Fourth Sunday of Easter - Year B
- Written by Joseph O'Hanlon
Bishop Paul Swarbrick of the Lancaster Diocese
- Written by Alex Walker
Bishop Paul Swarbrick, the seventh Bishop of Lancaster was installed on Monday 9th April and gave this address. The sound he refers to is the smoke alarm that went off, as it always does, when incense is used ! The Cathedral was packed and the Joy was palpable. He will make a very good listening, collaborative and pastoral Bishop.
Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday)
- Written by Alex Walker
Collect
God of everlasting mercy,
who in the very recurrence of the paschal feast
kindle the faith of the people you have made your own,
increase, we pray, the grace you have bestowed,
that all may grasp and rightly understand
in what font they have been washed,
by whose Spirit they have been reborn,
by whose Blood they have been redeemed.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Prayer over the Offerings
Accept, O Lord, we pray,
the oblations of your people
(and of those you have brought to new birth),
that, renewed by confession of your name and by Baptism,
they may attain unending happiness.
Through Christ our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that our reception of this paschal Sacrament
may have a continuing effect
in our minds and hearts.
Through Christ our Lord.
Opening Prayer
God of everlasting mercy,
each year when the feast of Easter returns
you enliven the faith of your holy people.
Increase in us the grace you have already bestowed,
that we may understand more fully
in whose font we have been washed,
in whose Spirit we have been reborn,
and in whose blood we have found redemption.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
Prayer over the Gifts
Receive, Lord, the gifts of your people
(and of those newly born in Christ),
that, having confessed your name
and been cleansed in the waters of baptism,
we may come to eternal happiness.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord
Prayer After Communion
Grant, all-powerful God,
that the paschal mystery we have shared
may never cease to touch our hearts
with the force of its saving grace.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord
Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday)
- Written by Joseph O'Hanlon
ACTA COMMENTARY ACTA COMMENTARY OUR SUNDAY LECTIONARY
SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER YEAR B: YEAR OF MARK Download: Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday)
The Easter Sunday morning Mass last week featured a Gospel reading which is to be read on each Sunday in the three year cycle. That Gospel begins with the story of Mary Magdalene’s meeting with the Risen Lord. In the darkness of the very early morning she came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been rolled away. She ran to Simon Peter and “the other disciple” - and there her story is suspended and we are provided with an account of the experience of the two men. It is a very enriching story of the readers/hearers but ends in a most extraordinary sentence - so bewildering that our Lectionary omits it. Having discovered an empty tomb and no sign of the body of Jesus, they speculate as to the meaning of the folded burial cloths, and then,
Page 5 of 68
