2nd  SUNDAY  OF  EASTER Divine Mercy Sunday ENTRANCE ANTIPHON Like newborn children you should thirst for milk, on which your spirit can grow to strength, alleluia. INTRODUCTION Today we proclaim with faith Jesus as‘ our Lord and our God. We, as a loving and believing community are called to encounter the Risen Lord in this Eucharist. Our lack of faith and love is healed and redeemed by the wounds of Christ in this encounter. PENITENTIAL RITE Thomas was away from the group of the disciples when Jesus appeared to them on Easter Sunday. He also refused to believe the testimony of those who met Jesus. Jesus appears again to them not to blame or condemn anyone, but to save and strengthen them. Let us come to Jesus trusting in his mercy and love and ask pardon for our lack of faith and love. (Pause) Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory. Lord, Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us; you are seated at the right hand of the Father, receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen. OPENING PRAYER Let us pray. God of mercy, you wash away our sins in water, you give us new birth in the Spirit, and redeem us in the blood of Christ. As we celebrate Christ’s resurrection increase our awareness of these blessings, and renew your gift of life within us. We ask this… FIRST READING (The faith of the new converts makes them into a new community of loving, caring and sharing people. Their love and fellowship brought many more unbelievers to faith.) A reading from the Acts of the Apostles (2:42-47) And they (the new converts) devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And fear came upon every soul; and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common; and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. This is the Word of the Lord PSALM (117) Response: Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his love has no end. Let the sons of Israel say: “His love has no end.” Let the sons of Aaron say: “His love has no end.” Let those who fear the Lord say: “His love has no end.” I was thrust, thrust down and falling but the Lord was my helper. The Lord is my strength and my song; he was my saviour. There are shouts of joy and victory in the tents of the just. The stone which the builders rejected has become the corner stone. This is the work of the Lord, a marvel in our eyes. This day was made by the Lord; we rejoice and are glad. SECOND READING (Peter praises and glorifies God for his great mercy in giving us a new birth in Christ, and for blessings of faith, love and joy in the Lord.) A reading from the First Letter of St Peter (1:3-9) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Without having seen him you love him; though you do not now see him you believe in him and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy. As the outcome of your faith you obtain the salvation of your souls. This is the Word of the Lord ACCLAMATION (Jn 20:29) Alleluia, alleluia! Thomas, you have believed, says the Lord, because you have seen me: Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. Alleluia! GOSPEL (Once we have met the risen Lord and have been touched by his divine mercy, we can never remain locked up in our fear, doubt and sin.) A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St John (20:19-31) On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe.” Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God.” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name. This is the Gospel of the Lord (Homily) I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL Cel: Dear friends, the pledge of the resurrection is that the Father will raise us to new life and will enable us to confess our faith in him. Hence let us pray that we may move from doubt to faith, from panic to peace and from sin to salvation in Christ. Response: Lord, increase our faith. 1. That the Pope, the bishops, the priests and the religious may become effective ministers of God’s love, mercy and healing in the world that is wounded 2. That we may be generous in sharing our faith, time, talents and material resources with others to build a new society where everyone is loved and cared for. 3. That the Divine mercy communicated through St Faustina may heal the sick, strengthen the weak and mend the broken hearted. 4. That we may recognise the active presence of the Spirit of Jesus in our lives and promote the values of the Gospel without fear or doubt. Cel: Lord and God, trusting in your Divine mercy we make these prayers and ask you open our eyes of faith to know more of your love and mercy in our daily lives. We ask this…. PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS Lord, through faith and baptism we have become a new creation. Accept the offerings of your people (and of those born again in baptism) and bring us to eternal happiness. Grant this… PREFACE (22) Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and every-where to give you thanks through Jesus Christ our Lord. We praise you with greater joy than ever in this Easter season, when Christ became our paschal sacrifice. He has made us children of the light, rising to new and everlasting life. He has opened the gates of heaven to receive his faithful people. His death is our ransom from death; his resurrection is our rising to life. The joy of the resurrection renews the whole world, while the choirs of heaven sing for ever to your glory: All: Holy, holy, holy… COMMUNION ANTIPHON Jesus spoke to Thomas: Put your hand here, and see the place of the nails. Doubt no longer, but believe, alleluia. PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION Almighty God, may the Easter sacraments we have received live for ever in our minds and hearts. We ask this… LITURGY AND LIFE In today’s readings we come across three types of post-resurrection people, namely, the early Christian community, the disciples of Jesus, and Thomas. The first group that we encounter in our first Reading from the Acts of the Apostles, is the first believers who were totally touched and transformed by Jesus’ resurrection. The power of the Risen Lord enabled them to choose a new way of living and free themselves from their “old ways” of life. The presence of the Risen Lord with them helped them to empty themselves of their selfishness, pride, unbelief, ignorance, etc… They were saved from their smugness and self-righteous attitude and came to the beautiful realization of the mercy and goodness of the Father towards His children. They began to experience through the Spirit the freedom from greed towards all material possessions and things. They brought all their possessions to the community of believers for the immediate use of all the needy people. From a self-centred and righteous people, the power of Jesus changed them into a other-centred and God-centred people. They walked from death to life. The second category of people whom we meet in the readings of today is the group of the Apostles, except Thomas. They locked themselves inside a room because of fear, doubts and disappointment. They were afraid of the Jewish leaders. They felt that with death of Jesus they lost everything, all their hopes and dreams. They had left everything and followed Jesus hoping that they would become “somebody” in the new Kingdom that Jesus proclaimed. Now, as their leader is dead, their hopes and dreams melted away like the morning mist. They felt totally lost and did not know what to do and where to go. It is into this total hopelessness and utter disappointment of their lives that Jesus came – in the “closed room”. Jesus entered the closed room and he entered into their lost lives. Jesus filled them with peace, and breathed his Spirit upon them. As a result they began slowly to know the new life of the Risen Lord and freedom from doubts and disappointment. Finally we encounter the uncom-promising and unbelieving Thomas. He did not admit any kind of testimonies or evidences of the other disciples of their encounter with the Risen Lord. He enclosed himself in his own personal convictions and ideas and almost had become bound by them. The grace of his encounter with the Risen Lord opened him to see everything in a new way and with new light. The grace that flowed from the Lord’s open wounds healed Thomas from all his unbelief and doubt, and he exclaimed with a new personal conviction and surrender, “My Lord and my God”. On this Divine Mercy Sunday, the merciful Lord, pours out his grace and forgiveness to us from his open wounds. He enters into our lives to give a new lease of peace power, healing and happiness. March–April 2008 READINGS OF THE WEEK (Psalter Week 2) 31 Mon (W) ST JOSEPH (Sol) 2 Sm 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16; Ps 89:2-3, 4-5, 27 and 29; Rom 4:13, 16-18, 22; Mt 1:16, 18-21, 24a or Lk 2:41-51a 01 Tue (W) ANNUNCIATION OF THE LORD (Sol) Is 7:10-14; 8:10; Ps 40:7-8a,8b-9,10,11; Heb 10:4-10; Lk 1:26-38 02 Wed (W) Francis of Paola, Acts 5:17-26; Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9; Jn 3:16-21 03 Thu (W) Acts 5:27-33; Ps 34:2 and 9, 17-18, 19-20; Jn 3:31-36 04 Fri (W) Isidore of Seville, Acts 5:34-42; Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14; Jn 6:1-15 05 Sat (W) Vincent Ferrer, Acts 6:1-7; Ps 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19; Jn 6:16-21