May 17, 2015
We hope that today is a good day.
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Gospel: Mark 16:15-20
15 He said to them, "Go into all the world, and preach the Good News to the whole creation.
16 He who believes and is baptised will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned.
17 These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new languages;
18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will in no way hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."
19 So then the Lord,‡ after he had spoken to them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.
20 They went out, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.
‡16:19: NA adds "Jesus"
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Acts 1:1-11
1 The first book I wrote, Theophilus, concerned all that Jesus began both to do and to teach,
2 until the day in which he was received up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
3 To these he also showed himself alive after he suffered, by many proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking about God's Kingdom.
4 Being assembled together with them, he commanded them, "Don't depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me.
5 For John indeed baptised in water, but you will be baptised in the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
6 Therefore when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, are you now restoring the kingdom to Israel?"
7 He said to them, "It isn't for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set within his own authority.
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth."
9 When he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.
10 While they were looking steadfastly into the sky as he went, behold,* two men stood by them in white clothing,
11 who also said, "You men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who was received up from you into the sky, will come back in the same way as you saw him going into the sky."
*1:10: "Behold", from "?δο?", means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.
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Ephesians 4:1-13
1 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called,
2 with all lowliness and humility, with patience, bearing with one another in love;
3 being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all.
7 But to each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
8 Therefore he says, "When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men."☆
9 Now this, "He ascended", what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.
11 He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds* and teachers;
12 for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ;
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
☆4:8: Psalm 68:18
*4:11: or, pastors
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◇ The World English Bible
http://ebible.org/web/
◇ May 17, 2015 Daily Mass Reading
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/15_05_17-ascension.mp3
◇ Daily Readings May 17, 2015
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/051715-ascension.cfm
◇ Zondervan King James Audio Bible
http://www.biblegateway.com/audio/dramatized/kjv/Mark.16
◇ King James Version Bible Online
http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/book.php?book=Mark&chapter=16&verse=
◇ The New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE)
http://www.usccb.org/bible/books-of-the-bible/index.cfm
◇ Douay-Rheims Bible
http://www.drbo.org/
☆ The Jesus Film (English Version)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pGEv9qXVaY
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