Monday 25 May

St Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church (OM)
Acts 19:1-8; Psalm 68; John 16:29-33
Mercy and choice
It’s easy to sense the relief amongst the disciples in today’s Gospel when they tell Jesus, “At last you’re making sense”. It’s quite possible that from time to time we’d also like to be able to say the same! The writings of today’s saint, Bede the Venerable, add a lot to our understanding but aren’t particularly well known today. However, one phrase has become famous in our time - “by having mercy he chose him” – which is the motto of Pope Francis. The phrase refers to the call of Matthew, the tax collector – but it could equally well apply to each of us.