[Propertalk] READINGS for the FIFTH SUNDAY of EASTER

[Charles Wohlers]

The following are the readings for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, May 10, 
according to the Revised Common (RCL), Episcopal (ECUSA), Roman Catholic, 
Canadian BAS, Canadian (ACC) variant of the RCL, and the Church of England 
(Common Worship) lectionaries. All readings are taken from the New Revised 
Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible. Unless noted otherwise, the Canadian 
and C of E lectionaries are identical to the RCL for this day.

Throughout the Easter Season, if the OT alternative is used for the C of E, 
the Acts reading should be used for the second reading.

Note that in the U. S., and possibly other places, this is Mother's Day.



FIRST READING:  Acts 8: 26 - 40   (all but Roman Catholic)

Acts 8:26 (NRSV) Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go 
toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Ga'za." (This 
is a wilderness road.) 27 So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian 
eunuch, a court official of the Canda'ce, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge 
of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was 
returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isai'ah. 
29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to this chariot and join it." 30 
So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isai'ah. He asked, 
"Do you understand what you are reading?" 31 He replied, "How can I, unless 
someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. 32 
Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:
"Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
and like a lamb silent before its shearer,
so he does not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth."
34 The eunuch asked Philip, "About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say 
this, about himself or about someone else?" 35 Then Philip began to speak, 
and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about 
Jesus. 36 As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and 
the eunuch said, "Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being 
baptized?" 37 38 He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip 
and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 When 
they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; 
the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip 
found himself at Azo'tus, and as he was passing through the region, he 
proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesare'a.


Acts 9: 26 - 31   (Roman Catholic)

Acts 9:26 (NRSV) When he [Paul] had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join 
the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe 
that he was a disciple. 27 But Bar'nabas took him, brought him to the 
apostles, and described for them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who 
had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of 
Jesus. 28 So he went in and out among them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in 
the name of the Lord. 29 He spoke and argued with the Hellenists; but they 
were attempting to kill him. 30 When the believers learned of it, they 
brought him down to Caesare'a and sent him off to Tar'sus.
31 Meanwhile the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and 
was built up. Living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy 
Spirit, it increased in numbers.


Baruch 3: 9 - 15, 32 - 4:4   (alt. for C of E)

Bar 3:9 (NRSV) Hear the commandments of life, O Israel;
give ear, and learn wisdom!
10 Why is it, O Israel, why is it that you are in the land of your enemies,
that you are growing old in a foreign country,
that you are defiled with the dead, 11 that you are counted among those in 
Hades?
12 You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom.
13 If you had walked in the way of God,
you would be living in peace forever.
14 Learn where there is wisdom,
where there is strength,
where there is understanding,
so that you may at the same time discern
where there is length of days, and life,
where there is light for the eyes, and peace.
15 Who has found her place?
And who has entered her storehouses?

32 But the one who knows all things knows her,
he found her by his understanding.
The one who prepared the earth for all time
filled it with four-footed creatures;
33 the one who sends forth the light, and it goes;
he called it, and it obeyed him, trembling;
34 the stars shone in their watches, and were glad;
he called them, and they said, "Here we are!"
They shone with gladness for him who made them.
35 This is our God;
no other can be compared to him.
36 He found the whole way to knowledge,
and gave her to his servant Jacob
and to Israel, whom he loved.
37 Afterward she appeared on earth
and lived with humankind.
4:1 She is the book of the commandments of God,
the law that endures forever.
All who hold her fast will live,
and those who forsake her will die.
2 Turn, O Jacob, and take her;
walk toward the shining of her light.
3 Do not give your glory to another,
or your advantages to an alien people.
4 Happy are we, O Israel,
for we know what is pleasing to God.


Genesis 22: 1 - 18   (alt. for C of E)

Gene 22:1 (NRSV) After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, 
"Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 2 He said, "Take your son, your only 
son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there 
as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you." 3 So 
Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his 
young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt 
offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had 
shown him. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. 
5 Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; the boy 
and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to 
you." 6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son 
Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them 
walked on together. 7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, "Father!" And he 
said, "Here I am, my son." He said, "The fire and the wood are here, but 
where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" 8 Abraham said, "God himself will 
provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on 
together.
9 When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar 
there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on 
the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took 
the knife to kill {Or [to slaughter] } his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD 
called to him from heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here 
I am." 12 He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; 
for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your 
only son, from me." 13 And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a 
thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a 
burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place "The LORD 
will provide"; {Or [will see] ; Heb traditionally transliterated [Jehovah 
Jireh] } as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the LORD it shall be 
provided." {Or [he shall be seen] }
15 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16 and 
said, "By myself I have sworn, says the LORD: Because you have done this, 
and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will indeed bless you, 
and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the 
sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of 
their enemies, 18 and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth 
gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice."


PSALM 22: 25 - 31   (RCL)
Psalm 22: 25 - 27, 29 - 31   (Roman Catholic)

Psal 22:25 (NRSV) From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the LORD.
May your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the LORD;
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before him.
28 For dominion belongs to the LORD,
and he rules over the nations.
29 To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
and I shall live for him.
30 Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord,
31 and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,
saying that he has done it.

Note: Verse numbering in your psalter may differ from the above; verse 
numbering in Roman Catholic Bibles is one greater than the above.


SECOND READING:  1 John 4: 7 - 21   (RCL)
                                       1 John 4: 7 - 12   (Can. BAS)

1Joh 4:7 (NRSV) Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; 
everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love 
does not know God, for God is love. 9 God's love was revealed among us in 
this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through 
him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent 
his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Beloved, since God 
loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen 
God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in 
us.
13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given 
us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father has 
sent his Son as the Savior of the world. 15 God abides in those who confess 
that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. 16 So we have known and 
believe the love that God has for us.
God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in 
them. 17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness 
on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There 
is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with 
punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. 19 We love 
because he first loved us. 20 Those who say, "I love God," and hate their 
brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or 
sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. 21 The 
commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their 
brothers and sisters also.


1 John 3: 18 - 24   (Roman Catholic)

1Joh 3:18 (NRSV)  Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but 
in truth and action. 19 And by this we will know that we are from the truth 
and will reassure our hearts before him 20 whenever our hearts condemn us; 
for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, if 
our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; 22 and we receive 
from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what 
pleases him.
23 And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his 
Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24 All 
who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this 
we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.


GOSPEL:  John 15: 1 - 8   (all)

John 15:1 (NRSV) "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. 2 He 
removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears 
fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. 3 You have already been cleansed 
by the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just 
as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, 
neither can you unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the 
branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart 
from me you can do nothing. 6 Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away 
like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, 
and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for 
whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by 
this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.



Chad Wohlers
East Bridgewater, Mass.   USA
chadwohl at satucket.com
cwohlers at bridgew.edu