Saint John Houghton
and Companions
White
He was one of the Carthusian martyrs under Henry VIII. He was recognized as a man of sanctity even before his martyrdom. His community was a model of observance and austerity.
Entrance Antiphon: Cf. 1 Pt 2: 9
O chosen people, proclaim the mighty works of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light, alleluia.
Collect
O God, whose Son, at his Ascension to the heavens, was pleased to promise the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, grant, we pray, that, just as they received manifold gifts of heavenly teaching, so on us, too, you may bestow spiritual gifts. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
First reading: Acts 18:23-28
Paul came down to Antioch, where he spent a short time before continuing his journey through the Galatian country and then through Phrygia, encouraging all the followers. An Alexandrian Jew named Apollos now arrived in Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, with a sound knowledge of the scriptures, and yet, though he had been given instruction in the Way of the Lord and preached with great spiritual earnestness and was accurate in all the details he taught about Jesus, he had only experienced the baptism of John. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him speak boldly in the synagogue, they took an interest in him and gave him further instruction about the Way. When Apollos thought of crossing over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote asking the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived there he was able by God’s grace to help the believers considerably by the energetic way he refuted the Jews in public and demonstrated from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 46(47):2-3,8-10
R/God is king of all the earth.
All peoples, clap your hands, cry to God with shouts of joy! For the Lord, the Most High, we must fear, great king over all the earth.
God is king of all the earth, sing praise with all your skill. God is king over the nations; God reigns on his holy throne.
The princes of the people are assembled with the people of Abraham’s God. The rulers of the earth belong to God, to God who reigns over all.
Gospel Acclamation: Jn14:16
Alleluia, alleluia! I shall ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you for ever. Alleluia!
Gospel: John 16:23-28
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I tell you most solemnly, anything you ask for from the Father he will grant in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and so your joy will be complete. I have been telling you all this in metaphors, the hour is coming when I shall no longer speak to you in metaphors; but tell you about the Father in plain words. When that day comes you will ask in my name; and I do not say that I shall pray to the Father for you, because the Father himself loves you for loving me and believing that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world and now I leave the world to go to the Father.’
Prayer over the Offerings
Graciously sanctify these gifts, O Lord, we pray, and, accepting the oblation of this spiritual sacrifice, make of us an eternal offering to you. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon: Jn 17: 24
Father, I wish that, where I am, those you gave me may also be with me, that they may see the glory that you gave me, alleluia.
Prayer after Communion
We have partaken of the gifts of this sacred mystery, humbly imploring, O Lord, that what your Son commanded us to do in memory of him may bring us growth in charity. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
Jesus makes an exciting promise to the Apostles in today’s Gospel text. He gave them an open check. If someone were to openly tell us that anything we ask for, we shall receive, only heaven knows the kind of things we shall be asking for. But when Jesus specifies that anything we ask for in his name means far more than the eye can see. It means the thing must conform to God’s will because the name of Jesus cannot be used for something contrary to his will. Left to us, our demands are as unlimited as the skies, but God alone knows the things that we need. He alone knows the needs that are not harmful to us, and he will give us only that which is good for us at a particular time. There is a strong temptation to think that our prayers are not answered when we do not receive directly the things we pray for since Jesus made this promise, but the promise is only reasonable when situated in the context of the will of God. Let us, therefore, pray for the grace to know our basic needs and ask only for them when we pray.