Wednesday of the 4th week of Eastertide, or Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Priest, Martyr

First reading

Acts 12:24-13:5

'I want Barnabas and Saul set apart'

The word of God continued to spread and to gain followers. Barnabas and Saul completed their task and came back from Jerusalem, bringing John Mark with them.
In the church at Antioch the following were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. One day while they were offering worship to the Lord and keeping a fast, the Holy Spirit said, ‘I want Barnabas and Saul set apart for the work to which I have called them.’ So it was that after fasting and prayer they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
So these two, sent on their mission by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus. They landed at Salamis and proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; John acted as their assistant.

Psalm or canticle

Psalm 66(67):2-3,5-6,8

O God, be gracious and bless us
 and let your face shed its light upon us.
So will your ways be known upon earth
 and all nations learn your saving help.

Let the nations be glad and exult
 for you rule the world with justice.
With fairness you rule the peoples,
 you guide the nations on earth.

Let the peoples praise you, O God;
 let all the peoples praise you.
May God still give us his blessing
 till the ends of the earth revere him.

Gospel

John 12:44-50

I, the light, have come into the world

Jesus declared publicly:
‘Whoever believes in me
believes not in me
but in the one who sent me,
and whoever sees me,
sees the one who sent me.
I, the light, have come into the world,
so that whoever believes in me
need not stay in the dark any more.
If anyone hears my words and does not keep them faithfully,
it is not I who shall condemn him,
since I have come not to condemn the world,
but to save the world.
He who rejects me and refuses my words has his judge already:
the word itself that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day.
For what I have spoken does not come from myself;
no, what I was to say,
what I had to speak,
was commanded by the Father who sent me,
and I know that his commands mean eternal life.
And therefore what the Father has told me
is what I speak.’

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