First reading
Acts 2:42–47
The faithful all lived together and owned everything in common.
Responsorial psalm
Psalm 117(118):2–4, 13–15, 22–24
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love is everlasting.
Second reading
1 Peter 1:3–9
You did not see Christ, yet you love him.
Gospel acclamation
John 20:29
You believe in me, Thomas, because you have seen me; happy are those who have not seen me, but still believe!
Gospel
John 20:19–31
Eight days later, Jesus came again and stood among them.
Images from the Word
- Receive
- I refuse
- My Lord and my God
- As a body
- New birth
Liturgical notes
The Eucharistic celebration is an action of Christ and the Church, namely, the holy people united and ordered under the Bishop. It therefore pertains to the whole Body of the Church, manifests it, and has its effect upon it.
—General Instruction of the Roman Missal, §91
As we gather for Sunday Mass, we do not come as a group of individuals. Like the early church, we come ‘as a body’. Our greatest blessing is that we come with a mindset and an experience of being one in Christ. In fact, we come as the Church by being the sacrament of Christ. We are an assembly presided over by the ordained but called to the one action of this celebration. In this action, there is no room for spectators but only participants.
‘Grant, we pray, almighty God, that our reception of this paschal Sacrament may have a continuing effect in our minds and hearts.’
—prayer after Communion