April 3, 2025
A reading from
the holy Gospel according to John
Jesus said to the Jews: “If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is not true. But there is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true. You sent emissaries to John, and he testified to the truth. I do not accept human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light. But I have testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. Moreover, the Father who sent me has testified on my behalf. But you have never heard his voice nor seen his form, and you do not have his word remaining in you, because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures, because you think you have eternal life through them; even they testify on my behalf. But you do not want to come to me to have life.
“I do not accept human praise; moreover, I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I came in the name of my Father, but you do not accept me; yet if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father: the one who will accuse you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope. For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me, because he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”
The Gospel of the Lord.
April 3, 2025
Saint Who?
Saints Who Were Instruments of Healing
Saint Ananias of Damascus
Martyr (1st century) Feast: January 25
Saul was a zealous Jew, so zealous that he was willing to travel around the countryside, seek out Jews who had become Christians, arrest them, and drag them back to Jerusalem. There they would be imprisoned, tried for blasphemy, and, if they did not renounce their faith in Jesus Christ, executed.
As Saul approached the city of Damascus (in modern Syria), he was accompanied by guards, who helped him in his cruel assignment. As he later described it, Saul heard the voice of Jesus himself, was blinded by a great light, and allowed himself to be led by his guards to Damascus since he could no longer see.
Out of all the Christian residents of Damascus who could have been sent to heal Saul, why did God choose Ananias? The Bible simply tells us that Ananias was a faithful Jew and a prayerful follower of Christ. However, it is likely that Ananias had laid hands on the sick and successfully prayed for healing before, which is why God chose him to heal an infamous persecutor of Christians. Ananias not only trusted that God could heal the enemies of his Son, he trusted that God had a plan in this potentially deadly mission. According to tradition, Ananias spread the Gospel before he too, years later, died a martyr.
Lord Jesus, Light of the World, help us
bring light to those in darkness.
Our newsletter for Sunday Mass
Sign up to receive resources every Wednesday to help you prepare for Sunday Mass:
- Insight into the day’s liturgical theme
- The Gospel
- A Meditation
- Suggested Prayer of the Faithful
Magnificat
Rosary for a Eucharistic Revival
- All twenty mysteries, with introductions, focus on Eucharistic revival.
- Splendid artwork helps prepare us to contemplate Jesus and Mary more devoutly.
- Mary, Jesus’ first tabernacle, leads us to adore and follow him in all the joys, lights, and sorrows of this earth to the unending glory of reigning with him in heaven.
48 p – 4,5 x 6,75 in – US $5.99 – Price per copy available as low as US $1.99
©Image : Christ on the Lake of Galilee, Jacopo Tintoretto (circle, 1518-1594), NGA, Washington D.C., USA. Photo Courtesy NGA Washington.
