READINGS

FIRST READING: Acts 15:1-2, 22-29

At this Council, the leaders made decisions with the consent of the congregation

Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers,
“Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, cannot be saved.”
And after Paul Barnabas had no small dissension debate with them,
some others were appointed go up Jerusalem discuss this?
Then the apostles and the elders, with the consent of the whole church,
decided to choose men from among their members and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.
They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brothers, with the following letter:
“The brothers, both the apostles and the elders,
to the believers of Gentile origin in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings.
Since we have heard that certain persons who have gone out from us,
though with no instructions from us, have said things to disturb you and have unsettled your minds,
we have decided unanimously to choose representatives and send them to you,
along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have therefore sent Judas and Silas,
who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth.
For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no
further burden than these essentials: that you abstain from what has been
sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication.
If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
The Word of the Lord

RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 66: 2-3, 5-6, 8

Response: O God, let all the nations praise you!

O God, be gracious and bless us
and let your face shed its light upon us.
So will your ways be known upon earth
and all nations learn your saving help.
O God, let all the nations praise you!

Let the nations be glad and exult
for you rule the world with justice.
With fairness you rule the peoples,
you guide the nations on earth.
O God, let all the nations praise you!

Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
May God still give us his blessing
till the ends of the earth revere him.
O God, let all the nations praise you!

SECOND READING: Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23

In his exile on Patmos, John paints a dazzling picture of the new Jerusalem

In the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city
Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. It has the glory of God and a radiance
like a very rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal. It has a great, high wall with
twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates are inscribed the names
of the twelve tribes of the Israelites; on the east three gates, on the north three gates,
on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city has twelve
foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
The angel who talked to me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and
its gates and walls. The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width;
and he measured the city with his rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width
and height are equal. He also measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits by human measurement,
which the angel was using. The wall is built of jasper, while the city is pure gold,
clear as glass. The foundations of the wall of the city are adorned with every jewel;
the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx,
the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase,
the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. And the twelve gates are twelve pearls,
each of the gates is a single pearl, and the street of the city is pure gold, transparent
as glass I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
The Word of the Lord

GOSPEL: John 14:23-29

Our Lord’s words at the Last Supper, in view of his imminent departure

Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them,
and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not
keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.
“I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that
I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you,
‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father,
because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs,
so that when it does occur, you may believe.
The Gospel of the Lord