Friday 26 April 2024
S. Pascasio Radberto; Saints Guglielmo and Pellegrino; S. Giovanni B. Piamarta
4th of Easter
Acts 13,26-33; Ps 2; John 14.1-6
You are my son, today I created you
MORNING PRAYER
Father, we desire a more beautiful home, where peace reigns and where there are no more discords. We thank you for the gift of your Son: he made us understand that his home is ours, that his Father is our Father, because he is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
ENTRANCE ANTIPHON
You have redeemed us, O Lord, with your blood from every tribe, tongue, people and nation, and have made us a kingdom of priests to our God. Hallelujah.
COLLECTION
O God, author of our freedom and our salvation, answer the prayers of those who call upon you, and let those redeemed by the Blood of your Son live for you and enjoy eternal bliss. By our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who is God, and lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, forever and ever.
FIRST READING
God fulfilled the promise for us by resurrecting Jesus.
From the Acts of the Apostles 13,26-33
In those days, [Paolo, giunto ad Antiochia di Pisidia, diceva nella sinagoga]: “Brothers, children of the lineage of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, the word of this salvation has been sent to us. In fact, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize him and, by condemning him, they fulfilled the voices of the Prophets which are read every Saturday; although they had found no reason for the death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him killed. After fulfilling all that had been written about him, they took him down from the cross and placed him in the tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and he appeared for many days to those who went up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and they are now witnesses of him before the people. And we announce to you that the promise made to the fathers has been fulfilled, because God has fulfilled it for us, their children, by resurrecting Jesus, as is also written in the second psalm: You are my son, today I have begotten you”.
God’s word.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM (From Psalm 2)
R: You are my son, today I gave birth to you.
«I myself have established my sovereign
on Zion, my holy mountain.”
I want to announce the decree of the Lord.
He said to me: “You are my son,
I have begotten you today. R.
Ask me and I will give you the nations as an inheritance
and in your dominion the most distant lands.
You will break them with an iron scepter,
you will shatter them like a clay vessel.” R.
And now be wise, O sovereigns;
allow yourselves to be corrected, O judges of the earth;
serve the Lord with fear
and rejoice with trembling. R.
SONG TO THE GOSPEL (Jn 14.6)
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
I am the way, the truth and the life, says the Lord.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL
I am the way, the truth and the life.
+ From the Gospel according to John 14,1-6
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Have faith in God and have faith in me too. In my Father’s house there are many mansions. If not, would I have ever said to you: “I’m going to prepare a place for you”? When I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that where I am you may be also. And of the place where I go, you know the way.” Thomas said to him: «Lord, we do not know where you are going; How can we know the way?”. Jesus said to him: «I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Word of the Lord.
HOMILY
From the verses of today’s Gospel the feeling of profound tenderness of our Redeemer emerges strongly; his concern full of love for those whom he will leave and who perhaps will be at the mercy of doubt and turmoil. He wants to console us. Many times He has repeated to us: do not be afraid, do not fear… His presence always communicates profound peace to our hearts. He tells us: have faith in me, and later he will repeat to us “I have overcome the world”. Faith is our strength, it is God’s gift to his children, it is the life of grace grafted into us by baptism. The virtue of faith in Christ has the ability to move the mountains of pride and human sufficiency to make room for the awareness of our being children of God, for a continuous dialogue of trusting love with Him, our Father. On this earth, our true place of peace and human completeness is in faith in Jesus Christ our all, that is, our Way, Truth and Life. If we now allow ourselves to be transformed by this divine “logic”, we will consequently be welcomed into eternal Light and Life. Our “place” will have been prepared by He who “looks at everything and takes everything into his hands”, by He who, showing us the way, has lived it and admirably and widely opened it for each of us. (Silvestrine Fathers)
PRAYER ON OFFERINGS
Welcome, merciful Father, the offering of this family of yours, so that with your protection they may safeguard the Easter gifts and reach eternal happiness. Through Christ our Lord.
ANTIPHON TO COMMUNION
Christ our Lord was put to death for our sins and was resurrected for our justification. Hallelujah.
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Guard with tireless love, O Father, the people you have saved, so that those who have been redeemed by the passion of your Son may participate in the joy of his resurrection. He lives and reigns forever and ever.
EVENING PRAYER
Lord, now that night falls, we are afraid of the dark and feel a sense of abandonment and loneliness. Dispel our fear, make our faith in your Son firm, so that he remains with us, as a light in the darkness, and as joy at dawn.
