Sunday 27 April 2025    (other days)
Divine Mercy Sunday (2nd Sunday of Easter) 

Using calendar: New Zealand. You can pick a diocese or region.

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: White. Year: C(I).

First readingActs 5:12-16

The numbers of men and women who came to believe in the Lord increased steadily

The faithful all used to meet by common consent in the Portico of Solomon. No one else ever dared to join them, but the people were loud in their praise and the numbers of men and women who came to believe in the Lord increased steadily. So many signs and wonders were worked among the people at the hands of the apostles that the sick were even taken out into the streets and laid on beds and sleeping-mats in the hope that at least the shadow of Peter might fall across some of them as he went past. People even came crowding in from the towns round about Jerusalem, bringing with them their sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and all of them were cured.

How to listen
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 117(118):2-4,22-27
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love is everlasting.
or
Alleluia.
Let the sons of Israel say:
  ‘His love has no end.’
Let the sons of Aaron say:
  ‘His love has no end.’
Let those who fear the Lord say:
  ‘His love has no end.’
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love is everlasting.
or
Alleluia.
The stone which the builders rejected
  has become the corner stone.
This is the work of the Lord,
  a marvel in our eyes.
This day was made by the Lord;
  we rejoice and are glad.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love is everlasting.
or
Alleluia.
O Lord, grant us salvation;
  O Lord, grant success.
Blessed in the name of the Lord
  is he who comes.
We bless you from the house of the Lord;
  the Lord God is our light.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love is everlasting.
or
Alleluia.
Second reading
Apocalypse 1:9-13,17-19

I was dead, and now I am to live for ever and ever

My name is John, and through our union in Jesus I am your brother and share your sufferings, your kingdom, and all you endure. I was on the island of Patmos for having preached God’s word and witnessed for Jesus; it was the Lord’s day and the Spirit possessed me, and I heard a voice behind me, shouting like a trumpet, ‘Write down all that you see in a book.’ I turned round to see who had spoken to me, and when I turned I saw seven golden lamp-stands and, surrounded by them, a figure like a Son of man, dressed in a long robe tied at the waist with a golden girdle.
  When I saw him, I fell in a dead faint at his feet, but he touched me with his right hand and said, ‘Do not be afraid; it is I, the First and the Last; I am the Living One, I was dead and now I am to live for ever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and of the underworld. Now write down all that you see of present happenings and things that are still to come.’
Sequence

Victimae Paschali Laudes

Christians, to the Paschal Victim
  offer sacrifice and praise.
The sheep are ransomed by the Lamb;
and Christ, the undefiled,
hath sinners to his Father reconciled.
Death with life contended:
  combat strangely ended!
Life’s own Champion, slain,
  yet lives to reign.
Tell us, Mary:
  say what thou didst see
  upon the way.
The tomb the Living did enclose;
I saw Christ’s glory as he rose!
The angels there attesting;
shroud with grave-clothes resting.
Christ, my hope, has risen:
he goes before you into Galilee.
That Christ is truly risen
  from the dead we know.
Victorious king, thy mercy show!
Gospel AcclamationJohn 20:29
Alleluia, alleluia!
You believe in me, Thomas, because you have seen me;
happy are those who have not seen me, but still believe!
Alleluia!
GospelJohn 20:19-31

Eight days later, Jesus came again and stood among them

In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you’, and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you.
‘As the Father sent me,
so am I sending you.’
After saying this he breathed on them and said:
‘Receive the Holy Spirit.
For those whose sins you forgive,
they are forgiven;
for those whose sins you retain,
they are retained.’
Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. When the disciples said, ‘We have seen the Lord’, he answered, ‘Unless I see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.’ Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you’ he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe.’ Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him:
‘You believe because you can see me.
Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’
There were many other signs that Jesus worked and the disciples saw, but they are not recorded in this book. These are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing this you may have life through his name.

Universalis podcast: The week ahead – from 27 April to 3 May

The glorious events of Easter week this year. Changing attitudes to the Papacy over the last 50 years. Our part in the election of the next Pope. A warning against politics, and three prayer intentions. (16 minutes)
Episode notes.

Christian Art

Illustration

Each day, The Christian Art website gives a picture and reflection on the Gospel of the day.

The readings on this page are from the Jerusalem Bible, which is used at Mass in much of the English-speaking world. The English Standard Version, which is used at Mass in Great Britain, will be shown here if you set this page to use a calendar for Great Britain. The New American Bible readings, which are used at Mass in the United States, are available in the Universalis apps, programs and downloads.

You can also view this page with the New Testament in Greek and English.

Copyright © 1996-2025 Universalis Publishing Limited: see www.universalis.com. Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible are published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Hodder & Stoughton and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. Text of the Psalms: Copyright © 1963, The Grail (England). Used with permission of A.P. Watt Ltd. All rights reserved. The English translation of the Psalm Responses from “Lectionary for Mass” © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL). Excerpts from the English translation of “The Roman Missal” © 2010, ICEL. All rights reserved.
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