Jesus said to his disciples:
“Go into the whole world
and proclaim the gospel to every creature.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;
whoever does not believe will be condemned.
These signs will accompany those who believe:
in my name they will drive out demons,
they will speak new languages.
They will pick up serpents with their hands,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.
They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them,
was taken up into heaven
and took his seat at the right hand of God.
But they went forth and preached everywhere,
while the Lord worked with them
and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.

Mark 16:15-20

See the complete list of today’s daily Catholic Mass readings at My Catholic Family: Daily Catholic Mass Readings – Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

(If your diocese celebrated the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord on Thursday, then you will be using the readings for the Seventh Sunday of Easterinstead.)

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.
Until now you have not asked anything in my name;
ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

“I have told you this in figures of speech.
The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures
but I will tell you clearly about the Father.
On that day you will ask in my name,
and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you.
For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me
and have come to believe that I came from God.
I came from the Father and have come into the world.
Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

See the complete list of today’s daily Catholic Mass readings at My Catholic Family: Daily Catholic Mass Readings – Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter

One night while Paul was in Corinth, the Lord said to him in a vision,
“Do not be afraid.
Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you.
No one will attack and harm you,
for I have many people in this city.”
He settled there for a year and a half
and taught the word of God among them.

But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia,
the Jews rose up together against Paul
and brought him to the tribunal, saying,
“This man is inducing people to worship God contrary to the law.”
When Paul was about to reply, Gallio spoke to the Jews,
“If it were a matter of some crime or malicious fraud,
I should with reason hear the complaint of you Jews;
but since it is a question of arguments over doctrine and titles
and your own law, see to it yourselves.
I do not wish to be a judge of such matters.”
And he drove them away from the tribunal.
They all seized Sosthenes, the synagogue official,
and beat him in full view of the tribunal.
But none of this was of concern to Gallio.

Paul remained for quite some time,
and after saying farewell to the brothers he sailed for Syria,
together with Priscilla and Aquila.
At Cenchreae he had shaved his head because he had taken a vow.

See the complete list of today’s daily Catholic Mass readings at My Catholic Family: Daily Catholic Mass Readings – Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Jesus said to his disciples:
“A little while and you will no longer see me,
and again a little while later and you will see me.”
So some of his disciples said to one another,
“What does this mean that he is saying to us,
‘A little while and you will not see me,
and again a little while and you will see me,’
and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”
So they said, “What is this ‘little while’ of which he speaks?
We do not know what he means.”
Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them,
“Are you discussing with one another what I said,
‘A little while and you will not see me,
and again a little while and you will see me’?
Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices;
you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.”

See the complete list of today’s daily Catholic Mass readings at My Catholic Family: Daily Catholic Mass Readings – Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter

(A few areas will use the readings for the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord instead.)

This would be a fun game for a summer youth group meeting. We are doing a service project in a couple of weeks and we are recruiting a new group into  our group, so we might start off with this game.

Read more at My Catholic Family: Ice T Icebreaker (Youth Group Games)

Jesus said to his disciples:
“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.
But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,
he will guide you to all truth.
He will not speak on his own,
but he will speak what he hears,
and will declare to you the things that are coming.
He will glorify me,
because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.
Everything that the Father has is mine;
for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine
and declare it to you.”

See the complete list of today’s daily Catholic Mass readings at My Catholic Family: Daily Catholic Mass Readings – Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live.

Read more at My Catholic Family: Pope John Paul II: As the family goes, so goes the nation…

Your right hand saves me, O Lord.

I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple,
and give thanks to your name.

Your right hand saves me, O Lord.

Because of your kindness and your truth,
you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.

Your right hand saves me, O Lord.

Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.

Your right hand saves me, O Lord.

See the complete list of today’s daily Catholic Mass readings at My Catholic Family: Daily Catholic Mass Readings – Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

You can make this holy day come to life with your children by doing some cloud watching together. Read the account from the Acts of the Apostles, talk about what it might have been like, and then spend a little time looking up into the sky.

Read the specifics of this fun family activity for the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord in today’s article from My Catholic Family: Feast of the Ascension Family Activity – Cloud Watching

See the complete list of today’s daily Catholic Mass readings at My Catholic Family: Daily Catholic Mass Readings – Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers and sisters
(there was a group of about one hundred and twenty persons in the one place).
He said, “My brothers and sisters,
the Scripture had to be fulfilled
which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand
through the mouth of David, concerning Judas,
who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus.
Judas was numbered among us
and was allotted a share in this ministry.
For it is written in the Book of Psalms:

Let his encampment become desolate,
and may no one dwell in it.
and:
May another take his office.

Therefore, it is necessary that one of the men
who accompanied us the whole time
the Lord Jesus came and went among us,
beginning from the baptism of John
until the day on which he was taken up from us,
become with us a witness to his resurrection.”
So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas,
who was also known as Justus, and Matthias.
Then they prayed,
“You, Lord, who know the hearts of all,
show which one of these two you have chosen
to take the place in this apostolic ministry
from which Judas turned away to go to his own place.”
Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon Matthias,
and he was counted with the Eleven Apostles.