F I R S T W E E K A F T E R E A S T E R
Thomas Encounters the Risen Lord
I N T R O I T
Psalm 66
14 Come and listen, all you who fear God, *
and I will tell you what he has done for me.
15 I called out to him with my mouth, *
and his praise was on my tongue.
16 If I had found evil in my heart, *
the Lord would not have heard me;
17 But in truth God has heard me; *
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.
18 Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer, *
nor withheld his love from me.
C O L L E C T O F T H E D A Y
Eternal Father, source of all that is perfect and good, your nature and your gifts far exceed our capacity to comprehend. When our hearts are low, and our spirits are left uncertain, come among us as you once came among your disciples: with mercy and forgiveness, with gentleness and compassion, and with undying love. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
F I R S T R E A D I N G
Year I
A Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah.
12:1-6
The prophet writes of a coming day when the Lord will finish his work in Jerusalem.
On that day, you will say, “I will give thanks to you, the LORD; for though you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD, the LORD, is my strength and song; and he has become my salvation.” Therefore with joy you will draw water out of the wells of salvation. In that day you will say, “Give thanks to the LORD! Call on his name! Declare his doings among the peoples! Proclaim that his name is exalted! Sing to the LORD, for he has done excellent things! Let this be known in all the earth! Cry aloud and shout, you inhabitant of Zion, for the Holy One of Israel is great among you!”
Year II
A Reading from the First Letter of Saint Peter.
1:3-9
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that doesn’t fade away, reserved in Heaven for you, who by the power of God are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved in various trials, that the proof of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes, even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ — whom, not having known, you love. In him you believe, even though you don’t see him; and you rejoice greatly with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
G O S P E L R E A D I N G
When it was evening on the day of Jesus' resurrection, and the doors where the disciples had gathered were locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood in the midst of them, and said, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus then said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit! If you forgive anyone’s sins, they have been forgiven them. If you retain anyone’s sins, they have been retained.”
Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, wasn’t with them when Jesus came. The other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord!”
He said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
Eight days later, his disciples were once again inside and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood in the midst of them, saying, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and see my hands. Reach your hand here, and put it into my side. Don’t be unbelieving, but believe.”
Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his 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.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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S E C O N D W E E K A F T E R E A S T E R
The Encounter on the Road to Emmaus
I N T R O I T
Psalm 116
1 I love the LORD because he hears my voice *
and my prayer for mercy.
3 Death wrapped its ropes around me;
the terrors of the grave overtook me. *
I saw only trouble and sorrow.
4 Then I called on the name of the LORD: *
“Please, LORD, save me!”
7 Let my soul be at rest again, *
for the LORD has been good to me.
8 He has saved me from death, *
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling.
9 And so I walk in the LORD’s presence *
as I live here on earth!
C O L L E C T O F T H E D A Y
In your great mercy, Father, you gladdened the hearts of the disciples with the sight of the risen Lord. Grant us such an awareness of his presence in our midst, that we may be strengthened and sustained by his risen life and serve you continually in righteousness and truth. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
F I R S T R E A D I N G
Year I
A Reading from the Book of Proverbs.
8:1-11
Doesn’t wisdom cry out? Doesn’t understanding raise her voice? On the top of high places by the way, where the paths meet, she stands. Beside the gates, at the entry of the city, at the entry doors, she cries aloud: “I call to all people! I send my voice to the whole human race. You who are simple, understand good judgement! You fools, be of an understanding heart! Listen, for I will speak excellent things. Everything I say is right, my mouth speaks the truth, and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are righteous, and there is nothing crooked or perverse in them. They are all plain to those who understand, and right to those who find knowledge. Receive my instruction rather than silver, knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies. All the things that may be desired can’t be compared to it.
Year II
A Reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Colossians.
3:1-4
Beloved: If you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.
G O S P E L R E A D I N G
Late in the afternoon on the day of Jesus' resurrection, two of his disciples were on their way to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and walked with them; though they were prevented from recognizing him. He said to them, “What are you talking about as you walk?"
The disciples stopped walking and looked discouraged. One of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “You must be the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things which have happened there in the last few days?”
“What things?” he said.
They responded, “The things concerning Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people; and how the chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be condemned to death, and crucified him. We were hoping that he was the one who would redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some of the women of our group amazed us, having gone to the tomb early this morning. When they didn’t find his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of us went to the tomb and found it just like the women had said. They didn’t see him.”
Jesus said to them, “How foolish you are, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Didn’t the Christ have to suffer these things before entering into his glory?” Then, beginning with Moses and continuing through the prophets, he explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
As they approached the village where they were going, Jesus acted like he would go further, but the disciples urged him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is almost evening, and the day is almost over.” So he went in in to stay with them.
When he had sat down at the table with them, he took the bread and gave thanks. Breaking it, he gave it to them. Their eyes were opened, they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight. They said to one another, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us as he spoke to us along the way, and as he opened the Scriptures to us?”
Within the hour, the they were on the way back to Jerusalem. There they found the eleven and their companions gathered together, saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” The the disciples who had travelled to Emmaus described the things that happened along the road, and how they recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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T H I R D W E E K A F T E R E A S T E R
The Encounter in the Upper Room
5 O LORD, you are my portion and my cup; *
it is you who uphold my lot.
6 My boundaries enclose a pleasant land; *
What a wonderful inheritance!
7 I will bless the LORD who gives me counsel; *
my heart teaches me, night after night.
8 I have set the LORD always before me; *
because he is at my right hand I shall not fall.
9 My heart, therefore, is glad, and my spirit rejoices; *
my body also shall rest in hope.
10 For you will not abandon me to the grave, *
nor let your holy one see the Pit.
11 You will show me the path of life; *
in your presence there is fullness of joy,
and in your right hand are pleasures for evermore.
C O L L E C T O F T H E D A Y
Father, you have given your beloved Son to be for us both the perfect sacrifice for sin and an example of godly life. Give us grace to walk faithfully in the pattern of his life: rejecting all that is evil, embracing all that is holy, and loving you and others with a love that is beyond all measure. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
F I R S T R E A D I N G
Year I
A Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah.
29:9-14
Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! You are drunk, but not with wine; you stagger, but not with strong drink. For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed the eyes of the prophets and covered the heads of your visionaries. All vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When you give it to one who is educated, saying, “Read this, please;” they say, “I can’t, for it is sealed.” When you give it to one who is not educated, saying, “Read this, please;” they say, “I can’t read.”
The Lord said, “This people draws near with their mouth and honors me with their lips, but they have removed their heart far from me, and their worship of me is a human commandment which they have been taught. Therefore, behold: I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; and the wisdom of the wise will perish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.”
Year II
A Reading from the Second Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians.
2:12-3:6
Beloved: When I came to Troas for the Good News of Christ, and when a door was opened to me in the Lord, I had no relief for my spirit, because I didn’t find Titus my brother, but taking my leave of them, I went out into Macedonia.
Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and reveals through us the sweet aroma of his knowledge in every place. For we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God in those who are saved and in those who perish: to the one a stench from death to death, to the other a sweet aroma from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not as so many, peddling the word of God. But as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God, we speak in Christ.
Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as do some, letters of commendation to you or from you? You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all people, being revealed that you are a letter of Christ, served by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tablets of stone, but in tablets that are hearts of flesh.
Such confidence we have through Christ toward God, not that we are sufficient of ourselves to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
G O S P E L R E A D I N G
A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke.
24:35-49
On the evening of Jesus' resurrection, the disciples who had travelled to Emmaus related the things that happened along the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.
As they said these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be to you.”
But they were terrified and filled with fear, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
He said to them, “Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is truly me. Touch me and see, for a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While they still didn’t believe for joy, and wondered, he said to them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”
They gave him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. He took them, and ate in front of them. He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms concerning me must be fulfilled.”
Then he opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures. He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send out the promise of my Father on you. But wait in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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F O U R T H W E E K A F T E R E A S T E R
The Encounter at the Sea of Galilee
1 I will exalt you, O LORD, because you have rescued me. *
You have not let my enemies triumph over me.
3 You brought me up, O LORD, from the realm of the dead. *
You restored me to life from among those who went down to the Pit.
9 I cried to you, O LORD; *
I pleaded with the Lord, saying,
10 "What profit is there in my blood, if I go down to the Pit? *
Will the dust praise you or declare your faithfulness?
11 Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me; *
O LORD, be my helper."
12 You have turned my mourning into dancing; *
you have put off my sack-cloth and clothed me with joy.
13 Therefore my heart sings to you without ceasing; *
O LORD my God, I will give you thanks for ever.
C O L L E C T O F T H E D A Y
Father, you are the source of unfailing mercy, and in that mercy, you have transferred us from the dominion of sin and brought us to the freedom of your family. Look upon us with tenderness, and grant to us an ever-increasing faith, that we may fully experience the liberty that flows from our fellowship with Jesus, your beloved Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
F I R S T R E A D I N G
Year I
A Reading from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah.
31:1-6
“At that time,” says the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.”
This is what the LORD says: “The people who survive the sword will find favor in the wilderness. I will come to Israel, giving rest.”
The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness. I will rebuild you, O virgin Israel, and you will be rebuilt. You will once again be adorned with your tambourines, and will dance with joy. You will once again will plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria - The farmers will plant them, and will enjoy their fruit. There will be a day when the sentinels stationed in the hill country of Ephraim cry out, ‘Arise! Let us go to Jerusalem to worship the LORD our God.’ ”
Year II
A Reading from the First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians.
15:12-22
Beloved: If we preach that Christ has been raised from the dead, why are some among you saying that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith, likewise, is in vain. More than that, we would be false witnesses of God, because we testified that God raised Christ from the dead, which cannot be true if the dead are not raised. For if the dead aren’t raised, neither has Christ been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain, you are still guilty of your sins, and those who who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. And, if we have only hoped in Christ for this life, then we are, out of all people, the most to be pitied.
But Christ has been raised from the dead, and has became the first fruits of those who have died. For just as death came by one man, so the resurrection of the dead also comes by one man. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ will all be made alive.
G O S P E L R E A D I N G
A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John.
21:1-21
Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Galilee. This is what happened: Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I’m going fishing.”
“We're coming with you,” they said. Immediately they went out and boarded the boat, but that night, they caught nothing.
Around daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach, though the disciples didn’t know that it was him. He called out to them, “Children, have you caught any fish?”
“No,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” They did so, and they weren’t able to draw the net in because it was full of fish.
Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!”
When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he wrapped his cloak around himself (for he was stripped for work), and jumped into the sea. The other disciples followed in the boat (for they were not far from the land, only about one hundred yards away), dragging the net full of fish. When they got out on the shore, they saw a charcoal fire, with fish and bread prepared on it.
Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and drew the net to land, full of one hundred fifty-three large fish. Even though there were so many, the net wasn’t torn.
Jesus said to them, “Come now and eat some breakfast.” None of the disciples dared to ask him “Who are you?” for they knew it was the Lord. Jesus then took the bread and gave it to them and, afterwards, the fish. This was the third time that Jesus was revealed to his disciples after he had risen from the dead.
When they had finished eating, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than the others do?”
Peter replied, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
He then said a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?”
Peter replied, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
He then said a third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?”
Peter felt hurt because Jesus had asked him a third time, “Do you love me?” He replied, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
"I assure you: When you were young, you dressed yourself and walked where you wanted to, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and another will dress you and carry you where you don’t want to go.” Jesus said this to signify the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then Jesus said to him, “Follow me.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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The Psalms are taken from The Old Catholic Psalter for Worship
(2025 Draft Edition 🅭 The Old Catholic Ordinariate for Specialized Ministries - U.S.A.)
Readings adapted from The Holy Bible: American Standard Version
(1901 - In the Public Domain)
