Hymn, readings and prayers for Sunday

The collect for the Second Sunday of Easter

Risen Christ, for whom no door is locked, no entrance barred: open the doors of our hearts, that we may seek the good of others and walk the joyful road of sacrifice and peace, to the praise of God the Father. Amen.

Duccio: Christ appears to the Disciples in a locked room.

The Epistle: Acts 5: 27-32

When the temple police had brought the apostles, they made them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them, saying, ‘We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.’ But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than any human authority. The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Saviour that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.’ 

Psalm 150

1 Hallelujah!
Praise God in his holy temple;
praise him in the firmament of his power.

2 Praise him for his mighty acts;
praise him for his excellent greatness.

3 Praise him with the blast of the ram's-horn;
praise him with lyre and harp.

4 Praise him with timbrel and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe.

5 Praise him with resounding cymbals;
praise him with loud-clanging cymbals.

6 Let everything that has breath
praise the Lord. Hallelujah!

Revelation 1:4-8

John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega’, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

Gospel reading: John 20:19-31

When it was evening on that day, 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.

Today’s Gospel reading is one that resonates with many of us, the account of Doubting Thomas who, having not been present when Christ first appeared to the disciples in the locked room, refused to believe that Christ was risen until he had seen him with his very own eyes. We all have doubts at different points in our lives and that is normal and healthy: we have all been given minds to think for ourselves!  It is often when we feel the most challenged that we come closer to knowing God and find that Faith takes over from Doubt. At that point we rediscover the deep rooted Peace with which Jesus greets his disciples in today’s Gospel.

• Heavenly Father, we pray that you will help us to live in harmony and that through our fellowship others may come to find Faith.
• We pray for those who are struggling to see the truth of the resurrection and ask you to make your loving presence known to them.
• We pray for the church communities in this Diocese that we may find renewed joy, hope and encouragement through the Resurrected Christ.
• We continue to pray for peace in Ukraine and the Middle East. We pray for those who have lost their homes in the conflicts and for those offering hospitality to refugees. We pray for diplomats and peacemakers seeking to promote understanding and cooperation among the nations.
• We pray for young people resuming their studies after the Easter break and for their teachers.
• We pray for those known to us who are in poor health, thinking especially of.............................................................
• We pray for the repose of the souls of those who have recently departed this life ………. We ask you, Father, to be with the recently bereaved that they may know the comforting presence of the risen Christ. 

The Prayer of St. Anselm

O Lord my God, teach my heart this day where and how to find you. You have made me and re-made me, and you have bestowed on me all the good things I possess, and still I do not know you.  I have not yet done that for which I was made. Teach me to seek you, for I cannot seek you unless you teach me, or find you unless you show yourself to me. Let me seek you in my desire; Let me desire you in my seeking.  Let me find you by loving you; Let me love you when I find you.

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