A Prayer, For Those in the Military
Almighty God
We stand before you in supplication,
Asking Your Divine mercy and protection,
To envelop with Your invincible armor,
Our loved ones in all branches of the service.
Give them courage and strength
Against all enemies,
Both spiritual and physical,
And hasten their safe journey,
Back to their homes and families.
If it be Your Holy Will
That they be gathered to Your bosom,
With the eternal vanguard of the saints,
Let their journey to Your everlasting arms
Be swift and painless,
Where they may stand in honor and glory,
Praising You for all eternity.
Amen.
Today’s Reading
Acts 13:44-52
44 The next Sabbath almost the whole town assembled to hear the word of God.
45 When they saw the crowds, the Jews, filled with jealousy, used blasphemies to contradict everything Paul said.
46 Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out fearlessly. ‘We had to proclaim the word of God to you first, but since you have rejected it, since you do not think yourselves worthy of eternal life, here and now we turn to the gentiles.
47 For this is what the Lord commanded us to do when he said: I have made you a light to the nations, so that my salvation may reach the remotest parts of the earth.’
48 It made the gentiles very happy to hear this and they gave thanks to the Lord for his message; all who were destined for eternal life became believers.
49 Thus the word of the Lord spread through the whole countryside.
50 But the Jews worked on some of the devout women of the upper classes and the leading men of the city; they stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their territory.
51 So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went off to Iconium; but the converts were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 98:1, 2-3, 3-4
1 [Psalm] Sing a new song to Yahweh, for he has performed wonders, his saving power is in his right hand and his holy arm.
2 Yahweh has made known his saving power, revealed his saving justice for the nations to see,
3 mindful of his faithful love and his constancy to the House of Israel. The whole wide world has seen the saving power of our God.
4 Acclaim Yahweh, all the earth, burst into shouts of joy!
Gospel, John 14:7-14
7 If you know me, you will know my Father too. From this moment you know him and have seen him.
8 Philip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and then we shall be satisfied.’ Jesus said to him,
9 ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? ‘Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father, so how can you say, “Show us the Father”?
10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? What I say to you I do not speak of my own accord: it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his works.
11 You must believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe it on the evidence of these works.
12 In all truth I tell you, whoever believes in me will perform the same works as I do myself, and will perform even greater works, because I am going to the Father.
13 Whatever you ask in my name I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
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