Letters From Home

The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for Saturday in the Octave of Easter by Mr. Clement Harrold.

Easter Saturday First Reading: Acts 4: 13-21
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 118: 1 and 14-15ab, 16-18, 19-21
Alleluia: Psalms 118: 24
Gospel: Mark 16: 9-15

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The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for Friday in the Octave of Easter by Dr. John Bergsma.

Easter Friday First Reading: Acts 4: 1-12
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 118: 1-2 and 4, 22-24, 25-27a
Alleluia: Psalms 118: 24
Gospel: John 21: 1-14

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The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for Thursday in the Octave of Easter by Ms. Joan Watson.

Easter Thursday First Reading: Acts 3: 11-26
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 8: 2ab and 5, 6-7, 8-9
Alleluia: Psalms 118: 24
Gospel: Luke 24: 35-48

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The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for Wednesday in the Octave of Easter by Dr. John Bergsma.

Easter Wednesday First Reading: Acts 3: 1-10
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 105: 1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-9
Alleluia: Psalms 118: 24
Gospel: Luke 24: 13-35

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The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for Tuesday in the Octave of Easter by Dr. Shane Owens.

Easter Tuesday First Reading: Acts 2: 36-41
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 33: 4-5, 18-19, 20 and 22
Alleluia: Psalms 118: 24
Gospel: John 20: 11-18

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The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for Monday in the Octave of Easter by Dr. Scott Hahn.

Easter Monday First Reading: Acts 2: 14, 22-33
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 16: 1-2a and 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11
Alleluia: Psalms 118: 24
Gospel: Matthew 28: 8-15

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Readings:
Acts 10:34, 37–43
Psalm 118:1–2, 16–17, 22–23
Colossians 3:1–4
John 20:1–9

Jesus is nowhere visible. Yet, today’s Gospel tells us that Peter and John “saw and believed.”

What did they see? Burial shrouds lying on the floor of an empty tomb. Maybe that convinced them that He hadn’t been carted off by grave robbers, who usually stole the expensive burial linens and left the corpses behind.

But notice the repetition of the word “tomb”—seven times in nine verses. They saw the empty tomb and they believed what He had promised: that God would raise Him on the third day.

Chosen to be His “witnesses,” today’s First Reading tells us, the Apostles were “commissioned . . . to preach . . . and testify” to all that they had seen—from His anointing with the Holy Spirit at the Jordan to the empty tomb.

More than their own experience, they were instructed in the mysteries of the divine economy, God’s saving plan: to know how “all the prophets bear witness” to Him (see Luke 24:27, 44).

Now they could “understand the Scripture” and teach us what He had told them: that He was “the Stone which the builders rejected,” the one whom today’s Psalm prophesies will be resurrected and exalted (see Luke 20:17; Matthew 21:42; Acts 4:11).

We are the children of the apostolic witnesses. That is why we still gather early in the morning on the first day of every week to celebrate this feast of the empty tomb, to give thanks for “Christ our life,” as today’s Epistle calls Him.

Baptized into His death and Resurrection, we live the heavenly life of the risen Christ, our lives “hidden with Christ in God.” We are now His witnesses, too. But we testify to things we cannot see but only believe; we seek in earthly things what is above.

We live in memory of the Apostles’ witness, like them eating and drinking with the risen Lord at the altar. And we wait in hope for what the Apostles told us would come—the day when we too “will appear with Him in glory.”

The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for Holy Saturday by Mr. Clement Harrold.

Holy Saturday First Reading: Genesis 1: 1 – 2: 2 or 1: 1, 26-31a
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 104: 1-2, 5-6, 10, 12, 13-14, 24, 35 or Psalms 33: 4-5, 6-7, 12-13, 20 and 22
Second Reading: Genesis 22: 1-18 or 22: 1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 16: 5, 8, 9-10, 11
Third Reading: Exodus 14: 15 – 15: 1
Responsorial Psalm: Exodus 15: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 17-18
Fourth Reading: Isaiah 54: 5-14
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 30: 2, 4, 5-6, 11-12, 13
Fifth Reading: Isaiah 55: 1-11
Responsorial Psalm: Isaiah 12: 2-3, 4, 5-6
Sixth Reading: Baruch 3: 9-15, 32 – 4: 4
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 19: 8, 9, 10, 11
Seventh Reading: Ezekiel 36: 16-17a, 18-28
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 42: 3, 5; 43: 3, 4 or Isaiah 12: 2-3, 4bcd, 5-6 or Psalms 51:12-13, 14-15, 18-19
Epistle Reading: Romans 6: 3-11
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 118: 1-2, 16-17, 22-23
Gospel: Matthew 28: 1-10

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The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for Good Friday of the Lord's Passion by Dr. John Bergsma.

Good Friday, Day of Fast (Ages 18-59) and Abstinence from Meat (Age 14 and Up) First Reading: Isaiah 52: 13 – 53: 12
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 31: 2, 6, 12-13, 15-16, 17, 25
Second Reading: Hebrews 4: 14-16; 5: 7-9
Verse Before the Gospel: Philippians 2: 8-9
Gospel: John 18: 1 – 19: 42

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The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for Holy Thursday (Chrism Mass) by Ms. Joan Watson.

Holy Thursday, At Evening, Begin Easter Triduum of the Lord’ Solemnity Passion, Death and Resurrection First Reading: Isaiah 61:1-3a, 6a, 8b-9 
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 89:21-22, 25 and 27
Second Reading: Revelation 1:5-8
Verse Before the Gospel: Isaiah 61:1 (cited in Luke 4:18)
Gospel: Luke 4:16-21 

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