＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Acts 8:5-8, 14-17

Philip went down to a town of Samaria

and proclaimed the Christ there. All the people paid close attention to what Philip said as they listened to him and saw the miraculous signs that he did. For in cases of possession, the unclean spirits came out shrieking loudly. Many people who were paralyzed or crippled were healed. So there was great joy in that town.

Now, when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the Samaritans had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. They went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not as yet come down upon any of them since they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. So Peter and John laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

 

Ps 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20

Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

 

＊＊＊ 2nd Reading ＊＊＊

1 Peter 3:15-18

But bless the Lord Christ in your hearts. Always have an answer ready when you are called upon to account for your hope, but give it simply and with respect.  Keep your conscience clear so that those who slander you may be put to shame by your upright, Christian living. Better to suffer for doing good, if it is God’s will, than for doing wrong.

 Remember how Christ died, once and for all, for our sins. He, the just one, died for the unjust in order to lead us to God. In the body he was put to death, in the Spirit he was raised to life.

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

John 14:15-21

If you love me, you will keep my com­mandments; and I will ask the Fa­ther and he will give you another Helper to be with you forever, that Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him for he is with you and will be in you.

I will not leave you orphans, I am coming to you. A little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me because I live and you will also live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father and you in me, and I in you. Whoever keeps my commandments is the one who loves me. If he loves me, he will also be loved by my Father; I too shall love him and show myself clearly to him.”

 

Gospel Reflection：

Read:

The apostle Phillip did great and miraculous deeds in the first reading – manifesting once more the power of Christ whom the apostolic band was proclaiming. There is such tremendous activity going on and the early Church was expanding, its numbers were growing by leaps and bounds. And they did this by always being ready to proclaim their faith in Jesus, as the second reading from Peter tells us. The Gospel reading shows us the reason for this explosion of boldness in the proclamation of the faith: the Holy Spirit.

Reflect:

Jesus promised his disciples – before he returned to the Father – that they would be performing great and amazing acts in his name. and now we see it happening. But what is more amazing about all these accounts is that there’s an undeniable thread that connects all of them, namely, that no matter who performs these great deeds, be Peter, or John, or Paul, or Phillip, these men never pointed to themselves, never took credit for the great deed they performed, never even showed any sense of pride. Rather, again and again, they would direct people’s attention to Jesus, to the one who alone the proclaimed.

Pray:

Lord, grant me the same humility as your apostles. Grant that like them, and like John the Baptist who said that he must decrease while you increase, I may be truly self – effacing amidst the many deeds you do through me, so that you and you alone may be known, you alone may be loved, and you alone may be given the glory.

Act:

Pray that like John the Baptist, you may be granted the grace of true self-effacement so that you may be an even more effective instrument of the Good News.