Gospel Acclamation: Third Sunday of Easter

Christ is risen, creator of all; He has shown pity on all people.

Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. He is our God, the Creator of all. Yet He does not stand apart from us. He loves us more than we can ever imagine, and He has shown great pity on all of us by saving us from our sins and opening the gates of Heaven.

We didn't and don't deserve it. We have sinned, and we continue to sin. Yet Jesus continues to hold out His mercy to us. He wants to forgive us and draw us back to Him, again and again and again. He knows how weak and frail we are.

Now that's pity. And even more, that's love.

Gospel Acclamation: Second Sunday of Easter

You believe in Me, Thomas, because you have seen Me, says the Lord; blessed are those who have not seen Me, but still believe!

Poor Thomas! He has never been able to live down his “doubting Thomas” label. He certainly did doubt, but we should ask ourselves what we might have done in his place. Would we have believed the other apostles as they chattered excitedly about the risen Lord, or would we have wondered if they had been drinking a little too freely of the wine?

Thomas, of course, declared that he would not believe unless he put his finger in the nail marks in Jesus' hands and his hand into His opened side.

Then, a week later, Jesus appears. This time Thomas is with the others in that upper room. Jesus tells him to go ahead and put his finger in the nail marks and his hand in His side, but most of all to leave off his unbelief and believe.

We do not even know if Thomas took Jesus up on His offer to touch His glorified wounds. But Thomas certainly begins to believe at that very moment. In fact, he does not just stop at believing that Jesus has risen from the dead. Rather, he says, probably with great awe and wonder, “My Lord and my God!” Thomas has faith indeed. He quickly understands and embraces the fact that if Jesus has risen from the dead, then He can only be God Himself.

Jesus responds to Thomas in the words of our acclamation, inviting us to share Thomas' faith. We have not seen Jesus standing before us, but we do believe. Let us proclaim more confidently than ever in this Easter season, “My Lord and my God!”

Gospel Acclamation: Easter Sunday

Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed; let us then feast with joy in the Lord.

Christ, the Lamb of God, has indeed been sacrificed. He has died for our sins, going to the cross out of unimaginable love for us. He willingly suffered and laid down His life for us, sinners that we are, that we might receive sanctifying grace, the indwelling presence of God in our souls, and eternal life in Heaven with Him.

Like the blood of original Paschal lamb, Christ's blood has been poured out for us that we might live. Only we do not just escape physical death like the Israelites of old. We escape spiritual death, eternal death, separation from God. The Paschal lamb is a type, a foreshadowing, of Christ, but Christ is the fulfillment beyond our wildest dreams, God-made-Man Who dies for us.

Unlike the little white, fluffy animals the Israelites sacrificed, though, Jesus Christ, God-made-Man rises from the dead, conquering death. Death cannot hold Him, and this is what we celebrate at Easter, the Resurrection of Jesus, our Lamb Who lives again to intercede for us eternally.

The Passover of the Israelites was not complete unless the people ate the lamb. This was symbolic of receiving life and entering into communion. We, too, must eat our Lamb, Jesus Christ, and we do so in the Eucharist. Jesus gives Himself to us Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. We eat our Lamb, coming into communion with Him and through Him with each other and receiving an outpouring of divine life, not symbolically but really and truly.

So let us feast with joy in the Lord, for our Paschal Lamb has been sacrificed for us and has risen again to bring us to new life with Him.

Gospel Acclamation: Palm Sunday

Christ became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name.

On this Palm Sunday, take some time and re-read the Passion Narrative. Mediate on Jesus' obedient suffering. He endured it for you. Express your gratitude and your repentance for sin. Unite your sufferings to those of Jesus, and recognize that His suffering gives meaning to yours. His death and resurrection give you eternal life.

As we enter into Holy Week, keep Jesus' Passion firmly before your eyes, and ask Him to fill you with His love and His life.

Gospel Acclamation: Fifth Sunday of Lent

Even now, says the Lord, return to Me with your whole heart; for I am gracious and merciful.

Today's Gospel Acclamation provides us with a comforting message from our Lord. If we return to Him with our whole heart, if we repent of our sins and confess and fall into God's embrace, He will accept us. He will not turn us away.

Why? God answers that question for us. He is gracious and merciful. God wants to save us. He wants to forgive us. He wants to shower us with His grace.

However, God does not force Himself on us. We have free will. That is one of God's gifts to us, one of the ways we have been made in His image and likeness, and He does not violate it. So God waits for us to return to Him in humility and love.

Will we take God up on His offer?

Gospel Acclamation: Fourth Sunday of Lent

I will get up and go to my Father and shall say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.

The youngest son in our Gospel for today has gotten himself into a real pickle. He thought he could be free of his father and his father's estate and all the work it entailed, so he demanded his inheritance and left. His father would not have had to give in to his demands, but he knew the young man needed to learn a tough lesson, and that is exactly what happens.

The young man squanders all his money and ends up starving and caring for pigs, about the worst position a young Jew could end up in. The young man sees his predicament and recognizes how good he really had it at home. In fact, his father's servants are much better off than he is at this point. He decides that he will go home, confess his sin, and ask to be a servant to his father because he knows he is not worthy to be a son.

In this acclamation, we are invited to make the young man's words of repentance our own. We are invited to recognize that, like the young man, we have gone away from our Father, God, to follow our own paths, and we must repent and return. The young man received a welcome and forgiveness beyond his wildest imaginings, and so will we when we get up, return to our Father, confess our sins, and find ourselves surrounded by love.

Gospel Acclamation: Third Sunday of Lent

Repent, says the Lord; the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

Repent. Admit that we are weak, sinful people who offend God frequently.

Repent. Examine our consciences thoroughly.

Repent. Look straight at our sins realistically, and admit that we have done wrong.

Repent. Express contrition for our sins, deep sorrow that we have offend the God Who loves us more than we can ever imagine.

Repent. Confess our sins.

Repent. Deliberately turn away from sin, and resolve to sin no more.

Repent. Humbly ask for God's forgiveness, knowing that we do not deserve it yet that He is pleased to grant it in His great mercy and love.

Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended You, and I detest all of my sins because of Your just punishments, but most of all because they offend You, my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of Your grace to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin. Amen.