EASTER 2 YEAR A Sunday 12 April 2026
FIRST READING Acts 2.14a, 22–32
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.
On the day of Pentecost,
Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd,
‘You that are Israelites, listen to what I have to say:
Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know –
this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law.
But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power.
For David says concerning him,
“I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; moreover my flesh will live in hope.
For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
or let your Holy One experience corruption.
You have made known to me the ways of life;
you will make me full of gladness with your presence.”
Fellow Israelites, I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne.
Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying, “He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh experience corruption.”
This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses.’
PSALM Psalm 16
R O Lord, you are my portion and my cup.
1 Protect me, O God, for I take refuge in you;
I have said to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord,
my good above all other.’
2 All my delight is upon the godly that are in the land,
upon those who are noble among the people. R
3 But those who run after other gods
shall have their troubles multiplied.
4 Their libations of blood I will not offer,
nor take the names of their gods upon my lips. R
5 O Lord, you are my portion and my cup;
it is you who uphold my lot.
6 My boundaries enclose a pleasant land;
indeed, I have a goodly heritage. R
7 I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
my heart teaches me, night after night.
8 I have set the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand I shall not fall. R
9 My heart, therefore, is glad and my spirit rejoices;
my body also shall rest in hope.
10 For you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor let your holy one see the Pit.
11 You will show me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy,
and in your right hand are pleasures for evermore. R
SECOND READING 1 Peter 1.3–9
A reading from the first letter of Peter.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
who are being protected by the power of God through faith
for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while
you have had to suffer various trials,
so that the genuineness of your faith –
being more precious than gold that,
though perishable, is tested by fire –
may be found to result in praise and glory and honour
when Jesus Christ is revealed.
Although you have not seen him, you love him;
and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him
and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy,
for you are receiving the outcome of your faith,
the salvation of your souls.
GOSPEL John 20.19–31
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
When it was evening on the first day of the week,
and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said,
‘Peace be with you.’
After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
Then 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.’
When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
‘Receive the Holy Spirit.
If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them;
if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve,
was not with them when Jesus came.
So the other disciples told 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 in the mark of the nails
and my hand in his side,
I will not believe.’
A week later his disciples were again in the house,
and Thomas was with them.
Although the doors were shut,
Jesus came and stood among them and said,
‘Peace be with you.’
Then he said to Thomas,
‘Put your finger here and see my hands.
Reach out your hand and put it in my side.
Do not doubt but believe.’
Thomas answered him,
‘My Lord and my God!’
Jesus said to him,
‘Have you believed because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen
and yet have come to believe.’
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples,
which are not written in this book.
But these are written so that you may come to believe
that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God,
and that through believing you may have life in his name.
EASTER 3 YEAR A SUNDAY 19th April 2026
FIRST READING ACTS 2.14a, 36–41
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.
On the day of Pentecost,
Peter, standing with the eleven,
raised his voice and addressed the crowd,
‘Let the entire house of Israel know with certainty
that God has made him both Lord and Messiah,
this Jesus whom you crucified.’
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart
and said to Peter and to the other apostles,
‘Brothers, what should we do?’
Peter said to them,
‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you
in the name of Jesus Christ
so that your sins may be forgiven;
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
For the promise is for you, for your children,
and for all who are far away,
everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.’
And he testified with many other arguments
and exhorted them, saying,
‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’
So those who welcomed his message were baptized,
and that day about three thousand persons
were added to their number.
PSALM Psalm 116.1–3, 10–17
R Gracious is the Lord and righteous;
[our God is full of compassion].
1 I love the Lord,
because he has heard the voice of my supplication,
because he has inclined his ear to me
whenever I called upon him. R
2 The cords of death entangled me;
the grip of the grave took hold of me;
I came to grief and sorrow.
3 Then I called upon the name of the Lord:
‘O Lord, I pray you, save my life.’ R
10 How shall I repay the Lord
for all the good things he has done for me?
11 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call upon the name of the Lord.
12 I will fulfil my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people. R
13 Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his servants.
14 O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant and the child of your handmaid;
you have freed me from my bonds. R
15 I will offer you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call upon the name of the Lord.
16 I will fulfil my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
17 In the courts of the Lord’s house,
in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
Alleluia! R
SECOND READING 1 Peter 1.17–23
A reading from the first letter of Peter.
If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile.
You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold,
but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish.
He was destined before the foundation of the world,
but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake.
Through him you have come to trust in God,
who raised him from the dead and gave him glory,
so that your faith and hope are set on God.
Now that you have purified your souls
by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love,
love one another deeply from the heart.
You have been born anew,
not of perishable but of imperishable seed,
through the living and enduring word of God.
GOSPEL Luke 24.13–35
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
On that same day, two of the disciples were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem,
and talking with each other about all these things that had happened.
While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
And he said to them,
‘What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?’
They stood still, looking sad.
Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him,
‘Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem
who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?’
Jesus asked them, ‘What things?’
They replied, ‘The things about Jesus of Nazareth,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him.
But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.
Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place.
Moreover, some women of our group astounded us.
They were at the tomb early this morning,
and when they did not find his body there, they came back
and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels
who said that he was alive.
Some of those who were with us went to the tomb
and found it just as the women had said;
but they did not see Jesus.’
Then he said to them,
‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart
to believe all that the prophets have declared!
Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things
and then enter into his glory?’
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
As they came near the village to which they were going,
he walked ahead as if he were going on.
But they urged him strongly, saying,
‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening
and the day is now nearly over.’
So he went in to stay with them.
When he was at the table with them,
he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.
Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized Jesus;
and he vanished from their sight.
They said to each other,
‘Were not our hearts burning within us
while he was talking to us on the road,
while he was opening the scriptures to us?’
That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem;
and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together.
They were saying,
‘The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!’
Then they told what had happened on the road,
and how he had been made known to them
in the breaking of the bread.