Sunday, 17 May 2026
Seventh Sunday of Easter
Readings for the universal ChurchGeneral Roman Calendar, used by Catholics worldwide
First Reading
12Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain, which is called Olivet, which is next to Jerusalem, within a Sabbath day’s journey. 13And when they had entered into the cenacle, they ascended to the place where Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Jude of James, were staying. 14All these were persevering with one accord in prayer with the women, and with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
Responsorial Psalm
1A Psalm of David, before he was sealed. The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?
4One thing I have asked of the Lord, this I will seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, so that I may behold the delight of the Lord, and may visit his temple.
7Hear my voice, O Lord, with which I have cried out to you. Have mercy on me, and hear me.
8My heart has spoken to you; my face has sought you. I yearn for your face, O Lord.
Second Reading
13But instead, commune in the Passion of Christ, and be glad that, when his glory will be revealed, you too may rejoice with exultation. 14If you are reproached for the name of Christ, you will be blessed, because that which is of the honor, glory, and power of God, and that which is of his Spirit, rests upon you. 15But let none of you suffer for being a murderer, or a thief, or a slanderer, or one who covets what belongs to another. 16But if one of you suffers for being a Christian, he should not be ashamed. Instead, he should glorify God in that name.
Gospel
1Jesus said these things, and then, lifting up his eyes toward heaven, he said: “Father, the hour has arrived: glorify your Son, so that your Son may glorify you, 2just as you have given authority over all flesh to him, so that he may give eternal life to all those whom you have given to him. 3And this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4I have glorified you on earth. I have completed the work that you gave me to accomplish. 5And now Father, glorify me within yourself, with the glory that I had with you before the world ever was. 6I have manifested your name to the men whom you have given to me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me. And they have kept your word. 7Now they realize that all the things that you have given me are from you. 8For I have given them the words that you gave to me. And they have accepted these words, and they have truly understood that I went forth from you, and they have believed that you sent me. 9I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, but for those whom you have given to me. For they are yours. 10And all that is mine is yours, and all that is yours is mine, and I am glorified in this. 11And though I am not in the world, these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Father most holy, preserve them in your name, those whom you have given to me, so that they may be one, even as we are one.
Why two sets of readings today? In most of the United States, including all of Florida, the Ascension is celebrated today rather than on Thursday, so that more people can share in it at Sunday Mass. Where the Ascension was kept on Thursday, today is the Seventh Sunday of Easter.
In the United StatesCelebrated today in Florida and most U.S. dioceses
The Ascension of the Lord
First Reading
1Certainly, O Theophilus, I composed the first discourse about everything that Jesus began to do and to teach, 2instructing the Apostles, whom he had chosen through the Holy Spirit, even until the day on which he was taken up. 3He also presented himself alive to them, after his Passion, appearing to them throughout forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God with many elucidations. 4And dining with them, he instructed them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but that they should wait for the Promise of the Father, “about which you have heard,” he said, “from my own mouth. 5For John, indeed, baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not many days from now.” 6Therefore, those who had assembled together questioned him, saying, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom of Israel?” 7But he said to them: “It is not yours to know the times or the moments, which the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you shall receive the power of the Holy Spirit, passing over you, and you shall be witnesses for me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth.” 9And when he had said these things, while they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. 10And while they were watching him going up to heaven, behold, two men stood near them in white vestments. 11And they said: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, shall return in just the same way that you have seen him going up to heaven.”
Responsorial Psalm
2All nations, clap your hands. Shout joyfully to God with a voice of exultation.
3For the Lord is exalted and terrible: a great King over all the earth.
6God ascends with jubilation, and the Lord with the voice of the trumpet.
7Sing psalms to our God, sing psalms. Sing psalms to our King, sing psalms.
8For God is the King of all the earth. Sing psalms wisely.
9God will reign over the peoples. God sits upon his holy throne.
Second Reading
17so that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give a spirit of wisdom and of revelation to you, in knowledge of him. 18May the eyes of your heart be illuminated, so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and the wealth of the glory of his inheritance with the saints, 19and the preeminent magnitude of his virtue toward us, toward we who believe in accord with the work of his powerful virtue, 20which he wrought in Christ, raising him from the dead and establishing him at his right hand in the heavens, 21above every principality and power and virtue and dominion, and above every name that is given, not only in this age, but even in the future age. 22And he has subjected all things under his feet, and he has made him the head over the entire Church, 23which is his body and which is the fullness of him who accomplishes everything in everyone.
Gospel
16Now the eleven disciples went on to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had appointed them. 17And, seeing him, they worshipped him, but certain ones doubted. 18And Jesus, drawing near, spoke to them, saying: “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19Therefore, go forth and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I have ever commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, even to the consummation of the age.”
Text: Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain). Reading citations: cpbjr/catholic-readings-api (MIT license). The Lectionary text used at Mass in the United States is the NABRE, which you can read at USCCB.