SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER
April 16, 2023
AS WE GATHER
On the Second Sunday of Easter each year we recall what happened on that second Sunday of the first Easter. The apostle Thomas was not with the others when the risen Jesus appeared to them last Sunday, so today Jesus makes a special appearance to Thomas, called to be an apostle, a witness of Jesus’ resurrection. Because of Thomas’s initial refusal to believe, he has been given the nickname “doubting Thomas.”
BIBLE READINGS
OLD TESTAMENT: Acts 5:29-42
(Gamaliel, a respected Pharisee, speaks on behalf of the apostles’ ministry.)
EPISTLE READING: 1 Peter 1:3-9
Though we do not now see Jesus in person, we do love Him, trust in Him, and believe in Him.)
HOLY GOSPEL: John 20:19–31
(There was power in the Word made flesh to create faith in Thomas and there is power in the written Word to create faith in us.)