritual fervour and was accurate in all the details he taught about Jesus, he had experienced only the baptism of John.

²⁶ He began to teach fearlessly in the synagogue and, when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they attached themselves to him and gave him more detailed instruction about the Way.

²⁷ When Apollos thought of crossing over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote asking the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived there he was able by God’s grace to help the believers considerably

²⁸ by the energetic way he refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 47:2-3, 8-9, 10

² For Yahweh, the Most High, is glorious, the great king over all the earth.

³ He brings peoples under our yoke and nations under our feet.

⁸ God reigns over the nations, seated on his holy throne.

⁹ The leaders of the nations rally to the people of the God of Abraham. The shields of the earth belong to God, who is exalted on high.

Gospel, John 16:23-28

²³ When that day comes, you will not ask me any questions. In all truth I tell you, anything you ask from the Father he will grant in my name.

²⁴ Until now you have not asked anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and so your joy will be complete.

²⁵ I have been telling you these things in veiled language. The hour is coming when I shall no longer speak to you in veiled language but tell you about the Father in plain words.

²⁶ When that day comes you will ask in my name; and I do not say that I shall pray to the Father for you,

²⁷ because the Father himself loves you for loving me, and believing that I came from God.

²⁸ I came from the Father and have come into the world and now I am leaving the world to go to the Father.’

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The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) is a Catholic translation of the Bible published in 1985. The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) has become the most widely used Roman Catholic Bible outside of the United States. It has the imprimatur of Cardinal George Basil Hume.

Like its predecessor, the Jerusalem Bible, the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) version is translated “directly from the Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic.” The 1973 French translation, the Bible de Jerusalem, is followed only “where the text admits to more than one interpretation.” Introductions and notes, with some modifications, are taken from the Bible de Jerusalem.

Source: The Very Reverend Dom (Joseph) Henry Wansbrough, OSB, MA (Oxon), STL (Fribourg), LSS (Rome), a monk of Ampleforth Abbey and a biblical scholar. He was General Editor of the New Jerusalem Bible. “New Jerusalem Bible, Regular Edition”, pg. v.

Ten Commandments | Books of the Bible | Buy a Bible

May 10th, 2013

Reading 1, Acts 18:9-18:
One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision, ‘Be fearless; speak out and do not keep silence: I … Psalm, Psalms 47:2-3, 4-5, 6-7:
For Yahweh, the Most High, is glorious, the great king over all the earth. He brings peoples under … Gospel, John 16:20-23:
‘In all truth I tell you, you will be weeping and wailing while the world will rejoice; you will … Read More

Old Testament »

New Testament »

Daily Readings for Friday, May 10, 2013

Reading 1, Acts 18:9-18

⁹ One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision, ‘Be fearless; speak out and do not keep silence:

¹⁰ I am with you. I have so many people that belong to me in this city that no one will attempt to hurt you.’

¹¹ So Paul stayed there preaching the word of God among them for eighteen months.

¹² But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a concerted attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal, saying,

¹³ ‘We accuse this man of persuading people to worship God in a way that breaks the Law.’

¹⁴ Before Paul could open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, ‘Listen, you Jews. If this were a misdemeanour or a crime, it would be in order for me to listen to your plea;

¹⁵ but if it is only quibbles about words and names, and about your own Law, then you must deal with it yourselves — I have no intention of making legal decisions about these things.’

¹⁶ Then he began to hustle them out of the court,

¹⁷ and at once they all turned on Sosthenes, the synagogue president, and beat him in front of the tribunal. Gallio refused to take any notice at all.

¹⁸ After staying on for some time, Paul took leave of the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut off, because of a vow he had made.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 47:2-3, 4-5, 6-7

² For Yahweh, the Most High, is glorious, the great king over all the earth.

³ He brings peoples under our yoke and nations under our feet.

⁴ He chooses for us our birthright, the pride of Jacob whom he loves.Pause

⁵ God goes up to shouts of acclaim, Yahweh to a fanfare on the ram’s horn.

⁶ Let the music sound for our God, let it sound, let the music sound for our king, let it sound.

⁷ For he is king of the whole world; learn the music, let it sound for God!

Gospel, John 16:20-23

²⁰ ‘In all truth I tell you, you will be weeping and wailing while the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy.

²¹ A woman in childbirth suffers, because her time has come; but when she has given birth to the child she forgets the suffering in her joy that a human being has been born into the world.

²² So it is with you: you are sad now, but I shall see you again, and your hearts will be full of joy, and that joy no one shall take from you.

²³ When that day comes, you will not ask me any questions. In all truth I tell you, anything you ask from the Father he will grant in my name.

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The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) is a Catholic translation of the Bible published in 1985. The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) has become the most widely used Roman Catholic Bible outside of the United States. It has the imprimatur of Cardinal George Basil Hume.

Like its predecessor, the Jerusalem Bible, the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) version is translated “directly from the Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic.” The 1973 French translation, the Bible de Jerusalem, is followed only “where the text admits to more than one interpretation.” Introductions and notes, with some modifications, are taken from the Bible de Jerusalem.

Source: The Very Reverend Dom (Joseph) Henry Wansbrough, OSB, MA (Oxon), STL (Fribourg), LSS (Rome), a monk of Ampleforth Abbey and a biblical scholar. He was General Editor of the New Jerusalem Bible. “New Jerusalem Bible, Regular Edition”, pg. v.

Ten Commandments | Books of the Bible | Buy a Bible

May 9th, 2013

Reading 1, Acts 1:1-11:
In my earlier work, Theophilus, I dealt with everything Jesus had done and taught from the … Psalm, Psalms 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9:
For Yahweh, the Most High, is glorious, the great king over all the earth. He brings peoples under … Gospel, Luke 24:46-53:
and he said to them, ‘So it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from … Reading 2, Ephesians 1:17-23:
May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and … Read More

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