Catholic Family Devotions

Understanding the Day

Season

Eastertide

Week

Week 3 of Eastertide

Rank

Sunday

Eastertide is the fifty-day season from Easter Sunday to Pentecost, a sustained celebration of Christ’s Resurrection. The Second Sunday after Easter (Dominica 2 post Pascha) falls within this joyful period and continues the Church’s focus on the risen Lord and the life of the early Christian community. The rank “Semidouble” is an older liturgical term indicating a celebration of moderate importance: it is observed with its proper prayers and readings, but it does not outrank major feasts or the solemn days of the octave. Because this Sunday is within the Easter season, it participates in the octave’s extended rejoicing even though it is not itself a principal octave day.

Introit (Daily Prayer)

Ps 32:5-6
The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord, alleluia: by the word of the Lord were the heavens made, alleluia, alleluia.
Ps 32:1
Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: praise is comely for the upright.
Glory Be to the Father…

O God, who, by the humility of Thy Son, didst lift up a fallen world, grant unending happiness to Thy faithful: that those whom Thou hast snatched from the perils of endless death, Thou mayest cause to rejoice in everlasting days.
Through the same Christ our Lord…

Weekly Prayer

Act of Contrition

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell; but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all-good and deserving of all my love.

I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.

Weekly Formation

Beatitude 9

The Beatitudes

Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.
This Beatitude applies the promise of persecution personally to those insulted, opposed, or falsely accused because of Christ. Their joy rests not in the pain itself but in union with Christ and the promised reward that earthly hostility cannot take away.

Saint & Feast

Principal celebrationCalendar title

Second Sunday after Easter

A biography or feast reflection has not yet been prepared.

Today in Church History

Protest Against the Edict of Worms (1529)
1529Schism Heresy
The protest by German princes and cities against the reinstatement of the Edict of Worms marked a significant moment in the Protestant Reformation, challenging the authority of the Catholic Church and leading to the establishment of Protestantism. This event highlighted the growing divide within Christianity and the resistance to papal authority, which would shape the future of the Church.
This event reminds us of the importance of unity in faith and the challenges that arise when authority is contested.
Election of Pope Benedict XVI
2005Papal
In April 2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected as the 265th pope, taking the name Benedict XVI. His papacy emphasized the importance of faith, reason, and the Church's mission in a rapidly changing world, addressing modern challenges while upholding traditional Catholic teachings.
Pope Benedict XVI's leadership reminds us of the importance of faith in navigating contemporary issues.

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

The Catechism teaches that faith in the forgiveness of sins is closely joined to faith in the Holy Spirit, the Church, and the communion of saints. The risen Christ gave the Holy Spirit to the apostles and entrusted them with the power to forgive sins. Baptism is the first and chief sacrament of forgiveness: it unites us with Christ, cleanses us from sin, and calls us to walk in newness of life. Yet Baptism does not remove every weakness or the ongoing struggle against the inclination toward evil. Through the sacrament of Penance, the baptized can be reconciled with God and with the Church. No offense is beyond the Church’s power to forgive when repentance is honest, for Christ desires the gates of forgiveness to remain open to all who turn away from sin.

¶ 977

Our Lord tied the forgiveness of sins to faith and Baptism: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved." Baptism is the first and chief sacrament of forgiveness of sins because it unites us with Christ, who died for our sins and rose for our justification, so that "we too might walk in newness of life."

¶ 978

"When we made our first profession of faith while receiving the holy Baptism that cleansed us, the forgiveness we received then was so full and complete that there remained in us absolutely nothing left to efface, neither original sin nor offenses committed by our own will, nor was there left any penalty to suffer in order to expiate them.... Yet the grace of Baptism delivers no one from all the weakness of nature. On the contrary, we must still combat the movements of concupiscence that never cease leading us into evil "

Today's Mass Readings

Open the day's Sancta MissaDivinum Officium · Divino Afflatu - 1954View readings

Second Sunday after Easter

Understanding the Day

Introit (Daily Prayer)

Collect

Weekly Prayer

Act of Contrition

Weekly Formation

Beatitude 9

The Beatitudes

Saint & Feast

Second Sunday after Easter

Today in Church History

Protest Against the Edict of Worms (1529)

Election of Pope Benedict XVI

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Today's Mass Readings

Baltimore Catechism No. 3