MASS READINGS & SAINT QUOTE OF THE DAY : Wednesday - January 25, 2023

Wednesday - January 25, 2023

No tongue can express the greatness of the love which Jesus Christ bears to our souls. He did not wish that between Him and His servants there should be any other pledge than Himself, to keep alive the remembrance of Him.

-- St. Peter of Alcantara

January 25, 2023

Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, Apostle

Lectionary: 519

 

Reading I     

                                                                                    Acts 22:3-16

 

Paul addressed the people in these words:

“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia,

but brought up in this city.

At the feet of Gamaliel I was educated strictly in our ancestral law

and was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.

I persecuted this Way to death,

binding both men and women and delivering them to prison.

Even the high priest and the whole council of elders

can testify on my behalf.

For from them I even received letters to the brothers

and set out for Damascus to bring back to Jerusalem

in chains for punishment those there as well.

 

“On that journey as I drew near to Damascus,

about noon a great light from the sky suddenly shone around me.

I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me,

‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’

I replied, ‘Who are you, sir?’

And he said to me,

‘I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting.’

My companions saw the light

but did not hear the voice of the one who spoke to me.

I asked, ‘What shall I do, sir?’

The Lord answered me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus,

and there you will be told about everything

appointed for you to do.’

Since I could see nothing because of the brightness of that light,

I was led by hand by my companions and entered Damascus.

 

“A certain Ananias, a devout observer of the law,

and highly spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,

came to me and stood there and said,

‘Saul, my brother, regain your sight.’

And at that very moment I regained my sight and saw him.

Then he said,

‘The God of our ancestors designated you to know his will,

to see the Righteous One, and to hear the sound of his voice;

for you will be his witness before all

to what you have seen and heard.

Now, why delay?

Get up and have yourself baptized and your sins washed away,

calling upon his name.’”

 

Or

 

Acts 9:1-22

Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord,

went to the high priest and asked him

for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that,

if he should find any men or women who belonged to the Way,

he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains.

On his  journey, as he was nearing Damascus,

a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him.

He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him,

“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”

He said, “Who are you, sir?”

The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.”

The men who were traveling with him stood speechless,

for they heard the voice but could see no one.

Saul got up from the ground,

but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing;

so they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus.

For three days he was unable to see, and he neither ate nor drank.

 

There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias,

and the Lord said to him in a vision, AAnanias.”

He answered, “Here I am, Lord.”

The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight

and ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul.

He is there praying,

and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias

come in and lay his hands on him,

that he may regain his sight.”

But Ananias replied,

“Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man,

what evil things he has done to your holy ones in Jerusalem.

And here he has authority from the chief priests

to imprison all who call upon your name.”

But the Lord said to him,

“Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of mine

to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and children of Israel,

and I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name.”

So Ananias went and entered the house;

laying his hands on him, he said,

“Saul, my brother, the Lord has sent me,

Jesus who appeared to you on the way by which you came,

that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Immediately things like scales fell from his eyes

and he regained his sight.

He got up and was baptized,

and when he had eaten, he recovered his strength.

 

He stayed some days with the disciples in Damascus,

and he began at once to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues,

that he is the Son of God.

All who heard him were astounded and said,

“Is not this the man who in Jerusalem

ravaged those who call upon this name,

and came here expressly to take them back in chains

to the chief priests?”

But Saul grew all the stronger

and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus,

proving that this is the Christ.

 

Responsorial Psalm                                  117:1bc, 2

 

R.    (Mark 16:15)  Go out to all the world, and tell the Good News.

 

Praise the LORD, all you nations;

glorify him, all you peoples!

R.    Go out to all the world, and tell the Good News.

 

For steadfast is his kindness toward us,

and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.

R.    Go out to all the world, and tell the Good News.

 

Alleluia         

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

I chose you from the world,

to go and bear fruit that will last, says the Lord.

R. Alleluia

 

Gospel                                                           Mk 16:15-18

 

Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them:

“Go into the whole world

and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;

whoever does not believe will be condemned.

These signs will accompany those who believe:

in my name they will drive out demons,

they will speak new languages.

They will pick up serpents with their hands,

and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.

They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

 

**********************************

An Extraordinary Calling for Ordinary People

The calling in today’s Gospel passage — “Go out to all the world, and tell the Good News” — seems more appropriate today than when Jesus first said it, thanks to the Internet. Here I sit behind a computer in Florida, sharing the Good News with people all around the world. Even when I sleep, my calling is fulfilled non-stop through the Good News Ministries website, blogs, Facebook page, YouTube channel, etc.

 

We are all just ordinary persons. God, however, is quite extraordinary, and he does extraordinary works with ordinary and imperfect people.

 

Judas and Ananias from today’s first reading were ordinary guys, yet they played a very important role in Church development because they treated a terrible persecutor with extraordinary kindness. First Judas opened his home in an ordinary gesture of hospitality for a very extraordinary reason, risking everything for a man who had been an aggressive enemy of Christians.

 

Then, while Ananias was having a nice, ordinary prayer time, Jesus appeared to him in a vision and said: “I want you to go to Straight Street on the other side of town, to the house of Judas. He’s got a visitor there and I want you to minister to him.”

 

“Sure. How do you want me to help him?” replied Ananias.

 

“His eyes have been blinded, and I want you to lay hands on him to restore his sight.”

 

“No problem. You’ve used me to heal people before. I know what to do.”

 

“Yes, but the man I want you to heal is Saul of Tarsus.”

 

“No! You can’t mean that! This man is surely here to arrest us Christians! You can’t be serious.”

 

“Go!” Jesus commanded. And Ananias went.

 

Judas and Ananias are never in scripture again. And yet, what they did had an impact on the whole world, even to this day. They helped to launch Paul into one of the most powerful ministries of evangelization for all time. What kind of an impact are you making as an ordinary person following God’s extraordinary call to spread the Good News?

 

Today's Prayer

 

May the healing power that You have entrusted to Your Church, Lord, be provided to all with great mercy. May I find open hearts to Your transforming grace in all of them. Amen.

 

God Bless You.....

The Rosary Family

The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”