Seasons Jelka Dropulich Mass Booklet | Page 5

Responsorial Psalm Response: The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. Reader: The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. Fresh and green are the pastures where he gives me repose. Near restful waters he leads me, to revive my drooping spirit. Reader: He guides me along the right path; he is true to his name. If I should walk in the valley of darkness no evil would I fear. You are there with your crook and your staff; with these you give me comfort. Reader: You have prepared a banquet for me in the sight of my foes. My head you have anointed with oil; my cup is overflowing. Second Reading by: Maria Bavcevich A reading from the first letter of St Paul to the Thessalonians 4:13–18 We want you to be quite certain, brothers, about those who have died, to make sure that you do not grieve about them, like the other people who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and that it will be the same for those who have died in Jesus: God will bring them with him. We can tell you this from the Lord’s own teaching, that any of us who are left alive until the Lord’s coming will not have any advantage over those who have died. At the trumpet of God, the voice of the archangel will call out the command and the Lord himself will come down from heaven; those who have died in Christ will be the first to rise, and then those of us who are still alive will be taken up in the clouds, together with them, to meet the Lord in the air. So we shall stay with the Lord for ever. With such thoughts as these you should comfort one another. This is the word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God.