20 April 2026 (Monday) | Easter Weekday | Monday of the Third Week of Easter

20 April 2026 (Monday)

Easter Weekday.
Monday of the Third Week of Easter.

Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:

First Reading: Acts 6: 8-15
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 119: 23-24, 26-27, 29-30
Gospel acclamation: Alleluia: Matthew 4: 4b
Gospel: John 6: 22-29
Liturgical year 2026 (Cycle A/II)
Liturgical color: White or Gold.

First Reading: Acts 6: 8-15

(Reader) A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

8 And Stephen, full of grace and fortitude, did great wonders and signs among the people.
9 Now there arose some of that which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of them that were of Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen.
10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit that spoke.
11 Then they suborned men to say, they had heard him speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God.
12 And they stirred up the people, and the ancients, and the scribes; and running together, they took him, and brought him to the council.
13 And they set up false witnesses, who said: This man ceaseth not to speak words against the holy place and the law.
14 For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the traditions which Moses delivered unto us.
15 And all that sat in the council, looking on him, saw his face as if it had been the face of an angel.

(Reader) The Word of the Lord.
(All) Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 119: 23-24, 26-27, 29-30
R. (1ab) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
or
R. Alleluia.
23 For princes sat, and spoke against me: but thy servant was employed in thy justifications.
24 For thy testimonies are my meditation: and thy justifications my counsel.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
or
R. Alleluia.
26 I have declared my ways, and thou hast heard me: teach me thy justifications.
27 Make me to understand the way of thy justifications: and I shall be exercised in thy wondrous works.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
or
R. Alleluia.
29 Remove from me the way of iniquity: and out of thy law have mercy on me.
30 I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments I have not forgotten.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
or
R. Alleluia.

Gospel acclamation: Alleluia: Matthew 4: 4b
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
4b One does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel: John 6: 22-29

(Reader) A reading from the holy Gospel according to John.
(All) Glory to you, O Lord.

22 The next day, the multitude that stood on the other side of the sea, saw that there was no other ship there but one, and that Jesus had not entered into the ship with his disciples, but that his disciples were gone away alone.
23 But other ships came in from Tiberias; nigh unto the place where they had eaten the bread, the Lord giving thanks.
24 When therefore the multitude saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they took shipping, and came to Capharnaum, seeking for Jesus.
25 And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him: Rabbi, when camest thou hither?
26 Jesus answered them, and said: Amen, amen I say to you, you seek me, not because you have seen miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves, and were filled.
27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto life everlasting, which the Son of man will give you. For him hath God, the Father, sealed.
28 They said therefore unto him: What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?
29 Jesus answered, and said to them: This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he hath sent.

(Reader) The Gospel of the Lord.
(All) Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

For our reflection today:

Stephen, "full of grace and power" (Acts 6: 8), presented in Jesus' Name a new interpretation of Moses and of God's Law itself. He reread the Old Testament in the light of the proclamation of Christ's death and Resurrection. He gave the Old Testament a Christological reinterpretation and provoked reactions from the Jews, who took his words to be blasphemous (cf. Acts 6: 11-14).

For this reason he was condemned to stoning. And St Luke passes on to us the saint's last discourse, a synthesis of his preaching. Just as Jesus had shown the disciples of Emmaus that the whole of the Old Testament speaks of him, of his Cross and his Resurrection, so St Stephen, following Jesus' teaching, interpreted the whole of the Old Testament in a Christological key. He shows that the mystery of the Cross stands at the centre of the history of salvation as recounted in the Old Testament; it shows that Jesus, Crucified and Risen, is truly the goal of all this history.

St Stephen also shows that the cult of the temple was over and that Jesus, the Risen One, was the new, true "temple". (Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, 10 January 2007)

Jonathan Fabian Ginunggil,
Pelayan Atasan Tertinggi / Most High Servant,
Yesus, Maria, Yusuf Pelayanan Kasih / Jesus, Mary, Joseph Ministry of Love 
(Blessed and Saints and the Nine Choirs of Angels)

My vocation is Blessed and Saints.

"I am the most humble of all the Saints in Heaven" Mary, Mother of God."

"I am the handmaid of the Lord, said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me."

Mother Mary is the most humble Saint in Heaven and she is also the Mother of God for us all
(Luke 1:38)