Friday after the Fifth Sunday of Easter



“... who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Acts 15:26.)

In commenting on these verses from today’s First Reading, Saint John Chrysostom writes:

“As they are “beloved,” they will not be dismissed. As they “have risked their lives,” they have a right to be believed. “We have sent” them as well, it says, to announce the same things by word of mouth. For it was necessary that there be more than the letter alone, lest they should say that they said one thing instead of another. The praise bestowed on Paul stopped their mouths. For Paul came neither by himself nor with Barnabas alone but was accompanied by others from the church (and not only by those from Jerusalem), so that he should not be suspected. It shows that they have a right to be believed.” (Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles, 33.)



Collect
Grant us, Lord, we pray,
that, being rightly conformed
to the paschal mysteries,
what we celebrate in joy
may protect and save us with perpetual power.
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. Amen.


Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen