Frist Reading

Acts of the Apostles (Acts 8: 26-40)

See, here is water! What is to prevent my being baptized?

The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip,

“Get up and head south on the road
that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert route.”

So he got up and set out.
Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch,
a court official of the Candace,
that is, the queen of the Ethiopians,
in charge of her entire treasury,
who had come to Jerusalem to worship, and was returning home.
Seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
The Spirit said to Philip,

“Go and join up with that chariot.”

Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said,

“Do you understand what you are reading?”

He replied,

“How can I, unless someone instructs me?”

So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him.
This was the Scripture passage he was reading:

Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who will tell of his posterity?
For his life is taken from the earth.

Then the eunuch said to Philip in reply,

“I beg you, about whom is the prophet saying this?
About himself, or about someone else?”

Then Philip opened his mouth and, beginning with this Scripture passage,
he proclaimed Jesus to him.
As they traveled along the road
they came to some water,
and the eunuch said,

“Look, there is water.
What is to prevent my being baptized?”

Then he ordered the chariot to stop,
and Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water,
and he baptized him.
When they came out of the water,
the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away,
and the eunuch saw him no more,
but continued on his way rejoicing.
Philip came to Azotus, and went about proclaiming the good news
to all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 66: 8-9, 16-17, 20

Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

Bless our God, you peoples,
loudly sound his praise;
He has given life to our souls,
and has not let our feet slip.

Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare
what he has done for me.
When I appealed to him in words,
praise was on the tip of my tongue.

Blessed be God who refused me not
my prayer or his kindness!

Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord; whoever eats this bread will live forever.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John (Jn 6: 44-51)

I am the living bread which came down from heaven.

Jesus said to the crowds:

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,
and I will raise him on the last day.
It is written in the prophets:

They shall all be taught by God.

Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father
except the one who is from God;
he has seen the Father.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;
this is the bread that comes down from heaven
so that one may eat it and not die.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give
is my Flesh for the life of the world.”

— The Gospel of the Lord.

Frist Reading

Acts of the Apostles (Acts 8: 1b-8)

They went about preaching the word.

There broke out a severe persecution of the Church in Jerusalem,
and all were scattered
throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria,
except the Apostles.
Devout men buried Stephen and made a loud lament over him.
Saul, meanwhile, was trying to destroy the Church;
entering house after house and dragging out men and women,
he handed them over for imprisonment.

Now those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.
Thus Philip went down to the city of Samaria
and proclaimed the Christ to them.
With one accord, the crowds paid attention to what was said by Philip
when they heard it and saw the signs he was doing.
For unclean spirits, crying out in a loud voice,
came out of many possessed people,
and many paralyzed and crippled people were cured.
There was great joy in that city.

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 66: 1-3a, 4-5, 6-7a

Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

Shout joyfully to God, all the earth,
sing praise to the glory of his name;
proclaim his glorious praise.
Say to God, “How tremendous are your deeds!”

“Let all on earth worship and sing praise to you,
sing praise to your name!”
Come and see the works of God,
his tremendous deeds among the children of Adam.

He has changed the sea into dry land;
through the river they passed on foot;
therefore let us rejoice in him.
He rules by his might forever.

Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia.

Everyone who believes in the Son has eternal life, and I shall raise him up on the last day, says the Lord.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John (Jn 6: 35-40)

This is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son should have eternal life.

Jesus said to the crowds,

“I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever believes in me will never thirst.
But I told you that although you have seen me,
you do not believe.
Everything that the Father gives me will come to me,
and I will not reject anyone who comes to me,
because I came down from heaven not to do my own will
but the will of the one who sent me.
And this is the will of the one who sent me,
that I should not lose anything of what he gave me,
but that I should raise it on the last day.
For this is the will of my Father,
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him
may have eternal life,
and I shall raise him on the last day.”

— The Gospel of the Lord.

First Reading

Acts of the Apostles (Acts 7: 51 — 8: 1a)

Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

Stephen said to the people, the elders, and the scribes:

“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears,
you always oppose the Holy Spirit;
you are just like your ancestors.
Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute?
They put to death those who foretold the coming of the righteous one,
whose betrayers and murderers you have now become.
You received the law as transmitted by angels,
but you did not observe it.”

When they heard this, they were infuriated,
and they ground their teeth at him.
But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit,
looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God
and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,
and Stephen said,

“Behold, I see the heavens opened
and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

But they cried out in a loud voice,
covered their ears, and rushed upon him together.
They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him.
The witnesses laid down their cloaks
at the feet of a young man named Saul.
As they were stoning Stephen, he called out,

“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice,

“Lord, do not hold this sin against them”;

and when he said this, he fell asleep.
Now Saul was consenting to his execution.

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety.
You are my rock and my fortress;
for your name’s sake you will lead and guide me.

Into your hands I commend my spirit;
you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God.
My trust is in the LORD;
I will rejoice and be glad of your mercy.

Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your kindness.
You hide them in the shelter of your presence
from the plottings of men.

Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia.

I am the bread of life, says the Lord; whoever comes to me will never hunger.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John (Jn 6: 30-35)

It was not Moses, it is my Father who gives you the true bread.

The crowd said to Jesus:

“What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?
What can you do?
Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written:
He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”

So Jesus said to them,

“Amen, amen, I say to you,
it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven;
my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world.”

So they said to Jesus,

“Sir, give us this bread always.”

Jesus said to them,

“I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

— The Gospel of the Lord.