Friday, IV WEEK of LENT, 16th April 2021, Catholic Holy Mass

FIRST READING
A reading from the book of Wisdom

The godless say to themselves, with their misguided reasoning:

‘Let us lie in wait for the virtuous man, since he annoys us
and opposes our way of life,
reproaches us for our breaches of the law
and accuses us of playing false to our upbringing.
He claims to have knowledge of God,
and calls himself a son of the Lord.
Before us he stands, a reproof to our way of thinking,
the very sight of him weighs our spirits down;
his way of life is not like other men’s,
the paths he treads are unfamiliar.
In his opinion we are counterfeit;
he holds aloof from our doings as though from filth;
he proclaims the final end of the virtuous as happy
and boasts of having God for his father.
Let us see if what he says is true,
let us observe what kind of end he himself will have.
If the virtuous man is God’s son, God will take his part
and rescue him from the clutches of his enemies.
Let us test him with cruelty and with torture,
and thus explore this gentleness of his
and put his endurance to the proof.
Let us condemn him to a shameful death
since he will be looked after - we have his word for it.’

This is the way they reason, but they are misled,
their malice makes them blind.
They do not know the hidden things of God,
they have no hope that holiness will be rewarded,
they can see no reward for blameless souls.
The Word of the Lord.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

R/ The Lord is close to the broken-hearted.

The Lord turns his face against the wicked
to destroy their remembrance from the earth.
The just call and the Lord hears
and rescues them in all their distress. R/

R/ The Lord is close to the broken-hearted.

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. R/

R/ The Lord is close to the broken-hearted.

He will keep guard over all his bones,
not one of his bones shall be broken.
The Lord ransoms the souls of his servants.
Those who hide in him shall not be condemned. R/

R/ The Lord is close to the broken-hearted.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ,
Word of the Father, Son of God.

Now, now - it is the Lord who speaks -
come back to me with all your heart,
for I am all tenderness and compassion.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ,
Word of the Father, Son of God.

GOSPEL
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

Jesus stayed in Galilee; he could not stay in Judaea, because the Jews were out to kill him.
As the Jewish feast of Tabernacles drew near, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went up as well, but quite privately, without drawing attention to himself.
Meanwhile some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, ‘Isn’t this the man they want to kill? And here he is, speaking freely, and they have nothing to say to him! Can it be true the authorities have made up their minds that he is the Christ? Yet we all know where he comes from, but when the Christ appears no one will know where he comes from.
Then, as Jesus taught in the Temple, he cried out:

‘Yes, you know me and you know where I came from.
Yet I have not come of myself:
no, there is one who sent me and I really come from him,
and you do not know him,
but I know him
because I have come from him
and it was he who sent me.’

They would have arrested him then, but because his time had not yet come no one laid a hand on him.
The Gospel of the Lord.

***

PRAYER TO ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA
IN THIS TIME OF DANGER OF INFECTION OF CORONAVIRUS

O glorious Saint Anthony, we have gathered around you in this time in which the viral infection of Coronavirus is afflicting the entire world, the countries from which we come and in which we live.
O beloved Saint Anthony we are in a debt of gratitude to you, for the good which you have worked in our favour for the health of souls and bodies. For all this we render humble thanks to God, and to you who intercede for us.
O dear Patron of ours, continue to shower upon us those blessings which you draw from the most loving Heart of the Child Jesus, whom you lovingly hold in your arms.
O glorious Saint Anthony, friend of God and protector of men, through your intercession we beseech the Merciful Father to dispel fear, heal the sick and deliver us from every danger.
O great Saint, with all the gratitude of our heart, we entrust ourselves once again to your powerful protection. Saint Anthony of Padua, pray for us. Amen.