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EASTER WEEK VII
FRIDAY
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ENTRANCE ANTIPHON
Christ loved us
and washed us clean
of our sins
by his blood,
and made us into a kingdom,
priests for his
God and Father,
alleluia.
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COLLECT
O God,
who by the glorification
of your Christ
and the light
of the Holy Spirit
have unlocked for us
the gates of eternity,
grant,
we pray,
that,
partaking of
so great gift,
our devotion
may grow deeper
and our faith
be strengthened.
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.
R.) Amen.
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FIRST READING
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 25:13-21
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A READING FROM THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES
(A DEAD MAN CALLED JESUS WHOM PAUL ALLEGED TO BE ALIVE.)
King Agrippa and Bernice
arrived in Caesarea
and paid their respects to Festus.
Their visit lasted
several days,
and Festus
put Paul’s case
before the king,
“There is a man here,”
he said,
“whom Felix left behind
in custody,
and while I was in Jerusalem
the chief priests
and elders of the Jews
laid information
against him,
demanding his condemnation.
But I told them
that Romans
are not in the habit
of surrendering any man,
until the accused
confronts his accusers
and is given an opportunity
to defend himself
against the charge.
So they came here with me,
and I wasted no time
but took my seat on the tribunal
the very next day
and had the man brought in.
When confronted with him,
his accusers did not charge him
with any of the crimes
I had expected;
but they had some
argument or other
with him
about their own religion
and about a dead man
called Jesus
whom Paul
alleged to be alive.
Not feeling qualified to deal with
questions of this sort,
I asked him
if he would be willing to
go to Jerusalem
to be tried there
on this issue.
But Paul
put in an appeal for his case
to be reserved for the judgment
of the august emperor,
so I ordered him to be remanded
until I could send him
to Caesar.”
The word of the Lord.
R.) Thanks be to God.
responsorialpsalmcatholic 