2nd Sunday of Easter (a)
This Week’s Liturgy Calendar.
Easter Season.
Sunday 23rd April: 2nd Sunday of Easter (a)
Eight days after the Resurrection, the disciples of Jesus were together, afraid, believing yet doubting. For them, the fact that Jesus lived was too good to be true. We are here together because we are a community of believers. We know that the Risen Lord is with us. Do we recognise him? Are we aware that he is with in every celebration of the Eucharist and even in everyday life? Do we believe he is with us in our moments of trials, difficulties and failures? He is risen, he lifts us up, he raises us up here and now so let us ask to help us believe in him as the Lord of life so that with St. Thomas we can say ‘My Lord and my God.’
Monday 24th April: Monday in second week of Easter.
Nicodemus, the sincere but cautious intellectual, comes to Jesus at night. He is afraid to show openly that he is a follower of Christ. The apostles and the early Christian community are persecuted. They also are afraid and pray for courage. Do we dare to stand up in our time and place and openly profess our faith by word and by example? Are we timid or bold in the living of our faith?
Tuesday 25th April: Feast of St. Mark.
A disciple of Peter, Mark writes in simple words how, with Jesus, came the time of salvation and repentance. He shows Jesus both as the Son of God and the Son of Man, whose life led to his death. However, he revealed himself fully in the Resurrection. The disciple must follow his master. He is the patron saint of Venice.
Wednesday 26th April: Wednesday in second week of Easter.
God sent his only Son into the world to save us. We might think we no longer need salvation. We have become so self-sufficient and proud of our human achievements that we often think that salvation belongs to another world – not ours. When we sit and really reflect we have to face deeper realities. Are we really happy? Have we made the world a better place in which to live? We realise that we cannot do it alone. So we become grateful for Jesus, God’s son, who is with us and who can still get us out of the mess we are often making.
Thursday 27th April: Thursday in second week of Easter.
The core of our faith is that we owe a new life to Jesus in whom we are reborn. The Spirit, who is given to us without measure or restriction, should therefore prompt us to bear witness to Jesus and to his new life in us.
Friday 28th April: Friday in second week of Easter.
In the Gospel today, Andrew at least has the courage to point out the boy with the loaves and the fish, despite his awareness of how little it seems to tackle the request of Jesus. In our lives, we do the offering and leave Jesus to do the multiplying.
Saturday 29th April: Feast of St. Catherine of Siena.
St. Catherine was born in Siena about 1347, the youngest of 25 children ! She died in Rome in 1380. She was so committed to the love of God, his Church and all people that she worked to restore peace among the rival factions in Italy, persuaded Pope Gregory XI to return from Avignon to Rome where the Popes had lived for 74 years and tried to heal the great schism which had arisen. We are told she scolded the Pope for ‘his short sightedness.’ She was canonised in 1461.
Alleluia, alleluia
He is risen as he said
Alleluia.
