First Reading

Reading from the Acts of the Apostles

Acts 8:26-40

In those days, an angel of the Lord said to Philip: «Get up and take the road going south from Jerusalem to Gaza, which is deserted.» Philip set out. It happened that an Ethiopian, a high official of Candace, queen of Ethiopia, and administrator of her treasures, who had come to Jerusalem to worship God, was returning in his chariot, reading the prophet Isaiah.

Then the Spirit said to Philip: «Go up and join that chariot.» Philip ran up, and hearing that the man was reading the prophet Isaiah, he asked him: «Do you understand what you are reading?» He replied: «How can I, unless someone explains it to me?» Then he invited Philip to climb up and sit beside him.

The passage of Scripture he was reading was this: Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter; like a lamb silent before its shearer, he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can speak of his descendants, for his life was taken from the earth?

The Ethiopian asked Philip: «Tell me, please: about whom does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?» Philip began to speak, and starting from that passage, he proclaimed the Gospel of Jesus to him. They continued on, and they came to a place where there was water, and the Ethiopian said: «Look, here is water. What prevents me from being baptized?» Philip answered: «Nothing, if you believe with all your heart.» The Ethiopian replied: «I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.» He ordered the chariot to stop, they both went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.

When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away. The Ethiopian saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

Gospel

Reading from the holy Gospel according to Saint John

John 6:44-51

At that time, Jesus said to the Jews: «No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets: And they shall all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father.

Amen, amen, I say to you: whoever believes in me has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one who eats it will not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.»