Catholic Family Devotions

Understanding the Day

Season

Eastertide

Week

Week 4 of Eastertide

Rank

Sunday or semidouble observance

This feast falls in Eastertide, the fifty-day season from Easter Sunday to Pentecost that celebrates the risen Christ and the new life he brings. There is no octave or vigil attached beyond the regular Eastertide observances unless local custom adds one.

Daily Prayer

The Introit for this day has not yet been generated.

Weekly Prayer

Weekly prayer content will appear here once it is scheduled.

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 celebration

Soter

Sts. Soter and Caius, Popes and Martyrs

Twelfth Pope of the Catholic Church

Born: 0200-00-00 · Fondi
Died: 0175-00-00 · Rome

Pope Soter was the bishop of Rome from c. 167 to his death in c. 174. According to the Annuario Pontificio, the dates may have ranged from 162–168 to 170–177. He was born in Fundi, in the Lazio region of Italy. Soter is known for declaring that marriage was valid only as a sacrament blessed by a priest and also for formally inaugurating Easter as an annual festival in Rome. His name, from Greek Σωτήριος from σωτήρ "saviour", would be his baptismal name, as his lifetime predates the tradition of adopting papal names.

Learn more about Soter

Today in Church History

No Church history reflection has been prepared for this date yet.

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

The Resurrection of Christ is the cornerstone of Christian faith, affirming His divine authority and fulfilling the promises of Scripture. It signifies not only liberation from sin through His death but also the invitation to a new life in grace, where we are adopted as God's children and called to share in the life of Christ. This transformative event assures us of our future resurrection, as Christ, the firstborn from the dead, offers us a glimpse of divine life. For Catholic families, this means embracing a life rooted in faith, living not for ourselves but for Christ, and fostering a hope that looks forward to the fullness of life in Him.

The Catechism teaches that the resurrection of the dead is an essential part of Christian faith and that the Creed culminates in this proclamation and in life everlasting. As we reflect together, we can hold firmly to the hope that Christ is truly risen and lives forever, and that the righteous will live with him after death. The resurrection of the flesh means that not only does the immortal soul live on after death, but our mortal bodies will also come to life again. This hope rests on faith in God, the Creator of the whole human person, soul and body, and in Jesus, who says, “I am the Resurrection and the life.” Christ himself will raise up on the last day those who believe in him, and to witness to Christ is to witness to his Resurrection. Even when this faith is questioned or opposed, Christians confess with confidence that Christ has been raised from the dead and that we shall rise like him, with him, and through him.

The Catechism teaches that death is not the end: our souls go to meet God while awaiting reunion with our glorified bodies. At the last day, God will raise all the dead through the power of Jesus’ Resurrection—those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. Although the manner of this resurrection exceeds our understanding, the Eucharist already gives us a foretaste of Christ’s transformation of our bodies. Through Baptism and the Holy Spirit, believers already participate in Christ’s death and Resurrection, and, nourished by the Eucharist, belong to his Body. As families, we can honor our own bodies and every other person, especially those who suffer, with the dignity that comes from belonging to Christ, living in hope for the day when we will appear with him in glory.

Today's Mass Readings

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