Mass Readings
Liturgical Readings for : Thursday, 1st May, 2025Léachtaí Gaeilge
Next Sunday’s Readings
Thursday of the Second Week of Easter
St Peter tells all who need to hear that the apostles are the authentic witnesses to
God’s Spirit at work in the Jesus events they have experienced .
Optional Memorial of St Joseph the worker
Readings: Acts 13:44-52, or Col 3:14-15, 17, 23-24, Ps 89:2,12-14, 16, R/v v17-4. Mt 13:54-58
(These Readings can be found below t0days ordinary readings of the day )
C/f A short life of this saint can be found below the St Joseph’s Readings’
FIRST READING of the day
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles 5:27-33
We are witnesses to all this, we and the Holy Spirit.
‘We gave you a formal warning’ he said ‘not to preach in this name, and what have you done? You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and seem determined to fix the guilt of this man’s death on us.’
In reply Peter and the apostles said,
‘Obedience to God comes before obedience to men; it was the God of our ancestors who raised up Jesus, but it was you who had him executed by hanging on a tree. By his own right hand God has now raised him up to be leader and saviour, to give repentance and forgiveness of sins through him to Israel. We are witnesses to all this, we and the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.’
This so infuriated them that they wanted to put them to death.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
Responsorial Psalm Ps 33
Response This poor man called and the Lord heard him.
Or Alleluia!
1. I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise always on my lips.
Taste and see that the Lord is good. He is happy who seeks refuge in him. Response
2. The Lord turns his eyes to the just and his ears to their appeal.
They call and the Lord hears and rescues them in all their distress. Response
3. The Lord is close to the broken-hearted; those whose spirit is crushed he will save.
Many are the trials of the just man but from them all the Lord will rescue him. Response
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Christ has risen: he who created all things, and has granted his mercy to men.
Alleluia!
Or Jn 20:29
Alleluia, Alleluia!
‘You believe, Thomas, because you can see me.
Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John 3:31-36 Glory to you, O Lord
The Father loves the Son and has entrusted everything to him.
John the Baptist said to his disciples:
‘He who comes from above is above all others; he who is born of the earth is earthly himself and speaks in an earthly way.
He who comes from heaven bears witness to the things he has seen and heard, even if his testimony is not accepted;
though all who do accept his testimony are attesting the truthfulness of God, since he whom God has sent speaks God’s own words:
God gives him the Spirit without reserve.
The Father loves the Son and has entrusted everything to him.
Anyone who believes in the Son has eternal life,
but anyone who refuses to believe in the Son will never see life: the anger of God stays on him.’
The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Thursday, Second Week of Easter John 3:31-36
The words of Peter and the apostles to the high priest, ‘Obedience to God comes before obedience to men’, was a conviction which shaped the life of the first believers. It often brought them into conflict with the religious leaders who thought of themselves as the mediators of God’s word. For us as Christians, obedience to God is obedience to his Son, Jesus, our risen Lord, because as today’s gospel declares, ‘he whom God has sent speaks God’s own words’. The Greek word translated ‘obedience’ suggests attentive listening. We are called to listen attentively to the word of God, especially as proclaimed and lived by Jesus who is God’s Word in human form. As the Word of God, Jesus is the Bread of Life because his words can satisfy the deepest hunger in our hearts, our hunger for truth and for an assurance of God’s love. In the words of today’s responsorial psalm, we are invited to ‘taste and see that the Lord is good’.
The gospel reading declares that ‘God gives him (Jesus) the Spirit without reserve’, and in this fourth gospel Jesus declares that his words are ‘spirit and life’. When we listen attentively to the Lord’s word, we are opening ourselves to Holy Spirit, and in the power of that Spirit we will be able to witness to our faith in the Lord with something of the courage shown by Peter and the apostles in today’s first reading.
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(May 1: Optional memorial of St Joseph the Worker Mass Readings)
FIRST READING for St Joseph the Worker
A reading from the Book of Genesis 1:26-2:3
God the Supreme Worker creates the world
God said:
“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.” God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them.
God blessed them, saying:
“Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. 
Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth.”
God also said:
“See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth
and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it
to be your food; and to all the animals of the land,
all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground,
I give all the green plants for food.” And so it happened.
God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed—the sixth day.
Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed.
Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing,
God rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.
So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work his work of creating.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
(Alternative First Reading)
A reading from the second letter of St Paul to the Col0ssians 3:14-15, 17, 23-24
Brothers and sisters: Over all these things put on love, that is, the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one Body. And be thankful.
And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Whatever you do, do from the heart, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that you will receive from the Lord the due payment of the inheritance; be slaves of the Lord Christ.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 90: 2,3-4,12-13,14 and 16
Response Lord, give success to the work of our hands.
1. Before the mountains were begotten and the earth and the world were brought forth,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God. Response
2. Lord, give success to the work of our hands. You turn man back to dust,
saying, “Return, O children of men.” For a thousand years in your sight
are as yesterday, now that it is past, or as a watch of the night. Response
3. Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants! Response
4. Fill us at daybreak with your kindness that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
Let your work be seen by your servants, and your glory by their children. Response
Gospel Acclamation Ps 68:20
Alleluia, Alleluia
Blessed be the Lord, day after day, he bears our burdens, God our saviour
Alleluia
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew 13:54-58 Glory to you, O Lord.
This is the carpenter’s son, surely?
Jesus came to his home town and taught the people in their synagogue.
They were astonished and said,
“Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?
Is he not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother named Mary
and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?
Are not his sisters all with us? Where did this man get all this?“
And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them,
“A prophet is not without honour except in his native place and in his own house.”
And he did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith.
The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and used with the permission of the publishers. http://dltbooks.com/
The Scripture Reflection is made available with our thanks from his book Reflections on the Weekday Readings 2024: The Word is near to you, on your lips and in your heart by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications , c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/
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May 1: Saint of the Day ; St Joseph the Worker
This commemoration, instituted by Pius XII in 1955, proposes the example and intercession of Joseph as worker and provider. On this date many countries celebrate the dignity and cause of human labour.
It was in 1955, at a time when Communism was becoming strong in Italian political life, Pope Pius XII introduced the feast of St Joseph the Worker into the liturgical calendar.
An ideological Feast?
Liturgical purists may be inclined to question this day in honour of St Joseph the Worker: they see it as “an ideological feast” brought into the liturgical calendar in 1955 by Pope Pius XII apparently as a counterweight to the socialist and communist celebration of Labour Day on 1 May. Another perspective, however, is that the institution of the feast fits in well with the developing awareness in the social teaching of the Church from Rerum Novarum of Pope Leo XIII to Laborem Exercens of Pope John II on the dignity of human work and its creative role in the development of the human person.
Rerum Novarum (1891)
In the encyclical Rerum Novarum (1891), Pope Leo XIII raised a cry of protest against the harsh conditions which industrial workers had to endure and against their exploitation. This was a rejection of the prevailing ‘realism’ which held that labour was a commodity to be bought at market prices determined by the law of supply and demand rather than by the human needs of the worker. Pope Leo’s position was that the State was not the instrument of the richer class, but a neutral arbiter, that it had a duty to protect the poor from abuse and exploitation. Pope Leo also advocated that as many workers as possible should become owners of property and that workers had the right to form protective associations. With Leo the Church was first seen to take a stand on behalf of the poor.
Quadragesimo Anno (1931)
Forty years later in Quadragesimo Anno (1931) Pope Pius XI looked not only at the unjust conditions of workers, but also made an analysis of the socio-economic order to focus on the causes of injustice and poverty. He pointed out the need not only for ‘an improvement of conduct’ ( = moral change) but also for ‘a reform of social institutions’ ( = structural change) (QA 77). Further, in an encyclical called Firmissimum (1937) dealing with the situation of Catholics in Mexico, he even indicated in some circumstances that the possibility of an active resistance to civil authorities (= legitimate rebellion) could be considered (par 35).
Mater et Magistra (1961)
Pope John XXIII in his encyclical Mater et magistra (1961) showed optimism in the way he spoke about the dignity and creative value of human work:
‘Work, which is the immediate expression of a human personality, must always be rated higher than the possession of external goods, which of their very nature are merely instrumental.’ This view of work is certainly an indication of an advance that has been made in our civilization (MM 107).
And about farm work:
‘In the work on the farm the human personality finds every incentive for self-expression, self-development and spiritual growth. It is a work, therefore, which should be thought of as ‘a vocation, a God-given mission, an answer to God’s call to actuate his providential, saving plan in history. It should be thought of, finally, as a noble task, undertaken with a view to raising oneself and others to a higher degree of civilization’ (MM 149).
Gaudium et Spes (1965)
This positive estimation of human activity was reinforced by Vatican II’s Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et spes (1965):
‘When men and women provide for themselves and their families in such a way as to be of service to the community as well, they can rightly look upon their work as a prolongation of the work of the creator, a service to their fellow men, and their personal contribution to the fulfilment of the divine plan.’ (GS 34)
Laborem Exercens (1981) and ‘The Indirect Employer’
This positive evaluation of human work is more fully developed by Pope John Paul II in the opening chapters of his encyclical Laborem Exercens (1981) . But quite early on John Paul II insists that ‘the basis for determining the value of human work is not primarily the kind of work being done but the fact that the one who is doing it is a person’ (LE 6).
Besides, to assist in a structural analysis of the injustice to workers in the global economy, the pope introduces the concept of the ‘indirect‘ employer. This he defines as the ‘many different factors, other than the direct employer, that exercise a determining influence on shaping both of the work contract and, consequently, of just or unjust relationships in the field of human labour’.
These would include the State and public departments that make decisions, employers’ associations, trade unions, farmers’ organisations, and not just within one particular State, but also in links between States, like the EU, and in transnational companies. So, for example, farming agencies in Western countries can put pressure on their governments to protect their interests by restricting the entry of beef from Botswana or Argentina.
This teaching about ‘the indirect employer‘ helps us understand that whole peoples can suffer an impoverishment as a result of unjust political and economic structures and why Church leaders, especially from Latin America, have used the phrase “preferential option for the poor” as indicating the way to structural justice, both for workers and for the unemployed.
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Memorable Sayings for Today
“Whatever your life’s work is, do it well.
One should do his/her job so well
that the living, the dead, and the unborn
could do it no better.”
~Martin Luther King, Jr. ~
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