Give Thanks To The LORD, For He Is Good, His Love Is Everlasting!

Second Sunday of Easter
or Divine Mercy Sunday
Reading I
Acts 2:42-47
They devoted themselves
to the teaching of the apostles
and to the communal life,
to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.
Awe came upon everyone,
and many wonders and signs
were done through the apostles.
All who believed were together
and had all things in common;
they would sell their property and possessions
and divide them among all
according to each one’s need.
Every day they devoted themselves
to meeting together in the temple area
and to breaking bread in their homes.
They ate their meals
with exultation and sincerity of heart,
praising God and enjoying favor
with all the people.
And every day the Lord added to their number
those who were being saved.
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Responsorial
Psalm 118
R.Give thanks to the LORD,
for he is good, his love is everlasting.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Let the house of Israel say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
Let the house of Aaron say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
Let those who fear the LORD say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
R. Give thanks to the LORD,
for he is good, his love is everlasting.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I was hard pressed and was falling,
but the LORD helped me.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
The joyful shout of victory
in the tents of the just:
R.Give thanks to the LORD,
for he is good, his love is everlasting.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
By the LORD has this been done;
it is wonderful in our eyes.
This is the day the LORD has made;
let us be glad and rejoice in it.
R. Give thanks to the LORD,
for he is good, his love is everlasting.
or:
R. Alleluia.
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Reading II
1 Peter 1:3-9
Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who in his great mercy
gave us a new birth to a living hope
through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead,
to an inheritance that is imperishable,
undefiled, and unfading,
kept in heaven for you
who by the power of God
are safeguarded through faith,
to a salvation that is ready
to be revealed in the final time.
In this you rejoice,
although now for a little while
you may have to suffer through various trials,
so that the genuineness of your faith,
more precious than gold
that is perishable even though tested by fire,
may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor
at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Although you have not seen him
you love him;
even though you do not see him now
yet believe in him,
you rejoice with an indescribable
and glorious joy,
as you attain the goal of your faith,
the salvation of your souls.
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Gospel
John 20:19-31
On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked,
where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this,
he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this,
he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”

Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve,
was not with them when Jesus came.
So the other disciples said to him,
“We have seen the Lord.”
But he said to them,
“Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands
and put my finger into the nailmarks
and put my hand into his side,
I will not believe.”

Now a week later
his disciples were again inside
and Thomas was with them.
Jesus came,
although the doors were locked,
and stood in their midst and said,
“Peace be with you.”
Then he said to Thomas,
“Put your finger here and see my hands,
and bring your hand and put it into my side,
and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”
Thomas answered and said to him,
“My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him,
“Have you come to believe
because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen
and have believed.”

Now, Jesus did many other signs
in the presence of his disciples
that are not written in this book.
But these are written
that you may come to believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that through this belief
you may have life in his name.
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St. Joseph the Worker

Apparently in response to the “May Day” celebrations for workers sponsored by Communists, Pius XII instituted the feast of St. Joseph the Worker in 1955. But the relationship between Joseph and the cause of workers has a much longer history.

In a constantly necessary effort to keep Jesus from being removed from ordinary human life, the Church has from the beginning proudly emphasized that Jesus was a carpenter, obviously trained by Joseph in both the satisfactions and the drudgery of that vocation. Humanity is like God not only in thinking and loving, but also in creating. Whether we make a table or a cathedral, we are called to bear fruit with our hands and mind, ultimately for the building up of the Body of Christ.

Comment:
“The Lord God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it” (Genesis 2:15). The Father created all and asked humanity to continue the work of creation. We find our dignity in our work, in raising a family, in participating in the life of the Father’s creation. Joseph the Worker was able to help participate in the deepest mystery of creation. Pius XII emphasized this when he said, “The spirit flows to you and to all men from the heart of the God-man, Savior of the world, but certainly, no worker was ever more completely and profoundly penetrated by it than the foster father of Jesus, who lived with Him in closest intimacy and community of family life and work. Thus, if you wish to be close to Christ, we again today repeat, ‘Go to Joseph’” (see Genesis 41:44).

Quote:
In Brothers of Men, René Voillaume of the Little Brothers of Jesus speaks about ordinary work and holiness: “Now this holiness (of Jesus) became a reality in the most ordinary circumstances of life, those of word, of the family and the social life of a village, and this is an emphatic affirmation of the fact that the most obscure and humdrum human activities are entirely compatible with the perfection of the Son of God...in relation to this mystery, involves the conviction that the evangelical holiness proper to a child of God is possible in the ordinary circumstances of someone who is poor and obliged to work for his living.”

Saint of the Day
American Catholic.org