May 6: Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter

Paul's Farewell Discourse at Miletus (detail), Richmond Chapel, St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, Buffalo, New York, 1851

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Acts 20:17-27

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 68:10-11, 20-21

Gospel: John 17:1-11

“And now, as a captive to the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem (NRSV, Acts 20:22a).”

Let us pray.

Father, Paul’s missionary efforts in preaching the gospel led him from one place to another, always on the move, eventually to Rome and his martyrdom. To be a human being is always to be on the move. To live in the Holy Spirit, given to us through your Word, now made flesh in the Lord Jesus, is to be called in every situation to let go of the past, of what we have done and what we have become up to the present, in order to become something truly new. Every moment of growth in your life, Father, means becoming a new creation.

In response to your challenge, Father, given to every human being in every time and place through the Word, may we always say “yes” that every situation may bring us to new growth in the Holy Spirit which is a greater share in your divine life.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.